Category: Canada

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

VersaBank (NASDAQ:VBNK) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript June 6, 2025

Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to VersaBank’s Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. This morning, VersaBank issued a news release reporting its financial results for the second quarter ended April 30, 2025. That news release, along with the bank’s financial statements, MD&A and supplemental financial information are available on the bank’s website in the Investor Relations section as well on SEDAR+ and EDGAR. Please note that in addition to the telephone dial-in, VersaBank is webcasting this morning’s conference call. [Operator Instructions]. For those participating in today’s call by telephone, the accompanying slide presentation is available on the bank’s website. Also, today’s call will be archived for replay both by telephone and via the Internet beginning approximately 1 hour following completion of the call.

Details on how to access the replays are available in this morning’s news release. I would like to remind our listeners that the statements about future events made on this call are forward-looking in nature and are based on certain assumptions and analysis made by VersaBank management. Actual results could differ materially from our expectations due to various material risks and uncertainties associated with VersaBank’s businesses. Please refer to VersaBank’s forward-looking statement advisory in today’s presentation. I would now like to turn the call over to David Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer of VersaBank. Please go ahead, Mr. Taylor.

David Roy Taylor: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for today’s call. With me is our Chief Financial Officer, John Asma. The second quarter of fiscal 2025 unfolded as planned with a number of positive highlights that will continue to drive momentum in our business. We saw the first drawdowns of our U.S. RPP portfolio, which by the end of the quarter had surpassed USD 70 million. We saw growth in our Canadian residential construction loan portfolio. We saw a meaningful expansion of our net interest margin due to several factors that are trending positively. John will go into these in more detail, and we do expect these trends to continue to support NIM around these levels for the remainder of the year. This drove record assets, record credit assets, record revenue alongside sequential improvements in banking efficiency and return on common equity based on our core earnings.

And subsequent to quarter end, we initiated a structural realignment of our business to that of the standard U.S. bank framework, which, if approved by regulatory authorities and shareholders, we expect will realize additional shareholder value, reduce costs and further mitigate risk. Looking at the financial highlights in more detail. As I noted, record credit assets and very healthy expansion of our net interest margin drove record revenue. Credit assets on both sides of the border are expanding more or less in line with expectations this year. Net interest margin also expanded as we saw several favorable trends continue, driving 23 basis point increase in NIM on credit assets sequentially. I will note here, there were 2 items that did slightly dampen our income.

The first is some preliminary costs associated with our proposed structural realignment. The second is the impact of foreign exchange translation of U.S. subsidiary assets, which was a typically large unrealized noncash loss due to precipitous drop of the U.S. versus the Canadian dollar in Q2. Including these items, earnings per share was $0.28 — or excuse me, excluding these items. I will take the opportunity to remind you that this is early point in our U.S. Receivable Purchase Program. Although profitable, the results of our U.S. operations continue to reflect the cost structure that will support our ramp to vastly larger revenues. As I noted last quarter, we tend to look at our Canadian banking operations as a proxy for where we think the efficiency and return on common equity of our U.S. banking operations can go.

And we are pleased to see both improve sequentially, excluding the 2 aforementioned items to 44% and 12.53%, respectively. And I will remind you that our Canadian banking operations bear the vast majority of our corporate overhead costs, including our public company costs. So as an indicator of true potential efficiency and return on equity of our U.S. business is actually significantly understated. And finally, as I did last quarter, I’ll remind you that our EPS for the quarter reflects a significant higher number of shares outstanding in Q2 as a result of our December capital raise, most of which we are still putting to work. We deploy this capital at around 12x or more and around 2.5% spread. So it is very accretive. Now I’d like to turn the call over to John to review the financial results in detail.

John?

John W. Asma: Thanks, David. Before I begin, I will remind you that our financial statements and MD&A for the second quarter are available on our website under the Investors section as well as on SEDAR and EDGAR. All of the following numbers are reported in Canadian dollars as per our financial statements, unless otherwise noted. Starting with the balance sheet. Total assets at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2025 grew 15% year-over-year and 2% sequentially to a new high of over $5 billion. Cash and securities were $445 million or 9% of total assets, down from 11% at the end of Q1 as we steadily deploy the capital we raised in December of last year. Book value — sorry, book value per share increased to a record $16.25.

Our CET1 ratio increased to 14.28% and our leverage ratio was 9.61%, both remaining above our internal targets. Total consolidated revenue was a record at $30.1 million, up 6% year-over- year and 8% sequentially. The increase was driven primarily by our continued growth in credit assets with the sequential growth being additionally driven by solid expansion of our net interest margin. Consolidated net interest expense was $17.5 million compared to $12.2 million in Q2 of last year and $15.7 million for Q1 of this year. As David discussed, Q2 NIEs included $900,000 related to the preliminary costs associated with the bank’s proposed structural realignment as well as an atypically high unrealized foreign exchange translation loss. Excluding these costs, NIEs were in line with our expectations.

