TORONTO – Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (13,200.40 down 104.52 points):
Precision Drilling Corp. (TSX:PD). Oilfield services. Down 93 cents, or 9.06 per cent, at $9.33 on 74.06 million shares. Its largest shareholder Alberta Investment Management Company has sold its entire stake in the oil services giant, totalling 56 million shares.
Baja Mining Corp. (TSX:BAJ). Miner. Unchanged at half a cent on 18.76 million shares.
Southern Pacific Resource Corp. (TSX:STP). Down two cents, or 7.02 per cent, at 26.5 cents on 14.90 million shares.
Persues Mining Ltd. (TSX:PRU). Miner. Down two cents, or 8.51 per cent, at 21.5 cents on 11.3 million shares.
Intermap Technologies Corp. (TSX:IMP). Survey and mapping. Up three cents, or 9.68 per cent, at 34 cents on 6.58 million shares.
Toronto Venture Exchange (914.78 down 4.77 points):
Midlands Minerals Corp. (TSXV:MEX). Miner. Up a penny, or 100 per cent, at two cents on 20.02 million shares.
Zodiac Exploration Inc.(TSXV:ZEX). Oil and gas. Down a penny, or 15.38 per cent, at 5.5 cents on 11.52 million shares.
Companies reporting major news:
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Bank. Down $1.35, or 1.41 per cent, at $94.40 on 3.16 million shares. Fourth-quarter profit was up at $1.62 billion or $1.68 per share versus $1.6 billion or $1.66 per share in the same year-ago period. Revenue slipped to $7 billion from $7.09 billion. TD also announced it will issue a one-for-one stock dividend to common shareholders at the end of January and will raise its quarterly cash dividend by one cent.
Transcontinental (TSX:TCL.A). Publisher. Down 59 cents, or 3.57 per cent, at $15.93 on 282,159 shares. The company reached an agreement with rival Sun Media, where Transcontinental will buy Sun’s 74 publications and related websites for $75 million. The printer also announced a fourth-quarter loss that nearly doubled to $92.2 million from $51.9 million last year. Revenue increased 3.2 per cent to $566.3 million.
Royal Bank (TSX:RY). Bank. Down 83 cents, or 1.20 per cent, at $68.17 on 2.77 million shares. Fourth-quarter profit rose 11 per cent to $2.12 billion or $1.40 per share, beating analyst expectations. Revenue advanced to $7.97 billion from $7.52 billion. Chief executive Gord Nixon will retire effective Aug. 1, 2014 after 13 years as RBC’s president and chief executive.
CIBC (TSX:CM). Bank. Down $1.23, or 1.37 per cent, at $88.82 on 1.66 million shares. Net income for the fourth-quarter fell two per cent to $836 million compared with a year earlier while overall revenue held steady at $3.2 billion. The bank surprised investors by holding off on raising its dividend.
