Decline in industrial production – Business News

The Canadian press –
April 16, 2019 / 7:29 | story:
254116

According to Statistics Canada, manufacturers' sales fell 0.2% in February to $ 56.6 billion, as a result of declines in the motor vehicle assembly and wood products industries.

Economists were not expecting any change for February, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The decline followed a 0.8% increase in January.

According to Statistics Canada, sales declined in 15 of 21 industries, accounting for 65.9% of Canada's manufacturing sector in February.

The motor vehicle assembly industry fell 4.4% to $ 4.9 billion in February, due to the decline in the number of vehicles sold, while Wood products declined 5.9% to settle at $ 2.5 billion.

Excluding motor vehicle sales, manufacturers' sales increased 0.2%.

The Canadian press –
April 16, 2019 / 7:02 | story:
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The Canadian press –
April 16, 2019 / 5:33 | story:
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The head of the Foxconn technology group plans to move away from the daily activities of the world's largest electronics supplier and announced Tuesday that he plans to run for the Taiwan presidency.

Terry Gou said that he would make a decision "in a day or two" on a possible candidacy for the presidency, according to the Taiwanese Central News Agency. He said that if he decided to run for office, he would attend the opposition Nationalist Party's primary rather than mount an independent candidacy.

Nationalists are in favor of closer ties with Beijing, a policy in line with Gou's major commercial interests in China. All candidates are expected to face an overcrowded world during the 2020 polls, in which President Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Party said he will run for a second four-year term.

At an event in Taipei, Mr. Gou said Monday that he would pull out of daily operations at Foxconn. He said he wanted to work on a book on his management philosophy, perfected over 45 years, and prepare a new generation to take over the company's operations.

Foxconn has customers like Apple, Google and Amazon and announced the construction of a manufacturing facility in the US state of Wisconsin.

"The main directions of the company will remain guided by me, but I will gradually withdraw from front-line operations," said Gou, 69.

"I think I should moderate my personal influence … let the young people learn sooner to take up my duties as soon as possible so that I can have more free time to work on long-term planning for the future. ;business."

Foxconn announced in 2017 with a lot of fanfare its intention to invest $ 10 billion in Wisconsin and hire 13,000 people to build an LCD panel factory that can make screens for TVs and TVs. various other devices.

The company said last year that it was reducing the scale of what was to be manufactured in Wisconsin, from what is known as the Gen 10 plant to Gen 6. These plans now appear to be evolving, although the company says its Wisconsin campus will be home to both a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and a "technology innovation center for the region".

Earlier this year, Foxconn said that the changing global market required giving up the manufacture of LCD screens in Wisconsin. Apple is Foxconn's largest customer in the manufacturing sector and anticipates lower revenues for the Chinese market due to lower demand for iPhones.

The Canadian press –
April 16, 2019/5: 30 pm | story:
254109

Lewis Mitchell, a former chief of police on Mohawk territory of Akwesasne, chuckled when he was asked to think that he would have a hard time finding customers when his first batch of cannabis will be ready for sale by the summer.

"No, not at all," said Seven Leaf's president at his company's production facilities along the St. Lawrence River, about 130 kilometers southwest of Montreal. They will simply not be in their own community, at least not yet.

It has been six months since the federal Liberal government legalized marijuana in Canada, leaving it to the provinces to manage sales and distribution. First Nations people took part in the action, but reserve policy and jurisdictional issues complicated the legalization of Aboriginal communities.

Akwesasne is a striking example.

Mohawk territory is located within the boundaries of Ontario, Quebec and New York State. Quebec has created a provincial monopoly in the retail sale of cannabis and does not issue licenses to non-state actors. Ontario, for its part, capped its 25 retail licenses and distributed them through a lottery system. And the use of drugs for recreational purposes remains illegal in New York.

Since legalization in Canada last October, unlicensed smokers selling cannabis have emerged in Aboriginal communities in the Montreal area. In Akwesasne, Mohawk police raided stores deemed illegal by the Band Council. In Kanesatake, a Mohawk community north of Montreal, Grand Chief Serge Simon told the media that he was powerless to prevent the opening of illicit stores.

The Akwesasne Band Council would like to start licensing its own retail stores, but Grand Chief Abram Benedict said he's still trying to find a way to ensure product safety and security sold.

"I will say that the biggest challenge for licensing is the supply chain," he said in an interview Monday. "We have not yet determined where our authorized dealers would supply."

Mitchell, a 62-year-old man, is president and co-owner of Seven Leaf, which he says is the first and only cannabis company in Canada to be 100% owned by Indigenous Peoples and licensed by federal health. The company, he says, is committed to operating in accordance with federal law.

Part of its 7,560 square meter plant is allowed to expand, while the other part is still under construction. When the entire installation will be operational, it will be able to employ up to 120 people and produce 12,000 kilograms of cannabis a year. But for now, he will not be able to sell a single gram to his own people without risking his license.

"We can sell our products only to other authorized sellers and producers," he said. None of them is located in Akwesasne. He hopes to sell his initial crop to provincial agencies in Quebec and Ontario and to other licensed buyers.