Otherwise, the year-over-year increase in net interest expenses was primarily due to the addition of VersaBank USA. As a reminder, DRT Cyber expenses were included in our consolidated net interest expenses and totaled $2.7 million for the quarter. Reported net income was $8.5 million and consolidated earnings were $0.26 per share. Excluding the preliminary costs associated with the proposed structural realignment and the impact of the foreign exchange translations, consolidated net income was $9.2 million and consolidated earnings per share was $0.28. Looking at the income statement on a segmented basis, the vast majority of revenue continues to be driven by our Canadian digital operations — pardon me, our Canadian digital banking operations.

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And within that Canadian banking operations as well as our U.S. RPP program ramped up with continued incremental growth. Revenue for the Canadian banking operations was $25.6 million, up 8% sequentially from Q1. As the corporate expenses flow through the Canadian Digital Banking segment, net income and net earnings per share were negatively impacted by costs associated with the structural realignment and the impact of foreign exchange translation. Excluding these impacts, net income for the Canadian banking operation was $9.9 million, which comes to $0.30 per share. Revenue from the U.S. banking operations was $2.5 million, a 22% sequential increase. And net income for U.S. banking operations was $133,000, a 29% increase sequentially. Within DRT Cyber — within the — I’m sorry, within DRTC, the cybersecurity component generated revenue of $1.8 million, down from $2.3 million in Q2 of last year.

Net loss was $652,000, impacted by higher operating expenses. Within DRTC, Digital Meteor revenue was $569,000 with net loss of $152,000. Our credit assets grew to a record $4.52 billion at the end of Q2, driven once again by our Receivable Purchase Program, which increased 4% — sorry, 14% year-over-year and 4% sequentially to $3.5 billion. Our RPP portfolio represented 79% of our total asset portfolio at the end of Q2, consistent with the end of Q1. Our multifamily residential loans and other portfolio grew 8% year-over-year and 3% sequentially to $958 million as we steadily drew down on CMHC-insured loan commitments. As a reminder, our multifamily residential loans and other portfolio is primarily business- to-business mortgages and construction loans for residential properties.

We have very little exposure to commercially used properties. Turning to the income statement of digital banking operations. Net interest margin on credit assets, that is excluding cash and securities, was 2.59%. That was 7 basis points or 3% higher on a year-over- year basis and 16 basis points or 10% higher sequentially. As David discussed, our net interest margin on credit assets is benefiting from several positive trends. The yield curve is no longer inverted, further replacement of maturing higher interest rate term deposits with lower interest rate term deposits, continued expansion of our low-cost insolvency professional deposits and higher margin generated by our U.S. RPP. Net interest margin overall, including the impact of cash, securities and other assets was 2.29%, an increase of 21 basis points sequentially, which still remained among the highest of the publicly traded financial licensed banks in Canada.

Our provision for credit losses or PCL in Q2 increased slightly this quarter to 0.08% of average credit assets compared to 0% last year and is higher than our 12-quarter average of 0.02%. The increase this quarter was due to changes in forward-looking information used in our credit risk models, mainly due to increased uncertainty and more challenging outlook for the economy. I’d now like to turn the call back to David for some closing remarks. David?

David Roy Taylor: Thanks, John. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we expect positive trends of Q2 to continue into the third and fourth quarters, which we expect will drive steady sequential growth in core earnings, meaning excluding the investment in the structural realignment. Credit assets should continue to steadily grow, driven by momentum in our U.S. Receivable Purchase Program, which we continue to expect to reach at least USD 290 million by the end of the year. The U.S. has vastly underserved market for big ticket point-of-sale financing, and we have a unique solution that offers a number of clear advantages over existing alternatives. We see some potential for incremental growth in Canada amidst what remains a challenging environment for consumer spending, and we expect to see an increasing contribution from our growing CMHC-insured Multifamily Residential Loan business in this opportunistic part of our Canadian business and remain on target to achieve $1 billion in commitments by the end of the year.

We will increasingly benefit from the operating leverage in our business model as those assets scale, especially as we deploy the capital from our equity offering last December, contributing to further improvements in efficiency and return on common equity on core earnings. We expect to see the continuation of this favorable trend in support of our net interest margins that are in line with our expanding Q2 levels. further replacement of maturing higher cost term deposit receipts with those at the current rates, the normalized yield curve, which benefits from our RPP spreads, the higher spread we generate on RPP assets in the U.S. and the higher deposits in our low-cost Insolvency Deposit business. Q2’s insolvency balances were up another 5% sequentially and 22% year-over-year, and we continue to expect those deposits to grow to about $1 billion.

