Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Mullen Group Ltd. (MTL-T) reported consolidated revenue of $292.1-million in the first quarter compared to $284.9-million for the same period last year.
Analysts were expecting revenue to be $305.4-million in the most recent quarter.
Net income was $1.5-million or a penny per share compared to $14.5-million or 14 cents a year earlier. Adjusted net income was $9.3-million or 9 cents per share versus adjusted net income of $11.6-million or 11 cents per share a year ago.
**
Exco Technologies Limited (XTC-T) reported second-quarter sales of $148.4-million compared to $153.8-million in the same quarter last year.
Net income was $10.6-million or 25 cents per share versus $12.6-million or 30 cents per share a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting revenue of $144.4-million and earnings of 26 cents.
**
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (CF-T) says it has an agreement to acquire Jitneytrade Inc. and Finlogik Inc. directly and through the purchase of Finlogik Capital Inc. The price wasn’t disclosed in the announcement.
Jitneytrade Inc. is a direct access broker, the largest trader of futures and an active trader in equity options on the Montréal Exchange.
Finlogik provides fintech solutions.
“This development serves to support Canaccord Genuity’s mid-market growth strategy by enhancing its market share of equities trading and providing access to new areas of growth through accelerating its development of an enhanced fintech product offering,” the company stated.
**
Aecon Group Inc. (ARE-T) reported first-quarter revenue of $543.3-million versus $674.9-million a year earlier.
Its loss was $19.2-million versus a loss of $18.3-million a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting revenue of $685.5-million and a loss of $16-million.
**
Western Energy Services Corp. (WRG-T) said it incurred a net loss of $5.9-million or 6 cents in the first quarter as compared to a net loss of $4.4-million of 6 cents in the same period in 2017.
Revenue was $81.3-million versus $84.2-million a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting revenue of $84.8-million and a loss of 3 cents per share.
**
Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CHP.UN-T) reported rental revenue of $215-million in the first quarter compared with $203.4-million in the first quarter of 2017.
Net income was $627-million compared with net income of $24.3-million a year earlier. The first quarter of 2018 included a net fair value adjustment gain of $588.5-million, the REIT said.
Funds from operations (FFO) per unit were 25.5 cents compared with 26.4 in the first quarter of 2017. Analysts were expecting FFO to be 27 cents per share.
**
Grande West Transportation Group Inc. (BUS-X) says it has appointed Danial Buckle as chief financial officer. Most recently he was the finance director and corporate secretary for Fortress Paper.
**
Precision Drilling Corp. (PD-T) reported a smaller-than-expected loss on Thursday as its U.S. clients deployed more of the company’s rigs to take advantage of rising oil prices. Precision’s number of rigs at work in the United States rose by 36 per cent to 64 on average during the first quarter.
“As a result of increased demand in our U.S. operations, we are increasing our projected capital spending by $22-million,” CEO Kevin Neveu said, adding that about half of that would be used to expand and upgrade the drilling fleet.
Its Canadian count fell to 72 active rigs on average from 76 a year ago as transport bottlenecks and high production costs saw a number of oil majors withdraw from the country.
Revenue from rig utilization per day was up 3.8 per cent to $22,209 in Canada, while it rose marginally to $20,603 in the U.S.
Excluding items, the company lost 6 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected Precision to lose 7 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net loss narrowed to $18.1-million, or 6 cents per share, in the first quarter ended Mar. 31, from net loss of $22.6-million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier.
--Reuters
**
Global Water Resources, Inc. (GWRS-Q; GWR-T) has signed an agreement to acquire Turner Ranches Water and Sanitation Co., a non-potable irrigation water utility in Mesa, Arizona.
“This accretive acquisition will expand our footprint in Maricopa County, the fastest growing county in the Nation according to U.S. Census Bureau,” said Ron Fleming, CEO of Global Water. The price wasn’t disclosed in the release.
**
Isodiol International Inc. (ISOL-CN) says its subsidiary BSPG Laboratories Ltd. has received government approval from United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), an agency of country’s Department of Health, for the manufacturing of the active substance cannabidiol.
“This approval validates the consistent quality of our pure, natural CBD isolate and the patented manufacturing processes,” said CEO Marcos Agramont. “This event is a first in the industry and now enables Isodiol to focus on the development of CBD based drugs that will address a myriad of conditions that are affecting so many people around the world. With this approval, we will now rapidly advance our pharmaceutical and drug development divisions.”
**