dividends paid
IMPERIAL METALS $14.41 (Toronto symbol III; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-669-8959; www.imperialmetals.com; Shares outstanding: 74.9 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; No dividends paid) is a Vancouver-based firm that produces and explores for base and precious metals.
Imperial’s producing assets include two B.C. mines: 100%-owned Mount Polley (copper and gold) and 50% of Huckleberry (copper and molybdenum). Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials holds 31.1% of Huckleberry, and Furukawa Co., Dowa Holdings and Marubeni Corp. own 6.3% each.
Imperial restarted Mount Polley in 2005 and continues to explore around the deposit to increase the mine’s reserves and lengthen its life. The company expects Mount Polley to produce until mid-2023.
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Imperial’s producing assets include two B.C. mines: 100%-owned Mount Polley (copper and gold) and 50% of Huckleberry (copper and molybdenum). Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials holds 31.1% of Huckleberry, and Furukawa Co., Dowa Holdings and Marubeni Corp. own 6.3% each.
Imperial restarted Mount Polley in 2005 and continues to explore around the deposit to increase the mine’s reserves and lengthen its life. The company expects Mount Polley to produce until mid-2023.
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IAMGOLD $3.71 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 376.6 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; No dividends paid) owns 41% of the Sadiola mine and 40% of the Yatela mine, both located in Mali; 90% of its Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso; 100% of the Doyon mine in Quebec; and 95% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname, South America.
In addition, IAMGold has a 1% royalty interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. It also owns the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec. When used as an additive, niobium makes steel stronger, more heat-resistant and easier to weld.
In the three months ended March 31, 2014, IAMGold’s revenue fell 8.5%, to $279.3 million from $305.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share dropped to $0.17 from $0.31. The declines were mostly due to 21.2% lower gold prices and an 8.5% production decrease.
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In addition, IAMGold has a 1% royalty interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. It also owns the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec. When used as an additive, niobium makes steel stronger, more heat-resistant and easier to weld.
In the three months ended March 31, 2014, IAMGold’s revenue fell 8.5%, to $279.3 million from $305.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share dropped to $0.17 from $0.31. The declines were mostly due to 21.2% lower gold prices and an 8.5% production decrease.
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MITEL NETWORKS $12.03 (Toronto symbol MNW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (613-592-2122; www.mitel.ca; Shares outstanding: 99.9 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; No dividends paid) is now #1 in business communications products in Europe, and #3 in North American behind Avaya and Cisco, after its January 31, 2014 friendly takeover of Aastra Technologies.
Aastra, a Stock Pickers Digest recommendation, mostly makes business telephone equipment. Mitel operates in the same market as Aastra, but is focused more on software, including call centre and video-conferencing products. It is increasingly moving from selling programs that are installed at its customers’ offices to a cloud model, where it keeps its software on its own servers and sells it by subscription.
In the three months ended March 31, 2014, Mitel’s revenue rose 68.8%, to $241.5 million from $143.1 million a year ago (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Most of the increase came from Aastra.
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Aastra, a Stock Pickers Digest recommendation, mostly makes business telephone equipment. Mitel operates in the same market as Aastra, but is focused more on software, including call centre and video-conferencing products. It is increasingly moving from selling programs that are installed at its customers’ offices to a cloud model, where it keeps its software on its own servers and sells it by subscription.
In the three months ended March 31, 2014, Mitel’s revenue rose 68.8%, to $241.5 million from $143.1 million a year ago (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Most of the increase came from Aastra.
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DUNDEE CORP. $17 (Toronto symbol DC.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 54.1 million; Market cap: $919.7 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dundeecorp.com) owns businesses in the wealth management, real estate, natural resource and agriculture industries.
The company lost $92.6 million, or $1.88 a share, in 2013. That’s a big drop from the $25.2 million, or $0.29 a share, it earned in 2012. Revenue fell 6.3%, to $200.7 million from $214.2 million.
The declines are mainly because weak commodity prices hurt the contribution of Dundee’s resource holdings. As well, fewer firms issued shares in 2013, which hurt profits at its Dundee Securities brokerage firm. The company is also spending more to expand its agriculture businesses, which further depressed results.
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The company lost $92.6 million, or $1.88 a share, in 2013. That’s a big drop from the $25.2 million, or $0.29 a share, it earned in 2012. Revenue fell 6.3%, to $200.7 million from $214.2 million.
The declines are mainly because weak commodity prices hurt the contribution of Dundee’s resource holdings. As well, fewer firms issued shares in 2013, which hurt profits at its Dundee Securities brokerage firm. The company is also spending more to expand its agriculture businesses, which further depressed results.
