Our roundup of Canadian small-caps in the news today.
Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Aphria Inc. (APH-T) says it's entered an agreement to supply Shoppers Drug Mart with medical cannabis.
The company says the deal is subject to Health Canada approving Shoppers Drug Mart's application to sell medical marijuana.
The pharmacy chain's parent company Loblaw Companies Ltd. applied for a licence to dispense medical marijuana in Oct. 2016.
If approved, Aphria says it expects Shoppers Drug Mart will sell Aphria-branded cannabis products online.
Current federal regulations allow licensed producers to distribute medical marijuana direct to consumers by mail.
Loblaw has previously said it believes pharmacists and pharmacies should play a role in medical marijuana distribution, and posted a job ad for a medical marijuana brand manager as Shoppers Drug Mart last month.
-The Canadian Press
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Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB-T) raised its dividend as it reported its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled compared with a year ago.
The bank increased its quarterly payment to shareholders by a penny to 63 cents per share.
The higher dividend came as Laurentian reported fourth-quarter net income of $58.6-million or $1.42 per diluted share, up from $18.4-million or 45 cents per diluted share a year ago.
Revenue for the three months ended Oct. 31 totalled nearly $268-million, up from $236.4-million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, the bank says it earned $66.5-million or $1.63 per diluted share for the quarter, up from $50.5-million or $1.47 per diluted share a year ago.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.55 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
- The Canadian Press
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Summit Industrial Income REIT (SMU.UN-T) says it will acquire a 100-per-cent interest in a four-property portfolio in the Greater Toronto area and is in the process buying a 100-per-cent interest in a 10-property portfolio primarily located in the GTA. Together they will cost $72-million.
The company also announced financing agreements to fund the purchases.
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Hardwoods Distribution Inc. (HWD-T) says the International Trade Commission ruled on Dec 1 that countervailing duties and antidumping duties against imported hardwood plywood from China imported to the U.S. will be implemented.
The company estimates that approximately 11 per cent of its total sales is product imported from China that would be subject to the trade case.
"We are pleased to have reached the final determination," said Hardwoods CEO Rob Brown in a release. "Over a year has passed since this trade case was launched, making purchasing decisions for this product line a challenge while investigations were ongoing. Looking forward, the final combined duty rate of 206.34 per cent is expected to make Chinese hardwood plywood non-competitive in the U.S. market. However, we have spent the last year planning for this potential outcome and, now that final duty rates are known, we believe we are well positioned to adjust our sourcing for this product line in due course."
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Centric Health Corp (CHH-T) says CEO David Cutler will be retiring as an officer and director of the company effective Jan. 31.
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UrtheCast Corp. (UR-T) says China's Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd will acquire geospatial data from the UrtheDaily Constellation, UrtheCast's planned constellation of Earth observation satellites.
"By entering into this agreement, 21AT becomes a key anchor partner for the UrtheDaily Constellation and UrtheCast's strategic partner for UrtheDaily Constellation data within the large Chinese market," the company said.
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Avigilon Corp. (AVO-T) says it was selected by East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System (ETMC) to help secure its healthcare facilities throughout the region.
ETMC installed more than 500 Avigilon cameras at its nine hospitals and 39 rural health clinics.
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Roots Corp. (ROOT-T), which recently went public, reported third-quarter sales of $89.7-million up, ahead of expectations of $90.9-million from $77.2-million a year ago.
The company said comparable sales growth was 10 per cent year-over-year.
Net income was $5-milion or 12 cents per share versus $5.9-million or 14 cents a year earlier. Adjusted income was 23 cents per share, which beat expectations of 16 cents and compared to 18 cents a year earlier.
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DHX Media (DHX.A-T; DHX.B-T) says it has licensed more than 450 half-hours of children's content to Tencent, a leading provider of internet value-added services in China.
"As we continue to build on the tremendous opportunity for children's content and brands in China, leading streaming companies like Tencent are looking to DHX Media as a key supplier of quality shows that children love," stated Josh Scherba, executive vice-president of distribution and content at DHX Media.
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