TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (19,366.69, up 230.88 points.)
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up 50 cents, or 1.07 per cent, to $47.20 on 16.5 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 31 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $26.18 on 14.5 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Up 35 cents, or 3.73 per cent, to $9.73 on 10.9 million shares.
Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. (TSX:TBP). Health care. Up 4.5 cents, or 13.85 per cent, to 37 cents on 6.6 million shares.
Zenabis Global Inc. (TSX:ZENA). Health care. Up half a cent, or 4.35 per cent, to 12 cents on 5.7 million shares.
Air Canada. (TSX:AC). Industrials. Up $1.37, or 5.61 per cent, to $25.80 on 5.5 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Canadian National Railway Co. (TSX:CNR). Down $5.01 or 3.7 per cent to $130.07. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. continues to reject suggestions that it needs to increase its bid for Kansas City Southern to fend off a rival offer from Canadian National Railway Co. that the U.S. railway has deemed superior. CN presented a revised US$33.6-billion offer Thursday evening that increased the number of its shares available to KCS shareholders and agreed to cover a KCS break fee. The new offer is unchanged at US$325 per share. That includes US$200 in cash, but the number of CN shares awarded would increase to 1.129 per KCS share, up from 1.059 in the initial proposal. While some think CP has to amend its proposal to regain the upper hand, analyst Cameron Doerksen of National Bank Financial believes CN will simply further increase its offer. CN would have to pay a US$1-billion fee to KCS if it doesn't receive approval for its voting trust, which CN hopes to receive by May 31.
Transat A.T. (TSX:TRZ). Up 22 cents to 5.1 per cent to $4.53. Transat A.T. says negotiations about a takeover offer from Pierre Karl Peladeau ended Thursday, while the Quebec businessman says that he was no longer interested in acquiring the tour operator. According to an update issued by Transat on Friday, Peladeau sent it a non-binding proposal on April 7, under which his private investment company Gestion MTRHP would acquire all of the Transat shares for $5 in cash per share. Even though the proposal called for a response within 48 hours, the two groups continued talks until Thursday, Transat said in a statement. Peladeau said Thursday that he had "no more interest" in the tour operator, specifying that he had not been able to agree on a price with Transat's largest shareholder, Letko, Brosseau & Associates. Transat said it is aware of Peladeau's public statements, but added that it had not received any formal communication on this subject. Transat reached an agreement with Ottawa to borrow up to $700 million to reimburse its customers whose flights were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and help support its business.
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (TSX:SNC). Up $4.43 or 16 per cent to $32.17. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. reported a profit attributable to shareholders of $73 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of nearly $66 million in the same quarter last year. Chief executive Ian Edwards says the company had a strong start to the year with a first quarter in line with expectations. The engineering firm says its profit from continuing operations was $67.7 million or 39 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a profit of $950,000 or a penny per share a year earlier. SNC says the profit included $61 million or 35 cents per diluted share from professional services and project management compared with a profit of $21 million, or 12 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year. The company's profit from continuing operations from its capital business was $6.7 million or four cents per diluted share in the first quarter of 2021 compared with a loss of $20 million, or 11 cents per diluted share in the first three months of 2020. On an adjusted basis, SNC says its profit from its professional services and project management business was 48 cents per share, up from 35 cents per share a year ago.
Onex Corp. (TSX:ONEX). Up $3.84 or 4.6 per cent to $86.78. Onex Corp. reported a net profit of US$415 million in its latest quarter compared with a net loss of US$997 million in the same quarter last year. The private equity investment firm, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the profit amounted to US$4.59 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a loss of US$9.97 per diluted share in the first three months of 2020. Onex says its segment net earnings, which excludes certain items, totalled US$472 million or US$5.23 per diluted share, up from a segment net loss of $1.05 billion or US$10.34 per diluted share a year ago. The company's investing segment earnings grew to US$324 million compared with a loss of US$985 million a year ago, while its asset and wealth management segment earned US$148 million compared with a loss of US$67 million in the same quarter last year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2021.
The Canadian Press
