MEG Energy.Reuters
Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust (IIP.UN-T) says it has an unconditional agreement to sell its properties in Kingston, Ont., or a total of 202 suites, for $21.2 million.
"As previously announced, InterRent has been actively pursuing an asset allocation strategy of monetizing value created by the REIT in smaller non-core markets and recycling capital into core growth markets," the company said.
"The sale of REIT's Kingston portfolio, together with the its recently announced dispositions in Belleville, Brantford and Brampton, brings the total sales in 2016 to 461 suites, for a combined sale price of $52,460,000," the company said.
"Although we have been very pleased with the performance of our Kingston portfolio, we are committed to executing on the REIT's strategy of recycling capital from our non-core properties and redeploying those funds into new repositioning opportunities within our core markets. We believe that this strategy will provide greater opportunities for scale, long term growth and value creation for our Unitholders," stated CEO Mike McGahan.
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Exco Technologies Ltd. (XTC-T) reported second quarter sales of $133.4 million, an increase from $125.5 million a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenues of $138.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.
Its net income was $9 million or 21 cents per share, compared to $10.9 million or 26 per cent a year earlier.
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Calian Group Ltd. (CGY-T) says it has been awarded a contract by the Department of National Defence to provide aircraft maintenance and repair training services to the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering in Borden, Ont
It said the one-year contract is valued at $8.5 million.
"The contract also contains three one year options, which if exercised will increase the total value of the contract to approximately $35 million for the four-year contract period," the company said.
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AlarmForce Industries Inc. (AF-T) says a former franchisee has filed a lawsuit against the company seeking $18 million in damages.
AlarmForce said in a release that the statement of claim was made by Robert Hepburn and a numbered Ontario company. It said Mr. Hepburn is a former franchisee who operated an AlarmForce business in southwestern Ontario from 1995 until December 2015.
"Hepburn seeks total damages of $18 million for, among other claims, breach of contractual and statutory obligations," the company said.
It said the claim "fails to describe the basis for, or the particulars of, the amounts sought."
AlarmForce said it believes the claim is "without merit" and it intends to "defend the claim vigorously."
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Uni-Select Inc. (UNS-T) reported first quarter sales of $264 million, which beat analysts' expectations of $259.2 million, but is down from $411.7 million a year earlier.
Net income was $11.5 million or 53 cents per share, compared to a loss of $82.3 million or $3.88 a year earlier. Adjusted earnings for the prior-year period was $10 million or 47 cents a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $21.7 million, up from $19.5 million a year earlier.
"Despite the impact of the declining Canadian dollar and the economic slowdown in the Prairies, we enter the second quarter with solid momentum," stated CEO Henry Buckley. "We continue to be highly focused on profitable growth and the integration of our acquisitions."
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CRH Medical Corp (CRH-T, CRHM-N) reported first quarter $13.8-million (U.S.), up 44 per cent from last year.
The increase in revenues is mainly attributable to the Company's newly acquired anesthesia service providers in the first, third and fourth quarters of 2015," the company stated.
Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization attributable to shareholders was $5.9 million, an increase of $820,777 from 2015.
"The increase in operating EBITDA is primarily a reflection of the Company's newly acquired anesthesia service providers and a net increase in product and corporate operating expenses," It stated.
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Calfrac Well Services Ltd. (CFW-T) reported first quarter revenue of $216.1-million, a 64-per-cent decrease from the same period in 2015.
That was below analysts' expectations of $240.2-million, according to Thomson Reuters.
The company said it fracturing job count decreased by 48 per cent. Consolidated revenue per fracturing job decreased by 37 per cent, " rimarily due to significantly lower pricing in Canada and the United States, partially offset by the appreciation of the U.S. dollar."
Net loss attributable to shareholders of Calfrac was $54.1-million or 47 cents per share compared to a net loss of $12.6 million or 13 cents per share in the same period last year.
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GMP Capital Inc. (GMP-T) reported revenue of $45.9-million in first quarter 2016, down 14 per cent compared with the same period a year ago.
GMP recorded a net loss of $3.6-million or 8 cents per shares in first quarter 2016, compared with a net loss of $8.9-million or 14 cents per share in the first quarter 2015. On an adjusted basis, the first quarter 2016 net loss was $2.9-million or 7 cents per share, the company said.
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MEG Energy Corp (MEG-T), reported a first-quarter profit, compared with a loss a year earlier, as it managed to keep production costs at record lows to help cushion the impact of a slump in oil prices.
MEG said cash flow used in operations, or negative cash flow, rose to $131-million from $30-million as realized bitumen prices more than halved.
The prolonged oil slump has forced oil producers, including MEG, to try and preserve cash and reduce debt by selling assets, laying off workers and cutting their dividend as well as capital spending.
MEG said it was implementing a hedging program to increase the predictability of future cash flows.
The company said it continues to target average production of 80,000-83,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year.
Bitumen production fell about 7 percent to 76,640 bpd in the quarter due to a turnaround a quarter ahead of schedule at MEG's Christina Lake facilities in northern Alberta.
However, its net operating costs decreased 19 per cent to $8.53 per barrel, in line with the record-low cost in the previous quarter.
That helped the company reported a net profit of $131-million, or 58 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. It had lost $508-million, or $2.27 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 37.9 per cent to $290-million.
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Superior Plus Corp. (SPB-T) reported first-quarter revenue of $807.5-million, down from $976-million a year earlier.
Analysts were looking for sales of $1.02-billion in the quarter ended March 31.
The company reported income of $104.9-million or 69 cents per share, compared to a loss of $9-million or 7 cents a year earlier.
"Superior delivered a strong quarter despite record warm weather across Canada and the Northeast U.S., which had a significant impact on our Energy Distribution business," stated CEO Luc Desjardins. "Although we faced substantial headwinds from the warm weather and the continued decline in oilfield activity, the first quarter results demonstrate the value of our geographic, customer
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With a file from Reuters