MONCTON, New Brunswick, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Major Drilling Group International Inc. (“Major Drilling” or the “Company”) (TSX: MDI), a leading provider of specialized drilling services to the mining sector, today reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, ended October 31, 2024. Quarterly Highlights: Revenue of $189.3 million, in line with the $190.0 million generated in fiscal Q1, but down 8.6% from $207.0 million in the same period last year. Adjusted gross margin (1) of 30.5%, consistent with the 31.0% achieved in the same period last year as the Company remained focused on higher-margin specialized drilling. EBITDA (1) of $38.7 million, down from $43.6 million in the same period last year. Net earnings of $18.2 million (or $0.22 per share), down from $23.7 million (or $0.29 per share) in the same period last year. Net cash (1) increased by $23.5 million to $100.4 million, enabling the Company to react to potential growth opportunities. Subsequent to quarter end, completed the acquisition of Explomin, a leading specialty drilling contractor based in Lima, Peru, for an up-front cash payment of US$63 million (approximately C$88 million). “For Q2 of fiscal 2025, Major Drilling’s globally diversified operations and reputation as the driller-of-choice enabled us to maintain our revenue run rate relative to fiscal Q1, despite challenging conditions in certain markets,” commented Mr. Denis Larocque, President & CEO of Major Drilling. “We were pleased once again by our Australasian and Chilean operations, which continue to offset lower activity levels in North America, primarily driven by lower junior exploration expenditures.” “The Company delivered solid financial results for the quarter, supported by an adjusted gross margin of 30.5%. This represented an increase from 28.9% in fiscal Q1 and is in line with the 31.0% achieved over the same period last year as the Company remains focused on profitable operations and our best-in-class specialized drilling services,” commented Ian Ross, CFO of Major Drilling. “As previously disclosed, our 2021 McKay acquisition successfully met all of the EBITDA milestones in the earnout period, with the final contingent payment of $9.1 million made during the quarter. We also continue to modernize our drill fleet, having spent $20.1 million in capex, which includes the addition of 5 new drills and support equipment, while disposing of 4 older, less efficient rigs, bringing Major Drilling’s total fleet to 610 drills. Given another strong operational performance, our net cash position increased to $100.4 million at quarter end, while we continue to retain an industry leading balance sheet, enabling the acquisition of Explomin in early fiscal Q3,” concluded Mr. Ross. “With McKay continuing to demonstrate strong results in Australasia since its acquisition in 2021, our focus now turns to the integration of Explomin – a leading South American driller with operations in Peru, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Spain. I am excited to welcome Explomin and its employees to the Major Drilling team. Their long-standing reputation, strong base of senior mining customers, and focus on specialized drilling, with its well-maintained fleet of rigs, complement our existing operations and offer further potential growth opportunities in South America,” said Mr. Larocque. “As Peru has been on our radar for quite some time given its status as the second largest copper producer, Explomin solidifies our South American presence, supplementing our existing operations in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and throughout the Guyana Shield.” “Looking ahead to our seasonally slower third quarter of fiscal 2025, we are expecting programs in North America to pause for the holiday period slightly earlier than in prior years, although this is expected to be partially offset by ongoing strength in Australia and Chile. While we will be adding revenue from the Explomin operations, we expect them to have the same usual seasonality as the rest of our South American operations. Demand from senior customers for calendar 2025 is expected to remain robust, while we are optimistic regarding the activity levels of juniors following a slight increase in financing activity. The combination of elevated commodity prices, translating to increased free cash flow generation for mining companies, coupled with depleted reserve bases, should lead to increases in demand for drilling services over the years to come.” “Our well-maintained fleet ensures that we retain utilization capacity which, combined with our optimal inventory levels and experienced crews, puts us in an excellent position to capitalize on these increased levels of demand for our drilling services. Our core strategy is to remain the leader in specialized drilling as new discoveries are made in increasingly challenging and remote locations. Our solid foundation, supplemented by ongoing technological innovation, puts us in an ideal position to take on these new and exciting challenges." “I’m extremely proud to announce that our Canadian team was recently awarded the Safe Day Every Day Gold Award by the Association for Mineral Exploration, Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, and Canadian Diamond Drilling Association. Our Canadian team achieved over 1,146,000 hours without a lost time injury, an achievement that demonstrates our ongoing dedication to maintaining high safety standards across all projects around the world,” concluded Mr. Larocque. Finally, Major Drilling announces the resignation of Mr. Robert Krcmarov from the Board of Directors effective December 5, 2024, to focus on his new role as Chief Executive Officer of Hecla Mining Company. Kim Keating, Chair of the Board, commented: “On behalf of the Board and the leadership team at Major Drilling, I would like to congratulate Rob on this appointment, and thank him for his significant contributions during his tenure on the Board. Rob’s experience and insights were of great benefit to Major Drilling’s Board and leadership team. He was instrumental in the development of Major Drilling’s Decarbonization Action Plan and in strengthening the Company’s health and safety program, as well as his timely advice regarding the most recent acquisition of Explomin Perforaciones earlier this month. We thank Rob for his invaluable advice and wish him all the best in his new role leading Hecla Mining Company.” Second Quarter Ended October 31, 2024 Total revenue for the quarter was $189.3 million, down 8.6% from revenue of $207.0 million recorded in the same quarter last year. The foreign exchange translation impact on revenue and earnings, when comparing to the effective rates for the previous year, was minimal. Revenue for the quarter from Canada - U.S. drilling operations decreased by 20.0% to $85.4 