TORONTO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Agrium Inc <AGU.TO> reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by lower selling prices for its fertilizer, but said it expected increasing sales volumes to boost 2010 results.

The Canadian fertilizer farm products company also said it remains committed to its hostile takeover bid for U.S.-based rival CF Industries <CF.N>.

The year-long battle, along with other acquisitions and M&A rumors have kept the fertilizer sector in the investor spotlight, despite a sharp market correction. [ID:nN23151086] [ID:nN14179782]  [ID:nLDE60R1SH] [ID:nN19132987]

“The fourth quarter of 2009 saw the initial stages of recovery in the crop input sector,” Chief Executive Mike Wilson said in a statement. “We have seen increasing demand for domestic potash and a tight supply situation for nitrogen and phosphate products.”

CALGARY/TORONTO (Reuters) – Suncor Energy Inc <SU.TO>, Canada’s largest energy company, reported a much weaker than expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as it works to speed the integration of the company following last year’s C$22.7 billion ($21.4 billion) purchase of rival Petro-Canada.

Suncor Chief Executive Rick George said the company will spend much of the year cleaning up its operations following the Petro-Canada acquisition, the largest ever by a Canadian oil and gas company, and completing an asset-sale program that has already raised C$517 million.

“Divestments are a big piece of work in 2010,” George said on a conference call. “The natural gas divestments are getting a high level of interest from potential buyers … and we are very much on target in terms of reaching our objective of C$1.5 billion to C$2 billion (in sales) of North American gas assets by the end of the year.”

George said blending the two companies will save C$400 million a year in operating costs, C$100 million more than the company had expected.

CALGARY/TORONTO, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Suncor Energy Inc <SU.TO>, Canada’s largest energy company, reported a much weaker than expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as it works to speed the integration of the company following last year’s C$22.7 billion ($21.4 billion) purchase of rival Petro-Canada.

Suncor Chief Executive Rick George said the company will spend much of the year cleaning up its operations following the Petro-Canada acquisition, the largest ever by a Canadian oil and gas company, and completing an asset-sale program that has already raised C$517 million.

“Divestments are a big piece of work in 2010,” George said on a conference call. “The natural gas divestments are getting a high level of interest from potential buyers … and we are very much on target in terms of reaching our objective of C$1.5 billion to C$2 billion (in sales) of North American gas assets by the end of the year.”

George said blending the two companies will save C$400 million a year in operating costs, C$100 million more than the company had expected.

TORONTO, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Potash Corp of Saskatchewan <POT.TO> reported a 70 percent drop in quarterly earnings and issued a profit outlook well below expectations on Thursday, sending the fertilizer maker’s shares down more than 6 percent.

However, the world’s largest fertilizer producer said it was optimistic that fertilizer demand in 2010 would be well above dismal 2009 levels as farmers scramble to replenish soil nutrient levels and dealers restock supply.

“Even though fertilizer demand can be deferred on a short-term basis, as we saw in 2009, the long-term requirement cannot be denied. We enter 2010 with a sense of optimism,” Chief Executive Bill Doyle said in a statement.

But his comments failed to allay investors’ fears and sparked a major selloff in fertilizer shares. Potash Corp’s stock was the worst hit, down $6.48 at 103.04 on the New York Stock Exchange and down C$6.96 to C$109.60 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

TORONTO, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Shares of the world’s largest fertilizer maker, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan <POT.TO>, have risen almost 15 percent over the last three months as investors eye a sharp recovery in demand this year.

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company is expected to announce its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday, when it will also give its views on the demand outlook for 2010.

Most analysts and investors expect a sharp recovery in fertilizer demand this year after a slump in 2009, when the global economic slowdown and credit crunch hurt demand. Shares of Potash Corp have already risen C$14.40 over the last three months, in anticipation of this rebound.

But is there still room for Potash Corp shares to climb, or is the stock likely to tumble?

TORONTO, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Shares of the world’s largest fertilizer maker, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan <POT.TO>, have risen almost 15 percent over the last three months as investors eye a sharp recovery in demand this year.

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company is expected to announce its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday, when it will also give its views on the demand outlook for 2010.

Most analysts and investors expect a sharp recovery in fertilizer demand this year after a slump in 2009, when the global economic slowdown and credit crunch hurt demand. Shares of Potash Corp have already risen C$14.40 over the last three months, in anticipation of this rebound.

But is there still room for Potash Corp shares to climb, or is the stock likely to tumble?

