Toronto, Ontario — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker, Canadian manufacturing gets a boost, Manitoba-based Boyd Group releases its second-quarter financial results and Magna introduces a new research and development head.
Manufacturing moves
Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales climbed a record 20.7 percent in June to $48.7 billion as production returned following widespread shutdowns.
Economists on average had expected an increase of 16.4 percent for June, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv. The increase was led by the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts industries and followed 11.6 percent growth in May.
Sales in the transportation equipment industry more than doubled to $8.8 billion in June as most factories in the automotive sector returned to full production following shutdowns earlier in the pandemic.
Despite the gains, total manufacturing sales in June were 13.2 percent below their pre-pandemic levels from February.
Second-quarter sales
The Boyd Group has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2020, reporting a 25.5 percent decrease in sales.
According to the company’s press release, sales decreased to $426.5 million, from $572.5 million in the same period of 2019.
Same-store sales decreased 33 percent, which was negatively impacted by “the slower economic reopening in Canada,” said the company.
Net earnings decreased 151.4 percent to a net loss of $7.1 million, compared with $13.7 million of net earnings in the same period of 2019.
Marakby joins Magna
Magna International has appointed Sherif Marakby its executive vice-president, the company announced Aug. 7.
Marakby joined the company as executive vice-president on July 6 after working as the head of Ford’s AV business, Ford Autonomous Vehicles. Prior to working with Ford, Marakby served as the vice president of Uber’s global vehicle programs and was responsible for managing and integrating Uber’s software into production OEM vehicles.
He also served on the board for Argo AI, Ford’s self-driving technology partner.
