The Globe and Mail - 25.11.2019

SOCCER

Sheffieldscoresin90th

minutetoearna3-3draw

withManchesterUnited B

FOOTBALL

Billsimproveto8-3tosolidify

theirpositionasthefirst

wild-cardteamintheAFC B

GOLF

BrookeHendersonfinishes

infifthinlastLPGAtourney

oftheseason B

SPORTS

B11-B

OTTAWA/QUEBECEDITION ■ MONDAY,NOVEMBER25,2019 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COM

COMPANIES

CANOPY ................................B
LVMH .....................................B
TIFFANY .................................B
WASTECONNECTIONS..........B
WEWORK...............................B
After years of strong results from outside the country, Cana-
da’s six largest banks are expected to report international
growth is slowing amid trade wars and recession concerns. At
home, the banks are expected to set aside more capital for bad
loans, in part because of low energy prices.
Bank of Nova Scotiakicks off reporting fiscal 2019 financial
results on Tuesday. Over all, Canada’s banks are expected to
turn in disappointing profit growth for this fiscal year, which
ended on Oct. 31, and in the coming year. Analysts forecast
earnings per share (EPS) for 2019 will increase by between 2
per cent and 5 per cent compared with the previous year.
That’s well below the banks’ stated targets of 5 per cent to 10
per cent annual EPS growth. Only one institution,National
Bank of Canada, is expected to hit its EPS growth goals in the
current fiscal year and 2020, according to analyst Sumit Mal-
hotra at Scotiabank. “We think the deceleration experienced
in 2019 will have staying power,” Mr. Malhotra said in a report.
“The ability to earn through a slower revenue growth envi-
ronment through cost control and targeted capital deploy-
ment will act as the key differentiators.”
When Scotiabank reports, analysts will focus on the influ-
ence that a changing business landscape in Latin America will
have on future results. “Three current issues facing the bank
are civil unrest in Chile, Mexico’s business climate and a polit-
ical leadership vacuum in Peru, with these three countries
combining to generate 22 per cent of the bank’s profits year-
to-date,” said Gabriel Dechaine, who follows the sector for Na-
tional Bank.
BANKING,B

Tradewars,recessionfears

expectedtoweighonbanks

ANDREWWILLIS

REALESTATE

Developersinvesting

inhigh-rises–and

notjustinToronto

andVancouver B

GLOBEINVESTOR

DavidRosenbergwants

toofferinvestorsa

McDonald’s-sizedmenu

ofmarketinsight B

GLOBEINVESTOR

First-timeinvestors

struggletostem

bleedingaftercannabis

bubblebursts B

The federalgovernment faced mounting calls Sunday to leg-

islate strikingCanadian National Railway Co.employees

back to work as pockets of the Canadian economy began to

show the strains five days after the country’s largest freight

railway operator cut back to a fraction of its capacity.

Across the country representatives from a number of in-

dustries warned of imminent shutdowns and layoffs if the

strike continues for a prolonged period and called for Ottawa

to do something.

“They have to be getting at this, you can’t say quick

enough,” said Barry Senft, CEO of the Grain Farmers of Onta-

rio. “This is just the worst possible way you could go into this

harvest.”

CN itself warned Saturday it would temporarily lay off 70

workers starting Thursday at its Halifax port operations due

to lack of activity.

“If we haven’t seen some action by noon Monday we are

really going to be asking the federal government to really step

into this, implement something ... and get the trains moving

again as quickly as possible,” said Saskatchewan Agriculture

Minister David Marit. A prolonged strike will “have a huge

impact on our economy. We’re very dependent on rail freight

transportation.”

CN and the Teamsters union, which represents 3,200 con-

ductors and rail yard workers who went on strike last Tues-

day, continued negotiations over the weekend but had no

agreement by Sunday evening. A Teamsters spokesman said

they were no closer to a deal than when the strike began.

CN,B

Industrieswarnoflayoffsas

callsgrowtoendCNstrike

SEANSILCOFF

C

anadian companies have steadily, but slow-

ly, added women to their boards and exec-

utive ranks over the past decade as they

respond to pressure from shareholders.

The shift has been due in large part to regulations

that forced them to disclose their gender diversity

and explain how they intend to improve it.

Next spring, the conversation will be bigger and

broader. New federal rules will extend the diversity

disclosure rules to race, disabilities and Indigenous

heritage, requiring companies to include that in-

formation in circulars to shareholders. Canada is

believed to be the first country to mandate compa-

nies to expand diversity disclosure beyond gender

to other groups.

Advocates are hopeful this is another step on

the path to corporate leadership that does a better

job of resembling Canada’s population. The Globe

and Mail talked to leadersin corporategovernance

on the issue of diversity as part of its annual Board

Games survey, which measures Canadian compa-

nies in the S&P/TSX Composite on their board

composition and governance processes.

Still, the Canadiangovernment can only force

federally incorporated companies, not provincial

ones, to adhere to the new regime. And the new

law stops short of mandating that companies

adopt targets for its board or executives for any

group. Instead, Canada uses a model of disclosure

called “comply or explain” – if a company does not

have a policy to identify and add directors who are

part of these groups, it needs to explain why.

DIVERSITY, B

Boardsunderscrutinyasnewrules

turnupthepressureformorediversity

Whilemorewomenarejoiningboardsandexecutiveranks,corporateleadershipisfallingshort

ofreflectingCanada’sdiversepopulation.DavidMilsteadreportsonTheGlobe’sannualgovernancerankings

Howboardsarenavigatingnewrules

onclimateriskdisclosure B

TheGloberankscompanieson

theirgovernancepractices B

Opinion:Thinkonewomanmakes

yourboarddiverse?Thinkagain B

VBOARDGAMES2019W

CARLOGIAMBARRESI/THEGLOBEANDMAIL