TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (16,779.53, up 355.91 points.)
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 33 cents, or 1.48 per cent, to $22.64 on 13.8 million shares.
Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Down two cents, or 1.94 per cent, to $1.01 on 7.9 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 50 cents, or 1.42 per cent, to $35.72 on 7.6 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Down 16 cents, or 1.69 per cent, to $9.32 on 6.9 million shares.
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Up $1.41, or $2.79 per cent, to $52.01 on 6.3 million shares.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Up nine cents, or 5.08 per cent, to $1.86 on 6.15 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Air Canada (TSX:AC). Up 13 cents to $35.07. The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an attempt by airlines to suspend the country's new passenger rights charter until an appeal of the regulations is heard. A judge turned down a motion by Air Canada, Porter Airlines Inc. and 14 other carriers to freeze the traveller protections while the appeal is being dealt with. Justice David Near said Tuesday that the appellants did not show on a balance of probabilities that the rules would cause irreparable harm. Tabled in May 2017, the passenger bill of rights aims to beef up compensation for travellers subjected to delayed flights and damaged luggage.
Bombardier Inc. — Bombardier Inc. says it is concerned about a new report that links it and other companies to the evident forced labour of Muslim minorities in China. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says factories that claim to supply products to global brands ranging from Apple to Nike are exploiting at least 80,0000 Uighur Muslims "under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour." The think tank says some of those workers were transferred to KTK Group, a Chinese company that makes rail equipment such as doors and seats and that counts Bombardier as a customer. Bombardier says it contacted KTK after the report came out this week to confirm the manufacturer is adhering to Bombardier's code of ethics.
Enbridge Inc. — A delayed inspection and a failure to predict how fast cracks could develop from corrosion are cited in a report describing the cause of an explosion and fire in an Enbridge Inc. natural gas pipeline northeast of Prince George, B.C., in October 2018. No one was injured in the incident but 125 people in a two-kilometre radius were evacuated as a precaution and the outage in the almost 50-year-old pipeline led to natural gas shortages throughout British Columbia. In its final report released Wednesday, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the 90-centimetre (36-inch) pipeline — part of the T-South gas system that supplies much of southern B.C. — ruptured due to stress corrosion cracks on the outside surface of the pipe.
Aecon Group Inc. (TSX:ARE). Up 27 cents to $16.02. Aecon Group Inc. is forecasting another year of income growth on the heels of record annual revenue, as the construction firm continues to shore up its backlog of infrastructure projects. Chief financial officer David Smales predicted revenue growth "in the single digits, but still relatively strong," for 2020. Smales cited a full order book and high demand for infrastructure and public-private partnerships in Canada, including urban transit and nuclear refurbishment projects. Aecon expects more than 40 per cent of its $6.79-billion backlog — roughly in line with 2018 — will be worked off in 2020, building on a six per cent boost in 2019 revenues to $3.46 billion.
Bank of Nova Scotia. (TSX:BNS). Up $1.09 to $70.73. The chief executive of Scotiabank saw his total compensation for last year fall compared with 2018. In its management proxy circular, the bank says Brian Porter earned $12.6 million in total compensation last year, down from nearly $13.3 million in 2018. Porter's pay for 2019 included $1.3 million in salary, nearly $5.6 million in share awards, nearly $1.4 million in option awards, a cash bonus of $2.3 million, $2 million in pension value and $3,500 in all other compensation. That compared with a 2018 pay packet that included $1.2 million in salary, $6 million in share awards, $1.5 million in option awards, a cash bonus of $2.5 million, $2 million in pension value and $3,000 in all other compensation. Scotiabank earned nearly $8.8 billion in its 2019 financial year, up from $8.7 billion in its 2018 financial year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2020.
The Canadian Press