GIC payouts get supercharged as BoC hikes rates again - BNN Bloomberg | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Business

GIC payouts get supercharged as BoC hikes rates again – BNN Bloomberg

Published

 on


As borrowers bemoan yet another massive interest-rate hike by the Bank of Canada, savers are getting a long overdue reward.

In the wake of the fourth consecutive outsized increase by the central bank to combat inflation, yields on fixed income vehicles continue to rise.

  • Sign up for BNN Bloomberg’s personal finance newsletter, Home Economics

Just hours after Wednesday’s announcement, payouts on Canadian government two-year bonds ticked up slightly to 3.62 per cent and some one-year guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) yields have reached 4.5 per cent.

Earlier this year, investors were lucky to get one per cent on a GIC — but the times, they are changing. 

Wednesday’s 75-basis-point (which is a different way of saying three-quarters of a percentage point) increase brings the Bank of Canada’s benchmark lending rate to 3.25 per cent following a surprise full-point hike in July and half-percentage-point increase in April and June. Before then, it sat at an emergency pandemic low of 0.25 per cent.

And the central bank isn’t done; it has clearly signalled more hikes are coming. Markets are pricing in a solid chance of another half-percentage-point increase in October, which is expected to be further reflected in fixed income rates.

Some income-hungry investors have already jumped on the GIC bandwagon. The latest data from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) showed investors pulled $4.5 billion net from mutual funds in July following a net redemption of $10.4 billion in June.

On a conference call with analysts last month, Royal Bank of Canada Chief Financial Officer Nadine Ahn said much of the money pulled from RBC mutual funds in its fiscal third quarter went into GIC products.

Don’t jump on the highest yield just yet

Yields on longer-term fixed-income vehicles are normally higher than shorter-term maturities but experts caution savers not to jump at the highest rate in a rapidly rising interest rate environment.

The official inflation rate has come down since the rate hikes started but is still well above seven per cent. That means even a GIC that pays 4.5 per cent is way below the cost of living. 

For now, most fixed-income managers recommend laddering fixed income in short-term increments so they mature frequently enough to take advantage of yields as they rise. 

After all, 4.5 per cent might look like chicken feed a year from now.

Not all income is fixed

Like the name implies, payouts from GICs are guaranteed and essentially backed by the government. So are payouts from government bonds. If they default, we’re all in big trouble.

Fixed income is reliable income that we can count on when we need it.

Dividends from stocks and real estate investment trusts are considered income, but not fixed, because the payouts are at the discretion of the company or trust, and the value of the underlying investment can rise and fall with the whims of the market. 

Many investment advisors who are only qualified to sell mutual funds (and are only compensated by selling mutual funds) attempt to substitute the fixed income portion of a portfolio with bond funds. Bond funds are not fixed income because their holdings are often traded on the broader bond market and not held to maturity.

Many bond funds have posted losses as interest rates declined.

Fixed income as part of a portfolio

It’s important to have a fixed income component in any retirement portfolio no matter where yields are. Having a significant portion of your savings in fixed income acts as a cushion against volatility on the equity side of a portfolio.

Any positive return is better than the losses on equity markets so far this year, as an example. 

Three decades ago, before interest rates hit rock-bottom, the general rule of investing called for a fixed-income portfolio weighting roughly equal to the age of the investor. That means a 50-year-old would have half of their portfolio in fixed income. If your retirement goal called for an annual real return of six per cent, a five per cent return on the fixed-income portion of your portfolio made it much more attainable.

GICs will pay more going forward, but they have always been a tonic to help investors sleep at night.

Payback Time is a weekly column by personal finance columnist Dale Jackson about how to prepare your finances for retirement. Have a question you want answered? Email dalejackson.paybacktime@gmail.com.  

Adblock test (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

Published

 on

 

Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

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

Companies in this story: (TSX:T)

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

Published

 on

 

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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

Published

 on

 

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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version