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 Fortis Inc. says it earned $459 million in its first quarter, up from $437 million in the same quarter last year.

The gas and electric utility company says the profit amounted to 93 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31, up from 90 cents per share a year earlier.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $3.12 billion, down from $3.32 billion in its first quarter last year.

Capital expenditures amounted to $1.13 billion in the quarter, up from $995 million a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 93 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 91 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Fortis serves utility customers in five Canadian provinces, 10 U.S. states and three Caribbean countries.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.

Grocery and drugstore retailer Loblaw Cos. Ltd. raised its quarterly dividend by 15 per cent as it reported its first-quarter profit and revenue rose compared with a year ago.

The parent company of Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 51.3 cents per share, up from 44.6 cents per share.

The increased payment to shareholders came as Loblaw says it earned a profit available to common shareholders of $459 million or $1.47 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 23. The result was up from $418 million or $1.29 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $13.58 billion, up from $13.00 billion a year earlier.

Food retail same-stores sales rose by 3.4 per cent, while drug retail same-store sales increased by 4.0 per cent, with front store same-store sales up 0.7 per cent and pharmacy and health-care services same-store sales up 7.3 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Loblaw says it earned $1.72 per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $1.55 per diluted share a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.

The owner of Tim Hortons and Burger King says first-quarter profit rose compared with a year earlier as its sales also climbed higher.

Restaurant Brands International Inc., which also owns Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Firehouse Subs, says it earned net income of US$328 million or 72 cents per diluted share.

The result was up from net income of US$277 million or 61 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says revenue totalled US$1.74 billion for the quarter ended March 31, up from US$1.59 billion in the same quarter last year.

The increase came as consolidated comparable sales rose 4.6 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, RBI says it earned 73 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from 75 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2024.

Monday April 29

China industrial profits

Euro area economic and consumer confidence for April. Germany releases inflation and retail sales data.

Earnings include: Ag Growth International Inc.; Cargojet Inc.; Domino’s Pizza Inc.; Gibson Energy Inc.; Hammond Power Solutions Inc.; Sony; Topaz Energy Corp.

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Tuesday April 30

China manufacturing PMI. Japan jobless rate, retail sales and industrial production.

Euro area releases GDP and inflation data.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s monthly real GDP for February. Consensus is for a rise of 0.3%.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. employment cost index for Q1.

(9 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for February.

(9 a.m. ET) U.S. FHFA House Price Index for February.

(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. Chicago PMI for April.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for April.

Also: U.S. Fed meeting begins

Earnings include: Advanced Micro Devices Inc.; Allied Properties REIT; Amazon.com Inc.; American Tower Corp.; Cameco Corp.; Coca-Cola Co.; Eli Lilly & Co.; First Capital Realty Inc.; First National Financial Corp.; Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.; McDonald’s Corp.; Mondelez International Inc.; New Gold Inc.; Restaurant Brands International Inc.; Starbucks Corp.; Stellantis NV; Stryker Corp.; 3M Co.

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Wednesday May 1

Euro area markets closed for holiday. Chinese markets closed through Friday.

U.K. manufacturing PMI for April.

(8:15 a.m. ET) U.S. ADP National Employment Report for April.

(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for April.

(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI fpr April.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. construction spending for March.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey for March.

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Fed announcement with chair Jerome Powell’s press briefing to follow.

Also: Canadian and U.S. auto sales for April are expected.

(415 p.m. ET) Bank of Canada Gov. Macklem and Sr. Dep. Gov. Rogers appear before the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy.

Earnings include: Automatic Data Processing Inc.; Barrick Gold Corp.; Bausch + Lomb Corp.; Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP; Canfor Corp.; Capital Power Corp.; CGI Inc.; CVS Health Corp.; Dayforce Inc.; Estee Lauder Companies Inc.; Fortis Inc.; Franco-Nevada Corp.; GFL Environmental Holdings Inc.; Gildan Activewear Inc.; Kraft Heinz Co.; Loblaw Companies Ltd.; Mastercard Inc.; Marriott International Inc.; Paramount Resources Ltd.; Parkland Fuel Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Russel Metals Inc.; Stelco Holdings Inc.; Toromont Industries Ltd.; Tourmaline Oil Corp.; Vermilion Energy Inc.