Finally, as discussed in our last call, we are aggressively pursuing the renewed opportunity for our proprietary digital deposit receipts. As we expected with the U.S. administration’s significantly more favorable view towards digital assets, including digital currencies and stablecoins, we are starting to see the industry itself ramping up their plans. Most notably, Wall Street Journal reported JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and others are all exploring the use of this technology to modernize payments. Our digital deposit receipts are a market-ready solution created by a bank or banks that seamlessly integrate with existing bank software systems while addressing the major concerns of regulators. They take the concept of stablecoin to an entirely new level.

In fact, next week, I’ll be speaking at the Florida Bankers Association Annual Meeting, the title of my presentation: Introducing the Ultimate Stablecoin, the only USD digital deposit receipt. I will discuss why we believe our first-of-a-kind stablecoin minted by a national bank SOC2-approve based on the highest military grade security can and we believe will play a role in changing the banking industry. Before we open the call to questions, a few words on the proposed structural realignment we announced last week. The details are a little convoluted and well laid out in our news release, so I won’t get into those here. The purpose of this initiative is to realign our corporate structure to that of the most international banks under which there is a corporate parent entity that holds the various operating subsidiaries.

This is the structure with which U.S. and international investors are most familiar. Under the proposed plan, the new parent would be domiciled in the United States and fall under the purview of the U.S. regulators as would our U.S. operations. Our Canadian operations would remain domiciled in Canada and remain under the purview of the Canadian regulators. The benefits of this proposed realignment are clear. We would simplify our regulatory oversight. We would further mitigate risk, something we continuously seek to do. We would generate meaningful cost savings. Our stock should become eligible for certain indices, including the Russell 2000. And looking longer term, it would provide a structure that would be favorable to further international expansion.

We would expect all this to generate additional shareholder value over and above the value we expect to drive through growth of the business itself. The realignment is subject to a number of approvals, the OCC, the Fed in the U.S., the Minister of Finance in Canada, the NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange, of course, and our shareholders. There is a significant cost of this undertaking, which is very much we view as an investment with a substantial expected return. We estimate that to be around CAD 8 million to be roughly divided between third and fourth quarters this year with a small amount incurred in Q2, as noted earlier. That expected $8 million investment equates to about 1.5% of our current market cap. We are confident that the combined benefits will drive incremental shareholder value far in excess of this investment.

With that, I’d like to open up the call to questions. Operator?

Q&A Session

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Operator: [Operator Instructions]. With that, our first question comes from the line of Joe Yanchunis with Raymond James.

Joseph Peter Yanchunis: So in your prepared remarks, I believe you said that you expect insolvency deposits will reach $1 billion. What’s the timing for that target? And in conjunction with this tailwind and the several others that you listed, do you have a sense for the magnitude of NIM expansion in the out quarters?

David Roy Taylor: Can you repeat the second half of that? It broke up a little bit.

Joseph Peter Yanchunis: Yes. It was the timing for the $1 billion and then kind of an outlook — a near-term outlook for the NIM expansion?

David Roy Taylor: Well, with the $1 billion, I’m thinking by the end of the calendar year, we should get there. As you can see, we’re growing at 22% year-over-year. And unfortunately, for Canada, we almost a record low for consumer sentiment and insolvency. So while it’s a tough time for most Canadians, it’s a good time for the insolvency business. And it should — it supplies us with some economically priced deposits. So I think we continue — the balances continue to grow at the present rate by the end of the calendar year should hit about $1 billion. Now with respect to NIM expansion, very pleased to see the 29 basis points sequentially in the credit assets. There’s a little bit of a dampening effect right now happening in Canada, even though we have about $700 million in GICs maturing in the next few months at about 1% less than — and the replacement GIC is about 1% less.

So that’s all very favorable for us. But the yield curve is still pretty flat and might have a little tiny inversion in the short end. That puts a bit of damper on it. So it hasn’t quite swung back up as it normally is. And the marginal Government of Canada bonds that our GICs have over the last while are high, too. It’s about 80-odd basis points, usually around 50. So right now, I’m thinking NIM will stay where it is and probably start edging up again when some of this noise gets out of the system.

Joseph Peter Yanchunis: Got it. I appreciate that. And then kind of moving over to expenses. So excluding the realignment costs, how should we think about noninterest expenses kind of trending from here? And then what are the expected annual savings from redomiciling in the U.S.?

David Roy Taylor: Well, excluding the — those onetime expenditures with respect to reorganizing, there’s probably a little bit more in NIE in the states. We’ve got maybe one more hire to do. And out of that, it should stabilize. So maybe a slight increase in the U.S. bank’s expenses going forward and then stable. And with respect to the savings, you could probably pencil in around $2 million, $3 million a year once we’ve got the reorganization done.

Joseph Peter Yanchunis: Excellent. I appreciate that. And just last one for me. With respect to capital, and perhaps I missed this in the materials, but it didn’t look like you utilized your recent share repurchase authorization. How should we think about your appetite for repurchases in the out quarters?

