The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, July 10, 2009

Article Excerpt

MDS INC., $6.10, Toronto symbol MDS, continues to lose $4 million a month because of the shutdown of the 52-year-old Chalk River reactor near Ottawa (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). To put this in context, MDS lost $17 million, or $0.15 a share, in the three months ended April 30, 2009. The loss included a $16-million writedown of buildings and equipment at MDS’s drug-testing division. Last May, a water leak prompted Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., which operates the reactor, to shut it down. MDS gets all of its medical isotopes from Chalk River. Medical labs use these isotopes to detect and treat cancer and other diseases. Chalk River will probably remain out of service for the rest of this year. In response, the company is working to find new supplies of isotopes from reactors in Europe and South Africa, which have increased production to fill the gap left by the closure of Chalk River. MDS is also…