By Euan Rocha

(Reuters) – Research In Motion said on Thursday it plans to change the way it charges for its BlackBerry services after reporting that its subscriber base shrank for the first time in its history, and its U.S.-traded stock tumbled 10 percent after the bell.

Earlier, the stock had rallied 8 percent to $15.25 in extended-hours trading after the smartphone maker reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and said it had boosted its cash cushion ahead of next month’s crucial launch of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

TORONTO, Dec 16 (Reuters) – The surprising rally in Research
In Motion stock from its September depths shows no signs of
waning ahead of next month’s crucial launch of the company’s
BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and the stock could ring up more
gains if RIM delivers on a handful of telling metrics in its
quarterly report on Thursday.

At this stage, profit and revenue won’t matter much for RIM
. The company will likely report a third
straight quarterly loss, reflecting declining monthly service
fees, ebbing device sales and other problems.

TORONTO (Reuters) – A U.S. federal agency that recently ditched Research In Motion’s BlackBerry in favour of the iPhone confirmed on Thursday it will trial RIM’s new BB10 smartphones, fuelling a fresh spurt in the Canadian company’s share price ahead of the launch of the new devices.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will early next year begin a pilot program to test the new devices and RIM’s software that will allow it to manage mobile devices on its network, RIM told Reuters late on Wednesday.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion said a U.S. federal agency, which recently outlined plans to move away from BlackBerry in favor of Apple Inc’s iPhone, is now set to begin testing RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 platform and devices.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), will early next year begin a pilot program on RIM’s new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10), which allows corporations and government users to run the new devices on their networks, a RIM spokeswoman said late on Wednesday.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion Ltd on Thursday outlined a program of incentives to encourage its biggest customers to run its soon-to-launch line of BlackBerry 10 devices, seeking to persuade corporations and government users to stick with its secure smartphones.

RIM is betting that the devices, to be launched on January 30, will revive its fortunes. That will depend to a large extent on the response from RIM’s enterprise customers — the business users who value BlackBerry’s strong security features.

TORONTO, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Primaris Retail REIT’s
chief executive said on Thursday the company is in the process
of hiring financial advisers, a day after receiving a C$2.6
billion ($2.63 billion) takeover bid from a consortium led by
KingSett Capital.

CEO John Morrison said the Primaris board would give the
Canadian real estate invesment trust’s unitholders its opinion
of the bid once it receives a formal offer.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Loblaw Companies Ltd (L.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Canada’s largest grocer, said on Thursday it plans to create a real estate investment trust to hold most of its property assets, sending its stock and that of its parent, George Weston Ltd (WN.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), surging higher.

The company said it plans to spin off real estate worth more than C$7 billion ($7.05 billion) into the REIT and will sell units of the trust through an initial public offering.

Dec 6 (Reuters) – Canadian hardware retailer and distributor
Rona Inc will sell assets and simplify its operations
as part of a back-to-its-roots strategy designed to turn its
fortunes around, the company’s interim chief executive said on
Thursday.

Dominique Boies, who took the reins at Rona following last
month’s exit of long-time CEO Robert Dutton, said he plans to
bring profit margins in line with industry standards with his
changes, which will shift the company’s focus back to its roots
as a hardware distributor.

TORONTO, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Loblaw Companies Ltd,
Canada’s largest grocer, said on Thursday it plans to create a
real estate investment trust to hold a significant part of its
real estate assets, in an effort to create value for
shareholders.

The company said it plans to sell units of the REIT through
an initial public offering, and estimates Loblaw will initially
contribute real estate worth more than C$7 billion ($7.05
billion) into the REIT.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion outlined a step-by-step program on Thursday to help its large base of enterprise clients transition across to its soon to be launched new BlackBerry 10 platform.

RIM is betting that the new devices, set to be launched on January 30, will revive its fortunes. But the fate of the BB10 smartphones will in a large part be decided by corporations and government agencies the world over that are big users of RIM’s BlackBerry devices, which have long been renowned for a strong set of security features.