Business

Finance committee recommends MPs reject RBC-HSBC merger

Published

1 year ago

November 2, 2023

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance has recommended that Members of Parliament reject RBC’s proposed acquisition of HSBC Canada.

In a statement, Committee Chair Peter Fonseca said the Canadian financial sector already has few players and removing further competition could “raise banking fees for Canadians who already pay more for financial services due to an already uncompetitive financial sector.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for RBC wrote its merger “offers HSBC’s Canadian clients the best possibility for continuity and stability.”

“This proposed acquisition will also keep more well-paying financial sector jobs in Canada and will repatriate overseas roles that currently support HSBC’s Canadian operations,” the statement continued.

The bank also noted Canadians would still have more than 50 banks and hundreds of fintech firms and credit unions for their banking needs if the deal goes through.

In November 2022, RBC announced its intention to buy HSBC’s Canadian business for $13.5 billion, with the goal of closing the deal by the end of 2023.

On Sept. 1, Canada’s Competition Bureau said the deal could go through and was unlikely to hurt banking competition in Canada, but would result in “a loss of rivalry between Canada’s largest and seventh largest banks.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland must now give the final approval for the deal.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called on Freeland to block the deal, telling BNN Bloomberg last month that “we need competition in banking.”

“We have a problem where very old, very large, government-protected oligopolies have little competition and therefore little entrepreneurial incentive to become more productive and more enterprising,” he said in the television interview. “One of the only ways to change that is to engender more competition in the marketplace.”

With files from BNN Bloomberg’s Holly McKenzie-Sutter

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Cineplex reports $24.7M Q3 loss on Competition Tribunal penalty

Published

11 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.

The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.

The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.

Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)

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Restaurant Brands reports US$357M Q3 net income, down from US$364M a year ago

Published

1 day ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:QSR)

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Electric and gas utility Fortis reports $420M Q3 profit, up from $394M a year ago

Published

1 day ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.

The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.

Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:FTS)

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