Corporate profits jump 13 per cent

OTTAWA — Canadian corporate profits reached their highest level since the recession in the last quarter of 2011, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

Fourth-quarter operating profits were up nine per cent from the previous quarter, to $71.4 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis. While that number was 13.6 per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2010, it was still $6.1 billion short of the all-time high reached in the third quarter of 2008, the year the economic downturn hit.

“Corporate profits managed to grow during the final quarter of the year, despite a drop in commodity prices, a high Canadian dollar and a great deal of uncertainty in the global economy,” said TD Economics economist Dina Cover.

Fifteen of the 22 industries tracked for the report posted gains in operating profits, Statistics Canada said.