National Business

MONTREAL — Saputo Inc. reported an uptick in its third-quarter profit on Thursday as strong retail sales at grocery stores outweighed weak demand from restaurants, cafeterias and other foodservice costumers.

Longtime Merck executive Ken Frazier, whose leadership helped bring the drugmaker one of the most lucrative medicines in history and who is one of the few remaining Black CEOs of a major corporation, is retiring.

CALGARY — The CEO of Suncor Energy Inc. says it will not increase capital spending this year despite higher oil prices, instead vowing to spend any increases in free cash flow on debt repayment and share buybacks.

MONTREAL — Shares in Resolute Forest Products Inc. fell on Thursday after it reported a net loss of US$52 million in the fourth quarter compared with a loss of US$71 million in the same period a year earlier.

MONTREAL — Air Canada will pause all operations of its Rouge aircraft indefinitely and lay off 80 employees starting Feb. 8, the latest round of cuts at Canada's struggling airlines.

BCE Inc. is launching what executives call the biggest investment program in the company's history as it speeds up plans for its 5G and fibre networks.

Montreal's airport authority estimates that it will have a shortfall of $300 million for 2020, as low travel demand takes a financial toll on airports nationwide.

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of “tough months ahead” with COVID-19 continuing to flare, making it critical that Congress pass President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package.

SEATTLE — Boeing Co. has said it will outsource a significant amount of information technology work to Dell starting in April, including support of cloud services, databases and information technology. The move is expected to eliminate 600 jobs.

Prolonged lockdowns meant to quell the spread of COVID-19 are making it tough for Lightspeed POS Inc. to pick up new customers.