David Roy Taylor: Well, routine to buy our stock back less than book value, and it looks like it’s less than book value, maybe to say it has been the last. So we are keen to buy it back at that price. Personally, I don’t expect it to stay down there that long. But if it is, we’ve got loads of capital and probably the best place to deploy our capital is buying back our stock less than book.

Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Tim Switzer with KBW.

Timothy Jeffrey Switzer: Can you update us on the expectations you have on to sell DRTC Cyber (sic) [ DRT Cyber ] and the time line there?

David Roy Taylor: Well, — we’re in the sort of the final stages of engaging a firm to look after that sale. And I would expect by the end of this fiscal year, we’ll have a deal done. It’s, I think, a very popular business, unfortunately, but a terrible comment on humanity that cybersecurity attacks just seem to be relentless and DRT Cyber is seem to be a world leader, particularly in their penetration testing. So we’re actively in the sale process now. And as I say, we expect fairly soon to engage a firm to look after that for us.

Timothy Jeffrey Switzer: Okay. Great. That’s good to hear. And can you provide an update on how the conversations with new partners in the U.S. are going? Maybe how many new programs you expect to be fully launched by the end of the year?

David Roy Taylor: Well, the conversation is going quite well. And of course, it’s a very attractive product. But the onboarding process is a little longer than I would like. We’ve got 3 signed up now. And by the end of the year, say we have another 3 signed up. I’m hoping for a lot more than that, but it has taken a while to onboard. The legal work is different in the States versus what we have in Canada, not that much different, but it is — there are nuances to it. So 3 now, maybe another 3. And if the guys pleasantly surprised me, maybe another 3 on top of that.

Timothy Jeffrey Switzer: Okay. That sounds good. And the last question I have is, can you just provide some commentary on the credit trends you’re seeing in the CRE book where we’ve seen some reserve release over the last few quarters, but have also had some charge-offs. Just would love to hear what you guys are seeing there?

David Roy Taylor: Well, the charge-offs actually are sort of an academic charge-off and that they’re part of the U.S. portfolio that we purchased when we purchased that U.S. bank. So they’re not in the Canadian real estate area. We have no charge-offs. No real charge-offs at all in our book. But we purchased the portfolio by the bank. And along with it, we purchased their expected loss provision that’s being charged against it. The Canadian real estate market is in a bit of a turmoil. So it’s really a heads-up game lending in that area. We’ve been at it for, I guess, in my case, 48 years. So this is one of those periods of time where you have to be really careful. Hence, our focus on the government-insured CMHC mortgages. And we intend to keep that focus.

And we tend to lend to our clients that we’ve to for decades around the London, Ontario area. So yes, if — even our real estate developer clients are, for the most part, sitting on a lot of cash sort of waiting until things smooth out a bit in the economy. No problem, Tim. Maybe I’ll see in New York, I’m heading in there next week sometime.

Timothy Jeffrey Switzer: Okay, yes. We’ll be in touch.

Operator: [Operator Instructions]. Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Scutt with ROTH Capital Partners.

Andrew Scutt: So my first one here is a little bit of a 2-parter. You guys had nice growth in the RPP portfolio. So kind of breaking it out by geography, with the softness in the Canadian economy, can you just kind of talk about what verticals you did see strength in? And then maybe within the active U.S. portfolio, is there anything you’ve kind of learned that surprised you thus far?

David Roy Taylor: Well, actually, Andrew, it surprised me the Canadian portfolio grew and that all the stats in Canada are pretty negative, like consumer sentiment at an all-time low, insolvencies at an all-time high. So I was surprised to see any growth in Canada. I think in last quarter, I said that. But the vertical really is home improvement. And I suppose that maybe that’s to be expected. Canadians are buying new furnaces and energy-efficient furnaces and hot water heaters and that sort of things are saving them ultimately in the monthly expenses. So that’s where we see the growth in Canada still, strangely enough. And it’s probably going to continue right through the end of the year. So you may very well see about a 10% increase year-over-year in the RPP in Canada.

And of course, on the other side of that, we’re seeing 22% growth year-over-year in the insolvency deposits, which are helping drive the expansion of our margin. In the United States, the — I suppose the lesson is that the alternate source of financing is securitization and the credit spreads in that area have been pretty narrow. So even though virtually everybody we talk to in the States wants to sign up for our program as sort of a continuous, steady, reliable source of capital to fund their loans. The market is giving money pretty cheap right now. So it means that we’re maybe not the top priority that would be otherwise if credit spreads were really wide. So that’s — the American point-of-sale customers tend to be a lot larger than the Canadian ones.

But the Canadian ones don’t have — because of their size, don’t have really access to the securitization programs. But the American ones do because they’re so much larger. And so their appetite for our program is sort of modified by the credit spreads.

Andrew Scutt: Really appreciate the detail there. And second one for me, if I may. You guys added an additional deposit broker in the quarter, noted this could potentially be a tailwind to NIM. So can you kind of talk us through how that could be a benefit to you guys and if you’re interested to further expand your network?

