- Books and gifts retailer, Indigo Books & Music Inc (TSX:IDG) has rehired 545 salaried employees to its payroll, thanks to the government’s Emergency Wage Subsidy
- This news comes after the company was forced to lay off 5,200 staff across Canada on March 17 and temporarily close all of its retail locations
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- he company’s website, indigo.ca, has tripled growth in the intervening period
- The company will outline its current financials in its fourth quarter earnings call, which is expected to be on or around June 24
- Indigo Books & Music Inc (IDG) is up 8.7 per cent, with shares trading for C$2.25 and a market cap of $61.4 million
Books and gifts retailer, Indigo Books & Music Inc (TSX:IDG) has rehired 545 salaried employees to its payroll over the weekend.
Indigo was able to do this through the government’s Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy. The subsidiary holds up employee’s wages, despite government shutdowns preventing a large swath of the population from working.
This news comes after the company was forced to lay off 5,200 staff across Canada on March 17 and temporarily close all of its retail locations.
Indigo has been able to maintain some sales through its website, indigo.ca, which has tripled growth over the last month.
CEO of Indigo, Heather Reisman, believes the company still offers a lot to the community, despite its physical locations remaining closed.
“Indigo has always focused its curation efforts on enriching products – we are thankful that we can provide our customers with items that create moments of joy during this difficult time.
“Books, wellness products, educational materials and creative activities for kids are all particularly relevant as Canadians look for products to help alleviate stress, and keep their children engaged and learning,” she said.
Since COVID-19’s economic impacts began to pinch at the end of February, Indigo’s market share has dropped by around 40 per cent.
Indigo maintains that the impact of the pandemic on its earnings remains unquantifiable, with the situation still evolving so rapidly. Therefore, the company has chosen to not predict the damage to its 2021 FY earnings, as of yet.
However, the company does plan to outline its current financials in its fourth quarter earnings call, which is scheduled on or around June 24.
Indigo Books & Music Inc (IDG) is up 8.7 per cent, with shares trading for C$2.25 at 10:52am EST.
