PIC.PR.A To Get Bigger

Strathbridge Asset Management Inc. has announced:

Premium Income Corporation (the “Fund”) is pleased to announce that it is undertaking an overnight treasury offering of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares.

The sales period for the overnight offering will end at 9:00 am EST tomorrow, August 21, 2019. The offering is expected to close on or about August 28, 2019 and is subject to certain conditions including approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”). The Preferred Shares will be offered at an indicative price of $14.70 per Preferred Share to yield 5.97% and the Class A Shares will be offered at an indicative price of $6.10 per Class A Share to yield 13.3%. The trading price on the TSX for the Preferred Shares and Class A Shares as at 2:30 pm EST on August 20, 2019 was $14.70 and $6.27, respectively.

Since the inception of the Fund, the aggregate dividends declared on the Preferred Shares have been $19.83 per share and the aggregate dividends declared on the Class A Shares have been $25.21 per share, for a combined total of $45.04 per unit.

The Fund invests in a portfolio consisting principally of common shares of Bank of Montreal, The Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada and The Toronto-Dominion Bank. To generate additional returns above the dividend income earned on the Fund’s portfolio, the Fund will selectively write covered call and put options in respect of some or all of the common shares in the Fund’s portfolio. The manager and investment manager of the Fund is Strathbridge Asset Management Inc.

The Preferred Shares pay fixed cumulative preferential quarterly cash distributions in the amount of $0.215625 ($0.8625 per annum) per Preferred Share representing a yield of 5.75% on the original issue price of $15.00. The Class A Shares currently pay quarterly distributions in the amount $0.20319 ($0.81276 per annum) per Class A Share.

The syndicate of agents for the offering is being co-led by RBC Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Inc. and Scotiabank.

For further information, please contact Investor Relations at 416.681.3966, toll free at 1.800.725.7172, email at info@strathbridge.com or visit www.strathbridge.com

John Germain, Senior VP & CFO

So they’re offering Whole Units at an “indicative” price (I don’t know what that means) of 20.80, whereas the NAVPU on August 19 was 19.41. A premium of 7.2% is good business!

They last got bigger about ten weeks ago.

Update, 2019-09-15: They raised $27.8-million:

Premium Income Corporation (the “Fund”) is pleased to announce that it has completed the previously announced treasury offering of 1,335,100 Preferred Shares and 1,335,100 Class A Shares for gross proceeds of approximately $27.77 million. The Preferred and Class A Shares will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the existing symbols PIC.PR.A (Preferred Shares) and PIC.A (Class A Shares).

3 Responses to “PIC.PR.A To Get Bigger”

  1. mbarbon says:

    Starting to prefer these preferred… rates get reset at good rates and the preferred holds their value provided the stock market doesn’t collapse ( the underlying security would have to drop almost 40%)

  2. gorsk says:

    I am trying to understand the mechanics of split shares like PIC.PR.A. Why would one pay offer price of $20.80 if NAVPU is $19.41, is it just a big pension funds who can’t acquire shares on open market due to lack of liquidity? Also noticed that price of split shares drops the following day after the offering is closed. What is driving a price drop?

  3. mbarbon says:

    Usually never buy on these offerings because they do trade at a premium ( why do you think it’s being offerred). All can be bought on the open mkt. Preferred usually don’t trade at a premium (Just have to do your research and be patient). Class A are the ones that are the ones trading at a premium (and their dividend is usually a return of capital).

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