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WHAT'S ON TAP
HOT OFF THE PRESS
Payroll employment rises, vacancies fall
Payroll employment rose 0.2% in January, with broad-based gains led by educational services, construction, and finance. Retail trade was the only sector down meaningfully in the month…
… which could be short-lived, as it was the only category to report higher vacancies (up ~10%) - with most others relatively flat M/M.
While the number of job seekers per available seat has moderated recently…
… February’s ugly jobs print should reverse some of that progress if vacancies don’t meaningfully improve.
Brookfield buys Boralex for $3.8B
It didn’t lake long for the Boralex rumours to materialize, with Brookfield stepping in to the tune of $3.8B alongside CDPQ to take the company private. At 13× NTM EBITDA…
… the deal comes at a slight premium to the Innergex takeout last year, which isn’t surprising - given Brookfield’s appetite for public-to-private transactions.
Absolutely, yes, public companies. That would be number one in the current environment.
Post-close, Boralex will sit within the asset manager’s infrastructure platform - unlocking lower cost financing…
… and asset recycling capabilities typically out of reach for smaller IPPs…
… enabling it to fund its 5 GW pipeline.
ON OUR RADAR
After the close Bell (BCE) announced a $675M divestiture of its LMR unit, tightening its focus on the core fiber business and AI infra opportunity…
… while generating cash to improve the leverage profile.
It’s not a material transaction, but a step in the right direction - as the company cleans up after the dividend cut.
GAINERS & LOSERS
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Ag Growth International (AFN) was up 5% on the back of Plantro’s push for the company to sell, following a Q4 that was headlined by margin compression…
… and a company-wide restructuring, with focus shifting away from large commercial projects in Brazil…
… taking a big bite out of the order book, which fell 26% Y/Y to $543M.
Shares sold off over 30% on the print, back to lows seen when the Brazil risk was identified last year - where shares will likely be stuck near-term without an offer…
… given management is guiding to more pain ahead in Q1.
INSIDER TRANSACTIONS
| Insider | Company | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Maloney | Methanex (MX) | $949K |
| Nojan Abrary | Methanex (MX) | $524K |
| Michael Perron | Canopy (WEED) | $416K |
| Chansoo Joung | South Bow (SOBO) | $1.7M |
| Daniel Halyk | Ag Growth (AFN) | $140K |
| Rohit Bhardwaj | Ag Growth (AFN) | $175K |
Tough few months of trading for AFN, but good to see insiders stepping in here.
EARNINGS
YESTERDAY’S EARNINGS
| Company | Actual | Consensus |
|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇦 BRP Inc. (DOO) | 2.21 | 2.03 |
| 🇨🇦 Lassonde (LAS-A) | 7.52 | 5.93 |
ECONOMIC DATA
YESTERDAY’S ECONOMIC RELEASES
| Release | Actual | Consensus |
|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇦 Weekly Earnings Y/Y | 2.0% | - |
| 🇺🇸 Jobless Claims | 210K | 210K |
TODAY’S ECONOMIC RELEASES
| Release | Time | Consensus |
|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇦 Budget Balance | 10:00AM | - |
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