Most actively traded companies on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange markets

TORONTO – Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (12,300.23 up 105.20 points):

Caspian Energy Inc. (TSX:CEK). Oil and gas. Down a penny, or 7.69 per cent, at 12 cents on 22,947,718 shares.

Torex Gold Resources Inc. (TSX:TXG). Miner. Up seven cents, or 3.63 per cent, at $2 on 8,241,977 shares.

Goldcorp. (TSX:G). Miner. Up $2.81, or 6.89 per cent, at $43.60 on 5,913,654 shares. The Vancouver gold miner booked third-quarter profits of US$498 million or 61 cents per diluted share, an improvement from $336 million or 41 cents per diluted share a year ago. Revenue totalled $1.54 billion, up from $1.31 billion.

Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. (TSX:PTQ). Miner. Up six cents, or 10.53 per cent, at 63 cents on 5,258,650 shares. Inmet Mining Corp. (TSX:IMN) revised its takeover offer for the Vancouver-based company. Inmet is now offering about 25 per cent more than the $112 million it had previously proposed for Petaquilla.

B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO). Gold producer. Up 18 cents, or 4.65 per cent, at $4.05 on 4,619,995 shares. The gold sector was the biggest gainer, advancing 2.97 per cent at the close to 337.36 points. The December bullion contract rose US$11.40 to $1,713 an ounce at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Manulife Financial (TSX:MFC). Insurer. Up 20 cents, or 1.64 per cent, at $12.39 on 4,471,179 shares. The insurer bought Benesure Canada Inc., a provider of life and disability creditor insurance to mortgage brokers, for an undisclosed amount. Manulife said the deal makes it Canada’s largest provider of creditor insurance for mortgage brokers.

TSX Venture Exchange (1,305.54 up 16.80 points):

Enablence Technologies Inc. (TSXV:ENA). Optical equipment. Up a penny, or 200 per cent, at 1.5 cents on 13,837,393 shares.

Hana Mining Ltd. (TSXV:HMG). Mineral exploration. Up 33.5 cents, or 73.63 per cent, at 79 cents on 9,402,866 shares. Cupric Canyon Capital LP has agreed to acquire all of Hana’s common shares. Hana’s shareholders will receive 82 cents in cash for each common share, representing a premium of about 88 per cent.

Companies reporting major news:

Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Oilsands developer. Up 40 cents, or 1.18 per cent, at $34.40 on 1,487,288 shares. The Calgary-based company reported big jumps in operating earnings, cash flow and production for the third quarter and says it foresees a “strong finish” to 2012.

Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY). Oil and gas. Up seven cents, or 0.30 per cent, at $23.70 on 1,577,518 shares. Third-quarter net income fell to $59 million, or 11 cents per share, a steep drop from year-ago profit of $200 million, or 38 cents per share. The target of China’s largest foreign takeover bid to date said it continues to expect the $15.1-billion deal to be completed by the end of this year.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (TSX:POT). Fertilizer. Down 12 cents, or 0.30 per cent, at $40.17 on 1,406,305 shares. The Saskatoon-based company earned US$645 million or 74 cents per share in the third quarter, down 23 per cent from a year ago. Quarterly revenue slid to $2.14 billion from $2.32 billion.