A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today
On the rise
Restaurant conglomerate MTY Food Group Inc. (MTY-T) jumped 9 per cent on Monday after saying that a whistleblower’s allegations that delayed its latest earnings report are baseless, but has not specified what those allegations were.
The fourth-quarter earnings report was initially scheduled for last week. When the company announced the delay, chief executive officer Eric Lefebvre said it would communicate more information when the results were released. The allegations were made by an “active employee” of the company.
"Although we cannot give details on the allegations, we can confirm that the allegations are baseless and the matters raised are all topics that MTY had evaluated and dealt with in the past, Gary O’Connor, chairman of the board of directors’ audit committee, said in a statement on Monday. “We were able to confirm that our positions and judgments were reasonable and as such had no impact on our results and financial statements.”
- Susan Krashinsky Robertson
On the decline
Teck Resources Ltd. (TECK.B-T) dropped 2.7 per cent in early trading after pulling its application for the massive Frontier oil sands mine in Alberta, citing the need for Canada to finalize its climate-change policies and determine how resource development fits within them.
After years of companies shelving investment in the oil and gas sector, high hopes were pinned on the massive heavy-oil mine for its potential direct economic impact as well as the broader signal it would send to the market.
But the mine also landed at the centre of a heated debate both in Canada and internationally about the balance this country is striking between resource development and addressing climate change.
The project had already passed a lengthy regulatory review and the federal cabinet was expected to decide whether to approve, reject or delay a decision on the mine on Tuesday.
- Robert Fife and Marieke Walsh
See also: Teck Resources considers eventual oil sands exit as federal decision on Frontier mine looms
Intuit Inc. (INTU-Q) was 0.1 per cent lower amid reports it is close to a US$7-billion deal to acquire personal-finance portal Credit Karma Inc. and beef up its position in the consumer-finance market.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the talks, reported Sunday that a deal involving cash and stock could be announced as soon as Monday.
Intuit makes TurboTaxe. Buying Credit Karma would be the biggest acquisition in the company’s 37-year history. The Journal said privately held Credit Karma was valued at about US$4-billion in a private share sale two years ago.
Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU-T) slid 4 per cent after announcing a definitive agreement to purchase Chinook Energy Inc. (CKE-T) for cash consideration of 6.75 cents per share, which represents a 33-per-cent premium over the twenty day volume weighted average trading price.
Shares of Chinook were up 16.7 per cent.
Cronos Group Inc. (CRON-T) fell just over 10 per cent after announcing it is delaying the release of its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.
It did not further explain the cause of the postponement.
Cronos had been scheduled to release its results on Thursday.
See also: Short sales on the TSX: What bearish investors are betting against
Capital Power Corp. (CPX-T) was down 2.2 per cent after its fourth-quarter results, released before the bell, fell short of expectations on the Street.
With files from staff and wires
David Leeder