Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 19, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba B4 business Winnipeg free rail wants to use or by Keith Mccarthur Toronto the company credited with breathing life into Manitoba Remote Churchill sea port has put Forward a Radical proposal to make Canadas rail system More Omni trax wants to set up a new railway and run it Over track owned by Canadian National railway and Canadian Pacific railway so the company can give shippers More but theres a the established Canadian railways Arent keen on letting omit rats proposed Conrail West come in and compete against them on infrastructure they have spent billions of dollars laying Down and decades main so Omni trax is asking the Federal government to Institute a policy of Man in object to allowing Competition to use lines they built and maintain aged which would give select regional railways running rights for a fee on tracks owned by the major rail our concept involves delivering that traffic to the next nearest interchange Point that served both by Canadian Pacific and Canadian thereby creating the Dwight John president of Denver based Omni said in an the company made headlines in 1997 when it bought the Hudson Bay railway from Canadian National and the port of Churchill in Manitoba from ports Many observers doubted the Northern port would be a financial but Omni trax has proved the doubters with about tonnes of Grain moving through Churchill this year up from a Low of just tonnes in the the Federal government has asked a Federal review Agency charged with examining the Canadian transportation act every five years to consider proposals aimed at increasing Competition in the railway including enhanced running rights and regional the panel is to provide an interim report on competitive Access to transport min ister David Collenette by the end of the dozens of shippers and special inter est groups have made submissions to the panel embracing the notion of increased Competition with the Hope that they will have More railways bidding to ship their they say this would keep their costs and lower the Price of the goods they All this has the railways on the defend what the shippers Call open in and up rail have dubbed forced they argue that the competitive Access provisions already in place Are and that the unwarranted and Radical proposals on the table would Only harm the the railways argue that forced Access would put the emphasis on Price to the detriment of service and i Nova they say that if others tap into their Revenue they would no longer be Able to cover the Cost of maintaining the the Globe and mail bid for Mackenzie Heads to regulator Toronto fund managements takeover bid for Mackenzie financial will land before the Ontario securities commission this the provincial regulator said the commission will hold a hearing tomorrow on an application by to quash Mackenzie shareholder rights plan and to curtail a 60day notice period imposed by meanwhile announced that its offer to acquire All of the outstanding common shares of Mackenzie will not be extended beyond the Midnight 22 president William Holland stated unequivocally that will not extend the if the Poison Pill adopted by Mackenzie is still in effect at that time or if the necessary exemptions and approvals required under Canadian securities Laws have not been the company said in a had set a deadline of 22 for Macken Zie shareholders to accept its valued at billion in Stock and Cash when first announced Mackenzie management rejected the offer As inadequate and gave itself until mid january to come up with a better a combination would create Canadas largest Mutual fund Well ahead of investors group of one of the Power financial group of Canadian press ugg hit with hefty loss Strong fertilizer sales cant offset interest costs by Murray Mcneill despite unusually robust fall fertilizer United Grain growers limited still posted a multimillion Dollar loss for the first three months of its current fiscal the Winnipeg based Grain handling and agribusiness company said although Strong fertilizer sales helped its crop production services division More than double its Gross profits for the first three the gains were More than offset by higher depreciation and interest As a the division wound up with a net loss of million for the coupled with a loss for its farm business communications division and reduced prof its for its Grain handling the company was left with an Over All net loss or 32 cents per for the eggs chief executive officer noted in an interview that the com pants crop production services division traditionally loses Money in the first Quarter of its fiscal which begins on Brian Hay Ward noted Farmers usually dont buy a lot of fertilizer and other crop inputs in the but the division still has to pay staff salaries and other ongoing operating Hayward said this fall was a Little different than Normal in that farm ers seemed to be stocking up on fertilizer in anticipation that rising natural Gas prices will Lead to higher fertilizer prices next As a the divisions first Quarter loss wound up being million less than it was in the first Quarter of ugg blamed the first Quarter loss for its farm business communications division on declining advertising revenues for the Divi Sions which include the country guide Magazine and the Grain news the drop in advertising revenues was attributed to the ongoing weakness of the agricultural Economy and on corporate mergers within the Agri culture supplies the drop in earnings for the com pants Grain handling operations was blamed on the impacts of pol icy turmoil within the the Canadian wheat Board has unilaterally imposed noncommercial Grain transportation operating policies upon the entire Industry which have had the effect of reducing eggs operational effective the company on a More positive the com pants livestock services division saw its earnings before interest and taxes jump by 38 per cent to million from million in the first three Hayward also said the High inter est and depreciation costs that took a bite out of the first Quarter earnings should ease some what Over the remainder of the year because the company capital expenditures wont be As High As last year and because its depreciation costs Are on the he noted capital expenditures for the first Quarter were projected Over four that would mean capital expenditures for the entire year of he which is about Mil lion less than the company Cash flow was for the last 12 ugg is a publicly traded by whose shares Trade on the Toron to Stock yesterdays closing Price for the shares was which was a drop of five cents from fridays closing whatever you need to know is just a phone Call a no matter How far you want to Well help you Chart the path to get As investment we can help find the Best Asp option for whether it includes Mutual funds or we can also give you advice on portfolio global investing Opp Ortu and the Many other ways we can help your investments Call invest by phone at 1 800 or drop by your local Branch and ask to speak to one of everybody has a dream for the we specialize in helping Royal rank you get make the most of your dreams Pink slips signalling economic slowdown by Adam Geller new York with All the talk of a wondrous new Economy Over the past few its been easy to forget about that grim hallmark of the bad old Days Large scale but employers Are now providing some fresh and painful Cut Ting jobs with unnerving zest As an eco nomic engine that once seemed unstoppable begins to cough and sput Ter a Aetna and the Gillette joined a growing list of companies that have announced layoffs in recent the two firms said they will pare and from their rattling their ranks just before the but theres much More going on Here than the trimming and tucking Many companies often save for the fourth the Pink slips Are the first sign that the re hot Job Market is Start ing to Cool along with the Economy that fuelled i say that this Market has gone Mallika an economist at the Levy Institute forecasting said its definitely a turning Job cuts the is Waran and other observers Are Job cuts across a Range of companies including general Uniss and Whirlpool All have outlined plans for mass citing a tougher Market As the Economy there Are going to be companies that Are lagging or losing Market where profitability numbers Are dropping said John ceo of outplacement firm Gray Christ companies Are jumping in to make decisions to get their costs in line now and not challenger cites statistics showing monthly layoffs have risen to about during the second half of this up from about a month through the cuts have been deep est in the Industrial goods and financial services he to be it helps to keep things in layoffs have been a con Stant throughout this decades economic expansion As companies remade them unemployment is still Only four per cent just off its 30yearlow and layoffs should leave the jobless rate in coming months at very Low new jobs a Layoff in one company Doest mean these people cant find new jobs relatively said Joel Naroff of Naroff economic the Economy is still adding but that is none too reassuring for workers at the companies cutting we heard this was coming months said an employee at Gillette South Boston shipping and receiving who asked that his last name not be they Tell you not to listen to the and now there All turning out to be differ on just what the layoffs will mean for workers and the Naroff cautions that past Layoff announcements have often overstated the number of people who will lose their often signalling positions that will go unfilled or hiring plans put on a number of particularly those rooted in Are still strapped for workers and Are looking to said Sophia senior economist at a Consul Tancy based in West but others see signs of As a it is not but if you look at it in the longer As the Economy slows even this is definitely going to become a much bigger said who forecasts a recession by the Middle of next press Tucky 317t for december 2000 if this is your Lucky Call 6977022 to claim your Prizel ;