Updating ATCO and Manitoba Telecom Services

Article Excerpt

ATCO LTD. $74 (www.atco.com) earned $73 million, or $1.28 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2012. That’s up 19.7% from $61 million, or $1.07 a share, a year earlier. The company reported strong earnings at its structures business, which builds temporary shelters for resource-exploration firms, and its natural gas distribution operations in Australia. That offset the negative impact of maintenance shutdowns at two of its Alberta power plants. Buy. MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $34 (www.mtsallstream.com) continues to see rising demand for wireless and high-speed Internet services. However, higher depreciation expenses caused its earnings per share to fall 11.8% in the second quarter of 2012, to $0.67 from $0.76 a year earlier. If you adjust for an unusual tax recovery in the year-earlier quarter, earnings per share would have risen 4.7%. Buy. Buy…