TORONTO (Reuters) – U.S. commercial printing company Quad/Graphics Inc said on Tuesday it plans to acquire Canadian rival World Color Press <WC.TO> in an almost all-stock deal that would expand the size and reach of its magazine and catalog printing business.

The companies said they could not yet place an exact value on the deal, in part because Quad/Graphics is privately

held.

According to a source familiar with the friendly transaction, it is worth between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion, not including assumed debt.

TORONTO, Jan 26 (Reuters) – U.S. commercial printing company Quad/Graphics Inc said on Tuesday it plans to acquire Canadian rival World Color Press <WC.TO> in an almost all-stock deal that would expand the size and reach of its magazine and catalog printing business.

The companies said they could not yet place an exact value on the deal, in part because Quad/Graphics is privately held.

According to a source familiar with the friendly transaction, it is worth between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion, not including assumed debt.

“Quad/Graphics is effectively acquiring World Color for substantially common stock, with the possibility of a small amount of cash,” said Joel Quadracci, chief executive of Quad/Graphics, the largest privately held printer in the United States.

OTTAWA/TORONTO, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that an Imperial Metals <III.TO> copper and gold project in British Columbia can go ahead, even though a full federal environmental assessment was never carried out.

But the court made it clear that its decision on Imperial’s Red Chris project was an exception. It said that, in future, major projects would need comprehensive environmental assessments by both federal and provincial authorities, where required.

Although the victory bodes well for Red Chris, the ruling could mean that many other mining, energy and infrastructure projects will now face additional hurdles.

“This (ruling) is just going to add time to permit bigger projects, given that projects would have to be reviewed both provincially and federally,” said Haywood Securities analyst Chris Thompson.

OTTAWA/TORONTO, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that an Imperial Metals <III.TO> copper and gold project in British Columbia can go ahead, even though a full federal environmental assessment was never carried out. But the court made it clear that its decision on Imperial’s Red Chris project was an exception. It said that, in future, major projects would need comprehensive environmental assessments by both federal and provincial authorities, where required. Although the victory bodes well for Red Chris, the ruling could mean that many other mining, energy and infrastructure projects will now face additional hurdles. "This (ruling) is just going to add time to permit bigger projects, given that projects would have to be reviewed both provincially and federally," said Haywood Securities analyst Chris Thompson. "What this tells me is that there is going to be a big duplication of work, which I think is actually relatively inefficient," Thompson said. The ruling is a partial defeat for MiningWatch Canada, an environmental watchdog group that said the federal government should conduct its own full environmental assessment in all such cases. For Red Chris, Ottawa carried out a smaller assessment process known as a screening. "I can see no justification in requiring Red Chris to repeat the environmental assessment process," wrote Justice Marshall Rothstein in the court’s unanimous decision. In a statement, Imperial Metals said the Supreme Court’s decision would not affect development of Red Chris and the project would proceed on schedule. Shares of Imperial Metals, which were halted early in the day, were up more than 7 percent at C$16.57 at midday on Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Rothstein noted MiningWatch had appealed the overall assessment process, rather than the specific conclusions of the federal and provincial governments’ assessments of Red Chris. MiningWatch said it views the court’s ruling as a victory. "This landmark decision confirms that the government can no longer shirk the environmental protection duties that Parliament has assigned to it," said Lara Tessaro, a lawyer who represented MiningWatch. Red Chris, a project in northwestern British Columbia that Imperial acquired in 2007, should produce 1.8 billion pounds of copper and 1.2 million ounces of gold over a 25-year mine life, according to a 2004 study, although the company has said additional drilling suggests the deposit is much larger. The company’s shares have risen more than 150 percent since November, helped by drilling of deeper-level mineralization in the hopes of eventually adding an underground mine to the current open-pit plan. Imperial Metals received the go-ahead from the British Columbia government after a provincial environmental assessment and then approached the federal government. Ottawa initially said it would have to carry out its own full assessment but in December 2004 decided it would go ahead with the less demanding screening process. The Federal Court of Appeal said the federal government — referred to in the ruling as the Responsible Authority (RA) — had the right to limit the environmental assessment process as it saw fit. The Supreme Court disagreed. "I am of the opinion that the approach of the Federal Court of Appeal and that advocated by Red Chris and the government cannot be sustained," Rothstein said. "A close reading of the relevant provisions of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act leads to the conclusion that it is not within the discretion of the RA to conduct only a screening when a proposed project is listed (for review)." If a project met the criteria for a full environmental review, "a comprehensive study is mandatory," he added. (Additional reporting by Cameron French; editing by Peter Galloway and Rob Wilson)