million, compared to the same period last year. While senior and intermediate activity levels increased slightly, this only partially offset the decline in demand from juniors relative to the same period last year as they continued to face challenging financing opportunities. South and Central American revenue decreased by 6.5% to $49.1 million for the quarter, compared to the same quarter last year. While operations in Chile remain robust, this was offset by slowdowns in other parts of the region. Australasian and African revenue increased by 14.4% to $54.7 million, compared to the same period last year as demand for specialized drilling services in Australia and Mongolia continue to drive growth in the region. Gross margin percentage for the quarter was 23.4%, compared to 25.3% for the same period last year. Depreciation expense totaling $13.4 million is included in direct costs for the current quarter, versus $11.8 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted gross margin, which excludes depreciation expense, was 30.5% for the quarter, compared to 31.0% for the same period last year. Adjusted gross margin remained relatively unchanged as the Company remains disciplined with respect to pricing. General and administrative costs were $18.4 million, an increase of $0.8 million compared to the same quarter last year. This increase primarily relates to inflationary wage adjustments. Other expenses were $2.5 million, down from $3.2 million in the same quarter last year due primarily to lower incentive compensation expenses given the decreased profitability. Foreign exchange gain was $0.5 million, compared to a loss of $0.9 million for the same quarter last year. While the Company's reporting currency is the Canadian dollar, various jurisdictions have net monetary assets or liabilities exposed to various other currencies. The income tax provision for the quarter was an expense of $6.5 million, compared to an expense of $7.4 million for the prior year period. The decrease from the prior year was driven by reduced profitability. Net earnings were $18.2 million or $0.22 per share ($0.22 per share diluted) for the quarter, compared to net earnings of $23.7 million or $0.29 per share ($0.29 per share diluted) for the prior year quarter. Non-IFRS Financial Measures The Company’s financial data has been prepared in accordance with IFRS, with the exception of certain financial measures detailed below. The measures below have been used consistently by the Company’s management team in assessing operational performance on both segmented and consolidated levels, and in assessing the Company’s financial strength. The Company believes these non-IFRS financial measures are key, for both management and investors, in evaluating performance at a consolidated level and are commonly reported and widely used by investors and lending institutions as indicators of a company’s operating performance and ability to incur and service debt, and as a valuation metric. These measures do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other publicly traded companies and should not be construed as an alternative to other financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS. EBITDA - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization: Adjusted gross profit/margin - excludes depreciation expense: Net cash – cash net of debt, excluding lease liabilities reported under IFRS 16 Leases: Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain information that may constitute “forward-looking information” under applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this news release that address future events, developments, or performance that the Company expects to occur (including management’s expectations regarding the Company’s objectives, strategies, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and businesses) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by future or conditional verbs such as “outlook”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “project”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, and terms and expressions of similar import. All forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by this cautionary note. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon various estimates and assumptions including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management related to the factors set forth below. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by the Company as at the date of this document in light of management’s experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, these statements are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that include, but are not limited to: the level of activity in the mining industry and the demand for the Company’s services; competitive pressures; global and local political and economic environments and conditions; the level of funding for the Company’s clients (particularly for junior mining companies); the Company’s dependence on key customers; the integration of business acquisitions and the realization of the intended benefits of such acquisitions; efficient management of the Company’s growth; exposure to currency movements (which can affect the Company’s revenue in Canadian dollars); currency restrictions; safety of the Company’s workforce; risks and uncertainties relating to climate change and natural disaster; the geographic distribution of the Company’s operations; the impact of operational changes; changes in jurisdictions in which the Company operates (including changes in regulation); failure by counterparties to fulfill contractual obligations; disease outbreak; as well as other risk factors described under “General Risks and Uncertainties” in the Company’s MD&A for the year ended April 30, 2024, available on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca . Should one or more risk, uncertainty, contingency, or other factor materialize or should any factor or assumption prove incorrect, actual results could vary materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements made in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events, or for any other reasons, except as required by applicable securities laws. About Major Drilling Major Drilling Group International Inc. is the world’s leading provider of specialized drilling services primarily serving the mining industry. Established in 1980, Major Drilling has over 1,000 years of combined experience and expertise within its management team. The Company maintains field operations and offices in North America, South America, Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Major Drilling provides a complete suite of drilling services including surface and underground coring, directional, reverse circulation, sonic, geotechnical, environmental, water-well, coal-bed methane, shallow gas, underground percussive/longhole