PrefBlog

DBRS Limited has announced that it:

upgraded its credit ratings on the Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 8; the Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 9; the Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 10; the Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 11; the Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 12; and the Class AA Preferred Shares, Series 13 (collectively, the Class AA Preferred Shares) issued by Partners Value Split Corp. (the Company) to Pfd-2 from Pfd-2 (low).

Previously, the Company’s portfolio (the Portfolio) consisted entirely of the Class A Limited Voting Shares of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (Brookfield). However, in November 2022, Brookfield and Brookfield Asset Management Limited (BAM or the Manager) made an announcement regarding the public listing of the Manager and distribution of a 25% interest in Brookfield’s asset management business through the Manager. This transaction became effective on December 9, 2022, and resulted in the division of Brookfield into two publicly traded companies: (1) Brookfield Corporation (BN; Issuer Rating and Senior Notes and Debentures rated “A” and Preferred Shares rated Pfd-2 with Stable trends by Morningstar DBRS), which was previously named Brookfield Asset Management Inc.; and (2) Brookfield Asset Management Limited. As a result of this spinoff, Partners Value Split Corp. now holds shares of BN and BAM.

All series of Class AA Preferred Shares rank senior to the Capital Shares, the Class AAA Preferred Shares, and the Junior Preferred Shares, Series 1; the Junior Preferred Shares, Series 2; and the Junior Preferred Shares, Series 3 (collectively, the Junior Preferred Shares) and rank pari passu with all other Class AA Preferred Shares with respect to the payment of dividends and repayment of principal. Dividends from the Portfolio are used to fund the payment of interest on the debentures to the extent that any have been issued and to fund the payment of dividends on the Class AA Preferred Shares. Currently, there are no outstanding debentures in the Company.

Preferred shareholders of Class AA Preferred Shares are entitled to receive fixed cumulative dividends with a yield of 4.80%, 4.90%, 4.70%, 4.75%, 4.40%, and 4.45% on the issue price of $25 (listed in sequential order from Series 8 to Series 13). The Junior Preferred Shareholders are entitled to receive quarterly noncumulative cash distributions at an annual rate of 5% when declared by the board of directors. There is $295 million worth of Junior Preferred Shares currently outstanding. The Company’s Capital Shareholders will receive excess dividend income only after interest on the debentures, Class AA Preferred Share distributions, Junior Preferred Share distributions, and other Company expenses have been paid. Any capital appreciation of the BN and BAM shares will benefit the Capital Shareholders.

The Company has issued a limited number of Class A Voting Shares that rank senior to the Class AA Preferred Shares in respect of capital upon the Company’s dissolution, winding up, or insolvency. There are currently 100 of such shares outstanding with a book value of USD 8.00 each.

As of February 27, 2024, the asset coverage, downside protection, and dividend coverage stood at 8.9 times (x), 88.8%, and 2.8x, respectively. Because of the excess-only nature of both Junior Preferred Share and Capital Share dividends, there is no grind on the Portfolio. The Company receives dividends in U.S. dollars; consequently, there is risk that an appreciating Canadian dollar will cause the dividend coverage ratio to fall below 1.0x. In the event of a shortfall, the Company may sell some of the BN or BAM shares, engage in security lending, or write covered call options to generate sufficient income to satisfy its obligations to pay the Class AA Preferred Shares dividends. If the Company chooses to lend its holdings, the Portfolio would be exposed to the potential losses if the borrower defaults on its obligations to return the borrowed securities.

Given that the Company’s portfolio holds BN and BAM only and BN further owns 75% of BAM, the credit rating on the Company’s Class AA Preferred Shares is driven by the credit ratings on BN’s Preferred Shares. Because of the recent upgrade of the credit rating on BN’s Preferred Shares to Pfd-2 from Pfd-2 (low) in November 2023 and the Company’s stable performance in 2023, Morningstar DBRS upgraded the credit rating on the Company’s Class AA Preferred Shares to Pfd-2 from Pfd-2 (low).

The main constraints to the credit ratings are the following:

(1) The downside protection available to the Class AA Preferred Shareholders depends solely on the market value of BN and BAM shares held in the Portfolio, which could fluctuate over time.

(2) There is a lack of diversification, as the Portfolio is entirely made up of BN and BAM shares.

(3) Changes in BN and BAM’s dividend policies may result in reductions in Class AA Preferred Shares dividend coverage.

(4) Downside protection available to the Class AA Preferred Shares may be negatively affected by the retraction of the Junior Preferred Shares.

Affected issues are PVS.PR.F, PVS.PR.G, PVS.PR.H, PVS.PR.I, PVS.PR.J and PVS.PR.K.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has announced:

the applicable dividend rates, determined as of March 1, 2024, for its Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series D (the “Series D Preferred Shares”) and Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series E (the “Series E Preferred Shares”).

With respect to any Series D Preferred Shares that remain outstanding after April 1, 2024, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly fixed cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the board of directors of the Company (the “Board”). The dividend rate for the 5-year period from and including March 31, 2024 to but excluding March 31, 2029 will be 6.853%, being equal to the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield determined as of March 1, 2024 plus 3.28%, in accordance with the terms of the Series D Preferred Shares.

With respect to any Series E Preferred Shares that may be issued on April 1, 2024, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board. The dividend rate for the 3-month floating rate period from and including March 31, 2024 to but excluding June 30, 2024 will be 8.261%, being equal to the 3-month Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield determined as of March 1, 2024 plus 3.28%, calculated on the basis of the actual number of days in such quarterly period divided by 365, in accordance with the terms of the Series E Preferred Shares.

