El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Edward Rogers is out as board chair of Rogers Communications Inc., a move that comes as the latest development in a boardroom drama that has prompted the departure of a senior executive and the launch of an executive oversight committee.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, the company said John A. MacDonald will take over as chairman of the Rogers board of directors.
"This has been a challenging time for the Corporation and I want to reaffirm on behalf of the majority of the Board our support for and total confidence in the management team and CEO of Rogers Communications," said MacDonald in the statement.
Edward Rogers, who has served on the Rogers board since 2012, will remain on the board as a company director, the statement said.
Rogers Communications has been embroiled in an executive power struggle which developed after Edward Rogers tried to put former chief financial officer Tony Staffieri into the role of CEO and replace other members of the leadership team, according to media reports. Staffieri left the company effective Sept. 29, with Paulina Molnar named interim CFO.
Thursday, the board announced it has formed an executive oversight committee "to establish clear protocols for interactions between the chair and members of management" and said it would undertake a comprehensive corporate governance review.
"The board believes that these initiatives will further strengthen the company's corporate governance practices," it says in the management discussion and analysis document released along with the company's third-quarter financial results.
Joe Natale, president and chief executive of Rogers, publicly addressed the feud for the first time during the telecom company's quarterly earnings call Thursday morning.
His comments overshadowed the results, which analysts generally characterized as positive, and come as Rogers works to complete its purchase of Shaw Communications Inc.
Natale said he continues to have "strong unequivocal support" from the family-controlled firm's board of directors.
The statement comes after media reports describing an attempted ousting of Natale by board chair Edward Rogers. The attempt was blocked by other members of the board, including Rogers' sisters and mother, multiple reports say.
"I feel supported and rest assured that the entire executive team is focused on two things," Natale said during the conference call with analysts. "One, running the business to keep driving performance, and two, landing the Shaw transaction and the synergies and integration efforts that stand behind it."
Rogers reported a profit of $490 million, down from $512 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue held steady for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
The cable TV and wireless company said the profit amounted to 94 cents per diluted share, down from $1.01 per diluted share a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Rogers says it earned $1.03 per diluted share, down from an adjusted profit of $1.08 per diluted share a year ago. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $1.02 per share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
A TD Securities Inc. client note called the results positive, saying the increase in new wireless subscribers and low churn was a "huge beat."
Rogers added 175,000 postpaid wireless subscribers, the highest third-quarter increase in 13 years. It also posted the lowest-ever third-quarter postpaid churn, which refers to the number of customers leaving.
"While messy boardroom and family discussions continue to play out in the media, the (third-quarter) results from Rogers show meaningful signs of improvement on many key metrics," the TD Securities note said.
"Service revenue growth also exceeded our above consensus expectations, and we note that the two-year growth ... improved meaningfully."
Rogers revenue for the quarter totalled $3.67 billion, identical to the same quarter last year, as higher service revenue in its wireless and cable businesses were offset by lower media and wireless equipment revenue.
The Shaw deal was announced earlier this year in a transaction valued at about $26 billion, including the assumption of $6 billion in debt. The acquisition is awaiting regulatory approval.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.