drilling, surface drill and blast, a variety of mine services, and ongoing development of data-driven, high-tech drillside solutions. Webcast/Conference Call Major Drilling Group International Inc. will provide a simultaneous webcast and conference call to discuss its quarterly results on Friday, December 6, 2024 at 8:00 AM (EST). To access the webcast, which includes a slide presentation, please go to the investors/webcasts section of Major Drilling’s website at www.majordrilling.com and click on the link. Please note that this is listen-only mode. To participate in the conference call, please dial 416-340-2217, participant passcode 4769038# and ask for Major Drilling’s Second Quarter Results Conference Call. To ensure your participation, please call in approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. For those unable to participate, a taped rebroadcast will be available approximately one hour after the completion of the call until Monday, January 6, 2025. To access the rebroadcast, dial 905-694-9451 and enter the passcode 1708283#. The webcast will also be archived for one year and can be accessed on the Major Drilling website at www.majordrilling.com. For further information: Ryan Hanley Director, Corporate Development & Investor Relations Tel: (506) 857-8636 Fax: (506) 857-9211 ir@majordrilling.com MAJOR DRILLING GROUP INTERNATIONAL INC. NOTES TO INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE THREE AND SIX MONTHS ENDED OCTOBER 31, 2024 AND 2023 (UNAUDITED) (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share information) 1. NATURE OF ACTIVITIES Major Drilling Group International Inc. (the “Company”) is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and has its head office at 111 St. George Street, Moncton, NB, Canada. The Company’s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”). The principal source of revenue consists of contract drilling for companies primarily involved in mining and mineral exploration. The Company has operations in North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Africa. 2. BASIS OF PRESENTATION Statement of compliance These Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting (“IAS 34”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) and using the accounting policies as outlined in the Company’s annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. On December 5, 2024, the Board of Directors authorized the financial statements for issue. Basis of consolidation These Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and entities controlled by the Company. Control is achieved when the Company is exposed or has rights to variable returns from its involvement with the investee and has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the investee. The results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the period are included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations from the effective date of acquisition or up to the effective date of disposal, as appropriate. Intercompany transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation, where appropriate. Basis of preparation These Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared based on the historical cost basis, except for certain financial instruments that are measured at fair value, using the same accounting policies and methods of computation, with the exception of those detailed in note 4 below, as presented in the Company’s annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. 3. APPLICATION OF NEW AND REVISED IFRS ® ACCOUNTING STANDARDS The Company has not applied the following IASB standard amendment and standard that have been issued, but are not yet effective: IAS 21 (as amended in 2023) - The Effect of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates - effective for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, with earlier application permitted. The amendments contain guidance to specify when a currency is exchangeable and how to determine the exchange rate when it is not. IFRS 18 (as issued in 2024) - Presentation and Disclosure of Financial Statements - effective for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027, with earlier application permitted. The standard replaces IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements, and includes requirements for the presentation and disclosure of information in financial statements. The Company is currently in the process of assessing the impact the adoption of the above amendment and standard will have on the Consolidated Financial Statements. 4. MATERIAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES With the exception of the policy detailed below, all accounting policies and methods of computation remain the same as those presented in the Company's annual Consolidation Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. Investment in associate Associates are companies that the Company has significant influence over and are accounted for under the equity method. Significant influence is the power to participate in the financial and operating policy decisions of the investee, but is not control or joint control over those policies. Significant influence is presumed when the Company has an ownership interest greater than 20%, unless certain qualitative factors overcome this assumption. In assessing significant influence and the ownership interest, potential voting or other rights that are currently exercisable are taken into consideration. Investments in associates are accounted for using the equity method and are initially recognized at cost, inclusive of transaction costs. The Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the Company's share of the income or loss and equity movement of equity accounted associates. The Company does not recognize losses exceeding the carrying value of its interest in the associate. 5. KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY AND CRITICAL ACCOUNTING JUDGMENTS The preparation of financial statements, in conformity with IFRS, requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that are not readily apparent from other sources, which affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expenses. Actual results may differ from these estimates. The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognized in the period in which the estimate is revised, if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods, if the revision affects both current and future periods. Significant areas requiring the use of management estimates relate to the useful lives of property, plant and equipment for depreciation purposes, inventory valuation, determination of income and other taxes, recoverability of deferred income tax assets, assumptions used in compilation of share-based payments, provisions, contingent considerations, impairment testing of goodwill and intangible assets and long-lived assets. The Company applied judgment in determining the functional currency of the Company and its subsidiaries, the determination of cash-generating units (“CGUs”), the degree of componentization of property, plant and equipment, the recognition of provisions, the determination of the probability that deferred income tax assets will be realized from future taxable earnings, and the determination of whether the Company exerts significant influence with respect to its investment in associate under the equity accounting method. 