SASKATOON — Nutrien Ltd. reported second-quarter net earnings of US$448 million, down from US$3.6 billion a year earlier.
The Saskatoon-based company says sales were US$11.7 billion, down from US$14.5 billion during the same quarter last year.
Diluted net earnings per share were 89 cents US, down from US$6.51.
Nutrien says the lower earnings are mainly due to lower selling prices, weaker offshore potash sales volumes, and lower retail gross margin for crop nutrients and crop protection products.
It says net earnings were also hit by non-cash impairments of $465 million and $233 million.
The company revised its full-year guidance lower to reflect various pressures including lower global potash prices.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 2, 2023.
ST. JOHN`S, Newfoundland (AP) — ST. JOHN`S, Newfoundland (AP) — Fortis Inc. (FTS) on Wednesday reported second-quarter profit of $218.9 million.
The St. john`S, Newfoundland-based company said it had net income of 45 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 46 cents per share.
The results matched Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 46 cents per share.
The electric and gas utility posted revenue of $1.93 billion in the period.
With the leisure and hospitality sector again driving growth, payroll processor ADP released a report on Wednesday showing U.S. private sector employment jumped by much more than expected in the month of July.
ADP said private sector employment shot up by 324,000 jobs in July after surging by a downwardly revised 455,000 jobs in June.
Economists had expected private sector employment to increase by 189,000 jobs compared to the spike of 497,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
“The economy is doing better than expected and a healthy labor market continues to support household spending,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.
The much stronger than expected job growth came as employment in the leisure and hospitality sector jumped by 201,000 jobs.
Employment in the natural resources and mining sector also saw a notable increase of 48,000 jobs, while employment in the manufacturing sector fell by 36,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, ADP noted pay growth for job stayers slowed to 6.2 percent, the slowest pace of gains since November 2021. For job changers, pay growth slowed to 10.2 percent.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of July on Friday.
Economists currently employment to increase by 200,000 jobs in July after climbing by 209,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.6 percent.
Stocks have moved sharply lower in morning trading on Wednesday, adding to the modest losses posted in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the downside, with the Dow pulling back off its best closing level in well over a year.
Currently, the major averages are just off their lows of the session. The Dow is down 244.87 points or 0.7 percent at 35,385.81, the Nasdaq is down 263.66 points or 1.9 percent at 14,020.25 and the S&P 500 is down 53.36 points or 1.2 percent at 4,523.37.
The sell-off on Wall Street comes after credit rating agency Fitch Ratings unexpectedly downgraded the United States’ credit rating.
Fitch downgraded the U.S.’ long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to AA+ from AAA, citing a “steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years.”
“The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management,” Fitch said.
The move drew a strong response from the U.S., with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calling the change “arbitrary and based on outdated data.”
In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP released a report showing U.S. private sector employment jumped by much more than expected in the month of July.
ADP said private sector employment shot up by 324,000 jobs in July after surging by a downwardly revised 455,000 jobs in June.
Economists had expected private sector employment to increase by 189,000 jobs compared to the spike of 497,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
“The economy is doing better than expected and a healthy labor market continues to support household spending,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. “We continue to see a slowdown in pay growth without broad-based job loss.”
While the report points to continued strength in the U.S. labor market, the data may lead to renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of July.
Economists currently employment to increase by 200,000 jobs in July after climbing by 209,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.6 percent.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.9 percent.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has moved sharply lower after reporting better than expected second quarter results but providing disappointing sales guidance for the current quarter.
Considerable weakness is also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
The weakness in the gold sector comes amid a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery slipping $5.90 to $1,972.90 an ounce.
Steel, software, airline and banking stocks are also seeing significant weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved notably lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 0.9 percent.
The major European markets have also shown significant moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has tumbled by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 1.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.0 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the steep drop seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.1 basis points at 4.102 percent.
Aug 1, 2023 Oil prices rallied to a fresh three-month high on Monday and recorded their steepest monthly gains since January 2022, supported by signs of tightening global supply and rising demand through the rest of this year.
More actively traded October Brent crude futures rose $1.02, or 1.2%, to settle at $85.43 a barrel. The September Brent contract, which expired at settlement on Monday, rose 0.7% to close at $85.56 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rallied $1.22, or 1.5%, to $81.80 a barrel.
Both Brent and WTI hit their highest since late April for a third consecutive session on Monday, after notching their fifth straight weekly gains on Friday.
Saudi Arabia is expected to extend a voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for another month to include September. Saudi output fell by 860,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, while total production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was 840,000 bpd lower, a Reuters survey found on Monday.
“Crude prices are finishing a solid month on a high note as demand prospects remain impressive and no one doubts that OPEC+ will keep this market tight,” OANDA analyst Edward Moya said.
Oil inventories are beginning to drop elsewhere too, especially in the U.S., where the government has started refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from its lowest level in multiple decades. Five analysts polled by Reuters on Monday estimated on average that U.S. crude inventories fell by about 900,000 barrels in the week to July 28.
“After the end of SPR releases and recession fears and a liquidity drain due to bank stability fears, which caused the markets to ignore a looming supply squeeze, the coming supply deficits are getting too big to ignore,” Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said.
Goldman Sachs estimated that global oil demand rose to a record 102.8 million bpd in July and it revised up 2023 demand by about 550,000 bpd on stronger economic growth estimates in India and the U.S., offsetting a downgrade for China’s consumption.
Non‑GAAP financial measure; see discussion in Non‑GAAP Financial Measures section of this new release.
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In the third quarter of 2022, Management changed AltaGas’ non-GAAP policy to remove normalization adjustments relating to acquired contingencies. Prior periods have been restated to reflect this change. Please refer to the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of this news release for additional details.
Market sentiment remained mixed ahead of key data releases lined up for the week. Manufacturing PMI and Job Openings data from the U.S are due later in the day. Bank of England’s interest rate decision and Services sector PMI readings from the U.S. are due on Thursday. The unemployment report and the monthly non-farm payrolls report are due on Friday.
European benchmarks are trading with deep losses amidst a decline in manufacturing PMI. Wall Street Futures are trading with mild losses. Asian stocks finished trading on a mixed note, amidst decline in manufacturing activity and continued hopes of stimulus from China.
Dollar Index gained amidst the Dollar’s strength. Bond yields moved in a mixed fashion. Crude oil prices gained amidst hopes of stimulus measures from China. Gold prices declined. Cryptocurrencies are trading mostly lower.
West Coast membership of the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union of Canada voted down a tentative deal late Friday in a two-day vote
The ILWU, Canada chapter is calling on the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association to come back to the table and negotiate
The 14-day strike has hit hard U.S. trade that is imported through the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert with rail delays in upwards of 78 days and over 80% of trade not coming in.
Chemicals for drinking water, product manufacturing, holiday items and footwear and apparel are amongst the containers delayed