David Roy Taylor: Well, absolutely right. We were fortunate that Bank of Montreal put us on their board. In my early career, I started off with Bank of Montreal. So it was justice that they should have us on their board. Bank of Montreal is a huge channel for distributing our deposits. So that is a tailwind on NIM that would be contributing to our net interest margin expansion and the diversity of our deposit base. So we’re thankful that Bank of Montreal added us. There may be one large bank left in Canada to put us on their board. And again, that helps with the diversity and the NIM expansion. And just to spell it out, the more channels we have that distribute our deposits, the less we have to pay for our deposits and that we don’t overwhelm one particular channel because we’re so well distributed all across the entire country of Canada.

So that’s helpful. And like I said, there may be one more bank that in the very early days of — when I was just conceiving this model was actually a supplier and then the market changed a bit, the industry changed. So we should really sign them up too, and then we had the entire country.

Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Jeff Wagman with Raymond James.

David Roy Taylor: Are you in the baking hot St. Petersburg right now?

Jeff Wagman: No, no. I’m actually getting warmer in Toronto.

David Roy Taylor: No kidding. Sorry [indiscernible]. Thought you were down to the headquarters.

Jeff Wagman: No. I hope to be in London sometime through the summer. But anyway, just a general question, given the political climate and the expansion and wisely, I think, the concentration of business to the United States. Are you experiencing or hearing of any possible pushback given the political environment regarding foreigners in the U.S.?

David Roy Taylor: No, not yet, but we’ve heard sort of statements earlier on about Canadian banks in general, and it hasn’t affected us negatively. In fact, on the balance, the current U.S. administration’s propensity for digital commerce has helped us a lot. As you know, we have the world’s first digital deposit receipt. We pioneered it in Canada under the Canadian regulatory environment. And now it seems that it’s absolutely perfect for what the U.S. administration is talking about. So other than a little bit of rhetoric about Canadian banks, the overwhelming positive thing is the endorsement of digital commerce and our digital deposit receipt, of course, is at least 2 years ahead of the game. We not only pioneered it in the regulatory environment, but we also obtained a SOC type 2 audit on it, which is you can only get by having it actually be functional.

So everybody else that’s dreaming of doing this, they’ve got a few years to go. And we’ve got the thing ready to roll in the United States. So anything on the balance, it’s positive to be in the United States.

Jeff Wagman: All right. So no proposed — they’re talking about tax increases on foreigners investing in the States and the increase in withholding taxes for — on dividends and that sort of thing. But I don’t know about business operations yet. I haven’t heard anything about that.

David Roy Taylor: Yes. And a good portion of our shareholders are U.S. other than our major holding company, it’s 80% U.S. shareholders.

Jeff Wagman: But it won’t impact your business as an operational thing, will it?

David Roy Taylor: Also, obviously, with us adopting the same holding company structure that the other international U.S. banks have, that minimizes the risk that there might be some sort of aversion to Canadian banks in the United States. We’ll have a holding company structure identical Yes. That’s a 35-minute flight for me out of London Airport here where located. But I’ve got a new set of garment instruments going That’s right. I’m tied up this month. We got our kids in from overseas. So it will be July or August, hopefully July. It will be sometime burdens and foreign exchange translations that you saw us get hit with this quarter. So that’s all underway. to that of, say, JPMorgan. So that minimizes all that stuff.

Jeff Wagman: Okay. I’ll give you a shout. And hopefully, when you guys are in London, I’ll make a plan to come down and see you.

David Roy Taylor: Yes. Well, I’m in London right now, right at the VersaBank’s Innovations Center of Excellence here. And — but last time without an airplane, so I can’t fly in the island to visit with you. I got to say…

Jeff Wagman: No, I’m in Toronto. It’s Jeff.

David Roy Taylor: I know, Island Airport, of course.

Jeff Wagman: The Island Airport I forgot about that.

David Roy Taylor: in and seems to take forever like a lot of things in life nowadays. Everything seems to take a lot longer than you hope for.

Jeff Wagman: in July. But I’ll message you and John, and see if we can…

David Roy Taylor: Yes, absolutely. I’m in regularly once I got my wings back.

Operator: And we have no further questions at this time. I would like to turn it back to David Taylor for closing remarks.

David Roy Taylor: Well, I’d like to thank everyone for joining us today, and I look forward to speaking to you at the time of our third quarter results.

Operator: Thank you, presenters. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

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TSX adds to weekly gain as tech and energy shares climb

TSX ends up 0.3% at 26,429.13

For the week, the index gains nearly 1%

Energy adds 1.4% as oil settles 1.9% higher

June 6 – Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday to a new record high, led by gains for energy and technology shares, as oil prices advanced and U.S. and Canadian jobs data eased investor concerns about a possible recession.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 86.84 points, or 0.3%, at 26,429.13, inching past its record closing high on Tuesday. For the week, the index was up nearly 1%.

