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Quebec Ice storm hits 137000 hydro

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MONTREAL —
Road conditions are difficult, particularly south of the St. Lawrence River, especially on the South Shores of Montreal and Quebec while over 137,000 Hydro Quebec customers were affected by 125 disruptions to the network.

Several roads were also closed shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday morning in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, according to Bruno Lacombe of the Ministere des Transports (MTQ).

Three roads were closed there in both directions, namely, Route 132 between Lévis and Montmagny as well as route 281 between Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse and Saint-Raphael, then Route 218 between Saint-Henri and Saint-Charles-de- Nice hunt.

“We also have Highway 20 which is closed, in both directions between Lévis and Montmagny,” stressed Lacombe.

Further south, even if roads were not closed in the greater Montreal area, motorists needed to be extremely vigilant due to the icy pavement in several places.

“The road is icy on several roads, especially in the Vaudreuil sector, west of the island of Montreal, as well as everywhere in Montérégie, along the river on highways 20 and 30,” noted the MTQ spokesperson.

“Moving away from Montreal, it gets better (…) On the other hand, as we approach the Quebec region, the road is snowy with reduced visibility depending on the places because of winds.”

Lacombe also noted restrictions that prevent heavy trucks in the Quebec City region and on the North Shore. These restraints were in effect on Route 138 between Beaupré and Sainte-Catherine as well as on Route 381 north between the municipalities of Saint-Urbain and Fernand-et-Boileau.

Power outages

According to Hydro Quebec, around 137,000 customers were affected due to 125 outages on the network. Hyrdo Quebec noted that it is having an issue with its website and the exact numbers posted on the power outages map is not correct as of Sunday morning.

From ice to snow

The freezing rain warning has been lifted in the greater Montreal area, but the transition to snow should occur in the morning and stop in the afternoon.

In the Outaouais, sleet mixed with freezing rain should stop in the afternoon as well.

Southern Quebec avoided the worst of the storm as the region was hit with more sleet than freezing rain overnight from Saturday to Sunday. The situation is quite different in the east of the province.

“There is already 15 to 20 centimetres of snowfall in the Quebec region and it’s probably more on the Charlevoix side,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault.

Strong gusts of 60 to 70-kilometre winds are expected during the storm, which may lead to more power outages.

Highways, roads, walkways and parking lots will be slick and icy.

Public Safety Canada is encouraging citizens to make an emergency plan and kit with drinking water, food, medicine, a first aid kit and a flashlight.

More information on emergency planning can be found on the agency’s website.

With reporting from CTV News Montreal.

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Japan’s SoftBank returns to profit after gains at Vision Fund and other investments

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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.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Trump campaign promises unlikely to harm entrepreneurship: Shopify CFO

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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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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RioCan cuts nearly 10 per cent staff in efficiency push as condo market slows

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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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)

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