Archive for May, 2010

PWC.PR.B May Get Bigger

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Pacific & Western Bank has announced:

that it plans to raise up to $15 million in Canada through the issuance of additional Class B preferred shares, common shares, or a combination of both, by way of short form prospectus (the “Offering”).

Byron Securities Limited (“Byron”) will be the lead manager for the Offering and will be responsible for creating a selling group for this issue. A decision as to what securities to offer under the prospectus will be decided by PWC prior to filing the preliminary prospectus based on market demand and through discussions with Byron.

The Offering will be conducted in each province and territory of Canada (other than Quebec) and is subject to all necessary regulatory approval.

PWC’s Class B Preferred shares trade on the TSX under the symbol PWC.PR.B and its common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol PWC.

PWC.PR.B was last mentioned on PrefBlog when a tranche was issued in January. PWC.PR.B is not tracked by HIMIPref™.

May Edition of PrefLetter Released!

Monday, May 17th, 2010

The May, 2010, edition of PrefLetter has been released and is now available for purchase as the “Previous edition”. Those who subscribe for a full year receive the “Previous edition” as a bonus.

The May edition contains an appendix discussing analytical implications of the behaviour of individual FixedReset issues during the recent slump in that class. There is a review of the previous month and a listing of FixedResets currently trading thrown in.

As previously announced, PrefLetter is now available to residents of Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba, as well as Ontario and to entities registered with the Quebec Securities Commission.

Until further notice, the “Previous Edition” will refer to the May 2010, issue, while the “Next Edition” will be the June, 2010, issue, scheduled to be prepared as of the close June 11 and eMailed to subscribers prior to market-opening on June 14.

PrefLetter is intended for long term investors seeking issues to buy-and-hold. At least one recommendation from each of the major preferred share sectors is included and discussed.

Note: The PrefLetter website has a Subscriber Download Feature. If you have not received your copy, try it!

Note: PrefLetter, being delivered to clients as a large attachment by eMail, sometimes runs afoul of spam filters. If you have not received your copy within fifteen minutes of a release notice such as this one, please double check your (company’s) spam filtering policy and your spam repository – there are some hints in the post Sympatico Spam Filters out of Control. If it’s not there, contact me and I’ll get you your copy … somehow!

Note: There have been scattered complaints regarding inability to open PrefLetter in Acrobat Reader, despite my practice of including myself on the subscription list and immediately checking the copy received. I have had the occasional difficulty reading US Government documents, which I was able to resolve by downloading and installing the latest version of Adobe Reader. Also, note that so far, all complaints have been from users of Yahoo Mail. Try saving it to disk first, before attempting to open it.

May Edition of PrefLetter Now in Preparation!

Friday, May 14th, 2010

The markets have closed and the April edition of PrefLetter is now being prepared.

PrefLetter is the monthly newsletter recommending individual issues of preferred shares to subscribers. There is at least one recommendation from every major type of preferred share with investment-grade constituents. The recommendations are taylored for “buy-and-hold” investors.

The May edition will contain an appendix discussing various analytical approaches to FixedResets and examining how well these approaches explain relative price changes during the recent slump in the FixedReset market.

Those taking an annual subscription to PrefLetter receive a discount on viewing of my seminars.

PrefLetter is available to residents of Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba as well as Quebec residents registered with their securities commission.

The May issue will be eMailed to clients and available for single-issue purchase with immediate delivery prior to the opening bell on Monday. I will write another post when the new issue has been uploaded to the server … so watch this space carefully if you intend to order “Next Issue” or “Previous Issue”! Until then, the “Next Issue” is the May issue.

RBS.PR.A: Partial Call for Redemption

Friday, May 14th, 2010

R Split III Corp. has announced:

that it has called 559,447 Preferred Shares for cash redemption on May 31, 2010 (in accordance with the Company’s Articles) representing approximately 25.690% of the outstanding Preferred Shares as a result of the annual retraction of 1,118,894 Capital Shares by the holders thereof. The Preferred Shares shall be redeemed on a pro rata basis, so that each holder of Preferred Shares of record on May 28, 2010 will have approximately 25.690% of their Preferred Shares redeemed. The redemption price for the Preferred Shares will be $29.22 per share.

In addition, holders of a further 1,996 Capital Shares and 998 Preferred Shares have deposited such shares concurrently for retraction on May 31, 2010. As a result, a total of 1,120,890 Capital Shares and 560,445 Preferred Shares, or approximately 25.7239% of both classes of shares currently outstanding, will be redeemed.