6. SEASONALITY OF OPERATIONS The third quarter (November to January) is normally the Company’s weakest quarter due to the shutdown of mining and exploration activities, often for extended periods over the holiday season. 7. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT Capital expenditures for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 were $20,073 (2023 - $17,443) and $41,324 (2023 - $33,717). The Company did not obtain direct financing for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 or 2023. 8. INVESTMENT IN ASSOCIATE On July 22, 2024, the Company purchased shares in DGI Geoscience Inc. (“DGI”) for $15,000 in cash consideration, a 39.8% equity interest (that provides the Company with 42.3% of the voting rights). DGI and its subsidiaries are privately held entities, headquartered in Canada, focused on downhole survey and imaging services as well as using artificial intelligence for logging scanned rock samples. In addition to the equity interest, Major Drilling's representation on the DGI Board of Directors gives the Company significant influence over DGI. While there are special approval rights granted to the Company as part of the investment, these are more protective in nature and therefore, would not result in control, or joint control of DGI. As a result, the Company concluded that the equity method of accounting is appropriate for its investment in DGI. During the prior quarter, the Company incurred costs of $205 for this investment, relating to external legal fees and due diligence costs. These amounts have been recorded as part of the cost of the investment in associate in the Interim Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. In the current quarter, the Company's earnings from investment in associate is $27. 9. SHARE BUYBACK During the prior year, for the three and six months ended October 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 875,268 and 1,020,568 common shares, respectively, at an average price of $8.31 and $8.40, respectively, under its Normal Course Issuer Bid. 10. EXPENSES BY NATURE Direct costs by nature are as follows: General and administrative expenses by nature are as follows: 11. INCOME TAXES The income tax provision for the periods can be reconciled to accounting earnings before income tax as follows: The Company periodically assesses its liabilities and contingencies for all tax years open to audit based upon the latest information available. For those matters where it is probable that an adjustment will be made, the Company records its best estimate of these tax liabilities, including related interest charges. Inherent uncertainties exist in estimates of tax contingencies due to changes in tax laws. While management believes they have adequately provided for the probable outcome of these matters, future results may include favourable or unfavourable adjustments to these estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made, or resolved, or when the statutes of limitations lapse. 12. EARNINGS PER SHARE All of the Company’s earnings are attributable to common shares, therefore, net earnings are used in determining earnings per share. The calculation of diluted earnings per share for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 excludes the effect of 200,000 options for both periods (2023 - 297,000 and 205,000, respectively) as they were not in-the-money. The total number of shares outstanding on October 31, 2024 was 81,842,086 (2023 - 82,093,486). 13. SEGMENTED INFORMATION The Company’s operations are divided into the following three geographic segments, corresponding to its management structure: Canada - U.S.; South and Central America; and Australasia and Africa. The services provided in each of the reportable segments are essentially the same. The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in the Company’s annual Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2024. Management evaluates performance based on earnings from operations in these three geographic segments before finance costs, general corporate expenses and income taxes. Data relating to each of the Company’s reportable segments is presented as follows: *Canada - U.S. includes revenue of $25,695 and $34,074 for Canadian operations for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively and $57,543 and $70,762 for the six months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. **General and corporate expenses include expenses for corporate offices and stock-based compensation. *Canada - U.S. includes property, plant and equipment as at October 31, 2024 of $64,041 (April 30, 2024 - $62,991) for Canadian operations. 14. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS Fair value The carrying values of cash, trade and other receivables, demand credit facilities and trade and other payables approximate their fair value due to the relatively short period to maturity of the instruments. The carrying value of contingent consideration and long-term debt approximates their fair value as the interest applicable is reflective of fair market rates. Financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value are classified and disclosed in one of the following categories: Level 1 - quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2 - inputs other than quoted prices included in level 1 that are observable for the assets or liabilities, either directly (i.e., as prices) or indirectly (i.e., derived from prices); and Level 3 - inputs for the assets or liabilities that are not based on observable market data (unobservable inputs). The Company enters into certain derivative financial instruments to manage its exposure to market risks, comprised of share-price forward contracts with a combined notional amount of $8,654, maturing at varying dates through June 2027. The fair value hierarchy requires the use of observable market inputs whenever such inputs exist. A financial instrument is classified to the lowest level of the hierarchy for which a significant input has been considered in measuring fair value. The Company’s derivatives, with fair values as follows, are classified as level 2 financial instruments and recorded in trade and other receivables (payables) in the Interim Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. There were no transfers of