Tausi Insider

For all the talk of corporate “greedflation,” profit margins for non-financial companies are offering yet another sign high inflation and rising interest rates are hammering the Canadian economy. New figures released by Statistics Canada this week show corporate profits in the third quarter fell for the first time on a seasonally-adjusted basis since the start of 2020, when Statscan began reporting corporate financial performance in that way. Net income before taxes declined 8.1 per cent to $137-billion compared with the previous quarter. The earnings drop is putting a crunch on corporate profit margins, which had remained largely in line with prepandemic levels, despite companies in many sectors reporting record profits on surging revenues over the past two years. Though analysts have been warnings for months about a slowdown in corporate profits, now that margins are being squeezed it could have a nasty knock-on effect for the rest of the economy and will likely heighten recession...

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek speaks at an event in New York, on Aug. 9, 2018. Lucas Jackson/Reuters Spotify CEO Daniel Ek renewed his attack on Apple on Wednesday in a series of tweets alleging the iPhone maker “gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting consumers”. On Monday, the world’s richest person Elon Musk criticized the fee Apple AAPL-Q charges software developers – including his Twitter business – for in-app purchases, and posted a meme suggesting he was willing to “go to war” rather than pay it. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. It has previously said the 30 per cent cut it takes on purchases made in its App Store is used to protect consumers in areas such as fraud and privacy. Spotify SPOT-N has previously submitted antitrust complaints against Apple in various countries, alleging the 30 per cent charge has forced Spotify to “artificially inflate” its own prices. Ek tagged a number of sympathetic busi...

Lufthansa planes are parked at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sept. 2, 2022. KAI PFAFFENBACH/Reuters German airline Lufthansa’s bid for a minority stake in Italy’s ITA Airways has ignited talk of further potential sector consolidation as the industry seeks to plot a more profitable post-pandemic recovery. Many of Europe’s legacy flag-carrying airlines are struggling to compete effectively with budget carriers, hampered by weak balance sheets that could be made more robust by merging with rivals, analysts said. Lufthansa has offered to buy an initial minority stake in ITA, Italy’s state-owned successor to Alitalia, it said on Wednesday. “This may be the next step in European airline consolidation,” said Bernstein analyst Alex Irving, citing Portugal’s national airline, TAP, as a prime target. The Portuguese government, which owns TAP, has said it is considering an outright or partial sale of the business. Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways owner IAG are potential buy...