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BLACKBERRY LTD. $8.66 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 526.6 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) lost $711 million, or $1.35 a share, in the fiscal year ended March 1, 2014 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). A year earlier, it lost $317 million, or $0.60 a share.
Revenue fell 38.5%, to $6.8 billion from $11.1 billion, mainly due to slow demand for its new smartphones. Last year, the company removed several buttons from some of its devices as part of the switch to its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. That alienated many of its users. However, as part of its new turnaround strategy, it plans to launch phones with its traditional physical keyboard.
The company’s balance sheet remains sound: its long-term debt is just $1.6 billion, and it holds cash and investments of $2.7 billion, or $5.05 a share. However, BlackBerry will probably lose money for the next year or two.
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Revenue fell 38.5%, to $6.8 billion from $11.1 billion, mainly due to slow demand for its new smartphones. Last year, the company removed several buttons from some of its devices as part of the switch to its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. That alienated many of its users. However, as part of its new turnaround strategy, it plans to launch phones with its traditional physical keyboard.
The company’s balance sheet remains sound: its long-term debt is just $1.6 billion, and it holds cash and investments of $2.7 billion, or $5.05 a share. However, BlackBerry will probably lose money for the next year or two.
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BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $9.96 (Toronto symbol BXE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-266-8670; www.bellatrixexploration.com; Shares outstanding: 171.0 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; No dividends paid) has announced an expanded joint venture agreement with Grafton Energy Co. I Ltd. The deal should speed up the development of Bellatrix’s Cardium shale oil deposits in west-central Alberta. Under the new deal, Grafton increased the amount it is paying Bellatrix to $250 million from $200 million. In return, Grafton gets 54% of the production from a three-year, $244-million drilling program. It will get this share of the wells’ output until it earns back its $250 million, plus an 8% return on its original investment. It will then hold a 33% interest in each well....
AURICO GOLD $4.64 (Toronto symbol AUQ; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.auricogold.com; Shares outstanding: 248.0 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.5%) operates the El Chanate gold mine in Mexico, which produced 71,864 ounces in 2013. The company’s Young-Davidson gold mine in Northern Ontario reached full production in 2013, with total output of 120,738 ounces. The project’s output should rise to over 152,000 ounces this year. In the three months ended December 31, 2013, the company’s revenue fell 19.5%, to $50.8 million from $63.1 million a year earlier. Cash flow declined to $0.07 from $0.11. Higher gold production was more than offset by lower prices....
ADOBE SYSTEMS $62.11 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 497.7 million; Market cap: $30.6 billion; No dividends paid) earned $0.30 a share in the three months ended February 28, 2014. That’s down 14.3% from $0.35 a year earlier. Revenue fell 0.8%, to $1.00 billion from $1.01 billion. Results fell mainly because Adobe is now selling its Creative Cloud package of photo-editing and desktop-publishing programs as a subscription, instead of a one-time purchase. That hurts its short-term growth, but the switch should provide more predictable revenue streams. Subscriptions now supply over half of Adobe’s revenue. The stock now trades at 56.5 times the $1.10 a share that Adobe will likely earn in 2014. That’s a high p/e ratio for any company, but especially one that mainly serves customers in cyclical businesses like publishing....
SYMANTEC CORP. $20.76 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-408-517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 691.6 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; Dividend yield: 2.9%) sells computer-security technology, including anti-virus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. It also offers data-archiving software. In Symantec’s fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended December 27, 2013, its earnings per share rose 13.3%, to $0.51 from $0.45 a year earlier. The gains were mainly due to savings from a new restructuring plan that includes laying off 30% to 40% of its managers and simplifying its product lines. Revenue fell 4.8%, to $1.7 billion from $1.8 billion. That’s mainly because the company is retraining its sales staff as part of its restructuring, and that disrupted their closing of new deals. Slow computer sales have also hurt demand for anti-virus software....
AMAZON.COM $316.08 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 459.3 million; Market cap: $145.4 billion; No dividends paid) has just unveiled Fire TV, a $99 Internet video-streaming box that plugs into a high-definition TV set. It will compete against similar devices, like Apple TV, Roku and Google Chromecast. The device, which is about the size of a CD case, runs Google’s Android operating system and offers Netflix, Hulu Plus, Crackle, Pandora, ESPN and other streaming channels. Fire TV can also be used for gaming. Customers can play popular games, such as Minecraft, as well as thousands more titles to be released soon. Many games will be free, while paid games from Amazon will cost an average of $1.85. Amazon will offer a compatible game controller for $39.99....