amounts between level 1, level 2 and level 3 financial instruments for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024. Credit risk As at October 31, 2024, 96.1% (April 30, 2024 - 95.9%) of the Company’s trade receivables were aged as current and 3.5% (April 30, 2024 - 3.5%) of the trade receivables were impaired. The movements in the allowance for impairment of trade receivables during the periods were as follows: Foreign currency risk As at October 31, 2024, the most significant carrying amounts of net monetary assets and/or liabilities (which may include intercompany balances with other subsidiaries) that: (i) are denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of the respective Company subsidiary; and (ii) cause foreign exchange rate exposure, including the impact on earnings before income taxes (“EBIT”), if the corresponding rate changes by 10%, are as follows (in $000s CAD): Liquidity risk The following table details contractual maturities for the Company’s financial liabilities: 15. SUBSEQUENT EVENT On November 5, 2024, the Company completed the purchase of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Explomin Perforaciones ("Explomin"), a leading specialty drilling contractor based in Lima, Peru. This acquisition provides Major Drilling with increased exposure to the copper market as Explomin is one of the largest South American drilling contractors, with the majority of their operations in Peru, while also servicing markets in Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Spain. The purchase price for the acquisition is valued at an amount up to US$85 million, consisting of: (i) a cash payment of US$63 million payable on closing, subject to working capital adjustments; and (ii) an earnout of up to US$22 million payable in cash over the next three years, based on the achievement of certain milestones. The cash portion of the purchase price has been funded from Major Drilling’s cash and existing debt facilities.Dr. V. Suresh, Managing Director of Dolphin Diagnostic Services, Visakhapatnam, was sworn in as the president of the Andhra Pradesh State chapter of the Indian Radiological & Imaging Association during the general body meeting of the chapter in Vijayawada. IRIA is the national body of radiologists in India, with a membership of over 25,000 radiologists dedicated to advancing knowledge, education, and technology in the field of radiology and imaging sciences. The association also contributes significantly to societal welfare and encourages discussions on healthcare-related issues. Dr. Kishore Kumar, past president, from Guntur, presided over the programme. Dr. V. N. Varaprasad, national president and Dr. G. V. Mohan Prasad, vice president, also participated. Published - November 24, 2024 10:43 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit
John Cena and Shay Shariatzadeh’s Net Worth Combined: How This Power Couple Amassed Their FortuneA federal proposal that would redistribute the overall quota for catching highly lucrative baby eels to individual fishers will not compensate commercial licence-holders who employ those workers, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) says, leaving owners feeling betrayed by the government. The department first informed Maritime commercial groups and fishermen of the proposed pilot project in a letter in mid-October, designed to combat unlicensed fishing of the baby eels, known as elvers , and violent confrontations that have shut down the last two seasons. The letter of intent said consultations would be held and asked for feedback on the proposal. At the time, the department told elver fishers the quota redistribution program sought to “broaden the distribution of benefits” and “would not be accompanied by financial assistance or compensation to existing licence holders,” according to the letter. More than a month later, a DFO spokesperson told Global News the department is still not considering compensation. “Fisheries and Oceans Canada is currently conducting consultations on the reallocation of elver quota, without compensation,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement Friday. “Given the significant increases in elver value and relatively low input costs, the commercial elver fishery presents a unique opportunity to broaden the distribution of the prosperity that can be generated among various types of harvesters, potentially including young harvesters, employees of existing commercial licence holders, and harvesters who participate in co-operative commercial enterprises.” Commercial licence-holders in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick say the proposal would not only further harm their bottom line but also upset the industry as a whole. “It’s definitely going to be hard to keep employees on,” Stanley King, a commercial licence-holder with Atlantic Elver Fishery and spokesperson for the Canadian Committee for a Sustainable Eel Fishery, told Global News. The DFO proposal would offer 120 fishers currently employed by the nine commercial licence-holders their own small elver licences for next year’s season, and would also offer elver licences to 30 fishers currently licensed to catch adult eels. The pilot would last for three years and accompany new regulatory changes to the elver fishery the DFO is working to put in place for 2025. The new redistribution scheme would be on top of an earlier proposal in June that would redistribute 50 per cent of the overall quota to local Indigenous groups to recognize their court-approved right to make a moderate living from hunting, gathering and fishing. Combined, King said that could mean 75 per cent of the overall quota — which hasn’t changed since 2005 — will be redistributed away from commercial licensees. The department told Global News in an earlier statement last week that it will set the overall quota before the season opens in the spring. In its October letter of intent, the DFO said it sought to redistribute the quota “without increasing fishing pressure on the stock.” The DFO said last week that consultations on the proposed redistribution program would seek comments on “the potential impacts a pilot might have on existing licence holders’ operations.” The Fisheries Council of Canada wrote to the DFO earlier this month expressing “strong concerns” about the proposal, which it said is “disruptive, lacks a thoughtful policy foundation, and seems driven by objectives that do not consider the full ramifications for the industry.” A meeting held between DFO officials and Nova Scotia elver fishers in late October about the proposal — a recording of which was reviewed by Global News — grew heated as fishers angrily accused the government of putting their livelihoods at risk. “It’s frustrating to have DFO continually say, ‘We realize what your opinion is, we hear you, and we’re going to go ahead and do it