TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (18,223.54, down 260.99 points.)
ClearStream Energy Services Inc. (TSX:CSM). Energy. Up six cents, or 171.43 per cent, to 9.5 cents on 38 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 17 cents, or 0.66 per cent, to $25.76 on 22.1 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down 86 cents, or 3.19 per cent, to $26.06 on 17.1 million shares.
Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Energy. Down 10 cents, or 7.52 per cent, to $1.23 on 14.5 million shares.
BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB). Technology. Down 84 cents, or 5.94 per cent, to $13.31 on 12.9 million shares.
Whitecap Resources Inc. (TSX:WCP). Energy. Down six cents, or 1.01 per cent, to $5.87 on 10.7 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD) Down $1.33, or 1.67 per cent, to $78.07. TD Bank Group topped expectations as it reported its first-quarter profit rose 10 per cent compared with a year ago. But its shares fell along with other Canadian banks that also reported better-than-expected earnings growth this week. "TD did not benefit from capital markets, wealth management and cost controls to the same degree as its peers," wrote Barclays analyst John Aiken in a research note. "What stood out in the quarter from our perspective was the ongoing struggles in its U.S. retail banking platform." TD said its wealth management business saw higher transaction and fee-based revenue in Canada, while there was also strong mortgage originations and chequing account growth. Climbing premiums, insurance sales and uptake in digital term life applications lifted the insurance business, the bank said. But profits fell in TD's U.S. retail business, after Charles Schwab Corp. finished its acquisition of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. in October. TD said Schwab contributed $209 million in earnings, compared with the contribution of $201 million from TD Ameritrade in the first quarter last year. Overall, TD earned net income of $3.28 billion or $1.77 per diluted share for the quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $2.99 billion or $1.61 per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue totalled $10.81 billion, up from $10.61 billion. Provisions for credit losses amounted to $313 million, down from $919 million a year earlier.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX:CM) Up 16 cents, or 0.14 per cent, to $118. CIBC chief executive Victor Dodig credited the fast-paced mortgage market and new cash-back reward credit cards as factors behind the bank's better-than-expected first-quarter profit growth, as the bank also slashed its provisions for credit losses despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Dodig also said Thursday the bank had record flows into its mutual fund sales business, as the bank beat analyst expectations, reporting its first-quarter profit grew compared with a year ago before the pandemic started. On an adjusted basis, CIBC said it earned $3.58 per diluted share, up from $3.24 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $2.81 per share, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. Provisions for credit losses amounted to $147 million, down from $261 million a year ago, as the bank improved its economic outlook. Canada's other big banks this week announced similar reductions after increasing the amounts set aside for bad loans last year in case the pandemic drove borrowers to default. "Overall, government support programs continue to help blunt the economic impacts of the pandemic, and our clients continue to exhibit disciplined behaviour in view of the economic uncertainty," said Shawn Beber, the CIBC's chief risk officer, on a conference call with analysts. The bank said Thursday that nearly two-thirds of its outstanding loans are to consumers, the majority of which are mortgages. Overall, the big bank says it earned net income of $1.63 billion or $3.55 per diluted share for the quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $1.21 billion or $2.63 per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue totalled $4.96 billion, up from $4.86 billion.
Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B) Up 49 cents, or 1.54 per cent, at $32.41. Quebecor Inc. raised its dividend as it reported its fourth-quarter profit rose compared with a year ago. The company said Thursday it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 27.5 cents per share, up from 20 cents. The increased payment to shareholders came as Quebecor said it earned net income attributable to shareholders of $159.8 million or 64 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31. The result compared with a profit of $145.1 million or 57 cents per diluted share a year earlier. Quebecor chief executive Pierre Karl Peladeau said prudent management of the company's operations and balance sheet served it well in 2020. Revenue for the quarter rose to $1.15 billion from $1.14 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019. The overall increase came as telecommunications revenue rose to $940.9 million, up from $908.6 million a year ago. However, Quebecor's media division saw revenue fall to $185.8 million from $208.0 million a year ago and sports and entertainment revenue dropped to $48.8 million compared with $54.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. For the fourth quarter, Quebecor reported a net increase of 43,000 "revenue‑generating units" — made up of subscriptions to its internet service, television and Club illico services, and connections to its mobile and wireline telephone services.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TXS:L) Up $2.17, or 3.6 per cent, to $63.03. Loblaw Companies says it's ready to play a key role in Canada's vaccination effort, noting that the company's pharmacists are capable of administering a million shots a week. Loblaw president Sarah Davis says the grocery and pharmacy retailer's supply chain is able to deliver vaccines and begin administering the shots the day it receives them. She says the company's 1,300 Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix drugstores across the country are within 10 minutes of most Canadians. Her comments came during a conference call with financial analysts Thursday as Loblaw reported its fourth-quarter profit and revenue rose compared with a year ago amid the pandemic's continuing positive impact on food retail sales. Davis says the company's pharmacies have administered seasonal influenza vaccinations for years and are well positioned to do the same with the COVID-19 vaccines. Yet she says Loblaw has not been given the rollout strategy across all provinces or the timing yet. Davis says the company's pharmacists in Alberta will start offering the vaccine in some stores next week. She says Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have all indicated the company will be part of the vaccination process, but that Loblaw hasn't received more details such as the exact timing. In British Columbia and Quebec, meanwhile, Davis says it appears pharmacists could play a role at the mass vaccination sites, but not within the drugstores themselves. However, she says the vaccine will likely be around for a long time and it's possible the scope of the pharmacy's role in some provinces could expand over time.
Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO). Down 47 cents, or 1.62 per cent, at $28.57. Imperial Oil is cutting one billion barrels from its inventory of oilsands bitumen following a year marked by low oil prices and budget cutting amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a global price war between major oil producers. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the Calgary-based company says its proved plus probable bitumen reserves fell to 4.46 billion barrels as of Dec. 31, 2020, from 5.45 billion barrels on the last day of 2019, with most of the change due to "technical revisions." Its reserves of upgraded synthetic crude from the oilsands fell to 583 million barrels from 623 million after it produced about 25 million barrels in 2020. It says in the report pricing, exchange rate and inflation assumptions used to evaluate reserves are based on the average of values provided by two third-party reserves evaluators, adding those numbers will fluctuate and "are not relevant to the company's investment decisions." The reserves report was filed the same day that Imperial's 69.6 per cent owner, U.S. giant Exxon Mobil Corp., reported its worldwide proved developed and undeveloped oil and gas reserves fell from 22.4 billion oil equivalent barrels at the end of 2019 to 15.2 billion as of the end of 2020. The majority of the revision was attributed to its bitumen inventory, where reserves were all but eliminated, dropping from 3.86 billion barrels to just 81 million barrels.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2021.
The Canadian Press
