Happy Friday. The TSX rose slightly higher today, closing at 20,990.22, a 71.82-point increase.
It was a bloody day for Canadian bitcoin-focused companies. At time of writing, the cryptocurrency was down $3,364 (U.S.) to $42,424 (U.S.) per bitcoin. Hut 8 Corp. dropped 11% to $13.28 per share on news that it was amending and restating its credit facility with a subsidiary of Coinbase Global Inc. Hut 8 is taking out an additional $15-million (U.S.) loan, which increases the loans under the credit facility to $65-million (U.S.). Hut 8 has approximately 89 million shares issued.
Corus Entertainment Inc.’s class B shares rose 23% to $0.90 per share after the company released its fiscal Q1 2024 results. The media and content company earned $37.01-million on revenue of $369.9-million in the quarter compared with earning $34.59-million on revenue of $431.19-million in the same period a year earlier. In its outlook, the company expects its television advertising revenue to drop in Q2 by a “high-single-digit to low-double-digit percentage.” The company has $20.81-million in free cash flow. It has approximately 196 million shares issued.
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. shares rose 9.7% to $8.15 per share on news that it has appointed Marie Zhang as chief operating officer. Ms. Zhang has previously worked at Blaze Pizza, Focus Brands, Yum Brands and ConAgra Foods. Trulieve has approximately 159 million shares issued.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has completed its $200-million (U.S.) offering of 6% senior notes due December 7, 2033. The company will use the proceeds to repay debt. Fairfax has approximately 24 million shares issued and is trading at $1,252.12 per share.
Pembina Pipeline Corp. has closed its $1.8-billion offering of notes. It will use the proceeds to help finance its acquisition of Enbridge Inc.’s interest in the Alliance, Aux Sable and NRGreen Power joint ventures. Pembina has approximately 549 million shares issued and trades at $46.21 per share.
Canada Nickel Company Inc. has arranged a subscription agreement with Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. Under the deal, Samsung SDI will acquire Canada Nickel shares at $1.57 per share for a total price of $18.5-million (U.S.). Once the deal closes, Samsung SDI will own approximately 8.7% of the company’s shares. Additionally, upon closing the subscription agreement, Samsung SDI will have the right to buy a 10% equity interest in the Crawford project for $100.5-million (U.S.). Canada Nickel has approximately 163 million shares issued and is trading at $1.68 per share.
In the U.S., Citigroup Inc. is planning to cut 20,000 jobs by the end of 2026. This accounts for approximately 10% of the company’s employees. The company expects to reduce its annual expenses by about $3-billion (U.S.) to $4-billion (U.S.) through these layoffs. Citigroup also reported a net loss of $1.8-billion (U.S.) in Q4 on revenue of $17.4-billion (U.S.). In the same period a year earlier, the company earned $2.51-billion (U.S.) on revenue of $18-billion (U.S.). Citigroup has approximately 1.91 billion shares issued and is trading at $52.62 (U.S.) per share.
BlackRock Inc. has agreed to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5-billion (U.S.) in cash and stock ($3-billion (U.S.) in cash; 12 million BlackRock shares). Global Infrastructure is a private equity firm that owns and operates a variety of companies, including owning a stake in Gatwick Airport. Its chief executive, Bayo Ogunlesi, will join BlackRock’s board and resign as lead director of Goldman Sachs. BlackRock also released its Q4 earnings and stated that it had assets under management of $10-trillion (U.S.) at the end of Q4. The company has approximately 148.76 million shares outstanding and trades at $799.60 (U.S.) per share.