anyway,” King said. Elvers are fished at night from coastal rivers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine. They are harvested in the springtime as they return to the rivers from their ocean spawning areas. They can be harvested using minimal equipment, often with a bucket and a fine funnel-shaped net called a fyke net or a dip net, making entry into the lucrative market easy. The federal government closed the commercial baby eel fishery on March 11 after violence and intimidation plagued last year’s fishing season in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The 2020 season was also shut down for similar reasons. At peak value, elvers have sold at about $5,000 per kilogram, according to DFO — more than lobsters, scallops or salmon — making them the most valuable fish by weight in Canada. King and other commercial fishers say the current value is well below that and fluctuates year to year and within seasons. But the potential for sky-high prices has made the fishery highly susceptible to poaching and bad actors from abroad. China is the dominant market for elvers, and some buyers will both under-pay on the black market and overpay for licensed catches, driving out legitimate Chinese buyers, King said. The fear among commercial groups is that individual fishers will sell to the highest bidder rather than resisting the encroachment of bad actors. “The government is going down a path that not only will destroy the incumbent businesses and their futures, but it’s going to basically lead to a situation where the entire landscape of the Canadian glass eel fishery is going to be dominated by numbered companies,” said Mitchell Feigenbaum, an eel exporter and commercial elver licence holder who runs South Shore Trading in Port Elgin, N.B. In May, federal officers seized a shipment of over 100 kilograms of elvers at Toronto Pearson International Airport they said was destined for overseas, valued between $400,000 and $500,000. King said that seizure was “a drop in the bucket” and that overall enforcement of illegal fishing and exporting is nearly non-existent, particularly along the rivers where elvers are actually caught. He said individual licences will make fishers more susceptible not just to the bad actors buying the product, but also the potential of losing entire catches if personal storage and transportation equipment fails. Smaller quotas will also mean lower salaries than what large companies have been able to pay those same workers. “What the government has done with these employees is they have increased their risk dramatically,” King said. Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier defended the quota redistribution proposal at a House of Commons fisheries committee meeting in October, telling MPs in French that licences “should be expanded to enable economic prosperity.” Conservative MP Rick Perkins compared the proposed pilot program to the government telling a Tim Hortons franchisee, “‘Well, I think it’s unfair that you make a lot of money from that franchise, so I will take three-quarters of that business and give it to your employees. It’s too bad you invested all this in the business — so sad — but I’m going to make it more equitable,’ in some strange socialist world.” Lebouthillier said Perkins’ analogy was “not true at all” and that “young people, the next generation, will have access to the resource” under the new program. “She thinks she’s playing Robin Hood, and in actuality, she’s putting these fishermen in a worse-off situation than they currently are,” King said. Perkins also suggested at the committee meeting the increase in licensees will make it harder for the government to enforce the law and stop bad actors, to which the minister promised new regulations that will address the issue. King said Lebouthillier has refused to meet with the elver industry despite multiple requests. Feigenbaum said offer letters for individual licences are being sent to his recent, part-time contract workers, rather than to the career employees who have worked for him for decades. “How do I even explain this to DFO?” he said. “I fired a guy (for drug use) and he got a letter... I’ve got 25-year employees that are getting ignored. “In 2024 we lost all our income; 100 per cent of our earnings was destroyed. And in the year 2023, we lost like 75 per cent of our earnings. So after two years in a row of this kind of treatment, we basically had to eliminate our payroll. We mothballed a lot of our facilities. We’re working on a skeleton staff.” Commercial fishers say they have tried to work with the DFO on solutions to the elver fishery for years, but have seen their proposals — which include collaboration with First Nations — shut down by the government. “We think there’s something very stinky going on,” Feigenbaum said. —With files from Global’s Heidi Petracek and The Canadian Press
AP News Summary at 8:26 a.m. EST
The immediate past governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki has said plans by the incumbent Governor, Monday Okpebholo, to probe him is a diversionary tactic and ‘smokescreen to mask the governor’s incompetence and unpreparedness for office.’ The media aide to Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, in a statement issued on Sunday also said Governor Okpebholo is devoid of ideas and lacks a clear vision to drive development in the State, noting that Okpebholo is resorting to cheap political “Theatrics and using a circus of meaningless probes to distract him from his glaring incompetence and lack of direction.” Osagie was reacting to the setting-up of a 14-member committee by the governor to probe the Godwin Obaseki administration. He said the Governor is “acting as if the people of Edo State were an undiscerning mob and is now staging a spectacle similar to a gladiatorial duel in the Ancient Roman Colosseum, with the plan to deceive the people with such theatrics and diversionary probes.” The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a laughable and utterly ridiculous statement by the Monday Okpebholo’s administration setting up a 14-member State Assets Verification Committee to probe the administration of his predecessor, His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, who is globally acclaimed to have run one of the most transparent, accountable and prudent government’s in the history of Nigeria. “This is another, in the list of the barrage of meaningless probes which the governor and his directionless government is embarking on since they got into Dennis Osadebey Avenue through the back door. “From probing civil servants’ employment to probing Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and probing vehicles and other assets of government, among others, the governor has continued to show that he is bereft of ideas and lacks a clear vision for the development of the State and has