Holders of Preferred Shares that are on record for dividends but have been called for redemption will be entitled to receive dividends thereon which have been declared but remain unpaid up to but not including May 31, 2010.

Payment of the amount due to holders of Preferred Shares will be made by the Company on May 31, 2010. From and after May 31, 2010 the holders of Preferred Shares that have been called for redemption will not be entitled to dividends or to exercise any rights in respect of such shares except to receive the amount due on redemption.

R Split III Corp. is a mutual fund corporation created to hold a portfolio of common shares of Royal Bank of Canada.

RBS.PR.A is scheduled to mature 2012-5-31. RBS.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-3 by DBRS. RBS.PR.A is not tracked by HIMIPref™.

May 14, 2010

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Econbrowser‘s James Hamilton writes a good piece on Greece:

I suspect that the key fear has to do with the consequences of a default or restructuring of the debt itself. Willem Buiter estimates that French and German banks have &#8364 110 billion exposure to Greek debt, and total exposure to a potential domino effect could be huge. The WSJ today has further breakdowns, and Dow Jones reports that JP Morgan’s holdings of non-U.S. government bonds increased by $36.5 billion in 2009, while Citigroup’s increased by almost $40 B.

And, as was the case in the 2008 difficulties, one can either view this primarily as a liquidity problem, for which we simply need the central banks to step in boldly to arrest the jitters, or as a solvency problem, in which case the policy decision is how to allocate the unavoidable capital losses among bank owners, bank creditors, and the government so as to minimize collateral damage to innocent bystanders. The fundamentals facing Greece suggest there is an overwhelming solvency component to the current problems. And the policy response so far seems to be choosing to allocate 100% of losses to the European and U.S. taxpayers.

Chatter about the potential disintegration of the Euro is starting to be heard from respected sources:

“You have the great problem of a potential disintegration of the euro,” former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, 82, said yesterday in London. “The essential element of discipline in economic policy and in fiscal policy that was hoped for” has “so far not been rewarded in some countries.”

That story, by the way, leads off with an anecdote about dairy products:

Romano Prodi recalls how he persuaded Germany to allow debt-swamped Italy into the euro: support our membership and we’ll buy your milk, he said.

When Prodi toured Germany’s agricultural heartland after becoming Italian leader in 1996, he pitched “a big milk pipeline from Bavaria,” pointing to a three-year, 40 percent plunge in the Italian lira that was hurting dairy sales.

See? That’s the source of the problem! Here in smug Canada, we know how to do it properly … charge single mums and their kids extortionate prices for dairy products, so quota owners may continue to enjoy a bucolic lifestyle.


Click for Big

OSFI’s Mark White gave a speech reviewing the P&C industry.

A little more detail has emerged regarding the futures sale suspected to be the proximate cause of last week’s bungee jump.

Comrade Peace Prize’s administration has made it clear that it regards Swap pricing to be a public utility and that the role of government is to ensure that incompetent portfolio managers may continue to earn a good living:

Removing the Derivatives Trading Requirement to Protect Wall Street Profits. Under the current bill, standard derivatives would have to be traded on exchanges or other electronic trading platforms. Expect amendments to eliminate this trading requirement. Why? Because not everyone likes transparency. Today, the big derivatives dealers make big profits by charging end-users extra spreads and hidden fees, and they don’t want that to change.

This administration has learned nothing from TRACE. As soon as you get transparency, liquidity disappears. An ultimately, you will create more bungee jumps. On a positive note, however, it appears that regulatory capture is becoming an issue, albeit in a different field:

Obama said the federal government also shares some of the blame [for the Gulf of Mexico underwater oil blowout]. He faulted the Minerals Management Service for having too close a relationship with the industry it regulates. BP got an exclusion from a National Environmental Policy Act review by the agency for its damaged well in the Gulf.

“It seems as if permits were too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies,” Obama said. “That cannot and will not happen anymore.”

He ordered Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to “conduct a top-to-bottom reform” of the agency, including a review of its procedures for assessing the environmental impact of an offshore drilling plans.

Salazar said in a statement that will be “an important part of the ongoing comprehensive and thorough investigation of this incident.”

Obama previously announced plans to split the service’s responsibilities, which now include both enforcing rig safety rules and joining with companies such as BP and Exxon Mobil Corp. to develop oil and gas reserves while collecting royalties.

