TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange: (15,998.74, up 59.59 points.)
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up nine cents, or 0.25 per cent, to $36.55 on 28.3 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down three cents, or 0.19 per cent, to $15.62 on 16.49 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Down 51 cents, or 2.68 per cent, to $18.53 on 16.3 million shares.
Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO). Financials. Up $1.15, or 1.41 per cent, to $82.68 on 8.3 million shares.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Financials. Down four cents, or 0.07 per cent, to $59.91 on 8 million shares.
Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX). Materials. Down 84 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $35.68 on 7.5 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Aphria Inc. (TSX:APHA). Down five cents to $6.52. Aphria Inc. says it will acquire SweetWater Brewing Company in a US$300-million deal. The Leamington, Ont.-based cannabis company says the Atlanta, Georgia craft beer company will help it expand into the U.S. and access the market more quickly in the event of federal legalization. SweetWater will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aphria through the deal and will receive $250 million in cash and about $50 million in Aphria stock at closing. Aphria says SweetWater will be eligible to receive up to $66 million of additional cash under an earnout through the end of calendar year 2023. SweetWater chief executive Freddy Bensch will continue running the subsidiary, but report to Aphria chief executive Irwin Simon and enter into a consulting agreement to last until the end of 2023.
Indigo Books & Music Inc. (TSX:IDG). Down 29 cents or 12.1 per cent to $2.10. Indigo Books & Music Inc. trimmed its losses and increased revenues in its second quarter, buoyed by a renewed interest in reading and growing sales tied to at-home learning and kids entertainment. The Toronto-based retailer said online sales and curbside pickup helped the company post a strong financial recovery despite shopping in brick-and-mortar stores continuing to lag. Indigo said it lost $17.5 million or 63 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 26, compared with a loss of $20.5 million or 74 cents per share a year earlier. Revenues increased by almost one percentage point to $205.3 million from $203.4 million. Indigo attributed the gain to a more than doubling of its online channel, with growth of 113.6 per cent, propelled by interest in the core categories of reading, wellness, at-home learning and entertainment.
TransAlta Corp. (TSX:TA). Down three cents to $8.26. Alberta power producer TransAlta Corp. says it will end operations at its Highvale thermal coal mine west of Edmonton by the end of 2021 as it switches to natural gas at all of its operated coal-fired plants in Canada four years earlier than previously planned. The announcement will result in hundreds of mine job losses as employment drops to 40 to 50 people involved in reclamation work, expected to take about 20 years, from a peak workforce of around 1,500, said CEO Dawn Farrell on a conference call on Wednesday. TransAlta confirmed last week it had closed a $400-million second tranche of a $750-million investment by an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, with the proceeds to be used to advance its coal-to-gas conversion program and other corporate purposes. But on the call, Farrell said Brookfield's purchase of convertible securities wasn't responsible for the board's decision to accelerate its coal-to-gas conversions.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L). Up 26 cents to $66.13. A contract dispute between unionized workers at Loblaws-owned Dominion stores in Newfoundland has been expanded to include pickets in two other provinces. Unifor says it has set up secondary pickets at Loblaw distribution centres in Ajax, Ont., and Moncton, N.B., to bring attention to the dispute. The union represents employees at 11 Dominion stores across Newfoundland, where about 1,400 workers have been on strike since late August in a dispute over wages. Unifor has also filed a suit against the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, the province's police force, for removing a secondary picket at a Weston bakery in Mount Pearl, NL. Unifor announced the two new secondary pickets in Ontario and New Brunswick on Tuesday after the N.L. labour minister appointed Wayne Fowler as mediator of the main dispute.
Dollarama Inc. (TSX:DOL). Up 76 cents or 1.6 per cent to $47.27. Dollarama Inc. says Pomerleau executive Jean-Philippe Towner will become its next chief financial officer on March 1, 2021. Towner will replace Michael Ross, who will step down after a decade in the job. Ross, who joined Dollarama shortly after its initial public offering, is expected to stay on in an advisory capacity until his retirement. Towner has been chief financial officer at Pomerleau Inc., a construction and engineering company based in Montreal, since 2016. He also spent nearly 10 years with BMO Capital Markets. Dollarama has more than 1,300 locations across Canada as well as a 50.1 per cent interest in Dollarcity, a Latin American retailer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2020.
Companies in this story: (TSX:DOL, TSX:L, TSX:TA, TSX:IDG, TSX:APHA)
The Canadian Press