Canada’s economy added 8,800 jobs last month, compared to an expected decline of 12,500, while U.S. job growth also beat expectations.

“Jobs are slowing down but still not falling off a cliff and I don’t think a recession is imminent as many people are fearing,” said Allan Small, senior investment advisor of the Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth.

U.S. crude oil futures settled 1.9% higher at $64.58 a barrel, helped by the U.S. jobs data but also optimism about trade talks between the U.S. and China.

U.S. President Trump said three of his cabinet officials will meet with representatives of China in London on June 9 to discuss a trade deal.

“The pressure is on the U.S. to make some of these deals,” Small said, adding that tariffs are unlikely to return to previous sky-high levels proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The energy sector rose 1.4% and technology ended 1.9% higher. Heavily weighted financials also posted gains, rising 0.6%.

Consumer staples were a drag, falling 0.9%, and the materials group, which includes metal mining shares, ended 1.7% lower as gold and copper prices fell.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

Snaile appoints Thadaney, Kapoor to advisory board

Snaile has announced the appointments of Nicholas (Nick) Thadaney, ICD.D, and Vikram Kapoor, CFA, to the Toronto-based firm’s strategic advisory board.

Thadaney, former CEO of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and group head of capital formation at TMX, brings expertise in capital markets, technology, corporate governance, and innovation leadership to the board. His guidance will assist Snaile in refining its commercial activities as well as scaling its operations in smart parcel infrastructure.

Kapoor is a seasoned capital markets strategist and portfolio manager with experience in investment management, corporate finance and value creation. His diverse experience includes serving as a board member at Golconda Gold, as a board member and strategic advisor with Unaprime Investment Advisors, and managing director and country head at Finitive. 

He has advised and led numerous high-impact transactions across sectors involving some of Canada’s largest exits. His insights will support Snaile’s continued expansion nationally and into international markets.

Snaile provides last-mile logistics through its secure, carrier-agnostic smart locker platform — a scalable solution for e-commerce, retail and pharmaceutical distribution.

TSX set for record high after US jobs data, trade optimism

Canada’s main stock index was headed for a record high on Friday, as a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report and signs of easing trade tensions between Washington and China fueled investor optimism.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.6% at 26,486.37 points. The index was set to eclipse Tuesday’s record closing high of 26,426.64 if gains hold.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 139,000 jobs last month, data released on Friday showed, while economists polled by Reuters had expected a job growth of 130,000.

Meanwhile, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Friday that a planned meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials on trade is expected within seven days, giving hope that the trade war between the world’s two largest economies might de-escalate.

Separately, China on Friday called to improve bilateral ties with Canada.

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump had doubled tariffs on imports on steel and aluminum.

TSX edges higher amid US-China trade talks and upcoming jobs data

“It’s just a ploy to get everyone to the table and to try to make a deal,” said Michael Constantino, CEO of online investment platform Webull Canada.

Canada’s Industry Minister Melanie Joly said on Thursday that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump are in direct communication as part of Ottawa’s bid to persuade Washington to lift tariffs.

“I think the prime minister of Canada and President Trump will at some point come together and do what’s best for both countries,” Constantino said.

Canada’s unemployment rate in May jumped to its highest level in almost nine years, excluding the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On TSX, information and technology stocks gained 1.4% on Friday, tracking gains in tech-heavy Nasdaq index.

Energy subindex gained 1.3% as oil prices rose slightly and were on track for their first weekly gain in three weeks.

Jackpot Digital Goes Live in Jamaica

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Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – June 6, 2025) – Jackpot Digital Inc. (TSXV: JJ) (TSXV: JJ.WT.C) (OTCQB: JPOTF) (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: LVH3) (the “Company” or “Jackpot Digital”), the leading provider of dealerless electronic poker tables to the global gaming industry, is pleased to announce the successful installation of its Jackpot Blitz® dealerless electronic poker table game (“ETG”) at Acropolis Gaming Lounge located in Kingston, Jamaica.

Jackpot Blitz® is an advanced, automated casino poker table that eliminates the need for traditional dealers, allowing for a faster, more efficient gaming experience while maintaining a high level of player engagement. The installation at Acropolis Gaming Lounge is the latest in a series of successful deployments that highlight the growing interest in Jackpot Digital’s ETG.

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Jackpot Blitz® table recently installed at Acropolis Gaming Lounge in Kingston, Jamaica

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The installation is part of Jackpot Digital’s continued efforts to expand its footprint in the land-based casino gaming industry, with a focus on enhancing the customer experience through innovative and engaging dealerless poker ETGs. The Company is committed to driving growth by meeting the evolving needs of casino operators and players alike.

In addition to Jackpot’s cruise ship customers, which include Carnival Cruises, Princess Cruises, Holland America, AIDA, and Costa Cruises, Jackpot has announced land-based installations or orders in Canada and the United States, including California, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Saskatchewan, U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as several international jurisdictions.