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Thursday May 2

Japan consumer confidence.

Euro area manufacturing PMI for April.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s merchandise trade balance for March. Consensus is for a $1-billion surplus.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of April 2.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. productivity for Q1.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. goods and services trade balance for March.

(845 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada Gov. Macklem and Sr. Dep. Gov. Rogers appear before the House Standing Committee on Finance.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. factory orders for March.

Earnings include: AltaGas Ltd.; Apple Inc.; Amgen Inc.; Andlauer Healthcare Group Inc.; Aritzia Inc.; Atco Ltd.; Bausch Health Companies Inc.; BCE Inc.; Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.; Canadian Utilities Ltd.; Capstone Mining Corp.; Cigna Corp.; Colliers International Group Inc.; ConocoPhillips; Endeavour Mining Corp.; Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.; IGM Financial Inc.; Maple Leaf Foods Inc.; NexGen Energy Ltd.; Open Text Corp.; Sandstorm Gold Ltd.; Stella-Jones Inc.; TMX Group Ltd.

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Friday May 3

Euro area jobless rate. France industrial production; Italy jobless rate; UK services PMI

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. employment report for April. A net increase of 250,000 jobs is the consensus, down from March’s 303,000, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.8%. Average hously earnings are expected to be up 4% from a year ago.

(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for April.

(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P Global Services PMI for April.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. ISM Services PMI for April.

Earnings include: ARC Resources Ltd.; Brookfield Renewable Partners LP; Magna International Inc.; Sprott Inc.; TC Energy Corp.; Telus Corp.; TransAlta Corp.; Westshore Terminals Investment Corp.

Canada’s Imperial Oil saw higher profit in its first quarter on Friday as the integrated oil firm was helped by robust production, but saw maintenance activities weighing on its throughput volumes.

Refining margins have eased from sky-high levels in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted crude supplies. Profits stabilized through last year on weaker economic activity and an increase in global refining capacity.

Throughput, the amount of petroleum product that moves through a refinery in a particular period, stood at 407,000 bpd, down from 417,000 bpd last year. It was also lower than the 415,000 bpd estimated by analysts, according to LSEG data, due to maintenance activities.

Refinery capacity utilization was 94 per cent, lower than 96 per cent in the first quarter of 2023.

Offsetting downstream performance, upstream production was 421,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter, up from 413,000 gross boepd last year.

Output was helped by the highest ever first-quarter production at its Kearl oil sands site, the company said.

Additionally, cash flow from operating activities also rose, to $1.08-billion, from cash flow of $821-million used last year in the same period.

RBC Capital Markets analysts said despite the mixed results, they continue to have a constructive stance towards Imperial Oil, to reflect its consistently solid operating performance and commitment to shareholder returns.

The company’s net profit stood at $1.2-billion, or $2.23 per share in the quarter ended March 31. Analysts had expected a profit of $2.03 per share.

 Imperial Oil Ltd. reported a first-quarter profit of $1.20 billion, down from $1.25 billion in the same quarter last year.

The company says the profit amounted to $2.23 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, up from $2.13 per diluted share in its first quarter last year when it had more shares outstanding.

Total revenue and other income amounted to $12.28 billion, up from $12.12 billion in its first quarter of 2023.

Imperial says production averaged 421,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day in the quarter, up from 413,000 a year earlier.

Refinery throughput for the quarter averaged 407,000 barrels per day, down from 417,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2023.

Refinery capacity utilization was 94 per cent, down from 96 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2024.

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM) on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $347.2 million.

On a per-share basis, the Toronto-based company said it had profit of 70 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 76 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 60 cents per share.

The gold mining company posted revenue of $1.83 billion in the period.

Agnico shares have climbed 18% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $64.94, a rise of 15% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AEM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AEM

The completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is leading to a boom in demand for drilling services, said Precision Drilling PD-T +1.18%increase chief executive Kevin Neveu.

The contract driller is seeing demand exceed its expectations, he said on an earnings call Thursday, as the expansion of the crude oil pipeline to the West Coast approaches a May 1 start of commercial operations.