therefore resorted to these charades of empty probes to buy time and distract from his incompetence and unpreparedness for office. “His plan is to treat Edo people like an undiscerning mob that you can distract with a show like the duel of gladiators in the Ancient Roman Colosseum. “But Okpebholo will soon learn that he is the governor with the hardest job in Nigeria because the Edo people of Edo State are wise and can hardly be fooled. His diversionary probes may succeed in deceiving people in some States in Nigeria but certainly not those in Edo State. “He should stop his futile and failed attempt to fool the people of Edo State who have already seen him for who he truly is: a politician out of his depth who has become a tool in the hands of his many godfathers who are thirsty for vendetta, having for long been denied access to the people’s patrimony by the immediate past government of His Excellency, Mr. Godwin Obaseki. “It is on record that the Obaseki administration achieved an unprecedented level of transparency in governance, laying a solid foundation for fiscal discipline, which was why it was able to accomplish the numerous milestones recorded across various sectors of the State, including the economy, education, agriculture, infrastructure, among others. “Under Obaseki’s watch, the State developed its first asset register, containing all the government’s assets, which has since been handed over to the new government.” He added: “So, we know what their plans are with the diversionary probes. It is just a smokescreen to mask the governor’s incompetence and unpreparedness for office “We want to advise Okpebholo to focus on governance and improving the lives of Edo people rather than waste state resources masking his incompetence in meaningless probes. “Edo people are watching and his short-span government which lasts until the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) reclaims its mandate duly given to it by Edo voters will be judged not by the noise it makes but by the impact it delivers.” He said.
OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. ( NASDAQ:VKTX – Free Report ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000. Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,478,000 after acquiring an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 17,159 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms have weighed in on VKTX. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73. Insider Activity In related news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website . Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,250. This represents a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance Shares of VKTX opened at $52.59 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.55 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of -56.55 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.38. Viking Therapeutics ( NASDAQ:VKTX – Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Viking Therapeutics Profile ( Free Report ) Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD. Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Viking Therapeutics How to Use High Beta Stocks to Maximize Your Investing Profits Vertiv’s Cool Tech Makes Its Stock Red-Hot How to Capture the Benefits of Dividend Increases MarketBeat Week in Review – 11/18 – 11/22 3 REITs to Buy and Hold for the Long Term 2 Finance Stocks With Competitive Advantages You Can’t Ignore Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VKTX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Viking Therapeutics, Inc. ( NASDAQ:VKTX – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Viking Therapeutics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Viking Therapeutics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Craig Shirley, conservative-minded author who has written biographies of Ronald Reagan and tomes about World War II, is penning a book about President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning political revival: “Comeback,” The Post has learned. “I’m going to go back four years to the end of the 2020 campaign and detail his revival and comeback,” Shirley, who was also a history consultant on the 2024 film “Reagan,” about the former president. “I’m going to try to explain how and why he won, something the elites didn’t grasp,” Shirley told The Post of Trump. Only a positive book can be written on the merits about Trump’s historic political revival — not a negative screed, he said. “My books were favorable to Reagan because the facts were favorable to Reagan. This book will be favorable to Trump because the facts are favorable to Trump,” Shirley, 68, said. The book will be laid out chronologically because every day of Trump’s comeback bid was “an exciting day,” he said. Shirley said he will also examine cultural wars that benefitted Trump, such as the fight over transgender rights. He pointed to the conservative backlash and boycott against Budweiser’s “Bud Light” beer after it had transgender actress and TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney promote its brand as a turning point. Trump’s 2024 campaign aides have already indicated they will work with Shirley. “The remarkable history of the 2024 Donald Trump campaign is too important to be left to rank amateurs and leftists with an agenda. That is why we are working with the consummate historian and Reagan biographer Craig Shirley, who we know will record the facts as they are in his book, ‘Comeback,'” said one of Trump’s campaign pollsters, John McLaughlin. “As Shirley has proven time and time again, he is dedicated to facts and not biases, rumors and conjecture.” It comes after senior campaign staffers issued a joint statement Wednesday saying they will refuse to work with author Michael Wolff on his book about Trump’s re-election. “A number of us have received inquiries from the disgraced author Michael Wolff, whose previous work can only be described as fiction. He is a known peddler of fake news who routinely concocts situations, conversations, and conclusions that never happened,” the statement said. “As a group, we have decided not to respond to his bad faith inquiries, and we encourage others to completely disregard whatever nonsense he eventually publishes. Consider this our blanket response to whatever he writes.” Shirley has long been active in Republican and conservative causes. His father, Edward, was a founding member of the New York Conservative Party.Ancient Terracotta Warrior general unearthed at Emperor’s mausoleum in 1st discovery of its kind after 30yrs of diggingWhat are the main challenges facing China’s relations with the European Union? Are they different from previous decades and, if so, why? India, Africa and Latin America – but not China – have been listed by the European Union as its next-generation strategic partnerships. In the EU’s view, its triple positioning on China – as a cooperative partner, an economic competitor and a systemic rival – is based on reality and objectively reflects the status and trajectory of Europe’s policy logic towards China. Meanwhile, China is still focused on the expectations of a bilateral relationship.
