TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (21,650.41, down 347.97 points.)
Athabasca Oil Corp. (TSX:ATH). Energy. Down three cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $2.62 on 13 million shares.
Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY). Financials. Down 44 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $138.57 on 12.6 million shares.
Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Energy. Down 18 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $6.70 on 8.5 million shares.
Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. (TSX:TVE). Energy. Down one cent, or 0.2 per cent, to $5.12 on 7.5 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Down 91 cents, or four per cent, to $21.91 on 7.4 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Down six cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $26.73 on 7.2 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Metro Inc. (TSX:MRU). Down $1.87 or 2.6 per cent to $70.27. Rapidly rising food prices in Canada are shaping grocery shopping habits and buying patterns as consumers increasingly seek out deals and favour discount retailers, the head of Metro Inc. said Thursday. CEO Eric La Flèche said the inflationary picture is accelerating and that’s having an impact on consumers. Sales at the Montreal-based retailer’s discount grocery chains, Super C in Quebec and Food Basics in Ontario, are growing faster than at its conventional stores, such as Metro and Metro Plus, he said. Higher prices are also influencing buying patterns, including the brands consumers buy. For example, Metro’s house brands — Irresistibles, Selection and Life Smart — are posting strong sales as shoppers “trade down” from more expensive brand-name foods, La Flèche said. Customers are also choosing cheaper cuts of meat and stocking up on sale items. Metro reported a second-quarter profit of $198.1 million, up from $188.1 million a year earlier, as sales gained 1.9 per cent to $4.27 billion.
Hexo Corp. (TSX:HEXO). Down two cents or 3.4 per cent to 56 cents. Hexo Corp. says it will close its Belleville facility this summer affecting 230 employees as it further streamlines operations. The Gatineau, Que.-based cannabis company had continued to lease the Ontario facility after selling its 25 per cent interest in the Belleville Complex Inc. in January for about $10.1 million. Hexo says the Truss Beverage Co. operations — a joint venture with Molson Coors Canada — are not impacted by this change and will continue to operate out of the Belleville facility. Acting chief operating officer Charlie Bowman says the closure is designed to significantly reduce costs by streamlining operations and capitalizing on production efficiencies. All manufacturing machinery and equipment located in Belleville will be transferred to other sites by the end of July. Hexo’s previously announced strategic plan is designed to become cash flow positive from operations.
Canadian National Railway Co. (TSX:CNR). Down 58 cents to $160.23. The country’s largest railroad operator has pledged to fill the void of francophones on its board of directors, scrambling to reassure Quebecers amid heightened language sensitivities in the province. In a statement in French, the Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Co. says two board members will run out their terms and step down in the “coming months,” allowing the company to “correct the situation” — though none of the 11 newly named nominees are native French speakers. Until earlier this year, the board could point to at least one francophone director, former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who stepped down to run for the federal Conservative leadership. CN chief executive Tracy Robinson said on her appointment in January that she had begun French lessons to communicate with CN employees and customers and “embrace the experience of living in Quebec.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2022.