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To view a short video of Jackpot Brand Ambassador, Pro Football Hall of Fame and Super Bowl winning coach, Jimmy Johnson, sharing the advantages of the world leading Jackpot Blitz®, click the thumbnail below:

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About Jackpot Digital Inc.

A positive disruptor in the casino business, Jackpot Digital Inc. is a leading provider of electronic poker table games, offering innovative gaming solutions to casinos worldwide. The Company specializes in the development and deployment of dealerless multiplayer electronic poker ETGs, providing operators with efficient, cost-effective, and revenue-generating alternatives to traditional live-dealer table games. Jackpot Digital is committed to enhancing the player experience and helping operators optimize their gaming offerings.

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For more information on the Company, please contact Jake H. Kalpakian, President and CEO, at (604) 681- 0204 ext. 6105, or visit the Company’s website at www.jackpotdigital.com.

On behalf of the Board of Jackpot Digital Inc.

“Jake H. Kalpakian”
_____________________________
Jake H. Kalpakian
President & CEO

Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Certain statements contained herein are “forward-looking”. Forward-looking statements may include, among others, statements regarding Jackpot’s future plans, the obtaining ofcustomary regulatory approvals, projected or proposed financings, costs, objectives, economic or technical performance, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this News Release, words such as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “likely”, “enable”, “feel”, “seek”, “project”, “predict”, “potential”, “should”, “might”, “objective”, “believe”, “expects”, “propose”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “plans” “estimate”, “in due course” and similar words are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, projections and estimations, there can be no assurance that these assumptions, projections or estimations are accurate. Readers, shareholders and investors are therefore cautioned not to place reliance on any forward-looking statements as the plans, assumptions, intentions or expectations upon which they are based might not occur.

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To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/254688

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Garet Wood: Investment tax

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It’s officially tax season, which means your mailbox is probably full of envelopes marked “Important tax documents enclosed.” With so many documents such as T4s, T4RIFs and various T5008s, it can be overwhelming to understand what each form means. Let’s look at how your investments are taxed.

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Interest income and how it’s taxed

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Interest is the income you receive from certain types of accounts and investments or from lending money to someone else. The most common accounts and investments that produce interest income include:

  • Interest on savings accounts and guaranteed investment certificates (GICs)
  • Interest on fixed-income investments, such as government or corporate bonds.

Interest is taxed as ordinary income, with no special tax treatment.

Dividends and how they’re taxed

A dividend is a distribution by a company to its shareholders, although not all companies pay dividends. Dividends received from Canadian companies are eligible for preferential tax treatment, while dividends earned from any foreign companies are taxed as ordinary income.

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Canadian dividends are taxed according to the type; eligible or non-eligible. Generally speaking, eligible dividends are paid by publicly traded companies such as those on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while non-eligible dividends are paid by private companies which are known as Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations (CCPCs).

Both eligible and non-eligible dividends from Canadian corporations are eligible for the dividend tax credit, although the calculations are different depending on the type of dividend. In both cases, however, the dividend tax credit helps reduce the amount of tax owing and hence dividend income is taxed more favourably than interest income.

Capital gains and how they’re taxed

A capital gain is an increase in an asset’s value above the original purchase price. Capital gains are generally taxable when ‘realized’, which is generally when the asset is sold. However, capital gains can also be realized in the form of a mutual fund capital gain distribution, meaning you could have capital gains even if you didn’t sell the fund. These distributions are typically reported to you on a T3 or T5 depending on the type of fund.

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Capital gains don’t have a specific tax rate, but rather, have an ‘inclusion rate’, which means that a portion of the capital gain is included in your income. The Government of Canada proposed changes to the capital gains inclusion rate. As of January 1, 2026, your total realized capital gains from all sources in the year are $250,000 or below, 50 per cent of your gain is taxed at your marginal tax rate. For the component of your total realized capital gain above $250,000 in a particular year, 66.67 per cent of the capital gain will be taxed at your marginal tax rate.

Stay informed

Understanding the tax implications of your investments can be challenging but worthwhile, as careful tax planning can help lower your tax bill and create a more tax-efficient investment portfolio. We recommend working with your financial advisor and tax professional to manage your investments and take advantage of any available tax planning opportunities.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Garet‘s many years of experience as a business owner has allowed him to be of valued service to his clients who may have complex needs and will benefit from long-term solutions based planning. Garet aspires to know his clients on a level where he truly understand their needs, and uses an established process to help them achieve their financial goals.

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Symbiant Renews and Expands Partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO)


Symbiant Renews and Expands Partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) – Toronto Stock Exchange News Today – EIN Presswire

























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Stock news for investors: Laurentian bank and BRP 

José Boisjoli’s CV at BRP

Under Boisjoli’s tenure, the stand-alone organization, which has known no other CEO, tripled its revenue and market share so that one in every three powersports products sold across the globe bears the BRP logo, according to the Valcourt, Que.-based company.

