Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 31

SECTION Comics C9 Editor: Ronald Nowell 235-7485 Fax: 235-7358 CALGARY HERALD Thursday, July 31, 199J Computers Section Three aid Eaton store wM it entrepreneurs have risked it all on the concept of computers in hotel rooms. Page B7 I Sill Market CLOSINGS 6850.57 49.40 yA wmmtm 8254.89 80.36 yfyAy Stores slaying open The stores on Eaton's list of money-losers and under-performers that have been granted a new life: Alberta: Red Deer; Lethbridge; Calgary Northland; West Edmonton Mall; Edmonton Londonderry. 52 Saskatchewan: Regina Cornwall. Manitoba: Brandon Mall; Winnipeg Centre; Warehouse Store. Ontario: Hamilton Eastgate; Ottawa Place d'Orieans; Sudbury; London Galleria.

Quebec: Les Galeries de la Capitale (Pending decision on lease renegotia- tlons)' Stores closing Eaton stores that have closed or are slated for closure: British Columbia: Closed June 30: Victoria Tillicum. ES Alberta: Closing next Feb. 28: Edmonton Millwoods; Calgary Sunridge. 5 Manitoba: Closing Feb. 28: Winnipeg Garden City Mall.

Ontario: Closed June 30: Brantford; Kitchener Market Square; Sarnia; Toronto Yonge Eglinton. Closing Sept. 30: Thunder Bay Centre. Closing Feb. 28: Guelph Eaton Centre; Mississauga Sheridan; Peterborough.

Quebec: Closed June 30: Beloeil Montenach. Closing Feb. 28: LaSalle An-grignon; Les Promenades de I'Outaouais Gatineau; Cavendish Mall. Nova Scotia: Closing Feb. 28: Dartmouth Mic Mac.

Source: The Canadian Press to help the retail industry in Canada" he said in a telephone news conference; But retail analyst John Torella said the real reason so many stores got a rej prieve was the concessions Kosich wrung from some of Eaton's landlords; Mall landlords have come to realize they would have a tough time replacing these "anchor" department stores. "They've had a bit of a wakeup call and then said, 'Look, even if we have to compromise, that's better than having an empty said Torella, a parthet; with J.C. Williams Group in Toronto." Of the $50 million Eaton's will spend upgrading its stores next year, $7 mit lion will come from landlords who were eager to keep the 128-year-old retailer as a tenant, Kosich said. Several municipal governments also cut their business taxes to encourage Eaton's to stay In Regina, city councillors recommended phasing out the city's business tax over the next three years, at a cost of $18 million, after the provincial government offered to pick up the slack" The company is expected to emerge from its restructuring with 66 traditional department stores, two warehouse stores in Toronto and Winnipeg, and one specialty store in West Vancouver. SunridgeMall store still faces axe MICHAEL MACDONALD The Canadian Press and Calgary Herald TORONTO The number of Eaton's stores on death watch was cut almost in half Wednesday, with northwest Calgary's Northland Village Mall outlet among those being spared the axe.

The Eaton's store in northeast Calgary's Sunridge Mall is still slated to be closed next Feb. 28, however. Company president George Kosich, who was handed a list of 31 candidates for closure in June, slashed that number to 17 after receiving tax breaks and special deals from landlords across the country. The reprieves save hundreds of jobs in Calgary, Edmonton, Brandon, Sudbury, London, Ont, Hamilton and Ottawa. "Our ability to go forward with at least 69 locations is tremendous news for a great many Canadians," said Kosich, appointed president last month after retiring as chief executive at rival Hudson's Bay Co.

"It means jobs for our (employees) 72.39$ US 0.17 WW $326.55 US London closing Troy ounce UC STOCK LISTINGS C5-C8 Eaton Co. Ltd. owes about $400 million to creditors and can operate under bankruptcy protection until Sept. 12. Kosich said the decision to keep more stores open had much to do with Canada's sizzling economy.

"For the first time in six years, the economy is going business for our suppliers, choice for our customers and economic activity for our communities." The insolvent retailer, which sought bankruptcy protection in February, must present a restructuring plan to the court by Aug. 15. Toronto-based T. IN BUSINESS Bisseft Si Associates flying high I won't surprise many readers by saying that the first billion dollars is the hardest. But I expect to raise a few eyebrows by reporting how quickly the second billion bucks piled up for Calgary's Bissett Associates.

