Canadian corporations reported record profits of $50.7 billion in the second quarter of 2004, up 4.1% from the previous quarter and marking the forth consecutive quarter that profits have increased.

Profits rose in 13 of the 17 non-financial industries; overall operating profits in the non-financial sector rose 6.9% to $38.3 billion. These gains were led by manufacturing, oil and gas extraction and retail trade. The financial sector saw a small drop in operating profits in the second quarter.

Financial sectors
Operating profits in the financial sectors declined by 3.6% overall. Operating profits for the chartered banks were $4.9 billion, down from the $5.2 billion high reported last quarter. Insurance companies reported slightly lower profits compared to the last quarter, down 1.3%.

Manufacturing
Operating profits reached $12.4 billion in the second quarter of 2004, up 11.3% from the first quarter and 42.9% over year-ago levels. Second quarter operating profits were up over the last quarter for:

• motor vehicle and parts manufacturers (92%)
• wood and paper manufacturers (25.5%)
• primary metal producers (33.4%)
• construction and manufacturing (5.5%)
• petroleum and coal producers (2%)
• chemical manufacturers (6.4%)
• non-metallic minerals (12.3%)

Retail
Overall retail profits rose by 11.2%. Quarterly gains were seen in:

• retail furniture and home furnishings (28.8%),
• retail motor vehicle sales (18.6%),
• retail food and beverages (14.6%), and
• clothing, department and general merchandise stores (8.0%)

Oil and Gas
In the oil and gas sector operating profits rose by 10.9% to $5.6 billion in the second quarter. Profits for mining companies outside of the oil and gas industries increased by 11.8%.

Source: Statistics Canada

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