Bauer hockey goalie masks are displayed for sale at an equipment store in Mississauga, Ontario. Performance Sports Group Ltd., the owner of the Bauer and Easton brands, filed for creditor protection in October.Cole Burston/Bloomberg
Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Performance Sports Group Ltd. (PSGLQ-OTC) says a U.S. bankruptcy court and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice have approved the sale of "substantially all" of the company's assets and North American subsidiaries to an acquisition vehicle co-owned by affiliates of Sagard Holdings Inc. and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (FFH-T)for $575-million (U.S.)
It expects the sale to be completed Feb. 27.
"We are pleased to have received the Courts' approval of the sale of Performance Sports Group's business to an investor group led by Sagard Holdings and Fairfax Financial, which we continue to believe represents the best path forward for our customers, vendors, retail and business partners, employees and other stakeholders," said CEO Harlan Kent in a release.
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Hudson's Bay Co. (HBC-T) has amended its asset-based revolving credit facility to increase its total capacity by $350-million (U.S.) to a total of $2.25-billion.
The company said $100-million of the increase is allocated to financing the working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes of the company's operations in the Netherlands. All other terms remain substantially the same, the company said.
The amendment "provides additional financial flexibility to HBC," stated chief financial officer Paul Beesley.
"Our solid capital structure is supported by long-term mortgages on our 5th Avenue flagships, and we are pleased to strengthen our balance sheet even further with this amendment. As we open our first Hudson's Bay stores in the Netherlands later this year, we will be able to rely on this facility to help finance our inventory and other working capital requirements associated with the entry into this market."
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Absolute Software Corp. (ABT-T) reported second-quarter revenue of $22.5-million (U.S.), up 6 per cent increase from a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting revenue of $23.4-million.
Adjusted EBITDA was $1.7-million, or 8 per cent of revenue, compared to $2-million, or 9 per cent of revenue a year earlier.
Its net loss was $1.8-million, or five cents per share, compared to a profit of $8.7-million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.
In its outlook, the company expects total 2017 revenue between $92-million and $94.6-million, representing 7 per cent to 10 per cent annual DDS (data and device security) segment revenue growth.
"Revenue is expected to grow at an accelerating rate through the year, driven by new customer acquisition, existing customer expansion and continuing sales productivity improvements," the company said.
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Parex Resources Inc. (PXT-T) says CEO Wayne Foo will retire after the company's annual meeting in May and will transition to chair of the board.
Dave Taylor, the current president, will keep that role and also become CEO.
Norman McIntyre, the company's current board chair, will retire from the board, the company said.
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Clearwater Seafoods Inc. (CLR-T) announced more than $5-million in new investments in its Arctic surf clam fishery.
The investments in Glace Bay, N.S. and Grand Bank, Nfld. will add new jobs, processing capacity and "spur continued sustainable growth of the fishery," the company said.
"Today's investment is good news for local jobs, domestic seafood processing capacity and those looking for the very finest wild-caught surf clams from Atlantic Canada," says CEO Ian Smith. "With this investment, Clearwater will continue to expand the export market for wild-caught Canadian seafood and build on its global leadership in sustainable seafood excellence."
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UrtheCast Corp. (UR-T) says a subsidiary of Land O' Lakes, Inc., an agribusiness and food company, will purchase geospatial data from the UrtheDaily Constellation, UrtheCast's planned constellation of Earth observation satellites.
UrtheCast says it has a long-term agreement to deliver daily, medium resolution imagery of the entire planet's landmass to the subsidiary, Geosys.
"By entering this agreement, Geosys will become an anchor customer for the UrtheDaily Constellation," the company said.
It's already the UrtheCast group's largest agricultural customer.
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Héroux-Devtek Inc. (HRX-T) Heroux-Devtek Inc. says it will be cutting 90 employees from its workforce by the end of 2017 because some customers have announced reductions to the production rates for certain aircraft programs.
The announcement by the Montreal-area aerospace company, which makes landing gear for Boeing, Airbus and other aircraft manufacturers, was included with Heroux-Devtek's third-quarter financial results issued Tuesday.
Heroux-Devtek said the job cuts would be throughout its offices and plants but didn't provide any other details.
According to regulatory documents filed last year, the company employed about 1,400 people in Canada and the United States. Its head office is in Longueuil, Que., a suburb of Montreal.
The company estimated the workforce reduction will result in a $4.8-million expense to be recorded in the company's 2017 fiscal fourth quarter, which ends March 31.
The company also reported third-quarter sales of $98.5-million, versus $96.6-million last year.
"This increase reflects higher sales to the defence aerospace markets, as detailed below, while year-over-year fluctuations in the value of the Canadian currency versus foreign currencies had a positive impact of $1.7-million on third-quarter sales," the company said.
Net income reached $8.2-million, or $0.23 per share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2017, compared to $7-million, or $0.19 per share, a year earlier.
Adjusted net income for the most recent quarter was $6-million, or $0.17 per share.
"This year's adjusted net income excluded an after-tax amount of $2.2-million related to a non-cash gain resulting from the update of the estimated repayment schedule for certain government authorities loans," the company said.
Analysts were expecting earnings of 12 cents per share and revenues of nearly $77-million.
(with files from Canadian Press)
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Excellon Resources Inc. (EXN-T) says it has negotiated "materially better than terms seen in recent years" for its offtake agreements for 2017.
It said the term represent an approximately 60-per-cent reduction in treatment and refining charges relative to 2016 based on budgeted tonnage for 2017 and at current metal prices.
"We are exceptionally pleased with our 2017 offtake arrangements," stated CEO Brendan Cahill in a release.
"This material reduction in treatment and refining charges directly increases net revenues and cash flows, while significantly decreasing cash costs per ounce, all very welcome developments in this important transition year at Platosa. The global zinc market continues to tighten, and we are looking forward to yet higher zinc and lead prices over the course of 2017."
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