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Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.

Diversified Royalty Corp. (DIV-T) announced that it expects COVID-19 will have a “material impact” on its royalty partners in the short to medium term. Given the economic uncertainty, the board has cut the dividend from $0.01958 per share per month to $0.01667 per share per month.

“Our focus during this unprecedented time is to preserve long-term value for shareholders," stated CEO Sean Morrison. "The change to a $0.01667 monthly dividend acknowledges that we will be operating in a new business environment for an uncertain period."

DIV also announced the temporary suspension of the dividend reinvestment plan "until further notice."

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BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB.UN-T) said in a release that the amount of rental postponements granted to its tenants “is not significant” amid the economic fallout of COVID-19.

To protect its cash flow, the company says it has stopped all construction activity "whether tenant improvements or capital expenditures" and has established other strategies to reduce expenses.

It's also seeking the support of its mortgage lenders to postpone the payment of capital and/or interest on our mortgage loans and said, "so far, our requests have been well received." It also said some municipalities have granted a delay in payment of municipal taxes which will help its cash flow in the near term.

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Tervita Corp. (TEV-T) announced the reduction of its 2020 capital budget and fixed costs and the suspension of share repurchases under its normal course issuer bid.

Tervita said it's reducing its 2020 capital budget to $60-million, a reduction of 29 per cent from its previously announced budget of $85-million and 56 per cent from its 2019 capital expenditures.

Tervita also announced a cash retainer reduction of 15-per-cent for its board members, a 15-per-cent salary reduction for its president and CEO and a 10-per-cent salary reduction for its executive leadership team.

It also announced an organizational restructuring of its industrial services segment and business services resulting in a 20-per-cent reduction to the size of the executive leadership team, as well as employee headcount reductions.

It said the actions are expected to reduce fixed costs by $22-million to $26-million in 2020 to $30-million to $34-million annualized.

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Uni-Select Inc. (UNS-T) says it’s operating “where appropriate and permitted,” and has reorganized to focus on functions that are critical to essential services leaving a limited number of sites in operation in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., whether distribution centers or corporate stores.

It said the reorganization to date has resulted in approximately 50 per cent of employees being furloughed and 33 per cent of the sites being temporarily closed. Also, 28 per cent of the sites are on reduced hours and 7 per cent are operating with very limited activities for the essential services.

In addition, work hours have been reduced by 20 per cent for all employees who remain at work to support current operations. The board of directors reduced its members' remuneration by 25 per cent effective from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2020.

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Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B-T) is delaying its decision on whether to pay a quarterly dividend in June as it gauges the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It says the latest a decision could be made is June 9, by which time it expects to have more clarity on the nature and length of the impact of the pandemic.

Corus, which owns television and radio stations across the country, including Global Television, did decide to stop buying back shares under its share buyback program in the immediate term in a move to conserve its cash.

The company announced the moves as it reported a second-quarter profit attributable to shareholders of $18.5-million or nine cents per diluted share, up from $6.3-million or three cents per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 29 totalled nearly $376-million, down from $384-million in the same quarter a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, Corus says it earned a profit attributable to shareholders of $25.9-million or 12 cents per share, up from $15.7-million or seven cents per share in the same quarter last year.

-The Canadian Press

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A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (AW.UN-T) announced it is temporarily suspending distributions on its units to preserve capital amid the COVID-19 crisis.

"A&W Food Services and its franchisees have voluntarily taken significant measures in their restaurants and broader operations in conjunction with their business partners and stakeholders to protect the health of employees and guests in addition to complying with social-distancing recommendations and mandates of relevant public health authorities," the company stated, including "significantly restricting food service operations in A&W restaurants" and voluntarily closing all dining rooms in A&W restaurants across Canada on a temporary basis. Drive-thru operations, delivery and mobile ordering for pick up remain open, where possible.

As a result, the company said about 200 of its 996 A&W restaurants are temporarily closed.

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Just Energy Group Inc. (JE-T; JE-N) increased its senior debt to EBITDA covenant ratio from 1.50:1 to 2.15:1 and the total debt to EBITDA covenant from 3.50:1 to 4.00:1 for the fourth quarter of the company’s fiscal year ended March 31. The company has also amended the covenants on its senior unsecured term loan facility to increase the senior debt to EBITDA covenant ratio from 1.65:1 to 2.30:1 and the total debt to EBITDA covenant from 3.50:1 to 4.25:1 for the fourth quarter.

“During this unprecedented time, Just Energy has taken the prudent step to renegotiate terms of our debt covenants,” said Scott Gahn, CEO. “We continue to work with our senior lenders on a more robust extension of our credit facility to support the long-term health of the business.”

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
BTB-UN-T
Btb REIT Units
0%3.16
DIV-T
Diversified Royalty Corp
+0.34%2.91
CJR-B-T
Corus Entertainment Inc Cl B NV
+1.39%0.73
AW-UN-T
A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund
-1.02%30

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