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Stantec Inc. (STN) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $58.9 million.

The Edmonton, Alberta-based company said it had profit of 52 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 67 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 63 cents per share.

The engineering firm posted revenue of $1.28 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $1.02 billion, which also beat Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $996.8 million.

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Nutrien Ltd. says it earned US$165 million in its first quarter, down 71 per cent from US$576 million a year earlier.

The Saskatoon-based company says its sales totalled US$5.4 billion, down 12 per cent from US$6.1 billion during the same quarter last year.

Diluted net earnings per share were 32 cents US, down from US$1.14 last year.

Nutrien says its lower earnings were primarily due to lower net fertilizer selling prices.

However, it says that was partially offset by increased retail earnings, higher fertilizer sales volumes and lower natural gas costs.

President and CEO Ken Seitz says the company is maintaining its guidance for the full financial year and it expects growth in retail earnings and fertilizer sales volumes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2024.

Manulife Financial Corp. says first quarter earnings were down from last year because of the effects of a major reinsurance deal.

The insurance giant says its net income attributed to shareholders for the quarter ending March 31 was $866 million, down from $1.4 billion in the same quarter last year.

It says the results include the $800 million impact from a $13-billion reinsurance deal with Global Atlantic that it says included the largest long-term reinsurance deal in history.

Manulife says the net earnings hit of the deal was broadly offset by a boost to other comprehensive income to make it neutral to book value.

It says core earnings were $1.75 billion, up from $1.53 billion last year.

Manulife says the reinsurance deal was done to reduce risk and redirect capital to growth areas.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2024.

WSP Global Inc. says it earned $126.8 million in the first quarter, up from $112.5 million a year earlier.

The Montreal-based engineering company says revenues for the quarter were $3.6 billion, up from $3.5 billion during the same quarter last year.

Basic net earnings per share were $1.02, up from 90 cents last year, while adjusted net earnings per share came to $1.55, up from $1.37 last year.

WSP says its backlog as of March 30 stood at $14.2 billion.

The company says the first-quarter results were in line with management’s expectations, with healthy organic growth in net revenues.

President and CEO Alexandre L’Heureux says the company continues to build upon the significant momentum it generated in 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2024.

Shopify Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as its revenue increased 23 per cent compared with a year ago.

The e-commerce software company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its net loss amounted to US$273 million or 21 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31.

The result for the quarter compared with a profit of US$68 million or five cents US per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.86 billion, up from US$1.51 billion in its first quarter last year.

The company says its merchants solutions revenue amounted to US$1.35 billion, up from US$1.13 billion a year earlier, while subscription solutions revenue totalled US$511 million, up from US$382 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Shopify says it earned 20 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of a penny US per share in the first quarter of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2024.

Spin Master Corp. says it lost US$54.8 million in the first quarter, compared with a loss of US$1.9 billion a year earlier.

The toy and entertainment company says revenues totalled US$316.2 million, up from US$271.4 million during the same quarter last year.

The acquisition of toy company Melissa & Doug added US$40.4 million to Spin Master’s revenue during the quarter.

Chief financial officer Mark Segal says toy gross product sales excluding the acquisition’s impact were in line with a year earlier, during what’s normally the lowest quarter for the toy industry.

Segal says the company is already starting to capitalize on cost synergies and identify revenue growth opportunities from the acquisition.

Diluted loss per share was 53 cents US, compared with two cents a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2024.

Intact Financial Corp. says it earned $673 million in the first quarter, up from $377 million a year earlier.

The Toronto-based company says earnings per share were $3.68, up from $2.06 per share during the same quarter last year.

Intact says the higher earnings per share were driven by investment gains on its equity portfolio as well as a gain on the sale of its U.K. direct Personal Lines operations.

Insurance revenue was $6.5 billion, up from $6.4 billion during the same quarter last year.

Intact says it expects favourable market conditions to continue, driven by inflation and catastrophe losses.

Earlier today Intact rolled out a pilot project to fireproof customers’ homes when a fire is nearby.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2024.

Nuvei Corp. says it lost US$4.8 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared with a loss of US$8.3 million a year earlier.

The Montreal-based fintech company says revenues were US$335.1 million, up from US$256.5 million during the same quarter last year.

Net loss per diluted share was five cents US, compared with seven cents US a year earlier.

Just over a month earlier, the company said it was going to be taken private by U.S. private equity firm Advent International in a deal valuing the company at about US$6.3 billion.

The deal is expected to close in late 2024 or the first quarter of 2025.

Nuvei went public less than four years ago, in what was the Toronto Stock Exchange’s largest tech IPO ever.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2024.