TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (16,427.18, up 8.79 points).
Aphria Inc. (TSX:APHA). Health care. Down 76 cents, or 10.6 per cent, to $6.41 on 5.9 million shares.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Down 23 cents, 4.63 per cent, to $4.74 on 5.2 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 11 cents, or 0.46 per cent, to $24.28 on five million shares.
Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Energy. Down three cents, or 0.53 per cent, to $5.63 on 4.9 million shares.
CannTrust Holdings Inc. (TSX:TRST). Health care. Down seven cents, or 3.85 per cent, to $1.75 on 4.2 million shares.
B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO). Materials. Up four cents, or 0.95 per cent, to $4.23 on 4 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Air Canada (TSX:AC). Down 25 cents to $45.38. Several Canadian airlines have scrubbed the phrase “ladies and gentlemen” from their in-flight announcements — or are considering the change — replacing the gendered language with non-binary terminology as part of a broader shift toward corporate inclusivity. Air Transat said in an email it has stopped using the salutation as well as its French equivalent, “Mesdames et messieurs.” Air Canada says it will do likewise, amending its on-board announcements “to modernize them and remove specific references to gender.” Porter Airlines jettisoned “ladies and gentlemen” in 2018. WestJet Airlines Ltd. and Sunwing Airlines Inc. still include the time-worn phrase in their in-flight announcements, but say they are mulling an edit.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L). Down 98 cents to $71.62. Canada’s privacy commissioner says Loblaw Companies Ltd. initially collected too much personal information from some customers requesting a gift card tied to an alleged bread price-fixing scandal. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada says its investigation found Loblaw failed to explain to people that sensitive information like driver’s licence numbers, birthdays and digital photos could be redacted, while a name and address were needed to verify an identity. Loblaw offered the $25 gift card as a goodwill gesture after admitting it participated in an alleged industry-wide arrangement to co-ordinate bread price increases.
SIR Royalty Income Fund. (TSX:SRV.UN). Down $2.89, or 21 per cent, to $10.87. SIR Royalty Income Fund units fell to a multi-year low Wednesday after it warned that investor payouts will drop 16.7 per cent to reflect a drop in food and drink sales at its restaurants, which include the Jack Astors chain. SIR said same-store sales for its operating company’s fourth quarter, which ended Aug. 25, were down 5.9 per cent and didn’t improve during the first four weeks of its 2020 financial year. As a result, the trust will lower the monthly cash distributions to be paid on SIR Royalty units by 1.75 cents to 8.75 cents per unit, starting in November, down from 10.5 cents per unit.
Hexo Corp. (TSX:HEXO). Down 12 cents or 3.56 per cent to $3.25. Cannabis company Hexo Corp. is moving to undercut prices in the illicit market with a new 28-gram product that costs consumers as much as one dollar less per gram than at the average illegal dispensary. The product, under the brand Original Stash, which will be on sale in Quebec cannabis stores starting Thursday for $125.70, or $4.49 per gram, including taxes, the company said. That’s cheaper than the average cost of a gram of cannabis at $7.37 per gram during the third quarter, with the price of legal and illegal weed at $10.23 and $5.59 per gram, respectively, according to the latest Statistics Canada analysis of crowdsourced data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2019.
The Canadian Press