https://arab.news/n4cm5 RIYADH: Investment strategies must be compatible with sustainable development goals to ensure economically viable and environmentally responsible global growth, a top official said at the World Investment Conference. Speaking on the first day of the Riyad-based event, James Zhan, chair of the WIC executive board, said reforming the global financial system should be a priority alongside helping to deliver social and environmental reform. The 28th WIC is being held from Nov. 25 to 27, and will see global stakeholders gather to explore investment trends and how best to foster sustainable development. During a panel discussion titled “Impact Maximization: Leveraging Trade and Investment for Growth and Development,” Zhan said: “We need to embed investment strategies into the SDG implementation plans. We need to transform these international investment regimes into a kind of SDG promotion instrument.” The SDGs are a set of 17 global objectives established by the UN to address pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges, aiming to achieve a sustainable and equitable future by 2030. Zhan also called for transforming international investment: “We need to be practicing incentives for investment on the ground.” Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, assistant minister of investment and CEO of the Saudi Investment Promotion Authority, outlined the Kingdom’s focused approach to investment. “Our investment strategy focuses on quality, FDI. That’s a very big word. So, what I like to call it is smart capital,” he said. Al-Mubarak also emphasized Saudi Arabia’s reform journey under Vision 2030, saying: “Since the launch of Vision 2030, we have set a very ambitious reform agenda. That reform agenda comes in various ways, be it in the reform of existing laws, launching new laws, removing subsidies.” These reforms aim to bolster the Kingdom’s investment environment, which has already been recognized as the 16th most competitive economy globally, according to the IMD’s World Competitiveness Index. Al-Mubarak highlighted the significance of comprehensive and consistent regulatory reforms in enhancing investment appeal. One measure of this is the success of Saudi Arabia’s Regional Headquarters Program, which came into effect in January and encouraged multinational companies to set up regional offices in Riyadh. “We already have exceeded our target by having 550 regional headquarters companies here. Our location, our infrastructure, our youth are enabling us to achieve those (goals), but they have to be clubbed with positive, unified, consistent regulatory reform agenda,” Al-Mubarak said. The assistant minister highlighted that attracting investments requires groundwork, adding: “The promotion piece of investment is one thing, but the attraction is a much tougher one because it requires a lot more reforms and work on the ground, on the infrastructure, on the policies, on the procedures.” Chairman of the Berlin Global Dialogue and Professor of Economics at the European School of Management and Technology Lars-Hendrik Roller called for a broader perspective on global investments. “The world is changing, and now I think we need to look eye level (at) Africa and other continents as well,” he said. He also cautioned about the interplay of foreign policy and national security with economic agendas, adding: “What is now overarching more and more (is) foreign policy and economic policy, national security issues. And I think we have to be very careful with that.” Roller pointed out the distorting effects of subsidies on global markets and stressed the urgency of private investments in the green economy, saying: “We’re not going to solve the climate crisis unless we generate a lot more private investment in the green economy.”The ( ) has been one of the best-performing funds in 2024. But I don't think this will be the end of the long-term gains. As we can see on the chart above, the FANG ETF has climbed a hefty 41% this year. In comparison, the (ASX: XJO) has climbed by 10% — not a bad result, but a significant underperformance to the FANG ETF. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, of course, and I'm certainly not expecting the FANG ETF to rise another 40% in the next year. But I do believe that this fund, which provides access to leading US technology companies, can beat the ASX 200 again over the next five years. Here's why. While not guaranteed to occur, incoming United States president Donald Trump has indicated he wants to reduce business taxes to 15%, down from 21%. yet. I'm sure more details will come in due course. But I wouldn't be surprised if the businesses inside the FANG ETF see their taxes reduced to some degree, which would boost their . Investors typically value a business on how much profit they're making and could make in the future. A taxation boost to EPS should theoretically boost the share price. The FANG ETF is not known for strong . It has only 10 positions that are designed to be equally weighted. But I think these companies have been and can continue to be wonderful investments. Currently, the FANG portfolio holds these 10 giant technology businesses: These companies are among the best in the world at what they do, whether that's smartphones, device software, social media (such as Instagram), online video, online search, cybersecurity, e-commerce, cloud computing, AI and more. They also typically have strong profit margins, excellent and effective management. Considering the world is becoming increasingly technological, and that these companies are some of the entities driving that change, this area of the global share market is where I'd want at least some of my money, whether that's through the FANG ETF or a different investment. I often say that, in the business world, winners keep winning. Companies like Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet are so far ahead of the competition that it may be almost impossible for others to catch up starting from scratch. With their high , it makes sense for these winners to retain and reinvest profits in improving their products or services and developing new offerings. In my opinion, these companies' rising profits are likely to lead to ongoing capital growth, even if they start with relatively high . The FANG ETF has returned an average of 20% per annum over the past three years. While the next three years aren't guaranteed to be as good, I think the FANG ETF has plenty of capability to outperform the ASX 200.
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