TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (17,593.34, up 33.48 points.)

Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ). Energy. Up 80 cents, or 2.57 per cent, to $31.95 on 17.9 million shares.

Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 88 cents, or 3.82 per cent, to $23.93 on 9.8 million shares.

Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up 53 cents, or 1.23 per cent, to $43.55 on 9 million shares.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Up 36 cents, or 4.79 per cent, to $7.87 on 7.8 million shares.

Whitecap Resources Inc. (TSX:WCP). Energy. Up 31 cents, or 6.86 per cent, to $4.83 on 7.8 million shares.

BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE). Telecommunications. Up seven cents, or 0.12 per cent, to $58.46 on 7.7 million shares.

Companies in the news:

Empire Co. Ltd. (TSX:EMP.A). Down $1.14 or 3.2 per cent to $34.94. Empire Co. Ltd. reported its second-quarter profit and sales rose compared with a year ago as it announced plans to expand its Voila online grocery service to Alberta. The company behind the Sobeys grocery store chain says it will launch Voila curbside pickup service in Alberta next year before starting home delivery service from a new customer fulfilment centre to be built in Calgary in 2023. The announcement came as Empire reported a profit of $161.4 million or 60 cents per share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, missing analysts' expectations. The second-quarter result compared with a profit of $154.6 million or 57 cents per share a year earlier when the results were boosted by unusually large property disposals by Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust that added six cents per share.

Transcontinental Inc. (TSX:TCL.A). Up 74 cents or 3.8 per cent, to $20.23. Printer and packager Transcontinental Inc. saw its profits drop by more than half in the fourth quarter on lower revenues, but its performance was still better than expected. The Montreal-based company on Thursday said its net income attributable to shareholders was $51.3 million, or 59 cents per share. That was a 54.3 per cent decrease from $112.3 million, or $1.28 per share, for the same period last year when it recorded a gain on the sales of a printing plant in California. Excluding one-time items, adjusted profits were $72.4 million, or 83 cents per share, compared with $69.9 million, or 80 cents per share, a year earlier. Transcontinental's revenues for the three months ended Oct. 25 totalled $655.7 million, compared with $790.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2020.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2020