National Business

TORONTO — Shares of Cineplex Inc. fell more than 10 per cent after a short-seller suggested the company's $2.8-billion deal to be acquired by Cineworld PLC could fall apart or see the price reduced materially.

TORONTO — A pair of Canadian startups are looking to help make it easier to buy homes and cars using technology by speeding the mortgage approval process and by making finding and buying a new ride faster.

HONOLULU — A spate of cancelled events and falling visitor numbers from abroad indicate the economic impact Hawaii is experiencing due to the spread of the virus that causes the disease called COVID-19.

WASHINGTON — U.S. productivity rebounded in the final three months of last year but by a smaller amount than initially reported, while labour costs increased at a slower pace than first thought.

CALGARY — MEG Energy Corp. reported a profit of $26 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $199 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company says the profit amounted to nine cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec.

TOKYO — Asian shares rose Thursday, taking their cue from a surge on Wall Street as governments and central banks took more aggressive measures to fight the virus outbreak and its economic impact. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.8% to 21,262.49.

TORONTO — Several Canadian banks and financial institutions have dropped their prime lending rate by 50 basis points to 3.45 per cent, effective March 5.

Bombardier Inc. says it is concerned about a new report that links it and other companies to the alleged forced labour of Muslim minorities in China.

TORONTO — Spin Master Corp. says it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter in part because of supply chain issues at its U.S. distribution centre, and it expects further supply impacts this year because of the novel coronavirus.

CALGARY — A delayed inspection and a failure to predict how fast cracks could develop from corrosion are cited in a report describing the cause of an explosion and fire in an Enbridge Inc. natural gas pipeline northeast of Prince George, B.C.