TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (16,582.18, down 191.96 points.)
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Down $1.85, or 4.64 per cent, to $37.98 on 25.4 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down $1.19, or 6.21 per cent, to $17.96 on 11.7 million shares.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Down 85 cents, or 8.47 per cent, to $9.18 on 10.7 million shares
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Down 72 cents, or 3.36 per cent, to $20.72 on 9.5 million shares.
Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ). Energy. Down $1.83, or 6.55 per cent, to $26.11 on 8.9 million shares.
Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX:CPG). Energy. Down 14 cents, or 6.76 per cent, to $1.93 on 6.5 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L). Up 94 cents or 1.4 per cent to $67.60. Canadians continue to spend more on groceries during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping Loblaw Companies beat quarterly expectations and boost its dividend. The grocery and drugstore retailer recorded higher profit and sales for the 16 weeks ended Oct. 3, with food retail same-store sales climbing 6.9 per cent in the quarter while drug retail same-store sales climbed 6.1 per cent. Loblaw president Sarah Davis said the retailer's conventional grocery store division, comprised of brands such as Loblaws, Zehrs, Your Independent Grocer, Real Atlantic Superstore and Provigo, "continued with its 2020 winning streak" with same-store sales up 9.7 per cent. The company's discount division, which includes No Frills and Maxi, delivered 4.7 per cent growth.
Telus Corp. (TSX:T). Up 12 cents to $25.07. Telus Corp. launched a new agriculture division Thursday, saying it wants to use communications, data collection and artificial intelligence to bring more efficiency to the world's food industry. Chief executive Darren Entwistle said the new entity, called Telus Agriculture, can help improve decision making along the food chain from producers through to consumers. The closure of processing plants and restrictions on domestic and foreign farm workers exposed the vulnerabilities of the food supply chain, he said. Entwistle, who has headed Telus for 20 years, said it has been methodically moving on several fronts to use technology to make better use of information. It's important to make the food supply chain more efficient because demand is expected to grow by 70 per cent by 2050, he said.
Yellow Pages Ltd. (TSX:Y). Down 29 cents or 2.3 per cent to $12.36. Yellow Pages missed expectations as its net profit plunged in the third quarter on an 18 per cent drop in revenues. The Montreal-based digital media and marketing company says its net income decreased nearly 35 per cent to $9 million from $13.8 million a year earlier. That translated into earnings for the three months ended Sept. 30 of 34 cents per diluted share, down from 49 cents per share in the third quarter of 2019. Revenues fell to $80.3 million from $98.1 million in the prior year's quarter on a decline in higher market YP digital and media products and reduced spending by customers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Power Corp. (TSX:POW). Down 50 cents or 1.7 per cent to $28.05. Power Corp. says its net profit attributable to shareholders surged more than 40 per cent in the third quarter to $505 million from $359 million a year earlier. The Montreal-based holding company says it earned 75 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with 84 cents per share a year earlier, before its February organization that eliminated its dual holding structure. Total company profits including non-controlling interests fell to $898 million from $971 million. Adjusted profits increased to $438 million or 65 cents per share while revenues decreased 4.8 per cent to $14.68 billion from $15.42 billion in the prior year's quarter.
Brookfield Asset Management (TSX:BAM.A). Down $2.03, or 4.1 per cent to $47.32. Brookfield Asset Management says it is creating BAM Reinsurance as a new publicly traded business similar to Brookfield Renewable and Brookfield Infrastructure. The Toronto-based asset management company is at the top of a diverse group that is a global player in real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity and credit. In total, the group manages about US$575 billion in assets. BAM Reinsurance's role within the broader group will be to to grow its presence in reinsurance, which is a type of large-scale insurance for insurance companies. The success of its recent public listing of Brookfield Renewable has encouraged the parent company to offer a similar structure for reinsurance. The announcement came as Brookfield reported net income attributable to shareholders of US$172 million, down from a profit of US$947 million a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2020.
The Canadian Press
