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Reuters Canada Business Summary

16/05/07

CP Rail workers begin strike

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Some 3,200 track workers at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. began a national strike in Canada on Wednesday over failed talks on wages and other issues, the union said. "It's begun right across the country," Jeremy Spikula, a union director at Teamsters Canada, told Reuters.

KKR in running for Air Canada Technical stake: report

TORONTO (Reuters) - Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is one of four groups considered front-runners in bidding for a stake in Air Canada Technical Services, a Canadian national newspaper said on Wednesday. The Globe and Mail, citing an industry source, said the U.S. buyout firm is considered one of the strongest candidates to obtain a stake of up to 42.9 percent in the aircraft and maintenance business of ACE Aviation Holdings .

Biovail chairman announces retirement

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Biovail Corp. founder and chairman Eugene Melnyk will retire, the company said on Wednesday, just one day after top executives received Wells Notices from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Biovail, Canada's biggest publicly traded drugmaker, said the notices sent to Melnyk and Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Howling relating to its fiscal 2003 accounting, a 2002 acquisition and how it accounts for revenue, were similar to issues raised in notices sent to the company on Monday.

Norilsk examines options on LionOre bid

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Norilsk Nickel on Wednesday criticized a higher bid by Xstrata Plc for LionOre Mining International Ltd. and said it would soon announce its next steps in the race for the Canadian firm. Analysts said Norilsk, which produces a fifth of the world's nickel, was likely to increase its offer a second time as there are limited opportunities for the company to grow in Russia and a greater presence abroad would soften political risk.

ING Canada profit drops as investments pay less

TORONTO (Reuters) - ING Canada Inc. posted a 32-percent drop in first-quarter profit as the country's biggest property and casualty insurer was hit by lower gains on invested assets and lower underwriting income. ING Canada said late on Tuesday that it earned C$126.2 million ($114.7 million), or 95 Canadian cents a share, down from C$185.9 million, or C$1.39 a share, a year earlier.

Toronto stocks rise despite weak commodities

TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto stocks rose on Wednesday as investors ignored a drop in commodity prices and focused instead on U.S. data that suggested the housing market was stabilizing. By midmorning, the S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> was up 35.44 points, or 0.3 percent, at 13,970.08. The benchmark index, which has gained 4.2 percent so far in May, breached the 14,000 mark for the first time last week.

FirstService reports lower profit, ups forecast

TORONTO (Reuters) - FirstService Corp. reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, but raised its forecast for earnings and revenue for the fiscal year. The real estate and property services company earned a net profit of $2.3 million, or 6 cents a share, down from a profit of $36 million, or $1.18 a share, in the year ago period.

Canada farms dwindling in number but bigger-census

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The number of farms in Canada fell 7.1 percent between 2001 and 2006 but their average size grew as farmers adapted to challenges like mad cow disease and changing crop prices, a census by Statistics Canada showed on Wednesday. In a snapshot of the farming sector taken in May of last year, the census showed a continuation of a long-term trend of fewer and bigger farms but said the change was less dramatic than the previous five-year period when the number of farms fell by nearly 11 percent.

Lead mine woes drive Canada's Ivernia into Q1 loss

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Canadian miner Ivernia Inc. said suspension of operations at its Australian lead mine drove the company into the red in the first quarter, despite record production during the period. Ivernia reported a first quarter net loss of $200,000, versus a $1.6 million net profit in the year-ago period, after its Magellan mine in Western Australia ground to halt in mid-March due to a ban on lead concentrate exports from the nearby port of Esperance.

Canadian dollar down ahead of key data, bonds flat

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar gave back a portion of recent gains and was down versus the U.S. currency on Wednesday, but moves were limited ahead of key inflation data later in the week that could trigger a rally. Domestic bond prices, with no major data to consider until later in the week, were mostly flat.

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