BMO Nesbitt Burns is reaching out to prospective employees with a new Web page aimed at attracting female investment advisers.AARON HARRIS/Reuters
The Toronto stock market was higher Tuesday, boosted in part by major corporate deal making as Burger King announced it's buying Tim Hortons. The cash and stock deal is worth about $11-billion (U.S.) and will create the world's third-largest quick service restaurant company.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 16.88 points to 15,615.62 as traders also looked over mixed earnings results from Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.21 of a cent to 91.28 cents (U.S.).
Burger King is buying the iconic Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain in a deal that will see the parent of the U.S. firm, investment company 3G Capital, own 51 per cent of the new entity.
Tim Hortons shares were up 9.1 per cent to $81.50 (Canadian). Shares in Burger King ticked 2.65 per cent lower to $31.54 (U.S.). Both shares surged almost 20 per cent on Monday when reports of the deal first surfaced.
Some analysts have suggested that Canada's lower tax rates stand to benefit Burger King over time. But Burger King said that's the not main motivation for the deal.
"For the most part it's a combination that they feel will work going forward – both companies will benefit," said Allan Small, senior adviser at HollisWealth.
"Obviously Tim Hortons has been trying to gain some traction in the U.S. for quite some time. But they've had their struggles and Burger King obviously are trying to get into a segment of the market that they haven't been able to. That coffee business is pretty high margin, strong business to get into which is why McDonalds has been doing that for quite some time now."
New York indexes were also higher with the Dow Jones industrials ahead 53.43 points to 17,130.30, the Nasdaq rose 13.15 points to 4,570.49 and the S&P 500 index climbed 4.70 points at 2,002.62.
Investors digested data showing U.S., durable goods orders during July jumped 22.6 per cent, reflecting a huge increase in orders at aircraft giant Boeing. Excluding transportation, orders actually declined 0.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, Scotiabank posted quarterly net income of $2.35-billion or $1.85 (Canadian) a share, up from $1.74-billion or $1.36 a share a year ago as the bank benefited from the sale of its majority interest in CI Financial. Adjusted earnings were $1.40, missing estimates by a penny. The bank also upped its dividend by two cents a share, but Scotiabank shares fell $1.55 to $72.64.
Bank of Montreal reported a third-quarter net income of $1.126-billion, or $1.67 per share, relatively unchanged from the same time last year.
Excluding one-time items, adjusted net income was $1.16-billion, up four per cent, on $1.73 in adjusted earnings per share. Analysts had expected $1.66 in adjusted earnings per share. Revenue grew 10 per cent to $4.2-billion and its shares rose 50 cents to $82.31.
The financials sector was only TSX decliner.
Advancers were led by the gold sector, ahead one per cent as December bullion gained $5 to $1,283.90 (U.S.) an ounce.
The energy sector was ahead 0.9 per cent, while October crude in New York was 72 cents higher to $94.07 a barrel.
September copper dipped a penny to $3.21 a pound and the base metals sector was up 0.7 per cent.