It took the money management firm Dave Bissett founded here in 1982, with an investment of $20,000, 14 years to reach the magic milestone where it could boast handling accounts worth $1 billion. It took just eight months to rack up the next billion. The company's spectacular success has forced it to close its doors to new pension fund business for six months while it moves to larger premises, trains new wit wi TSE closing of Calgary stocks Abacan $5.40 .35 Agrium $15.80 Alberta Energy $31.35 Alta Genetics $5.00 0 Anderson .60 ATCO $29.15 .05 Big Rock $8.30 0 Boardwalk Equities $25.15 CE Franklin Ltd. $8.05 .05 Canadian Airlines $3.27 .37 Canadian Hydro $0.85 0 Cdn Nat Resources $35.70 .95 Canadian Occidental $37.00 Canadian Pacific $42.30 .60 Crestar Energy $26.00 .25 Enertec Resource $12.05 .05 Ensign Resource $35.75 1.00 Forzani Group $2.25 0 Greyhound Canada $3.10 .05 Gulf Canada $10.25 .15 Internat'l Datashare $0.55 .04 IPL Energy $51.801.50 Mark's Work 4 $2.90 Newport Petroleum $7.00 Norcen Energy $33.75 .75 Nova $12.00 .05 PanCanadian $27.15 0 Petro-Canada $24.25 .25 Poco Petroleums $13.90 .65 Precision Drilling $74.00 1.00 Prudential Steel $52.00 Ranger Oil $13.45 .20 Remington Energy $34.50 .75 Renaissance $34.30 ShawCommun. $11.60 0 Shell Canada $21.50 .45 SMED International $15.00 .25 Synsorb Biotech $8.30 .10 Suncor $38.45 .50 Talisman $42.55 .80 TESCOCorp.

$19.90 .70 TCPipeLines $27.60 .25 Trans Dominion $0.37 .01 Tri Link Resources $25.00 .15 Trimac $10.25 0 Westminster $10.25 .60 staff and gears up to handle the flood of fresh money. When Bissett left his job as manager of the Bolton Tremblay branch here to start to start a little two-employee operation, Toronto companies had a lock on L4 "Tj providing investment advice to I It big Pension funds and wealthy Lml mJt individuals. No longer. BARRY NELSON Herald columnist As Calgary has become a financial centre rivalling Toronto, Bissett Associates has grown to 27 employees, including six share holding partners, and now manages $2.1 billion. "It was a matter of getting the message out.

We had good numbers, but we just weren't as focused as we should have been on attracting new business," says newly promoted company president Kevin Wolfe. "A second factor has been that a number of investment managers in Canada have reached a size, probably above $10 billion, where it's difficult for them to perform. "Pension sponsors and the general public are realizing that smaller firms are a little more flexible, have a wider range of stocks they can pick from and are more disciplined and therefore can provide higher returns." And Bissett has done that. In recent years, both the company's nine mutual funds and the pension funds it manages have generally ranked in the top 10 to 25 per cent of the industry This performance has contributed to a rush of new business that has increased the value of its mutual funds by $198 million since last October Since then, the Adas funds Bissett manages for Midland Walwyn and the Everest Special Equity Fund US per barrel $20.30 (Sept. delivery) 450 He points to new accounts worth $200 million manj aged for three of Alberta's new regional health au- thorities and another $100 million in new business from universities and colleges in Alberta and B.C.

"We've brought in other major public sector assets? in Alberta, Ontario, B.C. and Saskatchewan, han- I dling funds for police forces, municipal and provin- cial employees, academic institutions and the healthj sector," he says. Bissett has also landed a number of private sector pension funds, including those of Canadian Tire and of the Canadian subsidiaries of several U.S. multina tionals. Vidricaire says the key to getting the new accounts was "making sure they understood our results are sustainable, replicable, not a result of chance and noj a result of one person, but of a disciplined investment process that focuses as much on managing risk as creating high returns." managed for Canada Trust have grown by $195 million.

Portfolios owned by individuals have increased by $126 million, those held by foundations and charities by $112 million and investments handled for First Nations groups by $30 million. But the lion's share of the increase has come from pension fund and institutional investments that have increased by about $376 million to $672 million. The new business resulted from knocking on the doors of about 200 pension funds. Bissett, along with company vice-presidents Michael Quinn, Fred Pynn and Michel Vidricaire, also met with about a dozen consulting firms hired by pension funds to assess money managers. "We established a strong working rapport with the institutional investment consultants and we've been competing aggressively in the public sectors," says Vidricaire, who is in charge of institutional business development.

