Wajax says it expects demand for commodities will remain strong, boding well for the industries it supplies.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Heavy equipment, industrial component and power system provider Wajax Corp. has raised its monthly dividend by 35 per cent as an acquisition and improved industrial activity across the major sectors it supplies helped lift quarterly and annual profit.
The Toronto-based company reported Tuesday a fourth-quarter profit of $16.6-million or $1 a share, up from a year-earlier $15.8-million or 95 cents. Revenue jumped to $377.2-million from $316.4-million helped by its acquisition of Harper Power Products and gains in mining, energy, forestry, construction and industrial activity.
Wajax said its monthly dividend will increase to 27 cents a share.
For the full year, Wajax recorded profit of $63.8-million or $3.84 a share, compared with $56.4-million or $3.39 in 2010. Revenue rose to $1.38-billion from $1.11-billion.
"Looking forward to 2012, management expects growth in the Canadian economy to be more modest than that experienced in 2011," the company said in a statement.
"This is a result of the continuing high value of the Canadian dollar and the dampening effect of the European debt crisis and the slowing Chinese economy on world economic activity. However, we expect global demand for commodities to remain relatively strong, which should bode well for Canada's mining and energy sectors, particularly in Western Canada."
Wajax provides mobile equipment, industrial components and power systems to a wide variety of industries, including construction, transportation, manufacturing, industrial processing and utilities.
Shares in the company rose on the Toronto Stock Exchange.