The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, April 18, 2008

Article Excerpt

METRO INC. $25.25, Toronto symbol MRU.A, earned $58.1 million in its second quarter ended March 15, 2008, down 6.0% from $61.8 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings fell 3.8%, to $0.51 from $0.53, on fewer shares outstanding. If you exclude restructuring costs in the year-earlier quarter, earnings per share fell 8.9%. Sales in the quarter crept up to $2.37 billion from $2.36 billion, while same-store sales rose 0.3%. Strong price competition continues to hurt profits at Metro’s Ontario stores. However, the company is beginning to realize the benefits of a new computerized information system. A new distribution warehouse will also improve efficiency at its Quebec stores. Metro is a buy for aggressive investors. TECK COMINCO LTD. $47.85, Toronto symbol TCK.B, has agreed to buy Global Copper Corp. for $425 million, consisting of $104 million in cash and $321 million in stock. To put that in context, Teck earned $1.8 billion or $4.06 a share before unusual items in 2007. Global Copper’s main asset…