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business briefing

These are stories Report on Business is following Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014.

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TFSAs on rise
Canadians plan to boost their contributions to their tax-free savings accounts even though they're not up to speed on what the popular program is all about.

Each year, Bank of Montreal sponsors a survey on TFSAs. And each year, it shows that Canadians really need to learn more about the accounts.

According to the last survey released today, Canadians plan to up their contributions by 34 per cent to an average of $4,884.

But the poll done by Pollara also had some other key findings: Some 66 per cent say they're "knowledgeable" about TFSAs, but just 22 per cent knew the contribution limit is $5,500, and 77 per cent didn't know the overcontribution penalties.

Indeed, 12 per cent of those surveyed said they have in fact overcontributed in the past, for an average in penalties of more than $400.

And 46 per cent of those polled said they contributed too much because they didn't understand the rules, while 33 per cent said they simply lost track.

By the way, those in Eastern Canada overcontributed the most, at 16 per cent, followed by Ontario at 15 per cent. British Columbia, at 7 per cent, fared the best.

SNC cuts deep
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is slashing both its work force and profit outlook.

The Canadian engineering giant, which is coming off a corruption scandal, announced plans today to cut some 4,000 jobs, or almost 10 per cent of the work force, The Globe and Mail's Nicolas Van Praet and Bertrand Marotte report.

At the same time, SNC cut its outlook for per-share profit this year, to a range of $2.15 to $2.40 from its earlier projection of $2.80 to $3.05. But when you take into account certain costs, SNC now expects earnings per share of 40 cents to 55 cents this year.

"As we prepared for the next phase of our plan, we took a hard look at our structure, portfolio and pipeline of opportunities and decided that further action is required to align our expertise and internal resources with the realities of our markets and client needs," said chief executive officer Robert Card.

"While we remain committed to maintaining a leadership position in mining, a major global slowdown in the sector has created a ripple effect through other industries, and is combining with a general economic slowdown, particularly in the BRIC countries. We must therefore improve our agility and client focus in order to capitalize on the most promising opportunities in key growth markets."

Honda to invest
Honda Motor Co. is giving a boost to manufacturing in Canada's industrial heartland.

As The Globe and Mail's Greg Keenan and Adrian Morrow report, the auto maker is pumping $857-million into its plants in Alliston, Ont., to make them more efficient and ready for future models.

The deal includes some help from the Ontario government, an $85.7-million conditional grant.

Some 4,300 workers now assemble the Civic compact and CR-V compact crossover utilities, and build engines, at the Honda plants.

Cott in new deal
Private-label soft-drink maker Cott Corp. is venturing into water and coffee distribution with a $1.25-billion (U.S.) deal to acquire DSS Group Inc., The Globe and Mail's Bertrand Marotte reports.

The deal announced today includes the assumption of an undisclosed amount of debt as well as the issuance of preferred shares to the selling shareholders.

DSS unit DS Services of America Inc. is a major U.S. direct-to-consumer distributor with 2,100 customer routes.

Cott's diversification strategy comes at a time when demand for soft drinks is slumping, rising competition from price-discounting name brands and a consumer shift to healthier drinks.

Earnings flood in
If you blink, you could well miss one of the corporate earnings reports that are flooding in fast and furious this morning.

BCE Inc. profit surged in the third quarter to $600-million, or 77 cents a share, from $343-million or 44 cents a year earlier, while adjusted earnings per share beat the estimates of analysts, climbing to 83 cents from 75 cents.

Sticking with Canada's big phone companies, Telus Corp. profit was flat at $355-million or 58 cents, compared to $356-million or 56 cents, or 64 cents versus 58 cents on an adjusted basis.

Quebecor Inc. jumped to a profit of $45.1-million or 37 cents from a loss of $188.8-million or $1.53. Adjusted, income from continuing operations rose to 53 cents from 51 cents.

Canadian Natural Resources Inc. posted a dip in profit to $1.04-billion or 94 cents, diluted, from $1.07-billion or 97 cents. Adjusted, that's 89 cents from $1.04.

And Air Canada profit rose to $323-million or $1.10 from $299-million or $1.05. Or, adjusted, to $1.55 from $1.29.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 27/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
AAPL-Q
Apple Inc
+2.12%173.31
AC-T
Air Canada
+0.87%19.64
BCE-N
BCE Inc
+1.15%34.26
BCE-T
BCE Inc
+1.09%46.5
BMO-N
Bank of Montreal
+0.43%96.38
BMO-T
Bank of Montreal
+0.32%130.77
CNQ-N
Canadian Natural Resources
+0.49%75.47
CNQ-T
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
+0.39%102.44
HMC-N
Honda Motor Company ADR
+0.11%37.32
T-T
Telus Corp
+1.17%21.59

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