,1. $US perMMBtu (Sept. delivery) Henry Hub, La. $2,161 .480 1 $CdnperGJ (gigaioule) 0.95 MMBtu Price Waterhouse $1.50 AECONGX 20 mains very conducive to the equity market," said Ketchen. "I don't see anything to slow it down." In New York, bond-market interest rates sank to their lowest level in more than a year amid enthusiasm about a U.S.

govern- TSE, Dow keep climbing Edmonton par price, Imperial Oil $27.66 ment budget deal. chief equities trader at ScotiaMcLeod. The subgroup gained 1.52 per cent on the day's trading. Laidlaw Inc. jumped 25 cents on news that it will pay $400 million US for EmCare Holdings, a Texas-based provider of management services to hospital emergency rooms.

Gains in CN Rail and Canadian Airlines International also boosted the sector, Ketchen said. Other active stocks included Calgary's Stampeder Exploration, up five cents to $6.90, and TD Bank, up 75 cents to $43.85. "The current environment certainly re The Canadian Press TORONTO Powerful moves in the transportation sector drove the Toronto Stock Exchange to another record high Wednesday The TSE 300 composite index gained 49.40 points in heavy trading to close at 6,850.57. That marked the 30th record close this year. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average also notched a record, jumping 80.36 to 8,254.89 its third consecutive record and sixth in seven sessions.

"The transportation side was very, very strong in Toronto," said Fred Ketchen, The Dow has risen about 28 per cent this 3 year surpassing last year's 26 per cent advance. The Dow's biggest gainers were Alcoa, IBM, and Procter and Gamble. Hong Kong, Mexican stocks soar to record highs CIO The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite (US cash price per barrel) West Texas Inter. $20.23 380 North Sea Brent $19.00 320 Saudi Arabian Light $16.95 320 Alaskan North Slope $18.13 440 index pushed back into record territory for JJ the first time in two weeks. 3 $22.00 jmrn'" She" Canada NW 20.50 ij 7 20.00 1 19 50 .11 i SjVl 17.50 lr.uu i SYDNEY SHARPE Calgary Herald A sterling performance in its retail operations has propelled Shell Canada profits to record levels.

"They were spectacular," Terry Peters, an analyst with Loewen, Ondaat-je, McCutcheon, said Wednesday "Their downstream (profit) was an all-time record for the second quarter, and the first half of this year they more than equalled last year's downstream." Strong results from their retail products and service stations have generally protected the integrated producers from lower crude oil prices. Integrateds are those few companies like Shell Canada that have an upstream tions and focus on operational excellence have distinguished our performance," said chief executive Chuck Wilson. Like all the integrateds, Shell is expected to do well in the third quarter this year, since that is usually the highest performing quarter of the year for the downstream business. In June, the company spent nearly $1 billion buying back 16 million of its outstanding shares. It also split its shares on a three-for-one basis, and increased dividends by 20 per cent to 18 cents from 15 cents.

"They're getting the upside of the decline in oil prices, and the restoration of refining and marketing margins," said Peters. "The benefits of being an inte- 6JUN 4JULY producing sector and a downstream refining and marketing component. Shell said Wednesday its second-quarter earnings increased 59 per cent to $111 million (33 cents per share), compared to $70 million (21 cents) for ongoing operations in the same quarter of 1996. (That figure rises to $82 million, or 24 cents per share, when including the discontinued chemicals business which was sold by the company in 1996.) Revenue also rose, to $1.29 billion compared to $1.25 billion, while cash flow from operations increased to $209 million, from $150 million in the April-to-June quarter of 1996. "Although we have been helped by improved prices and margins, cost reduc 14Feb 14MAR 11APR 9MAY Source: Bloomberg Herald Graphio quarter," said Merrill Lynch Inc.

analyst Robert Hinckley. "Generally, the upstream did bettejr than expected by keeping their volumes up and performing better on thfe grated are showing up, since they're making it up on the products side." All of the integrateds were expected to see strong downstream margins. "The downstream carried the quarter and it's likely to prevail in the third cost side.".