Business

Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (12,422.91 up 45.86 points):

Talisman Energy Inc. (TSX:TLM). Oil and gas. Down 18 cents, or 1.57 per cent, at $11.32 on 21,974,626 shares. The struggling energy producer announced Tuesday it will cut its 2013 spending and will steer away from chasing risky, expensive international exploration projects. The Calgary-based company was in the red in the third quarter, booking a loss of $731 million due to asset write downs.

Westaim Corp. (TSX:WED). Insurance. Unchanged at three cents on 10,690,850 shares.

Telus Corp. (TSX:T). Telecommunications. Up 40 cents, or 0.62 per cent, at $64.84 on 8,450,879 shares. The telecommunications services subgroup ended the day up 0.52 per cent to 112.30 points.

Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI). Miner. Up 69 cents, or 3.54 per cent, at $20.17 on 6,437,434 shares. The Toronto-based gold miner said Monday its third-quarter profits dropped 48 per cent to US$60 million due to a $146 million charge for taxes, while revenue grew to $611.8 million from $555.2 million.

B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO). Miner. Up six cents, or 1.47 per cent, at $4.13 on 4,543,703 shares. The metals and mining sector was one of the biggest advancers, jumping 1.58 per cent to 934.11 points.

Cline Mining Corp. (TSX:CMK). Miner. Up 3.5 cents, or 15.56 per cent, at 26 cents on 3,978,761 shares.

TSX Venture Exchange (1,314.48 up 11.56 points):

Pacific Coal Resources Ltd. (TSXV:PAK). Miner. Unchanged at 13.5 cents on 8,550,500 shares.

Renegade Petroleum Ltd. (TSXV:RPL). Oil and gas. Up 22 cents, or 9.05 per cent, at $2.65 on 6,529,061 shares.

Companies reporting major news:

Astral Media Inc. (TSX:ACM.A). Media. Down 95 cents, or 2.27 per cent, at $40.88 on 778,694 shares. Fourth-quarter profits improved to $54.3 million or 96 cents from year-earlier $47 million or 85 cents per share at the Montreal-based television, radio and billboard company. Revenue was up by two per cent to $251.8 million, with the largest increase coming from its billboard segment.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSX:MFI). Meat and bakery. Up three cents, or 0.27 per cent, at $11.10 on 190,326 shares. The Toronto-based company earned $32.6 million in the third quarter, down from $43 million in the same period last year while revenue slid to $1.24 billion from $1.26 billion. Maple Leaf said the weaker profit was due to revenue decline and some assets write downs.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (TSX:POT). Fertilizer. Up 18 cents, or 0.45 per cent, at $40.15 on 1,571,383 hares. Canada's biggest fertilizer company confirmed it held talks with Israeli government officials about increasing its stake in Israel Chemical Ltd, although Potash said no deal has been formulated.