Very strange. I’ve received two inquiries from investors recently via intermediaries regarding Quebecor World preferred shares (IQW.PR.C & IQW.PR.D). There are probably others who are wondering … so I’ll review the situation:
I regret that I must advise that the Quebecor World preferred shares are almost certainly worthless.
Dividends on the preferreds were suspended in November 2007. They entered bankruptcy protection in January after defaulting on an interest payment to senior bonds; an auction held on Credit Default Swaps referencing that debt indicated that the market valued senior bonds at 41.25 cents on the dollar.
The company continues to operate. The next date of interest is December 5, when all claims from creditors must be received but continues to have a negative net worth of about $1-billion.
The company notes:
In light of the Insolvency Proceedings, it is unlikely that the Company’s existing Multiple Voting Shares, Redeemable First Preferred Shares and Subordinate Voting Shares will have any material value following the approval of a Plan. There is a risk such shares could be cancelled.
HIMIPref™ no longer tracks IQW.PR.C or IQW.PR.D, as the low price was causing “sanity checks” in the programming to indicate errors.
[…] to the shareholders and get the bank into even more trouble – as has happened recently with the Quebecor World issue, IQW.PR.C. This is not what tier 1 capital is supposed to […]
[…] Both issues were last mentioned on PrefBlog in response to inquiries about their possible value subsequent to reorganization. […]