DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. says that 1.54 million cars and trucks were sold in Canada in 2020, falling 19.7 per cent from 2019 to the lowest level since 2009, the Canadian Press reported. The consultancy says auto sales fell 2.6 per cent in December 2020 from the same month in 2019, leaving dealers in the midst of the steepest annual decline since 1982. But it also says that it could have been worse, given sales plummeted 75 per cent for the month of April at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) was the unlucky recent buyer of a 5 percent stake in SolarWinds, the Texas-based business software maker that was compromised by a far-reaching Russian espionage attack discovered this month, the Washington Post reported. The largest shareholders in SolarWinds agreed to sell CPPIB the stake for $315 million on Dec. 7, just days before tech company’s public disclosure of the hack crushed its stock price more than 20 percent.
Canada on Thursday temporarily waived a C$844 million ($664 million) debt payment for the construction of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Muskrat Falls hydroelectric power plant, bailing out a troubled project in a province already laden with debt, Reuters. Since the announcement of the project in 2010, Canada has guaranteed a total of C$7.9 billion in debt for the project, which has faced major cost over-runs and now represents a large portion of the remote and sparsely-populated Atlantic province’s overall debt.
The United States and United Kingdom subsidiaries of Montreal-based flexible workspace company Breather have reportedly filed for separate insolvency processes, amid financial troubles and significant downsizing happening at the startup, BetaKit reported. According to The Globe and Mail, the subsidiaries filed for insolvency this week, around the same time Breather decided to pull out of hundreds of leases. The 315 office spaces Breather leased in the US and 40 in the UK will be assigned to third parties to “wind them down” and repay creditors.
Dominion Diamond Mines ULC said on Monday it reached a deal to sell its Ekati mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories to holders of its second lien notes, eight months after seeking bankruptcy protection amid a worldwide upheaval in the diamond industry, Reuters reported. Closely held Dominion, owned by the Washington Companies, filed for creditor protection in April, citing disruption to the global diamond trade caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal (BMO) beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter profit as they set aside less funds than expected to cover potential loan losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. Canadian banks have braced for higher loan losses this year and 2021 as the pandemic ravages the global economy and leads to lower household income, with a plunge in oil prices also likely to result in higher defaults in the energy sector. Both banks reporting on Tuesday, however, put aside far less than analysts had expected in the quarter to Oct.
Canada’s Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group said on Tuesday it had emerged from bankruptcy, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the famed circus operator to cancel shows and lay off artists earlier this year, Reuters reported. The once high-flying Cirque, which grew from a troupe of street performers in the 1980s to a company with global reach, has slashed about 95% of its workforce and suspended shows due to the pandemic. It had filed for bankruptcy protection in June and reached a new purchase agreement with secured lenders shortly after.
The massive policy response from the Bank of Canada and the federal government successfully prevented the country’s financial system from buckling, though vigilance is still needed, according to a top central banker, Bloomberg News reported. Signs of overwhelming financial strain are few, and the risk of a wave of consumer defaults seems low, Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle said in remarks via video conference to the Autorite des marches financiers.
The number of insolvency filings in Canada jumped in September to the highest since the pandemic began, in what may be the first sign of long-anticipated strains in household finances from the crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada reported 7,658 consumer insolvency filings, up 18.5% from August. That’s the biggest monthly increase since 2017, and the most since March when widespread lockdowns were imposed to control the spread of Covid-19.
Global miner Rio Tinto is seeking court approval to sell its partner’s share of diamonds from a mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories, a filing this week showed, hoping to recover around C$120 million plus legal fees and other costs, Reuters reported. Rio owns 60% of Diavik Diamond Mines Inc (DDMI) and says it is owed C$119.5 million plus about C$2.4 million in fees by junior partner Dominion Diamond ULC. Dominion holds a 40% stake in the northern mine, located about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of the territorial capital of Yellowknife.