Business
Bad week, bad ending
Bad week, bad ending
About this update from Linamar Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nBad week, bad ending\n\nJob losses stateside\n Mar. 6, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) -- 04:30 pm EST\nIndexes in New York managed to shake off the impact of job loss figures announced Friday, and recover some ground it had lost most of the week. Toronto betrayed some nerves, however. Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index veered 18.84 lower at the close to 7,610.33, lows it hasn't seen since 2003. Many analysts believe there is little keeping stocks from falling even further as worries about the automotive and financial sectors continue to weigh on investors.In the Toronto financial sector, CIBC shed 40 cents to $37.46.The Bank of Nova Scotia has taken a majority interest in Five Continents Financial Ltd., an asset management firm in the Cayman Islands. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Scotiabank shares were down 36 cents to $25.85.In the TSX energy sector, Suncor Inc. rose 94 cents to $27.15 and Canadian Natural Resources gained 34 cents to $40.85.The base metals sector rose, as Teck Cominco Ltd. improved 29 cents to $3.71.Quadra Mining Ltd. shares rose 17 cents to $3.76 after it reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $126.1 million U.S. compared to a year-earlier profit of $5.5 million. Revenues were negative $7.1 million compared to $81.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2007 as a result of plunging copper prices which led to negative price adjustments in the second half of 2008.Among gold stocks, Goldcorp Inc. advanced 65 cents to $37.80.Market heavyweights exerting pressure on the TSX included Research In Motion Ltd., down $2.47 to $46.35, Potash Inc. declined $4.60 to $84.94 while Bombardier Inc. fell 14 cents to $2.40.Canadian autoparts maker Linamar Corp. has cut its quarterly dividend in half. The Ontario-based company reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday and said it would pay a quarterly dividend of three cents per share, down from six cents in the previous quarter. Linamar shares fell 29 cents to $2.71.SNC Lavalin Group Inc. reported fourth-quarter net income of $75 million, compared with a net income of $68.7 million for the same period in 2007. For all of 2008, the engineering giant reports $312.5 million in net income, compared with $153.2 million in 2007. SNC also announced a 25% increase to quarterly dividends. Its shares climbed 85 cents to $29.50.Industrial waste management services provider Newalta In...