Top News Before the Bell Stocks to Watch
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TOP NEWS • Britain's LSE lands 'defining' $27 billion Refinitiv deal in data drive Britain's London Stock Exchange has agreed to buy financial information provider Refinitiv in a $27 billion deal aimed at offering trading across regions and currencies and positioning the company as a competitor to Bloomberg. • Bombardier posts loss, cuts profit forecast on rail division woes Canada's Bombardier Inc reported a larger quarterly loss than analysts had expected, and lowered its full-year earnings forecast, as the company wrestled with challenges in its key rail division. • Bank of England cuts growth forecasts as Brexit and global worries mount The Bank of England cut its growth forecasts in the face of increased Brexit worries and a slowing global economy, but gave no indication it was considering lowering interest rates like other central banks. • LNG prices push Shell profit to 30-month low, shares slump Royal Dutch Shell's second-quarter profit slumped to a 30-month low on weaker gas prices and refining margins, denting a steady recovery in recent years and sending the Anglo-Dutch energy company's shares down. • Shopify quarterly loss widens as operating expenses rise Shopify reported a wider net loss as the Canadian e-commerce software maker spent more during the quarter to attract customers to its offerings. BEFORE THE BELL Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index as investors parsed through a host of major company earnings. Wall Street futures were higher, a day after major U.S. indexes registered their biggest daily percentage drop in two months after U.S. Federal Reserve dampened hopes of a run of interest rate cuts. The U.S. dollar rose to a two-year high. Asian equities ended in the red, while European shares were up, supported by strong bank results. Oil dropped on rising U.S. output, while gold prices slipped. STOCKS TO WATCH • Bombardier Inc (BBDb). The plane and train maker reported a larger quarterly loss than analysts had expected, and lowered its full -year earnings forecast, as the company wrestled with challenges in its key rail division. The company posted a net loss of $36 million, or 4 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of $70 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier. Bombardier also reduced its adjusted core earnings forecast for the full year to a range of $1.20 billion to $1.30 billion, from its previous forecast of $1.50 billion to $1.65 billion. The company also lowered its full-year forecast for earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT), a closely watched measure, in the rail division. Adjusted EBIT for 2019 is now expected at $700 million to $800 million, down from around $1 billion. Adjusted EBIT margin was lowered to about 5% from 8%. Analysts were expecting a loss of $30 million, or 2 cents per share. Adjusted EBIT declined to $206 million in the second quarter, from $271 million a year earlier, but above analysts' average expectation of $204 million. • Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ). The company beat estimates for quarterly profit, as higher prices for Canadian crude helped offset lower production. The company said quarterly daily production fell to 1.03 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from 1.05 million boepd. Net earnings rose to C$2.83 billion, or C$2.36 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from C$982 million, or 80 Canadian cents, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 87 Canadian cents per share, beating analysts' estimates of 85 Canadian cents per share. • Shopify Inc (SHOP). The e-commerce software maker reported a wider net loss as the company spent more during the quarter to attract customers to its offerings. Shopify said total operating expenses jumped 46% to $244.4 million in the second quarter. The company's net loss widened to $28.7 million, or 26 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from about $24.0 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue surged nearly 48% to $362 million in the quarter. • SNC-Lavalin Group Inc (SNC). The construction and engineering firm cut its dividend and reported a quarterly loss, as the struggling company was hit by a C$1.7 billion goodwill impairment charge related to its resources unit. The company reduced its quarterly dividend to 2 Canadian cents per share from 10 Canadian cents per share, its second cut this year. The company reported a loss attributable to shareholders of C$2.12 billion, or C$12.07 per share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared to a profit of C$83.01 million, or 47 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue dropped nearly 10% to C$2.28 billion. • Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF). The insurer reported a 1.4% growth in second-quarter profit, helped by growth in its asset management business. Underlying net income in the company's asset management business grew 13% to C$245 million. The company ended the quarter with total assets under management of C$1.02 trillion, up 4% from a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company's net income rose to C$739 million, or C$1.24 per share, in the three months ended June 30, from C$729 million, or C$1.20 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected C$1.24 per share. • Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI). The company raised its sales and core profit outlook for 2019 and 2020 after reporting 4% organic revenue growth for the second quarter, which it said was its best since 2008 and ahead of its expectations. Growth was driven by recurring revenues at all three of its biggest units since the company sold a majority in its Financial and Risk business, now known as Refinitiv, to Blackstone last year - Legal, Corporates and Tax & Accounting. The company also said that it and Blackstone had agreed to sell Refinitiv, which provides data and news to financial customers, to London Stock Exchange in a $27 billion all-share deal. For EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), Thomson Reuters had forecast $1.4-$1.5 billion for 2019, up from $1.4 billion in 2018, and an EBITDA margin of 30-31 percent for 2020. In the second quarter, revenue rose to $1.42 billion from $1.31 billion a year ago as Thomson Reuters gained from payments it received from Refinitiv for its news service, broadly in line with analyst consensus of $1.43 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose 2 percent to $355 million, but the EBITDA margin declined to 25% from 26.6% a year earlier due to higher expenses related to separating the Refinitiv business from the rest of the company. • Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ). The Rio Tinto-controlled company said an impairment charge at the cash-generating unit of its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia led to the company missing estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday. Turquoise Hill reported a loss of $736.7 million, or 22 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with a profit of $204 million, or 9 cents, a year earlier. That compared with analyst expectations for earnings of 3 cents a share. Turquoise Hill posted revenue of $382.7 million, up from $341.7 million a year ago and compared with analysts' expectations of $307.5 million. FOCUS Seeds of London Stock Exchange deal planted at flower show London Stock Exchange Group's $27 billion purchase of financial-data business Refinitiv has its origins in May 2013, amid the crocuses, champagne and corporate hobnobbing of the British capital's Chelsea Flower Show. Italian investment banker Matteo Canonaco brokered an introduction between David Craig, who at the time ran Thomson Reuters's Financial and Risk division, the company that became Refinitiv last year, and Joseph Baratta, head of private equity at Blackstone Group. The meeting would set in motion a sequence of events involving Blackstone, Refinitiv and LSE that led to a deal which was announced on Thursday. ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION • Bausch Health Companies Inc (BHC). Jefferies raises target price to $32 from $31, citing the company’s growth in ophthalmology and dermatology business, and increased revenue estimates. • Cargojet Inc (CJT). RBC raises target price to C$119 from C$100, reflecting on the company’s strong competitive position, pricing power and growth in e-commerce space. • Painted Pony Energy Ltd (PONY). Canaccord Genuity cuts target price to C$1.6 from C$1.75, stating the company’s higher-than- average debt levels and reduced cashflow expectations. ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time) 0930 Markit Manufacturing PMI SA for Jul: Prior 49.2 COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS August 1: AltaGas Ltd (ALA). Expected Q2 loss of 9 Canadian cents per share Aphria Inc (APHA). Expected Q4 loss of 6 Canadian cents per share ARC Resources Ltd (ARX). Expected Q2 earnings of 7 Canadian cents per share Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp (AI). Expected Q2 earnings of 25 Canadian cents per share Baytex Energy Corp (BTE). Expected Q2 earnings of 7 Canadian cents per share BCE Inc (BCE). Expected Q2 earnings of 90 Canadian cents per share Bombardier Inc (BBDb). Expected Q2 loss of 2 cents per share Bonavista Energy Corp (BNP). Expected Q2 loss of 3 Canadian cents per share Calfrac Well Services Ltd (CFW). Expected Q2 loss of 16 Canadian cents per share Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ). Expected Q2 earnings of 85 Canadian cents per share CanWel Building Materials Group Ltd (CWX).