acquisition
Milestone Apartments REIT, $15.04, symbol MST.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 60.4 million; Market cap: $899.5 million; www.milestonereit.com), owns 61 “garden-style” apartment properties containing 19,908 units in 14 cities throughout the U.S. Southeast and Southwest.
The real estate investment trust continues to grow by acquisition....
The real estate investment trust continues to grow by acquisition....
With new Star Wars films still ahead, Walt Disney Co. posts record revenue from its theme parks, movies, and distribution fees.
With a new U.S. mine boosting production, Newmont Mining adapts to lower gold and copper prices by focusing on quality and cost-cutting
LOBLAW COMPANIES $66.80 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 412.4 million; Market cap: $27.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 1.5%; www.loblaw.ca) is Canada’s largest food retailer, with about 1,200 supermarkets. Its banners include Loblaws, Provigo, Fortinos, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. George Weston Ltd. (see below) owns 46% of the company.
In the three months ended October 10, 2015, Loblaw earned $408 million, or $0.99 a share, up 10.0% from $371 million, or $0.90, a year earlier. Sales rose 2.5%, to $13.9 billion from $13.6 billion. Excluding gasoline, same-store sales rose 3.1% at Loblaw and 4.9% at the 1,300-store Shoppers Drug Mart chain, which the company bought for $12.3 billion in March 2014.
Loblaw continues to integrate its operations with Shoppers Drug. It expects these moves to save it at least $222 million in 2016.
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In the three months ended October 10, 2015, Loblaw earned $408 million, or $0.99 a share, up 10.0% from $371 million, or $0.90, a year earlier. Sales rose 2.5%, to $13.9 billion from $13.6 billion. Excluding gasoline, same-store sales rose 3.1% at Loblaw and 4.9% at the 1,300-store Shoppers Drug Mart chain, which the company bought for $12.3 billion in March 2014.
Loblaw continues to integrate its operations with Shoppers Drug. It expects these moves to save it at least $222 million in 2016.
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This will be our last Inner Circle Q&A for 2015. Our next issue will go out on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
Now is a good time for me to say “Thanks!” to all our Inner Circle members. It’s a pleasure to read and answer your questions. I take great pleasure and pride from the many compliments and expressions of gratitude you send every week.
That’s especially true when I hear from a member who I recognize from decades ago—from the early days after the 1994 launch of The Successful Investor, or from the two prior decades that I spent at The Investment Reporter and MPL Communications.
It’s also great to see that our Successful Investor philosophy and practice have begun attracting more and more younger investors.
I wish you all a great year-end holiday and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
...
Now is a good time for me to say “Thanks!” to all our Inner Circle members. It’s a pleasure to read and answer your questions. I take great pleasure and pride from the many compliments and expressions of gratitude you send every week.
That’s especially true when I hear from a member who I recognize from decades ago—from the early days after the 1994 launch of The Successful Investor, or from the two prior decades that I spent at The Investment Reporter and MPL Communications.
It’s also great to see that our Successful Investor philosophy and practice have begun attracting more and more younger investors.
I wish you all a great year-end holiday and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
...
PLEASE NOTE: This is our last Hotline for 2015. Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, January 8, 2016. 3M COMPANY, $146.92, New York symbol MMM, makes over 55,000 consumer and industrial goods, including Post-It notes, Scotch tape, Scotch-Brite cleaning products, Scotchguard fabric protection and Thinsulate insulation. Slowing sales of TV sets, smartphones and tablet computers are hurting demand for 3M’s films, adhesives and coatings. At the same time, weak demand for industrial machinery is cutting sales of its other products, like abrasives....
PLEASE NOTE: This is our last Hotline for 2015. Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, January 8, 2016. ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK, $76.27, symbol ATNI on Nasdaq, owns wireless and wireline (traditional telephone and Internet) operations in the U.S. Southwest, New England, New York State, Guyana, Bermuda and parts of the Caribbean islands. The company continues to increase its wireless capacity and coverage. That’s paying off as customers use more mobile data for services like music downloads, mobile gaming and e-books....
INTACT FINANCIAL $88.92 (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-341-1464; www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 131.5 million; Market cap: $11.7 billion; Dividend yield: 2.4%) is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty insurance. Its brands include Intact Insurance, Canada BrokerLink and belairdirect. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Intact’s revenue rose 9.4%, to $2.09 billion from $1.91 billion a year earlier. Revenue improved across all of the company’s insurance lines and geographic regions. Canadian Direct Insurance, which Intact purchased for $197 million in early 2015, also added to its sales. Canadian Direct offers home, auto and travel insurance, mainly in Alberta and B.C....
LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $14.05 (Toronto symbol LNF; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (416-243-7880; www.leons.ca; Shares outstanding: 71.4 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%) has steadily opened new stores, growing from 27 in 2003 to 80 today. The company more than quadrupled in size overnight with its March 2013 purchase of its main rival, The Brick, for $700 million. The Brick has 221 locations across Canada; the chains continue to operate separately. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, the company’s sales rose 1.2%, to $538.1 million from $531.7 million a year earlier. On a same-store basis, sales gained 1.1%....