MONTREAL -- MTY Food Group Inc. shares dropped to their lowest level in months after the restaurant franchisor reported quarterly revenue and profit that came in below analyst estimates.

The Montreal-based company's stock fell nearly 10 per cent in the first minutes of trading, trading at $57.21, down $6.04 shares from the previous close.

MTY reported earlier that profit attributable to its shareholders in the third quarter was $22.9 million or 91 cents per share for the quarter ended Aug. 31.

That was up from $22.1 million or 88 cents per share in its 2018 fiscal third quarter, but short of estimates.

Analysts had estimated $1.02 per share of profit and $167.9 million of revenue, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

MTY's revenue rose to $163.6 million from $113.0 million while system sales generated by its restaurants were a record $1.08 billion, up 36 per cent from $789.9 million a year earlier.

Most of the growth in revenue and system sales was from MTY's acquisition of Papa Murphy's for about $253.2 million.

MTY operates a wide range of restaurant brands in Canada and the United States, including ManchuWok, Mucho Burrito and Baton Rouge.

At the end of the period, MTY's network had 7,441 locations in operation, of which 163 were corporate and 7,278 were franchised. About 55 per cent of the locations were in the United States and 38 per cent in Canada.

----------

MONTREAL -- WSP Global Inc. says it has bought Dutch consulting firm Lievense Holding B.V. for an undisclosed amount as it continues its global expansion plans.

Montreal-based WSP says it will pay for the acquisition, its seventh of the year, through available cash and credit facilities.

The engineering and design company says the acquisition of the 375-employee Lievense firm gives it a foothold in the Netherlands and is aligned with its global strategic plan.

The company said in early September it had bought Denmark-based Orbicon A/S, a 500-employee environmental consulting firm.

In late August it added U.S.-based Ecology and Environment Inc., a 775-employee environmental consulting firm for US$65.1 million.

The acquisition fits into its goal of rapid expansion over the next couple years. Once a boutique firm, the 60-year-old company has swelled to 49,000 employees from 17,000 in 2014, and aims to eclipse rival SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.'s 52,000 employees with 65,000 workers by 2021.

These reports by The Canadian Press were first published Oct. 11, 2019.