Westaim profits as an insurance company

Article Excerpt

THE WESTAIM CORP. $0.56 (Toronto symbol WED; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 580.6 million; Market cap: $325.1 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; No dividends paid; SI Rating: Speculative) completed its $286.3-million purchase of Montreal-based Jevco Insurance Co. on March 26, 2010. Jevco sells insurance to high-risk drivers, as well as owners of motorcycles, snowmobiles and recreational vehicles. Westaim earned $5.5 million, or $0.01 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2010. It lost $4.5 million on its personal auto-insurance business due to higher accident claims in Ontario. However, its commercial vehicle insurance business earned $7.5 million in the latest quarter. Before the Jevco purchase, Westaim had no operations. As a result, it lost $514,000, or $0.01 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Westaim is a hold. hold…