“Do we see customer interest increasing in anticipation of the Trans Mountain start up? The answer is resoundingly yes.”

The company has 48 rigs currently operating where last year it had 38, and expects demand to continue. It also expects a boost to well servicing contracts.

“We see this momentum continuing throughout the summer and exceeding our prior view on Canadian rig demand,” said Neveu.

The growth is helping offset a retreat in the U.S., where activity is more muted by weak natural gas prices and operator consolidation, he said.

The company reported 38 active drilling rigs in the U.S. for its first quarter compared with 60 for the first quarter of 2023.

In Canada, Precision averaged 73 active drilling rigs for the quarter, compared with 69 a year earlier.

The decline in U.S. activity helped lead its first-quarter profit to come in at $36.5 million, down from $95.8 million a year ago.

The company says the profit amounted to $2.53 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, down from $5.57 per diluted share the same time last year.

Revenue totalled $527.8 million, down from $558.6 million in the first quarter of 2023.

The company is focused on cost reductions, paying down debt and returning profits to shareholders, said Neveu.

Precision is also investing in automated rig technology that could mean future rises in demand won’t lead as much to booms in employment.

The system has several more months ahead of field hardening before it’s commercially ready, but so far it’s working better than expected, said Neveu.

“We’ll eliminate human work from the red zone on the drill rig floor and in the mast, while ensuring our customers safe, consistent, predictable and highly efficient rig floor performance.”

Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T -0.57%decrease reported lower first-quarter profit and higher revenue as it works to pay down debt from its $20-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc.

The wireless giant had $256-million of net profit during the three-month period ended March 31, down 50 per cent from a year ago when it reported $511-million of profit.

Meanwhile, the company’s revenue increased 28 per cent year-over-year to $4.90-billion, up from $3.84-billion.

Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw, which closed on April 3 of last year, boosted revenue, while also resulting in higher financing costs and higher depreciation and amortization on assets acquired as part of the deal.

Rogers chief executive officer Tony Staffieri said the Toronto-based telecom has delivered on its goal of finding $1-billion of savings stemming from the deal a year ahead of schedule, and it is now focused on reducing its debt leverage ratio by selling off non-core assets.

Glenn Brandt, the company’s chief financial officer, said that process is taking longer than he had expected because the real estate market has been soft ahead of anticipated interest-rate cuts.

“We do anticipate completing sales in 2024,” Mr. Brandt said during a conference call to discuss the telecom’s results, later adding, “We are being diligent to ensure we maximize proceeds.”

Canadian telecom stocks have been under pressure lately owing to a combination of factors, including elevated interest rates, heightened competition and limited avenues for growth.

Shares of Rogers fell by 3.5 per cent to $52.21 on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Wednesday afternoon trading.

The telecom added 98,000 net new postpaid mobile-phone customers during the quarter, up from 95,000 during the same quarter last year. (Postpaid subscribers are those who are billed at the end of the month for the services they used, while prepaid customers pay upfront for wireless services.)

It lost, on a net basis, 37,000 prepaid customers, compared with a net loss of 8,000 during the first three months of 2023.

Ottawa recently announced plans to slash the number of temporary residents, and some analysts see that as a headwind for the sector, which has benefited from immigration in recent years.

Monthly ARPU – average revenue per user – was $58.06, up 80 cents year-over-year from $57.26.

Desjardins analyst Jérome Dubreuil characterized the ARPU growth as “impressive in the context of strong competition, and shows RCI’s commitment to its premium-brand-first strategy.”

“This might not be the case for peers as they have not fully followed this strategy,” he wrote in a research note.

Churn – the rate of customer turnover on a monthly basis – in its postpaid customer base rose to 1.10 per cent, up from 0.79 per cent during the same period last year.

BCE Inc. is scheduled to report next week, with Telus Communications Inc. slated for May 9.

The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended April 20th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 212,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 214,000.

With the unexpected decline, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 200,000 in the week ended February 17th.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 213,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 214,500.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also slid by 15,000 to 1.781 million in the week ended April 13th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also fell to 1,794,000, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,801,250.

Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of April.