The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Sept. 26, edition that in response to Cineplex's $38.9-million fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal, Canaccord Genuity analyst Aravinda Galappatthige cut his share target to $11.50 from $12. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that analysts on average target the shares at $12.92. Mr. Galappatthige says in a note: "While we will not get into the details of the arguments in question here, we do note that the financial penalty came across as unexpectedly high and wonder whether it could be materially reduced upon appeal (or entirely overruled). In fact, the higher end of penalties we have seen in the recent past (from the Competition Tribunal) for deceptive marketing have been in the $3-million to $5-million range (baring one outlier of $15-million). With that said, given Cineplex intends to maintain the booking fee, albeit adjusted to provide greater exposure to the incremental fee as per the CB submissions, the impact on ongoing financials would be minimal." The Globe reported on July 12 that National Bank analyst Adam Shine rated Cineplex "outperform." The shares were then going for $8.47.
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