Friday, November 6th, 2009
Shares of auto parts company Magna International close up more than 14 per cent
TORONTO - Shares of Magna International Inc. (TSX:MG.A) jumped more than 14 per cent in trading Friday after the auto parts company reported a third-quarter profit of $51 million and was reported to be involved in a new auto palant in Russia.
The stock traded up $6.69 to close at $53.76, a gain of 14.2 per cent, on the Toronto Stock Exchange on a volume of nearly 743,000 shares.
The move also came after a report Magna was in talks with General Motors and Russian giant OAO GAZ about building an auto assembly plant in Russia.
Magna, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported Thursday it earned 45 cents per share in the third quarter, reversing a year-earlier loss of $215 million or $1.93 per share.
Sales for the company headquartered in Aurora, Ont., were $4.7 billion, down from $5.5 billion a year ago.
However, the company also said it has won approximately $700 million in takeover business so far in 2009, the bulk of which will impact revenues in the fourth quarter and into 2010.
On Tuesday, GM (NYSE:GM) scuttled a plan to sell a 55 per cent stake in its Opel division to a consortium involving Magna and Russian lender Sberbank.
The two sides had reached a tentative agreement in September, but GM backed out after it decided it could restructure Opel on its own for less money than it would have to spend under the Magna deal.
