The Canadian Press

Canadian corporations earned $60.1 billion in operating profits in the fourth quarter, an increase of $4.4 billion, or 7.9%, from the previous quarter.

Statistics Canada reports that’s still below the $77.3-billion high reached in the third quarter of 2008 as the economy headed into the downturn.

But it did mark the second quarter of growth since the recent low of $50.2 billion reported in the second quarter of 2009.

Profits in the non-financial industries increased 4.4% from the third quarter to $44.8 billion in the fourth, while profits in the financial industries reached $15.2 billion, up 19.7%.

Overall, gains were widespread as 15 of 22 industries reported higher profits in the fourth quarter.

Combined profits for the oil-and-gas, and petroleum and coal industries were up 8.6%, totalling $7 billion in the fourth quarter.

Much of the gain came from rising oil prices and greater sales volumes. It marked the second straight quarter of growth, although profits were still below their peak of $16.7 billion reported in the third quarter of 2008.

Manufacturers reported a third straight quarter of increased profits. At $11.2 billion, fourth quarter profits reflected a 4.4% growth over the previous quarter.

The top contributors were chemicals, plastics and rubber manufacturers, wood and paper manufacturers and primary metal manufacturers. However, motor vehicle and parts manufacturers tempered these gains with a decline in profits of $583 million.

Profits in the wholesale industry grew 12.1% to $4.3 billion in the fourth quarter. Automotive product wholesalers and building materials and supplies wholesalers together accounted for almost half of that growth.

Profits for retailers also grew, up 3.9% to $3.4 billion.

A 19.7% increase in profits for financial industries marked the second straight quarterly increase. Most of the growth came from the banks and insurance companies as their expenses declined.

IE