MONTREAL — Transcontinental Inc. capped off its financial year by posting a 23.6 per cent drop in fourth-quarter profits even though higher resin costs passed on to customers and an extra week of business helped raise revenues.
The Montreal-based packaging and printing company says its net earnings attributable to shareholders was $39.2 million or 45 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, down from a profit of $51.3 million or 59 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter was $775.8 million, up 18.3 per cent from $655.7 million a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned $70.6 million or 81 cents per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $72.4 million or 84 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Analysts on average had expected Transcontinental to report an adjusted profit of 73 cents per share on $705.4 million in revenue, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.
For the full year, the company earned $130.6 million or $1.50 per diluted share on $2.64 billion of revenues, compared with a profit of $131.7 million or $1.51 per diluted share on $2.57 billion of revenues in the prior fiscal year.
"Excluding the significant negative impact of the rise in the price of resin, the reduction in the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the exchange rate variation, our three sectors delivered excellent operating performance," François Olivier said on his final day as chief executive before he retires.
Peter Brues becomes president and CEO on Friday.
Transcontinental said its results include $3.7 million from the federal wage subsidy in the quarter and $29.5 million for the full year, down from $14.5 million and $58.5 million, respectively, a year earlier.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2021.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TCL.A)
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