Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Canfor Corp. (CFP-T) announced after markets closed on Wednesday that it will be temporarily curtailing operations at all B.C. dimension mills effective April 29 “due to low lumber prices and the high cost of fibre.”
The company said the curtailment will reduce its production output by approximately 100 million board feet. Canfor has 13 sawmills in Canada, with total annual capacity of approximately 3.8 billion board feet.
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Diversified Royalty Corp. (DIV-T) announced preliminary results for its Mr. Lube, AIR MILES and Sutton investments for the three months ended March 31.
DIV said its Mr. Lube Canada Limited Partnership generated same-store-sales-growth (SSSG) of 5.6 per cent for the Mr. Lube stores in the royalty pool for the first quarter, compared to SSSG of 4.5 per cent for the three months ended March 31, 2018. "Mr. Lube’s SSSG was driven by continued growth in all aspects of the business, including oil services, tire sales and service as well as strong store-level execution," the company stated.
It cited Alliance Data Systems Inc. as stating that AIR MILES reward miles issued increased by 3 per cent in the first quarter. "ADS also disclosed that AIR MILES reward miles redeemed decreased by 8 per cent" in the first quarter. DIV said it expects to report that royalty income of $1.7-million was generated from the AIR MILES licenses in the first quarter, a 2.1-per-cent decrease from the same period last year.
DIV also said it expects to report that royalty income and management fees of $1-million were generated from Sutton in the first quarter, representing a 2-per-cent increase over the same period last year.
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Hudbay Minerals Inc. (HBM-T; HBM-N) issued a release after markets closed on Wednesday, responding “to the announcement by dissident shareholder Waterton Global Resource Management, Inc. that its board nominee Michael Anglin has withdrawn from Waterton’s slate of nominees in order to join the board of directors of a different company."
Waterton first announced Mr. Anglin as one of its director nominees on January 16, Hudbay stated. "After careful consideration of his qualifications, on April 5, Hudbay recommended that shareholders vote for Mr. Anglin. Just over a week ago, on April 15, Waterton also recommended that shareholders vote for Mr. Anglin. The company is therefore surprised by Waterton’s sudden withdrawal of one of its director nominees, as board nominations generally involve a rigorous process aimed at ensuring, among other things, that nominees will be available to serve if elected. In any event, Hudbay is disappointed that Mr. Anglin has chosen to pursue a different opportunity but respects his decision and wishes him well."
The proxy voting deadline for Hudbay’s annual and special meeting of shareholders is May 3.
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Valens GroWorks Corp. (VGW-C) reported first-quarter revenue increased to $2.2-million compared with nil in the same period in fiscal 2018. Analysts were expecting revenue of $2.1-million. Gross profit increased to $850,525 or 38.3 per cent of revenue, for the first quarter of 2019 compared with nil in the same period in fiscal 2018.
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Mullen Group Ltd. (MTL-T) announced revenue of $319.6-million for the quarter ended March 31, an increase of 9.4 per cent as compared to $292.1-million for the same period in 2018 and above expectations of $316.2-million. Net income increased to $11.6 million or 11 cents per share, which was in line with expectations and compared to net income of $1.5-million or a penny per share a year earlier.
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New Gold Inc. (NGD-T; NGD-N) reported a first-quarter net loss from continuing operations of US$13.4-million or 2 cents per share versus a loss of 5 cents a year earlier. Analysts were expecting a loss of a penny per share in the latest quarter. Revenue from mining operations was US$167.9-million up from US$147.5-million and ahead of expectations of US$156.2-million.