Canada top court to rule on Wal-Mart union fight
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Inc. suffered a defeat
on Thursday when Canada's Supreme Court agreed to hear a
challenge of the company's 2005 decision to close a Quebec
store that had been the first in North America to obtain union
certification. Former employees charged they had unfairly lost
their jobs because of their union activities. Wal-Mart's
Canadian subsidiary insisted that they had lost their jobs for
the "good and sufficient reason" of the closure of the store.
Yellow Pages raises its distribution as profit up
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian phone directories company
Yellow Pages Income Fund reported a higher quarterly
profit on Thursday, helped by revenue growth and a recent
acquisition. Yellow Pages said net earnings for the second
quarter were C$135.7 million ($129.2 million), or 26 Canadian
cents a unit, compared with C$127.6 million, or 24 Canadian
cents a unit, in the same period the year before.
Tim Hortons profit rises, leaves forecast as is
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim
Hortons said on Thursday that second-quarter profit
rose 11.5 percent as it opened more restaurants and charged
higher prices. Canada's biggest restaurant chain said it earned
C$75 million ($71.4 million), or 41 Canadian cents a share, in
the quarter ended June 29. That compares with a profit of
C$67.2 million, or 36 Canadian cents a share, in the same
period last year.
Canadian Tire lowers forecasts as profit slides
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Tire Corp Ltd reported a lower second-quarter profit and cut its
earnings forecasts on Thursday, as it was hurt by tough
economic conditions and unseasonably cold weather. The
country's largest auto parts and household goods retailer said
its net earnings fell to C$97.7 million ($93 million), or
C$1.20 a basic share, from C$122.5 million, or C$1.50 a share,
a year earlier.
Imperial Oil pushes back Kearl oil sands start
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Imperial Oil Ltd said
on Thursday that the start-up of its C$8 billion Kearl oil
sands project will likely be delayed by a year, to 2012, as it
looks for ways to cut the project's costs. Imperial spokesman
Gordon Wong said the start-up date is still tentative and the
company is trying to firm up its plans before making a final
decision on whether to go ahead with the project in the first
quarter of 2009.
Metro Inc boosts profit, plans C$200 million makeover
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Completion of a computer system overhaul
helped lift third-quarter profit at Metro Inc and
clear the way for a C$200 million makeover, Canada's No. 3
supermarket chain said on Thursday. The company will
consolidate its five Ontario food banners under the Metro name
to try to boost efficiency and spark growth. After its big A&P
chain purchase in 2005, Metro said it would consider plans for
its store banners, but first needed to finish complex computer
system integration.
Canadian Natural shares rise as profit surges
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd
shares surged more than 5 percent on Thursday as
record operating profits offset concerns over new cost overruns
and delays at its massive Horizon oil sands project. A day
after announcing that costs for the Horizon project had risen
to C$9.27 billion ($8.8 billion) -- 6 percent above its last
estimate and more than a third higher than the 110,000
barrel-per-day project's original C$6.8 billion budget --
Canadian Natural said synthetic crude production at Horizon
could begin at reduced rates in the fourth quarter.
Toronto stocks fall as financial shares weigh
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index
tumbled more than 100 points late in the session on Thursday,
yanked down by broad losses that were led by the financial
sector. The S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> was down 102.32
points, or 0.76 percent, at 13,351.19.
Canada June building permits drop, downturn seen
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian building permits fell by a
steeper-than-expected 5.3 percent in June from May and that
convinced some economists that a broad downturn is ahead for
the housing market. Statistics Canada said on Thursday that
weakness in both the residential sector and the nonresidential
sector weighed on building permits in June after an unexpected
rise in permits the month before.
Canadian dollar down for 11th time in 13 sessions
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar fell against the
U.S. dollar for the eleventh time in the past 13 sessions on
Thursday as momentum carried it toward the next big technical
level of C$1.05 to the U.S. dollar. Canadian bond prices rose
on the back of weak building permits data in Canada and soft
U.S. weekly employment numbers.
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