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25/10/07

Alberta premier vows "fair" royalties but keeps mum

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Alberta's premier gave no details about his plan to change the Canadian province's oil and gas royalties in a television address on Wednesday, but promised the new system would give residents a "fair share" of rewards from energy development. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, who has been agonizing over a high-level panel's report recommending big increases in royalties, said he will provide full details of changes to the fiscal regime on Thursday.

Fed rumour pulls Toronto stocks up to end flat

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index ended little changed on Wednesday after spending most of the day in negative territory as strong commodities and late-day rumors of an imminent U.S. discount rate cut powered a bounce back to the break-even mark. The index fell more than 100 points earlier as financial shares dropped after a $7.9 billion writedown posted by Merrill Lynch & Co renewed fears that fallout from the global credit squeeze would hit Canadian financial institutions.

Canadian dollar lower despite late rally

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar closed lower against the greenback on Wednesday as investors shied away from risky assets, but talk that the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut its discount rate imminently allowed the currency to cut its losses. Canadian bond prices followed the bigger U.S. Treasury market to a higher close after weak U.S. existing-home sales data and big writedowns at Merrill Lynch fueled expectations for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut, perhaps even before the Fed's meeting next week.

RIM's push into China will target multinationals

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion will target multinational corporations in the first phase of its new push into the huge Chinese market, its co-chief executive said on Wednesday. "It's exciting, but the main focal point, phase one, is very much the multinationals, for sure," Jim Balsillie told Reuters in an interview.

Hyundai Motor net jumps on labor peace

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS>, South Korea's top auto maker, posted a better-than-expected 45 percent rise in quarterly profit Thursday, helped by higher productivity due to better union relations and improved domestic sales. Hyundai, the world's No.6 auto maker with Kia Motors Corp <000270.KS> by sales volume, earned 425.5 billion won ($463.8 million) in net profit during the third quarter ended September 30, beating a 394 billion won profit forecast by 10 analysts in a Reuters poll.

80,000 job vacancies seen in mining sector

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's rich mining industry is expected to face a shortage of 80,000 workers over the next decade, Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg said on Wednesday. "We know that having enough skilled workers is a serious problem," Solberg said in the prepared text of a speech he was giving to a mining human resources forum.

Agnico-Eagle profit falls on strong loonie, zinc price

TORONTO (Reuters) - Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd said on Wednesday its third-quarter profit fell as a stronger Canadian dollar pushed up costs, while byproduct zinc prices were lower. The Canadian gold and base metals producer earned $11.5 million, or 8 cents a share, down from $45.2 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stelco moves back to profit in Q3

TORONTO (Reuters) - Stelco Inc , the Canadian steelmaker that has agreed to be bought by U.S. Steel , said on Wednesday it swung back to profit in the third quarter due partly to foreign exchange gains. The company said it had a net profit of C$38 million ($39 million), or C$1.26 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, up from a loss of C$25 million, or 93 Canadian cents per share, in the same period last year.

Acquisition charges pull Zarlink to a loss

TORONTO (Reuters) - Zarlink Semiconductor Inc swung to a second-quarter loss on Wednesday as the company took a research and development expense of $20.3 million, a foreign exchange loss and severance charges -- all related to an acquisition. Zarlink said it lost $15.9 million, or 13 cents per share, in the three months ended September 28. That compared with a profit of $6.9 million, or 5 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Microsoft beats Google to Facebook stake

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp beat out Google Inc on Wednesday in a battle to invest in socializing Web site Facebook, agreeing to pay $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in the Web phenomenon. Microsoft also clinched exclusive rights to sell ads on Facebook outside of the United States as part of the investment that valued Facebook at $15 billion -- on par with the market capitalizations of retailer Gap Inc and hotel chain Marriott International Inc.

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