Archive for the ‘Better Communication, Please!’ Category

FAL.PR.H Dividends

Wednesday, March 7th, 2007

There doesn’t appear to be anything on the xstrata website to indicate the dividend dates for FAL.PR.H. I’ve sent them an inquiry as to whether they’ll be publicizing this information via their contact form.

At any rate, the record date is 3/15, it pays 4/1.

CCS.PR.A Dividend Dates Unclear

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

Huh. The Co-operators are not being co-operative.

Nothing about dividends on their website, TSE shows no data, Bloomberg shows no data.

Last year, the March dividend was declared 2/22, ex-date 3/3, record 3/7, pay 3/31.

But in 2005, the declaration date was 3/3, ex 3/3, record 3/7, pay 3/31.

That is not a misprint. The dividend was declared on the ex-date. Thanks, guys!

I will attempt to contact them. In the meantime, dividend dates have been estimated as 2/28, 3/2 & 3/31.

Update & Bump, 2/27: I have received an automated (?) acknowledgement of my query, but no answer as yet. This time, instead of using the generic service on their website, I have sent an eMail to the TSX-listed contact.

In the interim, the date estimate has been changed to 3/2, 3/6, 3/31.

Update & Bump, 2/28 : No response from the company, but the TSX data service now shows a declaration date of 2/27, ex 3/6, record 3/8, pay 3/31.

HIMIPref™ records have been adjusted.

BNA.PR.C Dividend Dates Changed!

Monday, February 26th, 2007

Well … I thought it was over. But it wasn’t.

I am now advised that:

  • Declaration date 2/23
  • Ex-Date 2/28
  • Record Date 3/2
  • Pay Date 3/7
  • Amount 0.1460

This has been confirmed on Bloomberg (except they say Declaration 2/26) and on the TSX Data Service.

Changes have been put through on HIMIPref™.

Today was an active day for this issue, with 15,090 shares changing hands in a range of $24.80-94. I can only hope that the sellers knew they were selling cum-dividend … which would be more than what I knew, and more than what I published in good faith.

BNA.PR.C Dividend Asserted

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

Well, this dividend has been described as mysterious, but I am in receipt of a communication from a hard-working (on Sunday afternoon!) corporate spokesman to the effect that:

  • The dividend was declared
  • The record date was 2/22
  • The pay date is 3/7
  • The amount is $0.1406
  • She is unsure why Bloomberg & the TSE are not reporting it
  • She will find out whether future dividends will be posted on the website

Dividend information on HIMIPref™ has been changed to reflect this information. Well, that’s that.

BNA.PR.C Dividend Status Still Mysterious

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

I have not yet been able to determine the status of the “current” dividend.

As I intended yesterday, I attempted to make contact with the company today (via both eMail and telephone), but was unsuccessful.

The TSE and Bloomberg are both still not showing any trace of the dividend. Checking the TSE data, by the way, costs me a buck a throw, so I hope you guys are grateful!

I will continue checking.

BNA.PR.C had a busy day today, perhaps a little inventory clean-out, perhaps just happenstance. Last night’s close was 24.91-95, but it traded as low as $24.68. Not many changed hands at that price, but the market was thin! In the afternoon National sold two lots of 10,000 shares apiece to RBC, the first one at $24.90, the second at $24.80, which knocked the closing quote down to $24.68-85.

So the bid’s off $0.23 on the day! It’s certainly behaving as if it has just gone ex-dividend, anyway!

BNA.PR.C : First Dividend Still Unconfirmed

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

As previously noted, I’m having difficulties with this dividend! Dividend dates for this issue have been estimated as 2/26, 2/28, 3/7, even though the BNA.PR.A / BNA.PR.B dates are 2/20, 2/22, 3/7.

However, neither Bloomberg nor the TSX Data service are showing the BNA.PR.C dividend.

I don’t know what to do about this. The company has responded to my initial query about the dividend itself (which they say is the same as the other two) but not (as yet) to my follow-up, asking when the dividend on BNA.PR.C was declared. This is something of a  point (in terms of checking for possible administrative foul-ups) because BNA.PR.C did not exist when the other dividends were declared (December 4 or 5, take your pick).

I’ll try again tomorrow, February 23, to get some answers.

Until then (at least!), the dividend dates on HIMIPref™ will remain as 2/26, 2/28, 3/7, but it’s only a guess! Since HIMIPref™ will evaluate the issue on a cum-dividend basis, whereas it might be ex-dividend, I recommend that any HIMIPref™ valuation leading to a purchase of BNA.PR.C be ignored until this matter is cleared up.

 

ABK.PR.C Declares Dividends

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

In a press release today, it was announced that:

The Board of Directors of AllBanc Split Corp. (the “Company”) has today declared a capital gains dividend of $0.76 per Class A Preferred Share and a capital gains dividend of $0.66 per Class A Capital Share, payable on March 9, 2007 to holders of record at the close of business on March 8, 2007.

The dividends previously estimated have been adjusted on HIMIPref™ to reflect the announcement.

BNA.PR.A / BNA.PR.B Dividends Confirmed; BNA.PR.C unconfirmed

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

According to both Bloomberg & the TSX, dividends for BNA.PR.A and BNA.PR.B have been declared and both these issues are ex-Dividend today, February 20. According to Bloomberg, the declaration date was 12/5; the TSX shows the declaration date as 12/4.

The HIMIPref™ data changes previously announced have been reversed for these two issues.

BNA.PR.C is a little trickier; the prospectus states that the expected record date for the first dividend will be 2/22, which implies an ex-dividend date of today; but neither Bloomberg nor the TSX are showing it.

I have sent an inquiry to the company.

BNA.PR.A / BNA.PR.B / BNA.PR.C Dividend Estimate

Monday, February 19th, 2007

As previously noted, there seems to be a little difficulty this quarter getting dividend information from BAM Split Corp. No data is available from press releases, their website, or TSX data services.

Accordingly, dividend dates for these issues have been re-estimated as being 2/26, 2/28 and 3/7.

The following table shows the last eight dividends for BNA.PR.A

Recent Dividends, BNA.PR.A
Ex-Date Record Date Pay Date Amount
2005-02-18 2005-02-22 2005-03-07 0.390625
2005-05-18 2005-05-20 2005-06-07 0.390625
2005-08-18 2005-08-22 2005-09-07 0.390625
2005-11-18 2005-11-22 2005-12-07 0.390625
2006-02-20 2006-02-22 2006-03-07 0.390625
2006-05-19 2006-05-24 2006-06-07 0.390625
2006-08-18 2006-08-22 2006-09-07 0.390625
2006-11-20 2006-11-22 2006-12-07 0.390625

ABK.PR.C Dividend Estimate

Friday, February 16th, 2007

Dividends have not yet been declared for this issue. On the basis of past history:

Recent Dividends, ABK.PR.C
Ex-Date Record Date Pay Date Amount
2005-03-07 2005-03-09 2005-03-10 0.760000
2005-06-07 2005-06-09 2005-06-10 0.760000
2005-08-22 2005-08-24 2005-09-10 0.760000
2005-11-22 2005-11-24 2005-12-09 0.760000
2006-03-07 2006-03-09 2006-03-10 0.760000
2006-05-19 2006-05-24 2006-06-09 0.760000
2006-08-22 2006-08-24 2006-09-08 0.760000
2006-11-22 2006-11-24 2006-12-08 0.760000

… it appears that this company enjoys playing games with the first dividend in each calendar year.

Why, I couldn’t begin to guess. However, the dividend dates have been estimated as 3/7, 3/9, 3/12; this will be checked in due course.