Volume on the Canadian preferred share market was way down today, reaching normal levels, as PerpetualDiscounts gained 4bp and FixedResets lost 8bp.

HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 2.62 % 2.77 % 42,832 20.86 1 0.0000 % 2,112.6
FixedFloater 5.13 % 3.19 % 40,557 20.11 1 -0.1413 % 3,120.2
Floater 2.14 % 2.46 % 105,392 21.13 3 -1.2710 % 2,267.6
OpRet 4.91 % 4.15 % 94,607 1.76 11 -0.1349 % 2,300.6
SplitShare 6.41 % 6.40 % 120,294 3.53 2 0.4661 % 2,130.0
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.1349 % 2,103.7
Perpetual-Premium 5.53 % 4.77 % 24,187 15.82 1 0.0000 % 1,824.2
Perpetual-Discount 6.31 % 6.38 % 212,539 13.36 77 0.0360 % 1,692.5
FixedReset 5.51 % 4.27 % 513,929 3.58 44 -0.0775 % 2,147.6
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BAM.PR.K Floater -2.42 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 16.10
Evaluated at bid price : 16.10
Bid-YTW : 2.46 %
MFC.PR.E FixedReset -2.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-10-19
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.70
Bid-YTW : 5.15 %
BAM.PR.B Floater -1.66 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 16.04
Evaluated at bid price : 16.04
Bid-YTW : 2.47 %
MFC.PR.D FixedReset -1.43 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-07-19
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.80
Bid-YTW : 5.01 %
ELF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.33 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 18.50
Evaluated at bid price : 18.50
Bid-YTW : 7.27 %
MFC.PR.A OpRet -1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2015-12-18
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.24
Bid-YTW : 4.05 %
PWF.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 19.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.00
Bid-YTW : 6.59 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
SLF.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 58,915 RBC crossed blocks of 17,000 and 15,000, both at 17.35.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 17.33
Evaluated at bid price : 17.33
Bid-YTW : 6.53 %
BNS.PR.Y FixedReset 39,150 Desjardins crossed 24,000 at 24.16.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 23.96
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 3.83 %
BNS.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 19,480 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 19.61
Evaluated at bid price : 19.61
Bid-YTW : 6.19 %
BAM.PR.B Floater 19,345 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 16.04
Evaluated at bid price : 16.04
Bid-YTW : 2.47 %
TRP.PR.A FixedReset 18,646 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-01-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.31
Bid-YTW : 4.45 %
TRP.PR.B FixedReset 18,495 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-14
Maturity Price : 24.58
Evaluated at bid price : 24.63
Bid-YTW : 4.01 %
There were 27 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.

SBC.PR.A to Get Bigger

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Brompton Split Banc Corp. has announced:

that it has filed a preliminary prospectus relating to an offering of warrants to Class A shareholders of the Company. Each Class A shareholder will receive one half warrant for each Class A share held on a record date which will be set upon filing of the final prospectus.

One warrant will entitle the holder to purchase a Unit (consisting of one Class A share and one Preferred share of the Company) upon payment of the subscription price, which will be determined as the lesser of: (i) $22.36 (which is the sum of (a) the most recently calculated NAV per Unit prior to the date hereof and (b) the estimated per Unit fees and expenses of the offering), and (ii) the most recently calculated NAV per Unit prior to the date of filing the final prospectus plus the estimated per Unit fees and expenses of the offering. The Company has applied to list the warrants and the Class A shares and Preferred shares issuable on the exercise thereof on the TSX.

Successful completion of the warrants offering will provide the Company with additional capital that can be used to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and it is also expected to increase the trading liquidity of the Class A shares and Preferred shares and reduce the ongoing management expense ratio of the Company.

A 50% increase in size – if the offering is fully subscribed – will be a welcome addition to the $53-million-odd outstanding at year end according to the fund’s 2009 Annual Report.

SBC.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when I reported the April 2009 reinstatement of the Capital Units dividend. SBC.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™, but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

LBS.PR.A to Get Bigger

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Life & Banc Split Corp. has announced:

that it has filed a preliminary prospectus relating to an offering of warrants to Class A shareholders of the Company. Each Class A shareholder will receive one half warrant for each Class A share held on a record date which will be set upon filing of the final prospectus.

