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"Inflation, inflation, inflation" still seen as temporary, Lagarde says | Kitco News – Kitco NEWS

Published

3 years ago

October 28, 2021

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank still sees a recent rise in euro zone inflation to above its 2% target as temporary and expects price pressures to ease next year, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.

She acknowledged the decline would take longer than ECB had initially expected but said favourable financing conditions created by its ultra-easy policy were still essential for the euro zone economy to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We see inflation rising further in the near term but then declining next year,” Lagarde told a news conference after the ECB left policy on hold.

She identified the main drivers of inflation as energy prices, snarled supply chains as consumer demand recovers and base effects, especially from last year’s German value-added tax cut, the impact of which should drop out of data in January.

Euro zone inflation hit 3.4% last month and is seen rising to 3.7% in October in flash estimates due to be released on Friday.

This has raised questions about whether the ECB’s aggressive policy of massive bond purchases and negative rates on deposits was still appropriate.

Lagarde said inflation had dominated the Governing Council’s discussions.

“We talked about inflation, inflation, inflation,” she said.

“We did a lot of soul-searching to actually test our analysis, and we are confident that this analysis of the temporality of these categories is correct and will lead to a decline over the course of 2022.

“Granted, it will take a little longer than we expected.”

The ECB said in September it saw inflation at 2.2% this year, 1.7% next year and 1.6% in 2023 but it is likely to nudge up its forecasts at the next round in December.

Economists polled by Reuters have also raised their forecasts and now see euro zone price growth at 2.3% this year, 1.8% in 2022 and 1.6% in 2023.

Market gauges of euro zone inflation expectations have also risen and put it around 2%, the ECB’s goal, for the next decade.

The five-year, five-year forward inflation swap broke above 2% for the first time since 2014 last week, while the one-year, one-year forward was just below that level.

Reporting By Francesco Canepa, Editing by Catherine Evans and Toby Chopra

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Cineplex reports $24.7M Q3 loss on Competition Tribunal penalty

Published

18 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

2 days 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

2 days 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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