TORONTO, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Canadian corporations saw a collective jump of 47 percent in profits in the third quarter over the same period last year, the Globe and Mail reported Monday.
The 386 companies in the newspaper's latest Report on Business survey of corporate profits had bottom lines totaling US$16.4 billion in the third quarter, up 47 percent from the US$11.1 billion in the same period last year.
The top performer was the communications and media group, which reported a resounding 1,426.8 percent gain.
In the wireless telecom sector, Research In Motion Ltd. posted a 3,075 percent profit increase to US$79.3 million for the three months to Aug. 28, 2004, from US$2.5 million in the same period last year. RIM manufactures BlackBerry handheld communications devices.
On the losing side, Molson Inc. reported a US$99 million loss for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of US$81.5 million in the same quarter last year. The brewer blamed its sliding market share in the Canadian beer market and a write-down on the value of its troubled operations in Brazil.
