Insurance activities fuel Q4 financial sector profits
Canadian corporations earned $65.5 billion in operating profits in the fourth quarter, up 7.9% from the previous quarter. Increases were widespread across the economy, as 19 of 22 industries reported higher profits.
Statistics Canada says that non-financial sector profits increased 7.3% to $49.6 billion, while in the financial sector, profits rose 9.5% to $15.9 billion.
In the non-financial sector, three industries (manufacturing, primarily petroleum and coal manufacturers; oil and gas extraction; and mining) accounted for the majority of the $3.4 billion quarterly gain in profits.
In the financial sector, the growth was led by insurance carriers and related activities, where profits more than doubled to $1.2 billion. The fourth quarter increase in profits in the financial sector follows three consecutive quarters of decline.
On a year-over-year basis, operating profits for all industries were 9.0% higher in the fourth quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2009. In the non-financial sector, profits were 15.3% higher, while they were 7.0% lower in the financial sector.
