TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (17,944.06, up 18.70 points.)
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 26 cents, or 0.99 per cent, to $26.59 on 10.9 million shares.
Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Down six cents, or 4.11 per cent, to $1.40 on 9.9 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 14 cents, or 0.35 per cent, to $40.46 on 7.5 million shares.
Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX). Materials. Down 25 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $27.54 on 7.4 million shares.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Down three cents, or 1.33 per cent, to $2.23 on 7.25 million shares.
Telus Corp. (TSX:T). Telecommunications. Down $1.71, or 3.18 per cent, to $52.01 on 6.1 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Cineplex Inc. (TSX:CGX). Down two cents to $33.81. In a petition signed by over 8,000 people, indie cinemas are accusing Cineplex of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour by blocking their ability to screen films at the same time as the Toronto-based theatre giant. The petition, launched by Vancouver's Rio Theatre, calls for support for indie theatres. It claims that if a distributor tries to book a film with an indie theatre anywhere near a Cineplex location, the cinema giant will threaten to pull their own screenings of that film in the area, spooking distributors into shutting out smaller theatres.
Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSX:GIL). Up 75 cents or 2.1 per cent to $36.92. Gildan Activewear Inc. is boosting its quarterly dividend 15 per cent despite weaker net profits and revenues in the fourth quarter and 2019. The Montreal-based clothing maker is increasing its quarterly payout for an eighth consecutive year, to 15.4 cents payable on April 6 to shareholders of record on March 12. That's up from the previous rate of 13.4 cents. The company's fourth-quarter profit decreased compared with a year earlier as it saw sales fall and it recorded a charge related to a shift in strategy.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L). Down $1.17 to $69.92. Loblaw Companies Ltd. reported its fourth-quarter profit rose compared with a year earlier, but the parent company of Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart fell short of analysts' expectations. The retailer said Thursday it earned a profit attributable to common shareholders of $254 million or 70 cents per diluted share for the 12-week period ended Dec. 28. That compared with a profit of $221 million or 59 cents per diluted share in the same period a year earlier. Revenue totalled $11.59 billion, up from nearly $11.22 billion.
Telus Corp. — The CEO of Telus Corp. says it could cut about $1 billion of spending and 5,000 jobs over the next five years if the CRTC mandates Canada's wireless companies to open their facilities to virtual network operators. Telus chief executive Darren Entwistle revealed those estimates in the final minutes of nearly four hours of public hearings before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in Gatineau, Que. Most of the morning and early afternoon hearing was spent with Entwistle and his team of executives and consultants repeatedly saying Canada doesn't need mobile virtual network operators.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2020.
The Canadian Press
