TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (21,531.72, down 72.47 points.)
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 99 cents, or 3.7 per cent, to $27.89 on 39.2 million shares.
Bombardier Inc. Class B (TSX:BBD.B). Down four cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $1.76 on 12.4 million shares.
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up 11 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $54.55 on 9.6 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Up 41 cents, or 2.1 per cent, to $19.50 on 7.5 million shares.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 12 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $36.71 on 6.7 million shares.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (The). (TSX:TD). Financials. Up 59 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $107.84 on 6.5 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Precision Drilling Corp. (TSX:PD). Up $1.72 or 2.9 per cent to $60.73 — The head of Precision Drilling Corp. says higher oil and gas prices are boosting business, as the company works to reduce debt and climb back into the black after its 11th straight quarter of net losses. A revenue rise of 46 per cent year over year for the quarter stemmed from increased drilling and service rig activity, partially offset by lower average revenue rates in the U.S. and internationally, the company said. The Calgary-based outfit, which is the largest drilling rig contractor in the country, has 52 rigs active in the United States, a 58 per cent increase from last February and an 18 per cent boost since September. Precision Drilling runs 66 rigs in Canada at the moment and expects demand to stay high through early March, ahead of better than expected bookings through spring breakup and into the second half of 2022, chief executive Kevin Neveu said.
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust. (TSX:REI). Up 71 cents or 3.1 per cent to $23.37. The chief executive of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says the COVID-19 pandemic has created a volatile business environment, but he still sees strength in brick-and-mortar retail. Jonathan Gitlin says the last two years have been filled with challenges for the trust's tenants, but he's noticing shoppers flock to stores because in-person retail gives them more control over their shopping experience. While e-commerce has proven popular during the health crisis, he expects it to operate in tandem with brick-and-mortar retail. Gitlin's observations were made after the company said Wednesday that its rent collection rate reached 98.6 per cent in its most recent quarter, a slight climb from 96.2 per cent at the same time last year. The Toronto-based real estate trust says its committed occupancy level across its portfolio of about 207 properties totalled 96.8 per cent in its fourth quarter, up from 95.7 per cent. Net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 amounted to $208.8 million, up from $65.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Down four cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $1.76. Bombardier Inc. plans to ramp up production over the next two years amid rising demand for private planes, as the business jet manufacturer tests how far it can push capacity. Swinging to a surprise profit in its latest quarter after nudging output up in 2021, the Montreal-based company aims to exceed last year's 120 aircraft deliveries in 2022 and boost them by another 15 to 20 per cent — up to 144 Global and Challenger planes — as soon as 2023. Bombardier's new guidance forecasts an eight per cent bump in business jet revenues to US$6.5 billion this year after solidifying its backlog at US$12.2 billion by December, up US$1.5 billion from a year earlier. While the commercial aviation market struggled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, use of business jets rose by 42 per cent in the United States and 33 per cent in Europe in 2021, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Eurocontrol. Flight cancellations, wariness of exposure to the virus and surging wealth among the ultrarich — the world's 2,755 billionaires saw their combined wealth rise by US$5 trillion since March, according to a January report from Oxfam International — have helped drive demand for private aircraft. The taste for luxury has seen buyers snap up used business jets as well, leaving the total number for sale at 3.6 per cent of the worldwide fleet, its lowest level since 1989, according to market data firms Jetnet IQ and Ascend — and making new products a likelier option.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2022.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: Previous version had the numbers for mid-day
