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Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.

Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc. (ZZZ-T) said its fourth-quarter revenue increased 4.2 per cent to $160.1-million from $153.6-million a year earlier, which was below expectations of $164.2-million. Same-store sales fell by 2.7 per cent on top of 9.3-per-cent growth a year earlier, the company stated. Net income was $13.3-million or 36 cents per share versus net income of $14.8-million or 40 cents a year earlier. Adjusted net income was $14.8-million or 40 cents per share, which was below expectations of 43 cents and compared to adjusted income of $15.9-million or 42 cents a year ago.

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Pason Systems Inc. (PSI-T) reported revenue of $82-million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 24 per cent from the same period in 2017. Net income of $20.7-million or 24 cents per share compared to net income of $5-million or 6 cents per share recorded in the same period in 2017.

“Net income was positively impacted from the increased level of activity, reduction in depreciation expense due to lower capital expenditures in prior years, a smaller foreign exchange loss, and a lower effective income tax rate,” the company stated.

Analysts were expecting earnings to come in at 23 cents per share and revenue to be $78.9-million.

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Altius Minerals Corp. (ALS-T) issued a release after markets closed on Tuesday saying it held a “constructive meeting” with representatives of Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp on Feb. 22 and “received positive assurances that LIORC no longer intends to pursue changes to its current articles or its passive flow-through mandate and that it will maintain adherence to its policy of paying dividends to the maximum extent possible.”

The company added that LIORC also "advised that the topic of segregating its respective Iron Ore Company of Canada related royalty and equity interests is set to be generally discussed at its next board meeting where, if it is determined by the board to be in the best interests of LIORC and its shareholders, the board will not hesitate to bring it forward."

Altius said it was also invited to provide LIORC with "materials derived from its own internal analysis and consideration of the matter, to which it has agreed."

“We became major shareholders of LIORC on the underlying basis of its passive flow-through mandate related primarily to its royalty interest in the operations of IOC," stated Brian Dalton, CEO of Altius. "We are pleased now to have received the increased certainty levels we were seeking in order to maintain our indirect interest in this world-class asset. We also look forward to continued positive and constructive future shareholder engagement with LIORC.”

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Valens GroWorks Corp. (VGW-CSE) announced a multi-year extraction services agreement to provide cannabis and hemp extraction services to Tilray Canada Ltd. (TLRY-Q). “Under the terms of the Agreement, Valens will extract a minimum annual quantity of 15,000 kg of dried cannabis and hemp. The company will receive and process the cannabis and hemp on a fee for service basis into crude, distillate or other cannabis oil derivatives as required by Tilray before bulk shipping the desired product back to Tilray for final processing and sale,” it stated.

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Covalon Technologies Ltd. (COV-X) reported revenue of $7.2-million in its first quarter, which it said was an increase of 13 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier. Its net loss was $1.9-million or 9 cnets per share, compared to a profit of $0.5 million or 2 cents per share a year earlier. It said net income for the most recent quarter included approximately $1-million of “acquisition costs, accretion, interest, and purchase accounting expenses associated with the acquisition of AquaGuard that were incurred during the quarter. No similar costs were incurred in the previous year’s Q1.”

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TransAlta Corp. (TA-T) reported a net loss of $122-million or 43 cents per share in the fourth quarter compared to a loss of $145-million or 50 cents for the same time last year. Revenue was $622-million versus $638-million a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenue of $615.5-million.

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Torstar Corp. (TS.B-T), the publisher of the Toronto Star newspaper, reported a loss attributable to shareholders of $3.1-million or 4 cents per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That compared with a profit attributable to shareholders of $8.7 million or 11 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier. Operating revenue totalled $144.9 million, down from $169.3 million.

On an adjusted basis, Torstar says it earned a profit of 15 cents per share for the quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 32 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts on average had forecast $143.58 million in revenue and nine cents per share of earnings after adjustments, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

-The Canadian Press

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Laurentian Bank (LB-T) announced job cuts as it reported first-quarter net income of $40.3-million, down 32 per cent from the same period a year earlier. The Montreal-based lender’s net income for the quarter ended Jan. 31 amounted to 88 cents in diluted earnings per share, down from $1.41 one year ago.On an adjusted basis, Laurentian reported net income of $44.7 million or diluted earnings per share of 98 cents, down from $63.2 million or $1.49 per share a year ago. Analysts on average expected adjusted diluted earnings of $1.29 per share.

Laurentian chief executive Francois Desjardins says the lender’s performance during the quarter was hurt by lower capital market revenue. Market volatility at the end of 2018 has weighed on the quarterly earnings of several Canadian banks.The bank also says it took measures to improve efficiency during the quarter that will lead to a reduction of its head count by approximately 10 per cent or 350 employees over the next 12 months.

-The Canadian Press

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Slate Retail REIT (SRT.UN-T) reported fourth-quarter rental revenue of $36.3-million up from $34.9-million a year earlier. Its net loss was $9-million versus income of $31-million a year earlier.

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High Liner Foods Inc. (HLF-T) says fourth-quarter sales decreased by US$20.1-million to US$242.9-million compared to US$263-million a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenue of US$246.9-million.

Net income decreased by US$15-million to a loss of US$0.8-million compared to income of US$14.2-million. Earnings per share decreased to a loss of 2 cents compared to income of 43 cents. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 7 cents, which was below expectations of 5 cents and compared to 15 cents a year earlier.

The company said net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 reflects a non-cash income tax recovery of $11.2-million attributable to the reduction in the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent that came into effect on January 1, 2018 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act "and was not attributable to any operational or market-drivenn event."

“Our fourth quarter and year-end financial performance is aligned with our expectations for this stage of our turnaround plan,” said Rod Hepponstall, CEO of High Liner Foods. “With our successful organizational realignment behind us, our team is now positioned to unlock High Liner’s potential and deliver on our remaining critical initiatives. While there is still work to do and headwinds to contend with, we are seeing progress related to our ability to operate more efficiently and maximize opportunities on both sides of the border as one integrated North American organization.”

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 3:51pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
ZZZ-T
Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc
-0.27%29.91
LIF-T
Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp
-0.52%28.88
ALS-T
Altius Minerals Corp
+0.39%20.55
COV-X
Covalon Technologies Ltd
0%1.2
PSI-T
Pason Systems Inc
-1.57%15.64
TLRY-Q
Tilray Brands Inc
-0.4%2.47
TA-T
Transalta Corp
-0.69%8.69
LB-T
Laurentian Bank
-0.04%28.02
HLF-T
High Liner
+1.96%13.55

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