Near the Mitchell factory is Green Chief Naturals, owned by Heath Day, 39 years old. It sells tobacco products and CBD – the non-intoxicant extract of the marijuana plant. He is waiting for the blessing of the band council before selling the common form of cannabis with THC – the constituent of the pot that offers the high.

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019/16h48 | story:
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German prosecutors have accused Volkswagen's former president, Martin Winterkorn, and four other people, of fraud in the fraud scandal that allowed many Europeans to turn against diesel engines and d & rsquo; Accelerate the development of electric cars.

Prosecutors said Monday that Winterkorn has been aware of the project since at least May 2014 and has not been able to stop it.

This contradicts his claim that he was only aware of it shortly before the US investigators announced it in September 2015. Winterkorn resigned as CEO five days later.

VW admitted to having installed in its diesel cars software that activated pollution control when the vehicles were tested and turned them off on a daily basis. This gave the impression that cars met the strict limits imposed by the United States on harmful pollutants called nitrogen oxides.

In total, some 11 million cars worldwide have been equipped with illegal software.

Prosecutors said the defendants – all Volkswagen executives – were part of a deception begun in 2006.

Winterkorn, 71, and the others, whose name has not been disclosed, are at risk of six to ten years' imprisonment if they are convicted of aggravated fraud resulting in heavy losses. Other charges include unfair competition and breach of trust.

Prosecutors said the defendants could also be forced to lose sales bonuses ranging from 300,000 euros to 11 million euros (340,000 to 12.45 million dollars).

In the United States, Winterkorn is already under the indictment of fraud and conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and could go up to 20 years in prison. But he can not be extradited from Germany to the United States.

Winterkorn's lawyer, Felix Doerr, said the defense could not comment on the German case, as prosecutors had not spared the possibility of examining the cases. Doerr said prosecutors had handed out seven DVDs with hundreds of document files on April 5.

The case, which consisted of a 692-page indictment supported by 300 volumes of 75,000-page records, was filed in a local court in Braunschweig on Friday. The court will decide if the case will be judged.

Prosecutors said that the defendants upgraded the software costing 23 million euros in 2014 to try to hide the real reason behind the high levels of driving pollution.

Prosecutors said they were still investigating 36 other suspects.

Volkswagen's commitment to the Braunschweig inquiry ended last year with a fine of one billion euros. Volkswagen noted that the indictment was directed against individuals and that there was no other comment to make.

The prosecutors' gesture is only one of the judicial proceedings triggered by the scandal.

Volkswagen has paid more than 27 billion euros (currently $ 31 billion) in fines and civil settlements with authorities and car owners since they got caught.

The automaker apologized and pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the United States, where two leaders were sentenced to imprisonment and six other defendants, without being extradited.

And on March 15, the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused the company and Winterkorn of defrauding investors with misleading statements about vehicle quality and environmental compliance.

German investors also claim damages.

The scandal triggered a thorough review of diesel emissions across the sector. It soon became clear that many other companies' models also emitted much more pollution on the road than on the test bench, due to the regulatory shortcomings exploited by car manufacturers, such as the deactivation of the exhaust gas control at certain temperatures to reduce the wear of the engines.

Sales of diesel, which once accounted for half of the European car market, declined.

This in turn undermined manufacturers' plans to use diesel engines – which allow longer mileage – to meet the EU's more stringent carbon dioxide emission limits of 2021, main greenhouse gas at the origin of global warming.

One result has been increased pressure to develop battery – powered cars in order to avoid heavy fines for violating new emission limits. Volkswagen plans to spend 30 billion euros on the development of electric vehicles by 2023.

The company has weathered the scandal well enough to become Toyota's largest global automaker. Last year, under the leadership of General Manager Herbert Diess, Volkswagen achieved a record turnover of 10.83 million vehicles, for an operating profit of 13.9 billion euros.

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019 / 16:36 | story:
254084

Saputo Inc. has expanded its global presence following its entry into the UK dairy market with the conclusion of a $ 1.7 billion contract on the acquisition of Dairy Crest Group plc.

The transaction announced February 22 was payable in cash from a new bank loan.

Dairy Crest manufactures and sells cheese, butters, spreads and oils under British brands such as Cathedral City, Clover, Country Life and Frylight.

The company employs approximately 1,100 people at seven sites in the United Kingdom.

For the 12 months ended March 31, it generated revenues of approximately $ 796 million and after-tax profits of $ 260 million, including $ 172 million in one-off items.

Saputo said it has invested in "a well-established and successful industrial player, with a solid asset base and an experienced management team".

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019 / 3:12 pm | story:
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The first episode of the last season of "Game of Thrones" is a record for the series and HBO.

The pay channel said the 17.4 million viewers who watched the episode on Sunday, on TV or online, represent a season's opening record for the fantastic saga.

HBO Now has also released its biggest streaming night ever, the channel announced Monday.

The episode surpassed the 16.1 million who attended the premiere of the seventh season and the 16.9 million who watched the final of this season.

Reflecting the growing taste of the audience for streaming, HBO has seen an increase of about 50% in the number of online views compared to the final of last season. In comparison with the premiere of season seven, the streaming audience has almost doubled.

