Here are five things you need to know this morning:
Wildfires threaten 430,000 barrels of Alberta oil production: Wildfires in Alberta are threatening more than 400,000 barrels per day of oil production. Suncor is still curtailing output at its Firebag oilsands facility because of wildfires in the region. The location that normally produces more than 200,000 barrels a day has been on reduced output for two weeks because of a major blaze and several smaller ones. Cenovus also moved some staff from its nearby Sunrise oilsands facility and Imperial is set to evacuate non-essential staff from nearby Kearl. A different three-hectare fire is burning near MEG Energy’s Christina Lake site, which makes 100,000 barrels a day. More than 47 new blazes have been identified across the province in the past day, and two dozen fires are currently deemed to be out of control.
Shoppers Drug Mart signs intriguing blood-testing deal: Shoppers Drug Mart has struck a deal to become a commercial partner of San Diego-based blood testing startup Truvian Labs in a pact that could see the latter’s devices be used in Shoppers locations across Canada. Truvian announced a US$74 million funding round on Wednesday to advance and develop its main product; small-scale blood-testing kits that can accurately test blood samples on the spot. The company’s technology has yet to secure approval from regulators including Health Canada, but if that happens, Shoppers has signed on to be a potential customer for the devices in its stores. Late last year, the pharmacy chain tested out Truvian’s devices and compared results with those obtained in a conventional lab. The results were “concordant,” the two companies said in a release, which underscores the potential of an emerging sector in the biotech space, one that is still reeling from Theranos.
Brookfield’s next CEO: No change at the top is imminent, but it’s increasingly clear that TSX-listed Brookfield has found its next CEO in the form of 36-year-old Connor Teskey. The Toronto-based company with more than $1 trillion in assets has no imminent plans to move away from long-time CEO Bruce Flatt, but in an interview with Bloomberg today, the company spilt the beans on the open secret at the company that Teskey is being groomed for the top job. While he would be young by the standards of Bay Street to have such a high profile CEO title in his thirties, it would be following the playbook of Flatt himself who ascended to the top job more than two decades ago. “It will be exactly when all clients … are 100 per cent comfortable that it’s natural to happen,” Flatt told Bloomberg of the timing of any succession change.
United Airlines misses profit expectations: U.S. carrier United Airlines said after the bell on Wednesday that its third-quarter profit will fall short of Wall Street expectations as airlines slash ticket prices to lure travellers. Earnings at the second-largest U.S. carrier are forecast to come in at a range of up to US$3.25 per share. That’s below the $3.38 that analysts were hoping for.
Domino’s Pizza shares fall on earnings miss: Shares in Domino’s Pizza are falling in early trading today after the pizza chain revealed quarterly earnings; numbers that showed sales aren’t growing as fast as analysts expected, and international expansion has stalled. Domestic same store sales grew by 4.8 per cent in the quarter, just shy of the 4.9 per cent pace analysts were looking for. The chain says it expects to add between 825 and 925 new locations around the world this year. That’s a sharp slowdown from the more than 1,100 previously expected.
