TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (20,713.72, down 15.62 points.)
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 90 cents, or 1.8 per cent, to $51.79 on 26 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Down nine cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $23.34 on 12.2 million shares.
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Down 27 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $58.16 on 10.8 million shares.
Western Energy Services Corp. (TSX:WRG). Energy. Unchanged at four cents on 9.4 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Up 86 cents, or 2.9 per cent, to $30.18 on 9.1 million shares.
Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX:CPG). Energy. Up 15 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $11.35 on 6.8 million shares.
Companies in the news:
BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB). Down 38 cents or five per cent to $7.24. BlackBerry Ltd. says it is exploring alternatives around the sale of its legacy patents as a deal with U.S.-based Catapult IP Innovations Inc. has taken longer than expected to complete. In January, BlackBerry said it had agreed to sell its mobile device, messaging and wireless networking patents to Catapult for US$600 million. The Delaware-registered Catapult was formed specifically to acquire the patents, with funding from a group of lenders led by Toronto-based Third Eye Capital that also includes an unnamed Canadian pension fund. BlackBerry says Catapult continues to work on securing the financing needed to get the deal done. The Waterloo-based company also says that it looks forward to the completion of the patent deal but is “no longer under exclusivity” with Catapult. BlackBerry’s focus today is on software used by automakers and cybersecurity after its once highly popular phones fell out of fashion.
Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSX:LB). Up $3.44 or 8.9 per cent to $42.05. Laurentian Bank of Canada reported a second-quarter profit of $59.5 million, up from $53.1 million a year ago, its most profitable quarter since 2018. The Montreal-based bank says its net income amounted to $1.34 per diluted share for the quarter ending April 30, up from $1.15 per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue totalled $259.6 million for the quarter compared with $249.8 million for the second quarter of 2021, an increase of four per cent. Laurentian says its provision for credit losses amounted to $13 million for the quarter compared with $2.4 million a year earlier as a result of “releases of allowances on performing loans recorded in fiscal 2021.” On an adjusted basis, Laurentian says it earned $1.39 per diluted share in its most recent quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $1.23 per diluted share a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.15 per share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
Stelco Holdings Inc. (TSX:STLC). Up $3.13 or eight per cent to $42.38. Slate Asset Management says it has acquired about 320 hectares of industrial land and buildings in Hamilton from Stelco Inc. The investment firm says the $518-million deal it signed with the steel company closed today. Slate plans to redevelop the site into an industrial park that a study from Ernst & Young said could create up to 23,000 new jobs and $3.8 billion for Ontario’s economy. The transaction includes an agreement from Slate to a long-term sale-leaseback of 30 hectares of land and 185,806 square metres of buildings for 35 years to Stelco, with renewal options for five further 20-year terms. The remaining 290 hectares will be readied by Slate for industrial development. Slate says it will also invest in the environmental protection and remediation of the site to ensure the land is clean and safe and 3,400 metres of waterfront along Lake Ontario is rehabilitated.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2022.