news !!Aecon Q4 Profit Rises
PM Aecon Group Inc. (ARE.TO), a Canadian construction and infrastructure development company, said Tuesday that its fourth quarter earnings increased from last year, helped by significant growth in all its segments. Additionally, the company's board has approved to increase the annual dividend. Net income for the fourth quarter was C$22.5 million or C$0.50 per share, up from C$10.6 million or C$0.28 per share in the prior year quarter. The company's revenues increased to C$482 million from C$338 million in the same quarter last year, helped by growth in all four segments. Gross margin for the latest quarter grew to C$48.5 million from C$39.7 million in the year-ago quarter. In addition, Aecon said that its board has approved an increase in the dividend to C$0.20 per share, to be paid in four quarterly payments of C$0.05 per share, compared to its previous dividend of C$0.14 per share, which was paid in four quarterly payments of C$0.07 per share. The first quarterly dividend payment will be paid on April 2, 2008 to shareholders of record on March 19, 2008. For the full year 2007, net income was C$48.3 million or C$1.16 per share, up from C$11.5 million or C$0.31 per share in the previous year. Aecon posted annual revenues of C$1.49 billion, an increase of 34% from C$1.11 billion in the preceding year. ARE.TO closed Tuesday's regular trading session at C$16.89, down 51 cents or 2.93%. 3/4/2008 6:31:13 PM Stealth Ventures Reveals First Commercial Shale Gas Development; Files 2007 Reserves [SLV.V] Tuesday, Stealth Ventures Ltd. (SLV.V) revealed the development of Alberta's first commercial shale gas resource play on its Wildmere property in the Colorado Group shales. Stealth Ventures said the Alberta Energy Resource Conservation Board - ERCB recognizes its operations as shale gas exploitation and the company would continue to work closely with the ERCB on its Colorado shale gas properties. The Colorado Group shales is locally a thick, organic rich, biogenic gas charged shale that covers a large part of eastern Alberta. Stealth Ventures said, as per disclosure requirements under National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities - NI 51-101, it has received and is filing its 2007 independent reserve evaluation report evaluated by Sproule Associates Limited. The company indicated completing the majority of exploratory drilling and core testing, having completed the first 10 wells of its projected 80 well program for 2008. The Colorado shale gas properties are classified as low productivity gas wells by the ERCB, hence Stealth would enjoy lower royalties starting in 2009 based on production tiers used in the Government's sliding scale royalty regime, based on rate and price per MCF.