Boisjoli—an engineer by training who grew up a half-hour’s drive from that town, received his first snowmobile at age 10 and joined Bombardier Inc. in 1989—shepherded BRP through its initial public offering in 2013 and more than doubled its head count to 16,500 employees over the past decade.

Challenges for BRP

After an urge for outdoor activity sparked a sales boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, buyers responded to inflation and interest rate hikes by pulling back from pricey recreational purchases.

Now, tit-for-tat tariffs have raised costs and, more alarmingly for Boisjoli, fostered a wait-and-see approach to consumption.

“The biggest risk for all of us in the industry is the uncertainty that it creates in the customer confidence. Many are on the fence and they’re waiting to have better visibility before they will buy our products,” he told analysts on a conference call on Thursday.

Buying Canadian and tariffs

All BRP vehicles made in Canada and Mexico are compliant with the North American trade pact, he said, which allows American buyers to avoid 25% tariffs (a U.S. court ruled them illegal Wednesday, but their fate remains fluid, with a federal appeals court freezing that decision Thursday).

That compliance is key, since some 60% of BRP’s revenue stems from the U.S. Most of the inventory sold there is made in Mexico—70% of total production happens south of the Rio Grande—or Canada, where Ski-Doos and some of its Can-Am three-wheelers roll off the line.

But U.S. tariffs against other countries, especially China, which faces duties of roughly 30%, will shave $60 million to $70 million off its revenue this year, projected chief financial officer Sébastien Martel. The dent comes from its parts, accessories and apparel segment “and some of our U.S. suppliers, which in turn is impacting us.”

BRP’s healthy earnings report

Nonetheless, BRP reported soaring first-quarter profits of $161 million, a leap of 279% from a year earlier, and the first time since 2023 that quarterly net earnings have notched triple digits. The company attributed the leap to lower operating costs and a favourable foreign exchange rate for U.S.-denominated long-term debt.

Healthier margins along with new products set to launch in August helped push the company’s share price up nearly 13% on Thursday to close at $56 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock remains down 37% from a year ago.

BRP enjoyed record retail sales for Canada in the first quarter thanks largely to end-of-season snowmobile purchases. More broadly, though, lower sales across most product lines drove a 7% drop in total revenue year-over-year, as consumers tighten their purse strings and dealers hold off on inventory build-ups.

Like the rest of the economy, there’s uncertainty for BRP

National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said BRP is “likely at the earnings trough.”

“However, there remains significant uncertainty around how consumer demand will ultimately recover and the tariff situation, while manageable for now for BRP, remains a risk,” he said in a note to investors. 

That uncertainty was reflected in BRP’s decision to continue to hold off on a financial outlook for the year.

“For the back half of the year, things remain more difficult to forecast,” Boisjoli said, citing the “evolving tariff environment.”

On Thursday, BRP reported first-quarter revenue totalled $1.85 billion compared with just shy of $2 billion the year before.

On a normalized basis, BRP earned $0.47 per diluted share in the three months ended April 30 compared with a $1.58 in the same period a year ago. However, the result beat expectations of $0.40 per diluted share, according to financial markets firm LSEG Data & Analytics.

When asked what part of his time at the top gives him the most pride, Boisjoli stuck to the numbers: “We had two product lines profitable, two were not profitable, in 2003. Today we have seven profitable product lines.”

Starting a New Chapter of Growth


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TSX inches higher as Carney-Trump communications feed investor optimism

TSX ends up 0.1% at 26,342.29

Trade deficit hits an all-time high in April

Energy rises 0.5% as oil settles 0.8% higher

Descartes Systems Group tumbles 12.1%

June 5 – Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Thursday as higher oil prices boosted energy shares and investors assessed prospects of Canada reaching a trade deal with the United States.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 13.29 points, or 0.1%, at 26,342.29, staying within reach of the record closing high it posted on Tuesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump are in direct communication as part of Ottawa’s bid to persuade Washington to lift tariffs, Industry Minister Melanie Joly said.

“We’re still cautiously optimistic that the TSX finishes at 27,000 for the year,” said Jay Bala, co-founder and senior portfolio manager at AIP Asset Management.

“I do think that Mark Carney is going to have a better relationship with the Donald Trumps of the world and I think he’ll get a deal done … it makes sense for both countries to get a deal done.”

Canada is a major destination for U.S. goods, while it sends 75% of its exports south of the border. U.S. tariffs hurt demand for Canadian goods in April, which contributed to the Canadian trade deficit widening to an all-time high of C$7.1 billion .

The energy sector rose 0.5% as the price of oil settled 0.8% higher at $63.37 a barrel on optimism about U.S.-China trade talks.

The materials group, which includes metal mining shares, was up 0.4% as copper prices climbed.

Technology was a drag, falling 1.1%, with shares of Descartes Systems Group Inc down 12.1% after the application software company’s first-quarter results missed estimates.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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