Agenda: Studio MELS, COVID-19 & Europe, CAE, OPEC, BRP, Jeff Bezos & Blue Origin, CNR, Coca-Cola, American Airlines, Intel, Market Review.
Photo: RYAN REMIORZ /The Canadian Press
New studio in Montreal built by MELS. In order to better meet the needs of Hollywood productions, a new filming studio will be built by MELS Studios, reports Montreal Gazette. This investment is worth $76 million, to which the Government of Quebec will partake by providing a loan of $25 million.
COVID-19: reinstatement of restrictive measures in Europe. According to Euronews, several European countries such as Spain, Catalonia and Greece are re-enacting restrictive measures given the increase in contamination. These restrictive measures are put in place following the force propagation of the Delta variant. City and government authorities appear to be pointing fingers at bars and restaurants for the increase in COVID-19 cases. Read more here.
Significant investment for CAE. The Montreal-based company CAE, which specializes in flight simulators, announced the intention to invest $1 billion, as newswire reports. This investment will be made in partnership with the government of Quebec and Canada. CAE specified how the investment will be dedicated to the development of artificial intelligence and of data solutions for the civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare sectors. Read more here.
Increase in oil production for OPEC. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plan on increasing their oil production by around 400,000 barrels, CNBC reports, in the hopes of accelerating the overall recovery of the economy. In fact, last year, the organization suffered from the COVID-19 crisis and the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, and had to decrease their oil production consequently. Read more here.
BRP resumes production following a fire in one of its production plants. Following a fire at a BRP factory in Mexico, the Quebec recreational product manufacturer is about to restart production, Newswire reports. This fire has destroyed the equivalent of six days of production. The delivery of BRP vehicles can be expected to be delayed. Read more here.
Successful launch for Jeff Bezos aboard Blue Origin. On July 20th, CNBC reported that Jeff Bezos fulfilled his dream of boarding space, riding his company’s New Shepard rocket alongside three other individuals. The launchpad was in the state of Texas. Blue Origin also welcomed its first paying customer Oliver Daemen, who is of Dutch origin. Watch the flight's Livestream replay here.
Second-quarter profits for Canadian National Railway. According to BNNBloomberg, in the second quarter of 2021, profits went up drastically for CN Rail. The Montreal freight carrier is starting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. It reported a profit of $1.03 billion in the most recent quarter compared to a profit of $545 million for the same period in 2020, which can be explained by the fueling demand for exports from Canada. Specifically, commodities include petroleum, lumber and metals greatly contributed to CN’s profit. Read more from LaPresse.
Increased sales for Coca-Cola thanks to the reopening of economies. The soft drink maker Coca-Cola has seen its sales decline significantly in theatres and restaurants in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. However, the good news for the American company is that given the gradual reopening of the global economy, it is revising upwards its sales forecasts for 2021, reports CNBC. For the year 2021, Coca-Cola forecasts growth between 12% and 14%, while the previous forecast for 2021 was less than 10%. Read more from The Washington Post here.
Strong quarter earnings for American Airlines. A first quarterly net profit for American Airlines since the start of the pandemic CNBC reports. For the same quarter in 2020, the company had incurred a loss of $2 billion while it gained $19 million for the quarter from April to June 2021. In addition, the company embarked 36 million more passengers than it did in its second quarter of the year 2020. As vaccination campaigns continue to accelerate, this passenger train capacity will increase subsequently. Read more from LaPresse.
Yearly forecast up for Intel. Following quarterly results that exceeded analysts' expectations, US semiconductor company Intel is raising its annual forecast. The reason for this upward revision is mainly due to the pandemic, which has resulted in an increased demand for electronic components. According to CNBC, the company had forecast $77 billion in revenue for the full year and that forecast is now standing at an expected value of $77.6 billion.
Record for Wall Street. According to CNBC, the New York Stock Exchange closed on record this Friday, a significant rebound after the market downturn at the start of the week. As for the Toronto Stock Exchange, the industry and information technology sectors ended this week on a positive note. Read more here.
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