Toronto, Ontario — In this Tuesday Ticker, Rivian reports its Q3 highlights; dreams of Uber are dashed in Kelowna and the Boyd Group announces its Q4 2021 cash dividend.
Highs and lows
Rivian reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2021 last week, reporting profits of US$1 million—thanks to its first customer deliveries of the R1T pickup—while also reporting negative gross profits of US$82 million.
Rivian said it generated total revenue of $1 million for Q3 through initial deliveries of the R1T pickup. However, it also reported a negative gross profit of $82 million, which it said relate to “primarily to significant labor and overhead costs for the large-scale Normal, Illinois, Factory.”
Operating expenses for Q3 grew to $694 million, a 141% increase from the same period a year prior. Rivian also said it experienced a loss from operations in Q3, totaling $776 million.
“The fall of 2021 has been filled with important milestones,” the company wrote in its Q3 shareholder deck. “We delivered our first consumer vehicles, the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV, in September and December, respectively, and completed the certification process for the sale of our Electric Delivery Van. We raised $13.7 billion of gross proceeds with our initial public offering in November, opened new avenues to connect and engage with our customers, and remain focused on our mission—to Keep The World Adventurous Forever.”
The company’s net loss for Q3 was US$1.233 billion, compared to a loss of US$288 million last in Q3 2020.
Uber kicked in Kelowna
Uber Canada’s application to expand its services in British Columbia’s interior and on Vancouver Island has been rejected by the province’s Passenger Transportation board.
The Board said it would not allow Uber to operate its ride-sharing service due to impacts on taxi companies and because it “was not convinced there exists a public need for the service.”
Kelowna, B.C. Mayor Colin Basran called the Board’s decision “baffling.”
“It’s really disappointing that the board says it is not convinced a public need for ride-hailing services exists outside the Lower Mainland,” he wrote in a public statement. “That view does not align with what we are experiencing in Kelowna.”
Basran added that the locale’s airport is “the largest one in Canada without ride-hailing services,” and that Kelowna hears complaints from domestic and international passengers “all the time.”
Victoria, B.C. Mayor Lisa Helps also voiced her disappointment with the ruling.
“Victoria’s number-one private-sector industry is tech, and tech companies have been advocating for Uber since at least 2017 or earlier,” she told Victoria newspaper, Victoria Times-Colonist.
Uber currently operates in four British Columbia cities: Kamloops, Nanaimo, Prince George and Vancouver.
Boyd’s boost
Last Friday Boyd Group Services announced a cash dividend for the fourth quarter of 2021 of $0.144 per common share.
The dividend will be payable on January 27, 2022 to common shareholders of record at the close of business on December 31, 2021.
