Arthur Irving is no longer in his leadership role at Irving Oil, and his daughter, Sarah Irving, is no longer part of the leadership team, according to the company’s website, fuelling further speculation about the future of one of New Brunswick’s largest employers.
Irving, 93, who was chair of the Saint John-based board of directors, is now listed as chairman emeritus, while Sarah Irving, who was executive vice-president and widely seen as his heir apparent, is no longer listed.
Company spokesperson Katherine d’Entremont did not respond to requests by email and phone on Tuesday and Wednesday for comments.
“No decisions have been made about where this strategic review may lead,” Arthur Irving, Sarah Irving and Irving Oil president Ian Whitcomb, said in a statement last June, when the strategic review was announced.
Sarah Irving, the former executive vice-president of Irving Oil, is pictured here at Port Days in 2017, when she told attendees her grandfather ‘had a vision’ for the company when he started it, and all he hoped it would be. ‘He was thinking big, but his roots and his team would always be right here at home,’ she said. (CBC)
“Considerations will be given to a new ownership structure, a full or partial sale, or a change in the portfolio of our assets and how we operate them,” they said.
With 4,000 employees, the privately held company is one of the most powerful in the province.
‘Transition time’
Premier Blaine Higgs, a former Irving Oil executive, who worked for the company for more than 30 years, told CBC Wednesday he is surprised and saddened by news of the leadership changes.
“I think [it] shows it’s a transition time for the business,” he said.
“I guess they’re making big decisions about their future.”
Irving Oil’s Saint John refinery is Canada’s largest, processing about 320,000 barrels a day and producing gasoline, diesel, heating oil, jet fuel, propane and asphalt. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
Founded in 1924 by Arthur’s father, K.C. Irving, Irving Oil operates Canada’s largest refinery in Saint John, which processes about 320,000 barrels a day and is New Brunswick’s largest greenhouse gas emitter.
The company has “more than 900 fuelling locations and a network of distribution terminals spanning Eastern Canada and New England,” according to its website.
It also operates Ireland’s only refinery, Whitegate, which processes up to 75,000 barrels a day.
Forbes Magazine listed Arthur Irving as the eighth richest person in Canada in 2023, with an estimated net worth of $5.7 billion. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index lists him as sixth richest, with a total net worth of about $8 billion.
Could be a ‘precursor’
Industry consultant Andrew Lipow said the leadership changes could signal more changes to come.
“It could be a precursor that there’s going to be a potential change in the ownership of the company, or that … the board of directors has decided it’s time for new leadership to be installed, and that’s people who are outside of the original founding family, said Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, based in Houston.
“I think that the family may have decided that they’d just simply like to cash out of that investment,” he said, also citing the more stringent federal environmental regulations, aimed at lowering Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions over time.
“Irving may be looking at making a significant investment in order to comply with those regulations, and the existing ownership may have decided that perhaps the sale to a third party with additional financing being available is the way to go to maintain and enhance their business over the next several decades.”
The Saint John refinery is valued at about $2 billion.
It’s difficult to predict who a potential buyer would be, said Lipow.
“It could be a Canadian oil producer. It could be private equity that decides to come in and make an investment. It could be another international oil major looking for a refining asset in which to monetize their oil production.”
A potential sale would not result in a halting of the refinery’s operations, according to Lipow. It is a “major supplier” of gasoline and diesel fuel into Eastern Canada as well as into New England, he said.
Any changes at Irving Oil, however, would be felt throughout the region, Lipow said.
That could include, for example, a rebranding of the gas stations located on “many corners,” he said.
‘Respected advisory role’
As the chairman emeritus of Irving Oil, Arthur Irving “continues to maintain a respected advisory role for the Board and its activities,” the company’s website says.
It previously said he was responsible as chairman “for establishing the vision for the company and providing overall guidance to [the] senior leadership team.”
Sarah Irving was previously described as the executive vice-president, who “grew up in the family business, understanding well the importance of great employees and loyal customers in achieving success.”
Sarah Irving isn’t often heard from in public, but in a speech six years ago at Port Days, she spoke with pride about the company and its legacy.
“When my grandfather K.C. Irving founded Irving Oil in 1924, he had a vision for our company,” she said.
“Here, in Saint John, he saw many opportunities of a place with unparalleled natural advantages. And together with his sons Jim, Arthur and Jack, and the many dedicated employees of Irving Oil, they would work hard to make this vision a reality, in building businesses that would span the globe, but always remain true to home.”
The rest of the leadership team at Irving Oil remains unchanged, according to the website.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
