These are stories Report on Business is following Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014.
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Tell or not?
A Harvard Business Review blogger has sparked an interesting discussion, posing the question of whether a woman should tell a prospective employer if she's pregnant.
Raising the debate on LinkedIn, Whitney Johnson says about half the respondents said it's fine to not mention a pregnancy when interviewing for a job.
The other half felt the potential employer has a right to know, and that it's dishonest not to mention it.
"I wasn't surprised that women admitted to hiding a pregnancy during a job interview; their comments underscored the idea that we can't trust 'The Man,'" Ms. Johnson, a Springboard Fund general partner, writes in her Harvard Business Review guest blog.
One of the responses reminded Ms. Johnson of when she was pregnant and working on Wall Street.
"Instead of seeing it as a moment to gauge my ability to think strategically, negotiate with multiple stakeholders, and to navigate constraints, I felt like I was being asked to choose between my career and motherhood," writes Ms. Johnson, who says she unveiled her pregnancy, in 2000, within six weeks of signing on at what was then Merrill Lynch.
"No wonder so many women on the cusp of motherhood opt to become their own boss or to freelance."
Said one respondent, an adjunct professor: "If she's joining a large organization (more than 1,000 employees) there's no need to disclose it. Many things can happen during a pregnancy. And especially if she's too early to be showing, she's too early to be telling. That said, if it's a small company (fewer than 50 people) she must tell."
Said another: "Get the offer. Then be very upfront. You'll learn a lot about whether you want the job by their response."
Banks hike dividends
Two more big Canadian banks boosted their dividends today amid solid first-quarter results.
As The Globe and Mail's Tim Kiladze reports, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce hiked its payout by 2 cents to 98 cents, while Toronto-Dominion Bank went 4 cents.
CIBC posted a profit of $1.18-billion or $2.88 a share, up 50 per cent from a year earlier. Stripping out one-time items, CIBC earned $951-million or $2.31, topping the $2.14 expected by analysts.
TD, in turn, posted a profit of $2.04 or $1.07 a share. Stripping out the one-offs, profit also beat estimates at $2.02-billion or $1.06.
- Tim Kiladze: CIBC hikes payout as profit beats Street, soars to $1.2-billion
- Tim Kiladze: TD profit tops $2-billion, boosts dividend
Investors save plant
HJ Heinz Co. says it will sell its factory in Leamington, Ont., to an Ontario company that will make Heinz products and save about 250 of the jobs that would have vanished had the plant had closed.
Highbury Canco Corp., comprised of four investors including the manager of the factory, said it will make and distribute Heinz tomato juice and other canned goods, and plans to add its own products as it runs a scaled-down version of the plant that has operated for 105 years in Southwestern Ontario, The Globe and Mail's Eric Atkins reports.
Heinz said in November the plant would close this year, putting more than 700 people out of work and devastating a town that has depended on the economic engine of Heinz for generations.
Independence fight escalates
Standard Life PLC fired a shot across the bow of Scotland's independence movement today, warning it is already taking steps should it need to move part of its operations elsewhere.
The threat from chairman Gerry Grimstone and chief executive officer David Nish is significant not only because it has been based in Scotland for 189 years, but also because it is the first big outfit to warn it could move.
Politicians have been vocal in the run-up to Scotland's Sept. 18 independence vote, but the comments in Standard Life's annual report today may well signal the beginning of the business forces wading into the fight.
"We have a long-standing policy of strict political neutrality and at no time will we advise people on how they should vote," Mr. Nish said.
"However, we have a duty and a responsibility to understand the implications of independence for our 4 million U.K. customers, our shareholders, our people and other stakeholders in our business and take whatever action is necessary to protect their interests."
Standard Life has already started setting up "additional registered companies" outside Scotland to "transfer parts of our operations" if it needs to, said Mr. Nish, who employs some 5,000 people in the country.
"Scotland has been a good place from which to run our business and to compete around the world," added Mr. Grimstone.
"We very much hope that this can continue. But if anything were to threaten this, we will take whatever action we consider necessary – including transferring parts of our operations from Scotland – in order to ensure continuity and to protect the interests of our stakeholders."
There's already a fierce debate over whether an independent Scotland could use the British pound as its currency.
Earlier this month, George Osborne, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, warned in a speech in Edinburgh that that wouldn't happen.
"The pound isn't an asset to be divided up between the two countries after break-up as if it were a CD collection," he said at the time.
Sébastien Galy of Société Générale wondered if Standard Life shareholders had expressed their fears.
"Companies set up legal entities to secure assets, that typically happens in periods of risk and is linked to operational risk management, one of the key pillars of risk management," he said.
"The fact that it was announced may indicate that there was concern amongst their investor base."
Other companies may have already taken such steps, though quietly, which he called "normal risk management at work with little impact."
Ronnie Ludwig, an Edinburgh tax adviser at Saffery Champness, told Reuters he, too, believes other companies could follow Standard Life's lead.
"The lack of certainty over the pound, EU membership and the tax regime, be it corporate or personal, is driving a culture of, at worst, fear and some are starting to run for cover," Mr. Ludwig told the news agency.
"Companies want the familiar so it makes sense for them to head to England ... and if Standard Life are doing this then I am sure other life companies and banks are thinking the same."
- Carl Mortished in ROB Insight (for subscribers): No pound for you: U.K. gives Scotland ultimatum
- Britain warns Scotland: Forget the pound if you walk away
- Carl Mortished in ROB Insight (for subscribers): It’s Scotland’s oil, and it could be Scotland’s burden
- Read the Standard Life report
Valeant swings to profit
Valeant Pharamaceuticals lnternational Inc. swung to a profit and more than doubled its revenue in the fourth quarter as it folded in last year's acquisition of contact lens maker Bausch + Lomb Holdings Inc., The Globe and Mail's Bertrand Marotte reports.
Canada's largest publicly traded drug company said fourth-quarter net profit came in at $124-million or 36 cents per share, compared with a loss of $89.1-million or 29 cents in the year-earlier period.
Revenue reached $2.1-billion, up 109 per cent over $986.3-million a year earlier.
Big deals
Be sure to read our special report on how deal makers in the M&A sector are regaining their confidence, complete with the biggest transactions of 2013.
Current account deficit widens
Canada's current account deficit swelled in the fourth quarter of last year to $16-billion as trade faltered.
The deficit widened by $1.2-billion, Statistics Canada said today.
On the trade side of the ledger, the deficit widened by $1.4-billion to $2.7-billion, as exports slumped and imports gained.
The deficit on cross-border investment also widened, though by nowhere near as much, to $6.1-billion, largely on changes connected with foreign direct investment.
"Canada's current account deficit of over 3 per cent of GDP continues to highlight that the loonie remained overvalued in Q4," said senior economist Benjamin Reitzes of BMO Nesbitt Burns.
"However, the Canadian dollar recent weakness (and anticipated further depreciation this year) along with a strengthening U.S. economy should serve to modestly narrow the shortfall in 2014."
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