DBRS has announced that it:
has today taken rating action on structured preferred shares issued by 18 split share companies and trusts (the Issuers).
Each of the Issuers has invested in a portfolio of securities (the Portfolio) funded by issuing two classes of shares – dividend-yielding preferred shares or securities (the Preferred Shares) and capital shares or units (the Capital Shares). The main form of credit enhancement available to these Preferred Shares is a buffer of downside protection. Downside protection corresponds to the percentage decline in market value of the Portfolio that must be experienced before the Preferred Shares would be in a loss position. The amount of downside protection available to Preferred Shares will fluctuate over time based on changes in the market value of the Portfolio.
Of the 18 structured Preferred Share ratings updated today by DBRS, 16 have been upgraded and two have been downgraded. The upgraded ratings reflect an increase in net asset value (NAV) of the respective portfolios over the past four months and a greater stability in equity prices over this period. Two Preferred Share ratings were downgraded mainly because their Issuers have 100% exposure to Canadian life insurance companies, whose equity prices declined in value over the past four months.
They claim The upgraded ratings reflect an increase in net asset value (NAV) of the respective portfolios over the past four months and a greater stability in equity prices over this period …. while the latter part of this assertion is indubitably correct, some NAVs have actually declined over the period – at least, according the NAVs given in my August report of their review and the current NAVs. Of course, reporting-time is not the same thing as rating-time, so it could well be that the NAVs of all upgraded companies did, in fact, increase when measured from rating-time to rating time. Maybe!
I note, for instance, that the NAV of FTN / FTN.PR.A was 18.44 on August 31 and 17.42 on November 30 (the July 31 NAV was 17.89, while Dec 15 was 17.30).
| DBRS Review Announced 2009-8-27 | |||||
| Ticker | Old Rating |
Asset Coverage |
Last PrefBlog Post |
HIMIPref™ Index |
New Rating |
| ABK.PR.B | Pfd-3(high) | 2.1+:1 12/17 |
Upgraded | None | Pfd-2(low) |
| ALB.PR.A | Pfd-3 | 1.8+:1 12/17 |
Upgraded | Scraps | Pfd-3(high) |
| BSC.PR.A | Pfd-3(high) | 2.3+:1 12/17 |
Partial Call for Redemption | None | Pfd-2(low) |
| BSD.PR.A | Pfd-5 | 1.2:1 12/18 |
Semi-Annual Financials | Scraps | Pfd-5(high) |
| LCS.PR.A | Pfd-3(low) | 1.4+:1 12/17 |
Upgraded | None | Pfd-4(high) |
| ES.PR.B | Pfd-4(low) | 1.4-:1 12/17 |
Small Call for Redemption | None | Pfd-4(high) |
| EN.PR.A | Pfd-3 | 2.0+:1 12/17 |
Tiny Partial Redemption | None | Pfd-3(high) |
| FCS.PR.A | Pfd-3(low) | 1.5+:1 12/21 |
Upgraded | None | Pfd-3 |
| FTN.PR.A | Pfd-3(low) | 1.7+:1 12/15 |
Upgraded | Scraps | Pfd-3 |
| FFN.PR.A | Pfd-4(high) | 1.5+:1 12/15 |
Resumes Capital Unit Dividend | Scraps | Pfd-3(low) |
| FIG.PR.A | Pfd-4 | 1.4+:1 (?) |
Capital Units Rights Offering | Scraps | Pfd-4(high) |
| PIC.PR.A | Pfd-4 | 1.4-:1 12/17 |
Upgraded | Scraps | Pfd-4(high) |
| SXT.PR.A | Pfd-2(low) | 2.3+:1 12/17 |
Small Partial Redemption | Scraps | Pfd-2 |
| SLS.PR.A | Pfd-4 | 1.1+:1 12/17 |
Upgraded | None | Pfd-4(low) |
| SNP.PR.V | Pfd-3(low) | 1.6-:1 12/17 |
Upgraded | None | Pfd-3 |
| SOT.PR.A | Pfd-3(high) | 2.2-:1 12/21 |
Downgraded | None | Pfd-2(low) |
| TDS.PR.B | Pfd-3(high) | 2.3-:1 12/17 |
Partial Redemption | Scraps | Pfd-2(low) |
| WFS.PR.A | Pfd-4 | 1.3-:1 12/17 |
Warrants Prospectus Filed | Scraps | Pfd-4(high) |
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-3(high) by DBRS. ALB.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™, but is relegated to the Scraps subindex on credit […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-2(low) by DBRS. ABK.PR.B is not tracked by […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-2(low) by DBRS. BSC.PR.A is not tracked by HIMIPref™ …. but if they extend term and maybe up the size […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-2 by DBRS. SXT.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™ but is relegated to the Scraps index on volume […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-4(high) by DBRS. WFS.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™, but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-4(high) by DBRS. FIG.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™, but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit […]
[…] Upgraded […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was Upgraded to Pfd-4(high) by DBRS. PIC.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™, but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit […]
[…] was relegated to the Scraps index on volume concerns. It was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-2(low) by DBRS. TDS.PR.C will be tracked by HIMIPref™ and will be initially assigned to the SplitShares […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was upgraded to Pfd-4 by DBRS. SLS.PR.A is not tracked by […]
[…] was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it was downgraded to Pfd-4(high) in December 2009. LCS.PR.A is not tracked by […]