"Game of Thrones" recorded a cumulative average of 32.8 million viewers per episode last season, in cumulative numbers of viewers and viewers online, HBO said.

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019 / 10:38 | story:
254049

Organigram Holdings Inc., a cannabis producer, reported a loss of $ 6.4 million in its last quarter, while its revenues soared in the first full quarter of its adult recreation sales.

The Moncton-based company saw its revenues increase by $ 26.9 million in the three-month period ended February 28, compared to $ 3.4 million a year earlier and record estimates.

However, Organigram's cost of sales also reached $ 10.9 million compared to $ 1.8 million for the same period last year.

CEO Greg Engel said a number of factors had contributed to rising costs, including the hiring of additional staff as production moved around the clock. He also discussed the decision to 39; Organigram to provide more pre-rolled joints, the production of which is more expensive.

"It was a strategic initiative on our part, there is a demand and an unmet need in pre-rolls … It's a way to make sure our product is in the hands of consumers," he said. he declared during an interview.

According to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters Eikon, its latest business figures have exceeded expectations of $ 23.77 million. However, the earnings per share of the cannabis producer did not meet analysts' expectations.

The company said its loss was five cents per diluted share for the quarter, compared to a profit of $ 1.1 million or a diluted penny a share a year earlier. Analysts expected earnings of one cent per share in the quarter.

Organizational shares lost $ 8.68 on the TSX Venture Exchange by about 6.6% in the early afternoon.

The loss of the cannabis producer occurred while selling and administration costs reached $ 2.6 million compared to $ 1.7 million a year ago. Selling and marketing costs were $ 3.1 million compared to $ 934 thousand in the same quarter last year.

The loss in organigram related to continuing operations was $ 6.4 million, or five cents per diluted share, compared to a profit of $ 1.2 million or one cent per diluted share a year earlier.

However, the company's profitability is "impressive" compared to other players in the sector, said Owen Bennett, an analyst at Jefferies, highlighting the adjusted organizational chart profit of $ 13.3 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA ).

"The Q2 marks three consecutive quarters of positive adjusted EBITDA, which we expect to see positively in the context of many peers who are currently in deficit or in the short term," Bennett said in a note to customers.

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019 / 9:32 | story:
254038

The financial sector rallied on the Toronto Stock Exchange to push the leading Canadian stock index higher in the late morning, while the US stock markets retreated.

The S & P / TSX Composite Index was up 40.85 points to 16,521.38.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 49.96 points to 26,362.34. The S & P 500 index was down 5.50 points to 2,901.91, while the Nasdaq composite index was down 24.22 points to 7,959.94.

The Canadian dollar traded at 74.76 cents US, compared with an average of 75.02 cents US on Friday.

The May crude contract was down 69 cents to 63.20 USD a barrel and 4.9 cents down to 2.61 USD a barrel of oil.

The June gold contract was down $ 4.90 to $ 1,290.30 an ounce and the May copper contract from 2.45 cents to $ 2.92 a pound.

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019 / 9:25 | story:
254035

Mogo Finance Technology Inc. has entered into a merger agreement with Difference Capital Financial Inc.

Under this agreement, each Mogo share will be exchanged for one ordinary share of Difference.

Once the transaction is completed, Mogo's shareholders will own approximately 80% of the merged company, which should be called Mogo Inc.

According to Mogo, the combination will give him access to cash of approximately $ 9 to $ 10 million and will give him control of Difference's investment portfolio, which together have a fair market value estimated at approximately $ 24 million. .

Mogo offers users ways to help them manage and control their finances, including products such as free credit score monitoring, identity fraud protection and consumer credit.

The transaction is subject to approval by Mogo and Difference shareholders, regulatory approval and other customary conditions. It is scheduled to close in the second quarter of 2019.

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019 / 8:58 | story:
254030

Steve Martin could not be happier with his latest book and the chance to work with New York artist Harry Bliss.

Celadon Books announced Monday that Martin and Bliss were collaborating on the "ultimate comic book", currently untitled. This is scheduled for next year.

Martin, whose earlier books include the novel "Shopgirl" and the memoir "Born Standing Up," praised Bliss as a draftsman whom he "deeply admires" and "never met". In addition to her magazine work, Bliss has illustrated books by Kate DiCamillo and William Steig. He and Martin plan to create "original and unpublished cartoons," according to Celadon.

The Canadian press –
April 15, 2019 / 7:58 | story:
254026

A new Bank of Canada survey indicates that the business climate is down, with companies highlighting the uncertainty surrounding global trade, the housing sector and the energy sector.

For the first time since the third quarter of 2016, the central bank's action on the business climate has moved from its record highs of last year to negative territory.

The more optimistic reading of the previous report was based on a November survey conducted as oil prices began to fall.

The latest survey – conducted in late February and early March – indicates that business expectations of sales remain positive, but are down from a few months ago, with less optimism about future demand.

Outside the energy – dependent Prairies, investment and hiring intentions have held up well, particularly in the services sector.

The survey also revealed that worries about labor shortages had declined, although companies say it was even harder to find workers than 12 months ago.

The central bank surveyed about 100 senior executives for the quarterly survey.