National Bank of Canada raised its dividend as it reported its fourth-quarter profit rose compared with a year ago.
The Montreal-based bank says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of $1.14 per share, up from $1.10 per share.
National Bank says it earned $955 million or $2.66 per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from a profit of $751 million or $2.09 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $2.94 billion, up from $2.56 billion a year earlier, while the bank’s provision for credit losses amounted to $162 million, up from $115 million a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, National Bank says it earned $2.58 per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $2.39 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for an adjusted profit of $2.57 per share, according to data provided by LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024.
Scotiabank reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1.69 billion, up from $1.35 billion in the same period last year, as it set aside a smaller amount for bad loans compared with a year ago.
The bank says the profit amounted to $1.22 per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from 99 cents in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $8.53 billion, up from $8.27 billion in the bank’s fourth quarter last year.
The bank’s provisions for credit losses amounted to $1.03 billion in its fourth quarter, down from $1.26 billion a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Scotiabank says it earned $1.57 per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $1.23 per diluted share a year ago.
The average analyst estimate had been for an adjusted profit of $1.60 per share, according to data provided by LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.
Enbridge Inc. ENB-T +0.71%increase raised its quarterly dividend for next year as it released its financial guidance for 2025.
The pipeline company says it will pay a quarterly dividend of 94.25 cents per share, up from 91.5 cents per share, effective March 1.
The increased payment to shareholders amounts to an annualized dividend of $3.77 per share to give it an annual yield of about 6.2 per cent based on the company’s share price Monday.
In its outlook, Enbridge says it expects adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes and depreciation between $19.4-billion and $20.0-billion for 2025, a nine per cent increase from the midpoint of its 2024 guidance.
Distributable cash flow per share is expected to be $5.50 to $5.90 next year.
The company says the guidance is based on expected strong utilization across its businesses and contributions from acquisitions and growth projects that entered service in 2024 as well as partial-year earnings from projects that are expected to begin service in 2025.
In an unannounced address broadcast live late at night on YTN, Yoon said he had no choice but to take drastic measures to protect South Korean freedoms and the constitutional order. He asserted opposition parties have taken the parliamentary process hostage and thrown the country into crisis.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” Yoon said.
The White House did not immediately condemn the action by Yoon.
“The Administration is in contact with the Republic of Korea government and is monitoring the situation closely,” a National Security Council spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Yoon did not say in the address what specific measures would be taken. Yonha news agency reported that the entrance to the parliament building was being blocked, according to Reuters.
“Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the country,” opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said in a livestream online. “The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly.”
The liberal Democratic Party has controlled South Korea’s single-chamber National Assembly since Yoon, a former top prosecutor, took office in 2022. Those in the opposition have repeatedly thwarted Yoon’s agenda and the president has had low approval ratings.
In his address, Yoon cited actions by the Democratic Party as justification for martial law, including an effort this week to impeach some of the country’s top prosecutors and the national assembly’s rejection of Yoon’s proposed budget.
Democratic lawmakers had moved to slash more than 4 trillion won from the Yoon administration’s budget proposal. Yoon said the budget cuts would undermine the essential functioning of government administration.
Yoon was handed a blistering political defeat earlier this year when South Korean voters expanded the Democratic Party’s majority in the assembly. One South Korean political analyst told the Associated Press the election results rendered Yoon “a dead duck,” with even control over his own party at risk following the losses.
The South Korean president has also been beset by scandal involving his wife, first lady Kim Keon Hee. She was allegedly involved in a stock price manipulation scheme and the release of spy camera footage showed her accepting a luxury bag from a Korean American pastor, the AP reported.
The S&P 500 ticked higher to a new record to began December trading as investors looked for stocks to add to big November gains.
The S&P 500 was higher by 0.2%, touching a new intraday record. The Nasdaq Composite added 1%, also reaching a new intraday high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3% after briefly trading above 45,000. The blue-chip index had previously touched the milestone briefly a few times last week.
Intel jumped 3% after CEO Pat Gelsinger retired after four years of underperformance at the chipmaker. Shares of Tesla also gained 3% following an upgrade to buy from neutral at Roth MKM, with the firm citing as a catalyst Musk’s close relationship with President-elect Donald Trump. AI server maker Super Micro Computersurged 19% after a special committee found “no evidence of misconduct” and that the firm’s financial statements were “materially accurate.”
