TORONTO, March 7 (Reuters) – Banro Corp aims
to start producing gold at a second gold mine in the Democratic
Republic of Congo within the next year and may build
hydroelectric power plants to cut mining and processing costs at
its operations, the company’s CEO said on Wednesday.

The company, which currently operates the Twangiza mine and
is developing three others in the central African country, could
show a nearly four-fold increase output over the next three
years from the 120,000 ounces it is on pace to produce in 2012,
CEO Simon Village said at the PDAC convention in Toronto, the
industry’s largest annual gathering.

TORONTO, March 6 (Reuters) – At the massive
Prospectors and Developers convention, it’s not hard to find a
table full of mining executives huddled in conversation, their
voices muffled by the din of thousands of participants at the
event.

With gold prices steady above $1,650 an ounce and a growing
number of juniors producing in Africa, it is increasingly likely
that those discussions might be about acquisitions in places
like Burkina Faso or Ivory Coast.

TORONTO, March 6 (Reuters) – Bank of Nova Scotia’s
first-quarter earnings rose due to higher profits from
its international banking and wealth management operations, but
were at best in line with expectation, making it the first big
Canadian banks to not beat expectations this quarter.

However, Canada’s third-largest bank unexpectedly hiked its
dividend by 6 percent.

TORONTO, March 4 (Reuters) – Canada’s rock-solid banks
may be facing a gloomy profit outlook, but it’s one that most of
their U.S. and European rivals would jump at in a Wall Street
minute.

With low interest rates squeezing lending margins and
heavily indebted Canadian consumers expected to curb borrowing,
executives and analysts say the banks now face a shrinking
upside after posting record earnings from domestic operations
for their financial first quarter.

TORONTO, March 1 (Reuters) – Strong mortgage lending
helped drive quarterly profits above expectations at three of
Canada’s big banks, allowing the country’s two biggest lenders
to raise dividends and showing that Canadian consumers are still
borrowing in droves.

Shares of top lenders Royal Bank of Canada and
Toronto-Dominion Bank surged on the news of the higher
lending, which follows warnings from federal officials that
consumer debt levels are dangerously high.

TORONTO, March 1 (Reuters) – Canada’s two biggest
banks surprised the market with dividend hikes on Wednesday as
record earnings from their domestic bank networks helped them
turn in better-than-expected quarterly profits.

Analysts said the first-quarter results from Royal Bank of
Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank showed dour
predictions for sluggish revenue growth in the Canadian banking
sector have yet to take hold.

By Cameron French

(Reuters) – Bank of Montreal’s (BMO.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) profit topped expectations for the first quarter, as lower losses for bad loans and a revenue boost from last year’s acquisition of U.S. bank Marshall & Ilsley more than offset disappointing capital markets income.

The result, which drove BMO’s shares up by 0.9 percent early on Tuesday, comes as bank executives are trying to control costs due to concerns that consumer lending will dry up and lending profit margins will narrow.

TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) – When Royal Bank of Canada
created advertising for its European wealth management business
last year, it built some ads around the image of a shimmering
gold maple leaf, playing on Canada’s reputation for financial
prudence.

Embarking on an aggressive expansion, Canada’s largest bank
wanted to emphasize its roots in a country whose banking sector
wins plaudits as the soundest in the world. With Europe’s debt
crisis dominating the headlines, it was a message designed to
resonate with prospective customers.

TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Many Canadians blithely
ignored warnings about record debt levels and kept borrowing
this winter and that should underpin a strong performance by the
country’s banks, with quarterly profits seen in line with
blockbuster results a year earlier.

Indeed a long-awaited slowdown in lending probably won’t
come under later this year. But just the prospect of a slowdown
should be enough to keep a lid on the sector’s shares even if
the banks report strong fiscal first-quarter results starting
next week.

TORONTO, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Fairfax Financial’s shares
dove 6 percent on Friday after the company posted steep
quarterly loss, even as CEO Prem Watsa sought to downplay the
disappointing result by saying the property and casualty insurer
focuses on long-term performance.

“We achieve these results by taking short-term pain for
long-term gain. We have always been focused on the long term,”
said Watsa, whose shrewd direction of the company’s investments
have earned him comparisons to Warren Buffet.