CI Financial, Jean Coutu, Scotiabank: Canada Stock Preview

By John Kipphoff

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Canadian trading today. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the close in Toronto on Oct. 3.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 0.9 percent to 10,803.35.

CI Financial Income Fund (CIX-U CN): Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS CN), Canada's third-biggest bank, agreed to buy Sun Life Financial Inc.'s stake in CI Financial, the country's second- biggest independent mutual fund company, for C$2.3 billion ($2.1 billion) in cash. CI Financial was unchanged at C$16.64.

Sun Life (SLF CN), Canada's third-largest insurer, dropped 4 percent to C$36.02. Scotiabank fell 0.1 percent to C$47.16.

5N Plus Inc. (VNP CN): The producer of specialty metals for electronics is scheduled to report results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. The shares rose 3.7 percent to C$4.82.

Jean Coutu Group Inc. (PJC/A CN): The drugstore chain that owns about a third of Rite Aid Corp. reported a second-quarter loss of C$39.1 million ($36 million), or 16 cents a share, compared with net income of C$8.3 million, because of its stake in the money-losing U.S. pharmacy chain.

Excluding Rite Aid and some costs and gains, Jean Coutu said it earned 14 cents a share compared with 12 cents a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts was 13 cents a share. The shares dropped 1.5 percent to C$7.33.

Oilexco Inc. (OIL CN): The Calgary-based producer of oil in the North Sea, slumped the most in almost four years in London trading after reporting delays in obtaining extra financing. The stock fell 16 percent to C$7.90 in Toronto on Oct. 3 after first saying it was looking into ``alternative financing options'' because of delays in a planned increase in debt availability to $1 billion from $700 million.

Waratah Coal Inc. (WCI CN): The company seeking to build a A$5.3 billion ($4 billion) Australian mine, port and rail project, said a C$1.41-a-share bid by Mineralogy Pty to raise its stake in Waratah to 50.1 percent from 16.9 percent, ``substantially undervalues'' its shares. Waratah fell 7.1 percent to C$1.30.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Kipphoff in Toronto at jkipphoff@bloomberg.net.