November marked the best month of 2024 for both the Dow and S&P 500, with the two gaining 7.5% and 5.7% respectively for the period. Most of the gains came in a postelection rally after President-elect Donald Trump emerged as the winner. Both of the indexes notched closing highs in Friday’s shortened trading session.
Canadian manufacturing activity increased at the fastest pace in 21 months in November as the Bank of Canada’s interest-rate cutting campaign boosted domestic demand and despite port strikes that worsened delivery delays, data showed on Monday.
The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 52.0 in November from 51.1 in October, its highest level since February 2023 and the third straight month above the 50.0 no-change mark.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
“Output and new orders both rose at stronger rates when compared to October, with firms noting an uplift in domestic market activity, linked in part to recent reductions in interest rates,” Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement.
“In contrast, subdued global demand continued to weigh on overall sales.”
The Canadian central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate by one and a quarter percentage points since June, lowering the rate to 3.75 per cent. Investors expect further easing in a policy decision on Dec. 11.
The output index rose to 53.1 from 52.2 in October, while the new orders measure was at 52.7, up from 50.5. New export orders declined for the 15th successive month.
Canada sends about 75 per cent of its exports to the United States, so its economy could be harmed if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump follows through on a pledge to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico.
Average lead times for the delivery of inputs lengthened for the fifth straight month and by the most since August, which firms put down to rail delays and port stoppages.
Earlier this month, Canada moved to end labor disputes at the country’s biggest ports, including Vancouver and Montreal, citing economic damage.
A stronger U.S. dollar – the greenback notched a 4-1/2-year high against its Canadian counterpart last Tuesday – helped raise the price of imported goods, firms said.
Input cost inflation accelerated to its highest level since April 2023. The output price index also rose but remained below its recent peak in August.
Add one more headwind facing Magna International Inc. MG-T +1.35%increase: When U.S. president-elect Donald Trump announced this week that he will impose a 25-per-cent tariff on all products imported from Canada and Mexico, the Canadian-based auto-parts manufacturer looked vulnerable to the tough talk.
So why has the share price remained roughly unchanged, holding onto an impressive gain of about 20 per cent over the past 11 weeks? Perhaps markets are telling pundits to relax.
The prospect of tariffs disrupting Magna’s complex global operations – which include 342 facilities in 28 countries, serving 58 vehicle manufacturers – is just one of several issues that have weighed on the company over the past few years.
It took a US$376-million charge in 2022 after shuttering its six production facilities in Russia.
Sales of electric vehicles, a segment in which Magna has a substantial investment with parts such as battery enclosures, have not been living up to expectations. More broadly, light-vehicle production – Magna’s bread and butter – is in a global slump, falling 4 per cent in the third quarter year-over-year.
Magna’s share price has been struggling with these challenges. From a high above $125 in mid-2021, the stock fell by as much as 58 per cent by August, 2024.
Since then, Mr. Trump has won the U.S. presidential election, and his harsh rhetoric on tariffs has edged toward actual policy, raising additional uncertainties for the interconnected North American automotive sector, which has virtually ignored borders for decades.
“It’s important to consider that, for close to 30 years, the sourcing of light vehicles and their downstream components – the whole value chain – has not viewed Canada and Mexico as separate countries,” said Mike Wall, the executive director of automotive analysis at S&P Global Mobility, in an interview.
Curiously, though, Magna’s share price has rebounded from its August lows, suggesting that investors aren’t too worried.
The stock’s cheap valuation, based on price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, implies that a lot of bad news has been priced in.
Interest rates may be working in Magna’s favour as well. As central banks cut their key rates in response to tamed inflation, lower borrowing costs should help stimulate vehicle sales.
A third factor: Magna has been adept at navigating the difficult environment for vehicle production. With its most recent quarterly results, released earlier this month, the company forecast relatively stable profit margins and announced it would buy back its own shares and pay down debt. The share price bounced 6.5 per cent on the day the quarterly results were released.
That was before Mr. Trump made his tariff announcement. Since then, Magna hasn’t commented publicly on the potential impact on its global operations and did not immediately respond to The Globe and Mail’s request for comment.
But at the Barclays Global Automotive and Mobility Tech Conference on Nov. 21, a top Magna executive did address the theoretical issue of tariffs – and didn’t sound particularly rattled.
