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JULY/AUGUST 2017 BCBUSINESS 97 Best Buy had 209 full-service stores across Canada. By the end of last year, it was operating 136. There are silver linings: costs fell signi•cantly as the company reduced head count and store operating costs, while also consolidat- ing its marketing under one brand. In another glimmer of hope, the Canadian division saw revenue growth in appli- ance sales. Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. REVENUE CHANGE: –10.6% NET INCOME: –$358.6 million NET INCOME CHANGE: NA When companies do deals, investment banks bene•t. In 2016, in Canada at least, the deals dried up. For Vancouver- based Canaccord Genuity Group, which o„ers investment banking and advisory services for corporations and wealth management for private clients, the fall- out wasn't pretty. Canaccord Genuity's Canadian division saw revenue drop by 36 per cent, from $204.6 million in 2015 to $131.4 million, as slumping ener‰y and commodity prices weighed down the Canadian economy. Overall, revenue from Canaccord Genuity's investment banking division plunged 44 per cent, from $238.5 million to $134.2 million. However, diversi•ca- tion yielded bene•ts in 2016, when oŽces in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia partly made up for losses in the U.K. and Canada. Powerex Corp. REVENUE CHANGE: –34.6% NET INCOME: –$61 million NET INCOME CHANGE: –48.7% Tasked with selling B.C.-generated electricity to Alberta and the Western United States, Powerex is BC Hydro and Power Authority's window on the world. A wholly owned subsidiary of BC Hydro, Powerex markets and bro- kers sales of natural gas for the utility and private sector exporters, generat- ing healthy revenue for its parent in good years. The formula is simple: buy hydro-generated and natural gas low and sell high in markets like California. That is, until one side of the formula starts to break down. Last year sag- ging demand from the U.S. led to a fall in sales. Powerex's trade revenue dipped by 35 per cent between 2015 and 2016, from $601 million to $318 million, owing to low natural gas prices and a 33 per cent slide in the volume of electricity sold. The drivers of that shrinking appetite? A mix of warm weather in the •rst half of last year and a boost in U.S. natural gas production. Meanwhile, an outage of a key transmission line between Canada and California con- tributed to the drop in power sales to one of Powerex's biggest markets. › e=estimate; c=converted from USD at 1.3248 (2016) and 1.2787 (2015) Revenue is by fiscal year Transparent background RANK COMPANY REVENUE 2016 ($000) REVENUE 2015 ($000) % CHANGE 1 Eldorado Gold Corp. 573,279 c 1,103,901 c –48.1 2 Best Buy Canada Ltd. 2,500,000 e 4,047,000 e –38.2 3 Powerex Corp. 601,000 919,000 –34.6 4 Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. 1,594,116 c 2,090,388 c –23.7 5 Goldcorp Inc. 4,650,070 c 5,594,360 c –16.9 6 CHC Helicopter Corp. 1,831,532 c 2,183,654 c –16.1 7 Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. 324,463 365,817 –11.3 8 FortisBC Energy Inc. 1,151,000 1,294,000 –11.1 9 Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. 787,805 880,763 –10.6 10 Westcoast Energy Inc. 3,167,000 3,531,000 –10.3 WHAT'S THE DEAL? Investment bank Canaccord Genuity saw revenue fall with energy and commodity prices ISTOCK