Kinross, Inmet, Mercator, Oilexco, Teck: Canada Equity Preview

By John Kipphoff

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Canadian trading today. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the previous close in Toronto.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 3.9 percent to 8,490.56.

Oil and gas drilling-services companies may move after the government of Alberta said it will offer a revised royalty program to oil companies in a five-year plan aimed at encouraging the development of new drilling projects.

Precision Drilling Trust (PD-U CN) fell 12 percent to C$9.95. Trican Well Service Ltd. (TCW CN) slid 7.2 percent to C$8.40. Calfrac Well Services Ltd. (CFW CN) dropped 9.1 percent to C$11.38.

Air Canada (AC/B CN): The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to rule on a Canadian Transportation Agency decision that said people who are obese or disabled need not pay for an extra airplane seat when they require it to accommodate them or their attendant. The agency estimated the change would cost Air Canada C$7.3 million ($5.8 million) annually from revenue of C$8.2 billion. The shares fell 7.3 percent to C$2.15.

Kinross Gold Corp. (K CN): Canada's third-largest gold mining company agreed to buy Minera Santa Rosa SCM from Teck Cominco Ltd. (TCK/B CN) for about $250 million in cash and stock, plus a royalty, giving it ownership of the Lobo-Marte gold project in Chile. Kinross dropped 5.7 percent to C$13.94.

Mercator Minerals Ltd. (ML CN): The copper and molybdenum mining company was downgraded to ``underperform'' from ``outperform'' at RBC Capital Markets. The brokerage also cut Mercator's share-price target by 75 percent to C$1. The shares fell 24 percent to 41 cents.

Mosaid Technologies Inc. (MSD CN): The Ottawa-based semiconductor designer may report second-quarter profit of 32 cents a share before one-time items, the average of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The shares fell 1.4 percent to C$7.10.

Oilexco Inc. (OIL CN): The producer of oil in the North Sea filed to sell $150 million in convertible bonds and as many as 20 million shares, at C$2.25 apiece. The funds will be used to pay down debt and finance exploration and project spending, the Calgary-based company said in a statement distributed by Market News. Trading in Oilexco was halted yesterday in Toronto and London, pending news. The shares fell 18 percent to C$2.49 on Nov. 18 and have dropped 81 percent this year after Oilexco reported last month delays in obtaining financing.

Teck Cominco Ltd. (TCK/B CN): Canada's biggest diversified mining company began a plan to reduce debt, including suspending dividends for 2009, selling a mine and stakes in projects to Kinross Gold and Inmet Mining Corp. (IMN CN), and cutting planned capital expenditures.

Excluding the Fort Hills oil-sands project, development spending will be reduced to about $250 million for 2009, Vancouver-based Teck said today. Teck fell 15 percent to C$5.22. Inmet dropped 14 percent to C$16.58.

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