Patrick McCann, Magna’s chief financial officer, wondered whether tariffs would hit vehicles or parts. In any case, if Mr. Trump wants tariffs to encourage production to move back to the U.S., he mused, it would be nearly impossible to achieve such a complex shift over a four-year period.
“Those are all the things that are up in the air, and I don’t have a crystal ball,” Mr. McCann said.
For now, investors appear to be okay with that. Magna’s share price, though down sharply over the past few years, is hovering just below a six-month high. And major equity indexes, including the S&P 500 and the S&P/TSX Composite Index, rallied to fresh records this week.
The leading theory is that optimism over Mr. Trump’s tariff threat isn’t misplaced: The incoming president would prefer to win concessions on illegal immigration and drug smuggling. What’s more, the optimistic case rests on 2016, when Mr. Trump made similar tariff threats prior to the start of his first presidential term. Back then, negotiations prevailed and stocks gained.
Indeed, Magna’s share price rallied 31.4 per cent from election day 2016 through election day 2020, not including dividends. That was well ahead of the 8.8-per-cent gain for the S&P/TSX Composite Index over the same period.
At the very least, this outperformance suggests that investors can do well by tuning out the bluster from the White House over the next four years and focus instead on how Magna is responding to challenging operating conditions. The headwinds are still there, according to the bullish case, but so is a cheap stock.
(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for November.
(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for November.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI for November.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. construction spending for October. The Street is forecasting a rise of 0.2 per cent from September.
Also: Canadian and U.S. auto sales for November.
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Tuesday December 3
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey for October.
Earnings include: Bank of Nova Scotia; Descartes Systems Group Inc.; Marvell Technology Inc.; Salesforce Inc.
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Wednesday December 4
Japan and Euro zone services and composite PMI
(8:15 a.m. ET) U.S. ADP National Employment Report for November.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian labour productivity for Q3. Estimate is a decline of 0.3 per cent from Q2.
(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for November.
(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P Global Services/Composite PMI for November.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. ISM Services PMI for November.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. factory orders for October. Consensus is a gain of 0.3 per cent from September.
(1:45 p.m. ET) U.S. Fed chair Jerome Powell participates in a moderated discussion at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Beige Book is released.
Earnings include: Dollarama Inc.; Dollar Tree Inc.; EQB Inc.; GameStop Corp.; National Bank of Canada; North West Co. Inc.; Royal Bank of Canada
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Thursday December 5
Euro zone retail sales
Germany factory orders
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s merchandise trade balance for October.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Nov. 30. Estimate is 215,000, up 2,000 from the previous week.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. goods and services trade deficit for October.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for November.
(10 a.m. ET) Canada’s Ivey PMI for November.
Also: OPEC+ meeting
Earnings include: Bank of Montreal; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; Dollar General Corp.; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.; Kroger Co.; Lululemon Athletica Inc.; Toronto-Dominion Bank
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Friday December 6
China foreign reserves
Japan household spending
Euro zone real GDP
Germany industrial production and trade surplus
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian employment for November. The Street is expecting a gain of 0.1 per cent, or 27,500 jobs, from November with the unemployment rate rising 0.1 per cent to 6.6 per cent and average hourly wages rising 4.5 per cent year-over-year.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. nonfarm payrolls for November. Consensus is a gain of 200,000 jobs from October with the unemployment rate rising 0.1 per cent to 4.2 per cent and average hourly wages up 0.3 per cent month-over-month and 3.9 per cent year-over-year.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for December (preliminary reading).
(3 p.m. ET) U.S. consumer credit for October.
Earnings include: BRP Inc.; Canadian Western Bank; Laurentian Bank of Canada
Five major Canadian news media companies on Friday filed a legal action against ChatGPT owner OpenAI, accusing it of regularly breaching copyright and online terms of use.
The move is the latest in a series of challenges for OpenAi, which has Microsoft as its major backer.
In a statement, Torstar, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, and CBC/Radio-Canada said OpenAI was scraping large swaths of content from media to help develop its products without getting permission or compensating content owners.
“Journalism is in the public interest. OpenAI using other companies’ journalism for their own commercial gain is not. It’s illegal,” it said.
Earlier this month billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk expanded a lawsuit against OpenAI. He said Microsoft and OpenAI illegally sought to monopolize the market for generative artificial intelligence and sideline competitors.
