Mega Brands reports lower Q4 net earnings of $1.4 million + MORE Mar 5th

MONTREAL – Mega Brands Inc. (TSX:MB) says nets earnings in the fourth quarter came in at $1.4 million, or four cents per diluted share.
That was down sharply from net earnings of just over $4 million, or a penny per diluted share, in the same quarter a year before.
The results comes less than a week after Mattel, Inc. made a friendly takeover offer for Mega Brands, the world’s No. 2 line of construction sets after Lego.
The deal, expected to close in the second quarter, values the Montreal-based company at US$460 million, including debt that Mattel will assume or repay.
Mega Brands says net sales fell 21 per cent in the quarter to $101.2 million, compared to $127.5 million in the same quarter of 2012.
Sales were down 24 per cent in the toys segment and by three per cent in stationery and activities.
On a geographic basis, North American sales were down 20 per cent and international net sales decreased 23 per cent.
The company blames the decline on ”difficult retail environment” which affected the entire toy industry, particularly in products for boys…

Mandatory account withdrawals – sounds fierce but that’s what a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) is partly about.  This is my favourite definition for a RRIF:  it’s like a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) in reverse.
Here’s my primer for Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs):

You can choose the types of investments to hold in a RRIF; individual stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), mutual funds and more.
You don’t have to start a RRIF when you retire but you must collapse your RRSP in the year you turn age 71, so rolling RRSP investments into a RRIF is one option for you.
Like the RRSP, you don’t pay any tax on the money earned from investments inside the RRIF.
You pay tax on the money withdrawn from a RRIF.
You cannot contribute money to a RRIF; it’s a money-goes-out account.
Once the RRIF is established you are forced to make minimum withdrawals, meaning you may need to sell investments inside the account to meet those minimum withdrawals.  Here are the requirements:

Age

RRIF Withdrawal*

Age

RRIF Withdrawal*

65**

4…

Analysts say real capital dedicated to the industry only found in handful of specialist investment houses

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