One warrant will entitle the holder to purchase a Unit (consisting of one Class A share and one Preferred share of the Company) upon payment of the subscription price, which will be determined as the lesser of: (i) $19.31 (which is the sum of (a) the most recently calculated NAV per Unit prior to the date hereof and (b) the estimated per Unit fees and expenses of the offering), and (ii) the most recently calculated NAV per Unit prior to the date of filing the final prospectus plus the estimated per Unit fees and expenses of the offering. The Company has applied to list the warrants and the Class A shares and Preferred shares issuable on the exercise thereof on the TSX.

Successful completion of the warrants offering will provide the Company with additional capital that can be used to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and it is also expected to increase the trading liquidity of the Class A shares and Preferred shares and reduce the ongoing management expense ratio of the Company.

If fully subscribed, the 50% increase in issue size will be a very welcome addition to the $100-million-odd reported in the 2009 Annual Report.

LBS.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was downgraded to Pfd-3 by DBRS. LBS.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™, but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

New Issue: SLF FixedReset 4.35%+141

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Sun Life Financial has announced:

a Canadian public offering of $250 million of Class A Non-Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Shares Series 8R (the “Series 8R Shares”). The Series 8R Shares will be issued to the public at a price of $25.00 per share and holders will be entitled to receive non-cumulative preferential fixed quarterly dividends for the initial period ending June 30, 2015, as and when declared by the Company’s board of directors, payable in the amount of $0.271875 per Preferred Share, to yield 4.35 per cent annually.

On June 30, 2015, and every five years thereafter, the dividend rate will reset at a rate equal to the 5-Year Government of Canada bond yield plus 1.41 per cent. Subject to certain conditions, holders may elect to convert any or all of their Series 8R Shares into an equal number of Class A Non-Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares Series 9QR (the “Series 9QR Shares”) on June 30, 2015 and on the 30th of June every fifth year thereafter. Holders of the Series 9QR Shares will be entitled to receive non-cumulative preferential floating rate quarterly dividends, as and when declared by the Company’s board of directors, equal to the then 3-month Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield plus 1.41 per cent.

The net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes. The offering will be underwritten by a syndicate led by Scotia Capital Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and TD Securities Inc. on a bought deal basis, and is expected to close on May 25, 2010. The proceeds from this domestic public offering are expected to qualify as Tier 1 capital of Sun Life Financial Inc. under current capital adequacy guidelines established by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI).

The underwriters have been granted an option to purchase up to an additional $50 million of the Series 8R Shares exercisable at any time up to two business days before closing. The maximum gross proceeds raised under the offering will be $300 million if this option is exercised in full.

Subject to regulatory approval, Sun Life Financial Inc. may redeem the Series 8R Shares in whole or in part on June 30, 2015 and on the 30th of June every five years thereafter.

An application is being made to list the Series 8R Shares as of the closing date on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

This strikes me as being an extremely expensive issue. SLF PerpetualDiscounts (there are five of them, A-E) are tightly clustered in yield at about 6.50%, meaning that the spread for the FixedReset is -235bp. Plugging these numbers into the Breakeven Rate Shock Calculator (which I have discussed in a free publication and at greater length in a 2009 issue of PrefLetter), we find that the Break-Even Rate Shock is enormous, at 384bp. The last new FixedReset issue (BNS 3.85%+100, was comparatively cheap, with a shock of only (!) 318bp.

Nor has it escaped my notice that SLF.PR.F (which commenced trading about a year ago), at 6.00%+379 yields 4.40% to its expected call date and is much more likely to be called.

May 13, 2010

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Credit ratings may be politicized:

The Senate in a 64-35 vote today approved an amendment to the financial overhaul legislation that would create a ratings board overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The panel would assign a credit-rating company to rank an offering.

Under Franken’s amendment, the SEC would determine the size of the board. The majority of members would be investors, at least one member would be from a credit-rating company and at least one member would be from an investment bank.

The board would conduct an annual assessment of each credit-rating company to scrutinize the firm’s accuracy in grading debt compared with competitors, according to the amendment. While credit-rating companies would set fees, the SEC would have authority to make sure payments are “reasonable.”

For the proposal to form a credit-rating board to become binding, lawmakers would have to approve the broader financial reform measure and President Barack Obama would have to sign the legislation.

Not quite as bad as the EU’s plan to create a government-run agency that won’t be so mean to poor old Greece, but close!

The Canadian preferred share market was quieter today, with PerpetualDiscounts gaining 4bp and FixedResets losing 1bp. Volume was down to levels only slightly above normal – whatever normal means! – but the day was enlivened by the announcement of a Sun Life Financial FixedReset, 4.35%+141, to settle May 25.

HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 2.62 % 2.77 % 44,471 20.87 1 0.0000 % 2,112.6
FixedFloater 5.12 % 3.18 % 40,563 20.12 1 -0.5621 % 3,124.6
Floater 2.11 % 2.40 % 102,084 21.30 3 -0.3568 % 2,296.8
OpRet 4.90 % 3.85 % 90,744 1.76 11 0.3170 % 2,303.7
SplitShare 6.44 % 6.44 % 124,665 3.53 2 0.3341 % 2,120.1
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.3170 % 2,106.6
Perpetual-Premium 5.53 % 4.77 % 24,342 15.82 1 0.0000 % 1,824.2
Perpetual-Discount 6.32 % 6.39 % 213,425 13.34 77 0.0370 % 1,691.9
FixedReset 5.51 % 4.30 % 516,152 3.58 44 -0.0112 % 2,149.2
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
HSB.PR.C Perpetual-Discount -1.71 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 19.51
Evaluated at bid price : 19.51
Bid-YTW : 6.65 %
PWF.PR.O Perpetual-Discount -1.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 22.39
Evaluated at bid price : 22.50
Bid-YTW : 6.51 %
ENB.PR.A Perpetual-Discount -1.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 23.49
Evaluated at bid price : 23.76
Bid-YTW : 5.79 %
HSB.PR.D Perpetual-Discount -1.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 19.30
Evaluated at bid price : 19.30
Bid-YTW : 6.59 %
TD.PR.M OpRet 1.09 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2010-06-12
Maturity Price : 25.75
Evaluated at bid price : 25.88
Bid-YTW : 0.39 %
ELF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 1.19 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 18.75
Evaluated at bid price : 18.75
Bid-YTW : 7.17 %
CIU.PR.A Perpetual-Discount 2.18 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 18.75
Evaluated at bid price : 18.75
Bid-YTW : 6.16 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
PWF.PR.M FixedReset 140,000 RBC crossed blocks of 25,000 shares, 24,500 and 50,000, all at 26.50. Nesbitt crossed 25,000 at the same price and bought 10,000 from National at 26.45.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-02
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.50
Bid-YTW : 4.36 %
TRP.PR.B FixedReset 119,175 RBC crossed blocks of 25,000 shares, 40,000 and another 25,000, all at 24.65. RBC bought 13,000 from TD at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 24.71
Evaluated at bid price : 24.76
Bid-YTW : 4.09 %
PWF.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 42,070 Desjardins sold 36,000 to anonymous at 19.10.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 18.80
Evaluated at bid price : 18.80
Bid-YTW : 6.66 %
BNS.PR.Y FixedReset 41,280 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 24.01
Evaluated at bid price : 24.05
Bid-YTW : 3.93 %
BNS.PR.R FixedReset 34,345 National crossed 25,000 at 25.49.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.50
Bid-YTW : 4.48 %
CM.PR.H Perpetual-Discount 33,043 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-05-13
Maturity Price : 18.85
Evaluated at bid price : 18.85
Bid-YTW : 6.43 %
There were 34 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.

BXN.PR.B to be Redeemed

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

B Split II Corp. has announced:

The Capital Shares and Preferred Shares will be redeemed by the Company on June 1, 2010 (the “Redemption Date”) in accordance with the redemption provisions as detailed in the prospectus dated May 25, 2005. Pursuant to these provisions, the Preferred Shares will be redeemed at a price per share equal to the lesser of $9.75 and the net asset value per Unit. The Capital Shares will be redeemed at a price per share equal to the amount by which the net asset value per Unit exceeds $9.75. The net asset value per Unit was $21.30 as at May 12, 2010.

Holders of Capital Shares who requested to receive their redemption payment in BCE Inc. common shares (“BCE Shares”) and gave notice to this effect and tendered $9.75 for every Capital Share by May 3, 2010 will receive their pro rata share of the BCE Shares. The redemption of Capital Shares and Preferred Shares will constitute a taxable disposition of the Company’s shares at the time of the redemption whether the payment is received in the form of cash or BCE Shares.

A further press release will be issued by the Company in connection with the redemption prices on May 27, 2010. Payment of the amounts due to holders of Capital Shares and Preferred Shares will be made by the Company on June 1, 2010.

BXN.PR.B was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was downgraded to Pfd-3 by DBRS. BXN.PR.B is not tracked by HIMIPref™.

Update, 2010-5-28: Redemption price announcement.