The last 13 days have involved plenty of patience for the folks at Aheer Transportation in Delta, B.C., where truckers have been laid off and the lots have been virtually silent because of the strike at the ports.
With news of a tentative deal on Thursday, mechanics and co-ordinators were swinging into action to prepare to clear out the backlog of shipments that has piled up during the work stoppage, according to the company’s CEO, Shinda Aheer.
“For us right now, we’re already panicking. … Tomorrow, the floodgates will open and this is gonna be packed,” he told CBC News on Thursday.
“It’s a jam that we all need to work together. We’re prepared for it. I figure, three to four weeks here, we’re going to be massively busy.”
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) announced Thursday morning that they had agreed to a tentative four-year deal to end the strike. The terms have yet to be made public, and both sides still need to ratify the agreement.
B.C. port strike is over, but it will take weeks to clear the backlog of goods
As the union and employer reach a tentative four-year deal, B.C. port workers are back on the job after nearly two weeks on strike. Now, all eyes are focused on when goods and supplies can start moving again.
About 7,400 workers have been on strike since July 1, halting shipments in and out of about 30 ports in B.C., including Canada’s largest, the Port of Vancouver.
The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade says there are 63,000 shipping containers stuck on vessels waiting at B.C. ports to be unloaded.
Work was already set to begin again at the ports with Thursday’s 4:30 p.m. PT shift, according to the BCMEA.
The news has already prompted forestry giant Canfor to announce it will resume operations next week at its Northwood Pulp Mill in Prince George, where about 450 workers were laid off because of the strike.
The Northwood Pulp Mill in Prince George will resume operations on July 17, Canfor announced Thursday. (Canfor)
Fiona Famulak, president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, said that business owners are feeling anxious to see the supply chain moving again.
“Manufacturers in particular are waiting for product, all the way from raw materials to glassware to steel for rebar,” she said.
“They tell us that for every day of the strike, they need three days to catch up. … There’s going to be some catchup.”
Dennis Darby, CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, said in a statement that manufacturers would be spending the “next several months sorting through the damage and getting caught up.”
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
