Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon says he is not worried about SNC-Lavalin financially but that he is more concerned about the challenges facing the company’s new management.
SNC-Lavalin announced last Friday disappointing results for its second quarter with a $2.12-billion net loss. The Quebec company was also once again shaken up on the stock market, where its price hit a 14-year low.
Fitzgibbon was reassuring about the financial strength of the engineering giant when asked about it on Monday at a news conference in Montreal.
He pointed out that the sale of part of his stake in Highway 407 in the Greater Toronto Area should allow SNC-Lavalin to add nearly $3 billion to its coffers. It is not known, however, when exactly that will be paid.
Fitzgibbon was more concerned about the decisions that will be made by the new acting president and CEO Ian L. Edwards.
He has “enormous work to do to divest himself of operations where there has been too much risk and where there has been poor performance,” said the minister.
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— With files from Global News’ Kalina Laframboise