Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Magna International Inc., the auto- parts supplier that tried to buy a majority stake in General Motors Co.’s Opel unit, rose the most since 1991 in Toronto after reporting an unexpected third-quarter profit.

Net income was $51 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $215 million, or $1.93, a year earlier, the Aurora, Ontario-based company said yesterday in a statement. Analysts had projected a per-share loss of 21 cents, the average of 14 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Magna, Canada’s largest car-parts supplier, said it was aided by a 32 percent increase in North American auto production from the second quarter. Trimming employment and other cost- saving steps helped overcome a 16 percent drop in sales, to $4.67 billion, the company said.

Increased output by GM and Chrysler Group LLC “provided even more of a revenue lift than we previewed,” Himanshu Patel, a New York-based analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in a note today. Magna had sales of $4.67 billion, beating his $4.4 billion estimate and the $4.52 billion average of 10 analysts’ projections. Patel rates the shares “overweight.”

Magna gained C$6.69, or 14 percent, to C$53.76 at 4:10 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. That was the shares’ biggest daily percentage increase since March 7, 1991, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Earnings Outlook

The company expects to generate profit in North America “going forward,” and is “more cautious” on the European market, Co-Chief Executive Officer Donald Walker said on a conference call yesterday.

Magna, which also assembles vehicles under contracts, lost out on its bid to purchase a majority stake in the GM European division. The Detroit-based automaker announced Nov. 3 that its board voted to keep Adam Opel GmbH rather than complete the transaction with Magna and Russian partner OAO Sberbank.

The partsmaker is in talks with GM and Russian automaker OAO GAZ to build a vehicle-assembly plant in Russia, the Globe and Mail reported today, citing an interview with Magna founder and Chairman Frank Stronach.

Tracy Fuerst, a Magna spokeswoman, declined to comment on the newspaper’s report.

Magna had costs for advice on the Opel deal, which were “not material,” Chief Financial Officer Vincent Galifi said on the conference call.

“We’re not looking at any other transactions in that space,’ Walker said when asked if Magna would consider buying another automaker. The company is “focusing on our core business, which is automaker parts,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Ortolani in Southfield, Michigan, at aortolani1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 16:16 EST