National Business

MONTREAL — Mattel Inc. says the Mega Bloks toy factory it acquired in 2014 will shut down next year, triggering 580 layoffs in Montreal.

TORONTO — Canada's main stock index suffered its worst performance of the year Friday as investors were spooked by a potential corporate earnings hit from the coronavirus. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 56.44 points or 0.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (17,565.34, down 56.44 points.) Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Energy. Down 23 cents, or 4.43 per cent, to $4.96 on 16 million shares.

CALGARY — Encana Corp. says it has completed its corporate reorganization under the new name Ovintiv Inc. The shake-up also includes technically moving the company to be U.S.

TORONTO — Barrick Gold Corp. has signed an agreement with the Tanzanian government to formalize a joint venture relating to three mines that ends a long-running tax dispute with the African country.

MONTREAL — Canada has slipped in the annual Transparency International ranking of countries considered among the least corrupt, in light of the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

MONTREAL — Domtar Corp. has warned of an expected operating loss for the fourth quarter and sales that are below analyst expectations.

OTTAWA — Canadian retail sales bounced back in November, boosted by gains in the auto sector. Statistics Canada said Friday retail sales rose 0.9 per cent for the month, largely offsetting a revised 1.1 per cent decline in October.

LEAMINGTON, Ont. — Aphria Inc. says it has signed a deal with an unidentified institutional investor who has agreed to invest $100 million in the cannabis company. The investor will acquire roughly 14 million units of the company at a price of $7.

PARIS — Women workers danced in protest and striking Eiffel Tower employees shuttered France's most famed monument Friday — but the government pushed ahead anyway with a troubled bill redesigning the national retirement system.