Canadian Corporations’ Pre-Crisis Profits Eclipse $77b in Q3

(The Canadian Press)

The economy may be in crisis but you’d never know it by third-quarter profits posted by Canadian corporations. Statistics Canada says Canadian corporations earned $77.3 billion in operating profits in the third quarter of 2008, 7.6% more than in from the second quarter.

The credit crunch and world financial crisis set in after quarterly profits in the non-financial sector grew 9.1% to $58.1 billion, while those in the financial sector increased 3.3% to $19.2 billion.

The agency attributes the results to the strong performance by oil-and-gas extractors and petroleum and coal manufacturers, and improved margins for other industry groups despite modest revenue growth.

Revenue growth slowed in the third quarter, but coupled with lower increases in expenses, the agency reports profits came in higher for 13 of 22 industry groups. Oil-and-gas extractors and petroleum and coal manufacturers led the way, earning $11.2 billion in operating profits, up 15.1%, as prices soared.

Summary statistics and a link to the data file are on the Statistics Canada website.