LAURENTIAN GROUP SEES HIGHER SHARE NET

  &lt;Laurentian Group Corp> said it
  expects 1987 earnings per share will show about the same
  proportionate increase as in 1986.
      Last year, the company had 25.7 mln dlrs operating profit,
  or 76 cts per share, up from 11.1 mln dlrs, or 59 cts per
  share, in 1985. Shares outstanding increased to 39 mln from
  27.8 mln.
      The American holding company, Laurentian Capital Corp, will
  show a substantial improvement this year, chairman Claude
  Castonguay said before the annual meeting.
      Laurentian Capital Corp, which recently acquired two small
  U.S. life insurance companies, had 1986 profit of 1.1 mln U.S.
  dlrs, or eight cts per share, compared to seven mln U.S. dlrs,
  or 68 cts per share.
      Castonguay said Laurentian Group Corp, the parent firm,
  plans to fill out its national financial services distribution
  system and make further acquisitions if the right opportunity
  occurs.
      The company also may expand this year in continental
  Europe, in conjunction with La Victoire, a French insurance
  company, he said.
  

