By John Kipphoff
Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Canadian trading today. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from yesterday's close in Toronto.
The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 7.2 percent to 9,151.63.
Insurance companies: Canada's financial-services regulator revised capital requirements for segregated funds run by insurance firms to provide relief as stocks plunge. Under the changes, the insurers will have more flexibility to set aside less money for longer-term obligations for segregated funds.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF CN), Canada's third-largest insurance company, added 14 percent to C$30.06. Great-West Lifeco Inc. (GWO CN) gained 3.7 percent to C$26.30.
Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC CN), the country's biggest insurer, rose 11 percent to C$23.49. Separately, Manulife was raised today to ``outperform'' from ``neutral'' at Credit Suisse.
AbitibiBowater Inc. (ABH CN): North America's largest newsprint maker said that it intends to sell three parcels of timberland in Quebec as part of efforts to reduce debt. The shares rose 14 percent to C$1.87.
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM CN): The owner of Canada's biggest gold deposit is scheduled to report third-quarter results. The Toronto-based miner may say that profit was 8 cents a share before one-time items, the average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The shares rose 11 percent to C$30.58.
BCE Inc. (BCE CN): The phone company going private in the biggest leveraged buyout in history reported a 36 percent drop in third-quarter profit to C$280 million ($222.4 million), or 30 cents a share, from C$440 million, because of costs to fire workers and get rid of property.
Excluding costs related to the acquisition and expenses to cut jobs, BCE reported profit of 60 cents a share, compared with analysts' 55-cent estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The shares gained 3.2 perc3ent to C$34.97, remaining below the C$42.75-s- share in cash agreed takeover offer by a Canadian pension plan.
Brookfield Properties Corp. (BPO CN): The owner of New York's World Financial Center said third-quarter net income rose to $174 million (C$219.5 million) from $3 million, after reporting a gain on the sale of its stake in Toronto's TD Canada Trust Tower. Funds from operations amounted to 38 cents a share, beating the average forecast of 37 cents by 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The shares gained 15 percent to C$11.50.
Nexen Inc. (NXY CN): The oil and natural-gas producer reported third-quarter profit more than doubled to C$886 million ($703.5 million), or C$1.66 per share, from C$403 million, beating forecasts on higher crude prices. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey estimated per-share profit of C$1.29. Chief Executive Officer Charlie Fischer will retire, the company said.
Separately, competitors Total SA and Royal Dutch are considering takeover bids for the company, after Nexen's shares dropped, the Financial Times reported, without saying where it got the information. The shares climbed 14 percent to C$16.25 and are down 49 percent in 2008.
QLT Inc. (QLT CN): West Coast Asset Management Inc., a U.S. investment firm, said it has amassed a stake of about 7.5 percent in the Vancouver-based drugmaker and may approach management about taking QLT private or merging it with another company. The shares dropped 9.4 percent to C$2.50.
Suncor Energy Inc. (SU CN): The world's second-largest oil- sands producer said third-quarter profit increased 30 percent to C$815 million, or 86 cents a share, from C$627 million, as crude prices surged to a record. Per-share earnings before one-time items were C$1.04, about 5.8 percent less than the average of 15 analysts' estimates in a Bloomberg survey, while sales of C$8.93 billion exceeded forecasts. Suncor rose 9.6 percent to C$25.40.
To contact the reporter on this story: John Kipphoff in Toronto at jkipphoff@bloomberg.net.
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