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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Business Watch

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 05/24/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Brett Sheffield

HP to cut 27,000 jobs

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hewlett-Packard Co. is cutting 27,000 jobs in an effort to recover from management missteps that hobbled the Silicon Valley pioneer as its rivals raced ahead with more innovative products and services.

The streamlining announced Wednesday represents HP's largest payroll purge in its 73-year history. The reductions will affect about eight per cent of HP's nearly 350,000 employees by the time the overhaul is completed in October 2014.

The cuts come eight months after HP hired Meg Whitman as CEO to turn the company around.

HP hopes to avoid as many layoffs as possible by offering early retirement packages.

Hewlett-Packard operates 28 offices across Canada, but a spokesman said the company has not announced specific plans as to which locations would be affected.

"We do expect the workforce reduction to impact just about every business and region. Beyond this, we unfortunately don't have any additional information to share at the moment," he said in an email.

The company expects to save $3 billion to $3.5 billion annually from the job cuts and other austerity measures.

Nod to young businessman

BRETT Sheffield of Pilot Mound has been named the 2012 Student Entrepreneur National Champion by Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE).

The 26-year-old full-time student at the University of Manitoba owns the 1,700-acre Sheffield Farms, as well as Pilot Mound's only fitness club, Stay Fit Health Club.

Sheffield beat out five other regional finalists and received the honour at an event in Calgary earlier this month.

"Sheffield's determination and proven business achievements, such as expanding his farm from 160 to 1,700 acres and pioneering a second business while maintaining his honour-roll status at school, are ideal qualities of a Student Entrepreneur champion," said Amy Harder, president of ACE.

Sheffield will represent Canada at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards in New York City.

Sales cool despite heat

MANITOBA'S retail sector failed to cash in on the unseasonably warm weather in March, new retail sales figures show.

Statistics Canada said Wednesday that warmer than usual weather, especially in Ontario, helped to boost Canadian retail sales by 0.4 per cent to $39.1 billion in March.

But despite some record-high temperatures in Manitoba, sales for the month fell by 0.6 per cent to $1.38 billion from $1.39 billion in February.

It was the second-biggest decline after New Brunswick's 1.5 per cent, and the third consecutive month of weaker sales for Manitoba's retailers.

Manitoba also tied with Nova Scotia for the second smallest year-over-year increase in sales, at 1.4 per cent versus the national average of 4.1 per cent.

BMO's Q2 profits rise

TORONTO -- Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) kicked off bank-earnings season Wednesday with a 27 per cent rise in second-quarter profits as the bank beat analysts' expectations on stronger results in both its U.S. and Canadian retail operations.

BMO said net income rose to nearly $1.03 billion, or $1.51 per share, for the three months ended April 30, an increase of $215 million from the same time last year, before adjustments. Revenue grew 19 per cent to $3.96 billion.

After adjustments, BMO's income was $982 million or $1.44 per share -- eight cents higher than a consensus estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Profits at its Canadian retail operations grew by single digits, but income more than doubled in its U.S. retail banking division.

The bank also highlighted a significant drop in its provisions for credit losses, or money set aside to cover bad loans, which fell $102 million to $195 million.

RBC lowers mortgage rate

TORONTO -- The Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) announced Wednesday it is decreasing its five-year closed mortgage a tenth of a percentage point to 5.34 per cent.

Canada's largest bank said the new residential posted rate offer is effective on Thursday.

No other rate changes were announced.

CAE trimming 300 jobs

MONTREAL -- CAE Inc. is making the largest cut to its workforce in nearly three years by trimming 300 jobs as the flight simulator and training company adjusts to the impact of military budget cuts in Europe.

The Montreal-based company announced Wednesday it is trimming about four per cent of its global workforce of 8,000, despite growing revenues and profits.

Most of the job cuts are in Germany, but 90 employees in Montreal were notified as of Wednesday they would no longer be needed.

No engineering positions are affected.

Most are general, administrative and support jobs.

-- staff / news services

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 24, 2012 B5

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