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ALARMFORCE INDUSTRIES $10.57 (Toronto symbol AF; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-267 -2001; www.alarmforce. com; Shares outstanding: 11.6 million; Market cap: $122.7 million; Dividend yield: 1.7%) sells twoway voice-alarm systems and monitoring services in Canada and in the U.S. In the three months ended January 31, 2016, the company’s sales rose 6.8%, to $14.5 million from $13.6 million. Earnings per share rose 5.0%, to $0.21 from $0.20, on more shares outstanding. AlarmForce offers a range of extra services that boosts revenue from subscribers to its home alarm service. They include: AlarmForce Connect, which lets subscribers control their home-security systems from a smartphone or tablet; and VideoRelay, which lets users watch their homes through mobile devices....
DOREL INDUSTRIES $28.28 (Toronto symbol DII.B; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-934-3034; www.dorel.com; Shares outstanding: 32.3 million; Market cap: $923.8 million; Dividend yield: 5.8%) makes a range of items: ready-to-assemble home and office furniture; juvenile products such as car seats, strollers, high chairs, toddler beds and cribs; and bicycles and other sporting goods. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Dorel’s sales fell 4.6%, to $668.9 million from $701.0 million (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Sales of juvenile products fell 12.5%; sales of sporting goods dropped 2.5%. Those declines offset a 6.9% gain in home furnishings. Factoring out the effects of a higher U.S. dollar, overall sales rose 4.0%. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share in the latest quarter rose 26.5%, to $0.43 a share from $0.34. That came despite the fact that Dorel gets half of its sales from outside of the U.S. The high U.S. dollar cut the company’s earnings per share by $0.28....
FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $55.15 (Toronto symbol FSV; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 34.6 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; Dividend yield: 1.1%) has bought Century Fire Protection, one of the largest full-service fire protection companies in the Southeastern U.S. Century installs, maintains and repairs the fire protection systems that it creates for commercial and residential clients. It employs 600 workers, operating from 12 offices throughout Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. FirstService will be able to sell Century’s services to its existing property management clients....
BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY $4.67 (Toronto symbol BIR; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-261-6401; www.birchcliffenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 152.3 million; Market cap: $711.3 million; No dividends paid) explores for, develops and produce oil and gas, mainly in the Peace River Arch area near the Alberta-B.C. border. About 87% of its output is gas. The remaining 13% is oil. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Birchcliff’s cash flow per share dropped 46.3%, to $0.22 from $0.41 a year earlier. Sharply lower oil and gas prices offset a 7.3% rise in daily production. The company continues to cut costs to support its cash flow. As well, in response to low prices, Birchcliff has reduced exploration and development spending for 2016. It will likely spend $128 million this year, down 45.0% from $242.7 million in 2015....