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May 24, 2018QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATISTICS FOR ENTERPRISES, 1ST QUARTER 2018 Canadian corporations earned $99.3 billion in operating profits (seasonally adjusted) in the first quarter of 2018 - an increase of 2.7 per cent compared to the previous quarter. Compared to Q1 2017, operating profits were up 7.0 per cent.
The non-financial sector operating profits (seasonally adjusted) were up 0.6 per cent to $67.8 billion in the first quarter with gains in 6 of the 17 non-financial industries. Gains were concentrated in manufacturing as profits increased 6.2 per cent. Most of this gain was due to increases in petroleum and coal products (+28.3 per cent) and primary metal subsectors (+37.9 per cent), reflecting strong commodity prices. Profits were down slightly in retail trade (-0.6 per cent) and wholesale trade (-0.5 per cent).
In the oil and gas extraction and support activities sector, operating profits declined by $288 million to a loss of $163 million in the first quarter of 2018. This is partly due to oil price differentials, which reached their highest level since 2013 Q4.
Operating profits increased 7.5 per cent in the financial industries to $31.5 billion. Depository credit intermediation profits increased 2.1 per cent while insurance carriers and related activities operating profits increased by $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion as a result of fair value adjustments to actuarial liabilities among life, health, and medical insurers.
Compared to the first quarter of 2017, operating profits increased 7.0 per cent (+$6.5 billion). Within the non-financial industries, an increase of 9.4 per cent (+$5.8 billion) resulted from increases in 13 of 17 subsectors. The largest dollar increase came from manufacturing, where profits increased 15.9 per cent, year-over-year. Financial sector profits were up 2.2 per cent (+$684 million).
Source: Quarterly financial statistics for enterprises; CANSIM 187-0002