Beneficial owners of Series D Preferred Shares who wish to exercise their conversion right should communicate with their broker or other nominee to ensure their instructions are followed so that the registered holder of the Series D Preferred Shares can meet the deadline to exercise such conversion right, which is 5:00 p.m. (EST) on March 18, 2024.

AQN.PR.D was issued as a FixedReset, 5.00%+328, that commenced trading 2014-3-5 after being announced 2014-2-24. The extension was announced 2019-2-26 and the reset to 5.091% effective March 31, 2019 was announced 2019-3-1. I recommended against conversion and there was no conversion. Notice of extension was issued in 2024. The issue is tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps-FixedReset (Discount) subindex on credit concerns.

Thanks to Assiduous Readers niagara and xalier for bringing this to my attention!

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (“Brookfield Infrastructure”) (NYSE: BIP; TSX: BIP.UN) today announced that BIP Investment Corporation (“BIPIC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure, has determined:

the fixed dividend rate on its Senior Preferred Shares, Series 1 (“Series 1 Shares”) (TSX: BIK.PR.A) for the five years commencing April 1, 2024 and ending March 31, 2029.

Series 1 Shares and Series 2 Shares

If declared, the fixed quarterly dividends on the Series 1 Shares during the five years commencing April 1, 2024 will be paid at an annual rate of 7.475% ($0.4671875 per share per quarter).

Holders of Series 1 Shares have the right, at their option, exercisable not later than 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on March 18, 2024, to convert all or part of their Series 1 Shares, on a one-for-one basis, into Senior Preferred Shares, Series 2 (“Series 2 Shares”), effective March 31, 2024.

The quarterly floating rate dividends on the Series 2 Shares will be paid at an annual rate, calculated for each quarter, of 3.96% over the annual yield on three-month Government of Canada treasury bills. The actual quarterly dividend rate in respect of the April 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 dividend period for the Series 2 Shares will be 2.22913% (8.941% on an annualized basis) and the dividend, if declared, for such dividend period will be $0.5572825 per share, payable on June 30, 2024.

Holders of Series 1 Shares are not required to elect to convert all or any part of their Series 1 Shares into Series 2 Shares.

As provided in the share provisions of the Series 1 Shares, (i) if BIPIC determines that there would be fewer than 500,000 Series 1 Shares outstanding after March 31, 2024, all remaining Series 1 Shares will be automatically converted into Series 2 Shares on a one-for-one basis effective March 31, 2024; or (ii) if BIPIC determines that there would be fewer than 500,000 Series 2 Shares outstanding after March 31, 2024, no Series 1 Shares will be converted into Series 2 Shares. There are currently 4,000,000 Series 1 Shares outstanding.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) has conditionally approved the listing of the Series 2 Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series 2 Shares is subject to BIPIC fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX.

About Brookfield Infrastructure

Brookfield Infrastructure is a leading global infrastructure company that owns and operates high-quality, long-life assets in the utilities, transport, midstream and data sectors across the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe. We are focused on assets that have contracted and regulated revenues that generate predictable and stable cash flows. Investors can access its portfolio either through Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP; TSX: BIP.UN), a Bermuda-based limited partnership, or Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation (NYSE, TSX: BIPC), a Canadian corporation. Further information is available at https://bip.brookfield.com.

Brookfield Infrastructure is the flagship listed infrastructure company of Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with over US$900 billion of assets under management. For more information, go to https://brookfield.com.

BIK.PR.A was issued as a FixedReset, 5.85%+396M585, that commenced trading 2019-02-05 after being announced 2019-1-29. It is tracked by HIMIPref™ and is assigned to the FixedReset (Discount) sub-index.

Thanks to Assiduous Reader niagara and CanSiamCyp for bringing this to my attention!

Brookfield Corporation has announced:

that it has determined the fixed dividend rate on its Cumulative Class A Preference Shares, Series 34 (“Series 34 Shares”) (TSX: BN.PF.B) for the five years commencing April 1, 2024 and ending March 31, 2029.

If declared, the fixed quarterly dividends on the Series 34 Shares during the five years commencing April 1, 2024 will be paid at an annual rate of 6.145% ($0.3840625 per share per quarter).

Holders of Series 34 Shares have the right, at their option, exercisable not later than 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on March 18, 2024, to convert all or part of their Series 34 Shares, on a one-for-one basis, into Cumulative Class A Preference Shares, Series 35 (the “Series 35 Shares”), effective March 31, 2024. The quarterly floating rate dividends on the Series 35 Shares will be paid at an annual rate, calculated for each quarter, of 2.63% over the annual yield on three-month Government of Canada treasury bills. The actual quarterly dividend rate in respect of the April 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 dividend period for the Series 35 Shares will be 1.89754% (7.611% on an annualized basis) and the dividend, if declared, for such dividend period will be $0.474385 per share, payable on June 30, 2024.

Holders of Series 34 Shares are not required to elect to convert all or any part of their Series 34 Shares into Series 35 Shares.

As provided in the share conditions of the Series 34 Shares, (i) if Brookfield determines that there would be fewer than 1,000,000 Series 34 Shares outstanding after March 31, 2024, all remaining Series 34 Shares will be automatically converted into Series 35 Shares on a one-for-one basis effective March 31, 2024; and (ii) if Brookfield determines that there would be fewer than 1,000,000 Series 35 Shares outstanding after March 31, 2024, no Series 34 Shares will be permitted to be converted into Series 35 Shares. There are currently 9,876,735 Series 34 Shares outstanding.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) has conditionally approved the listing of the Series 35 Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series 35 Shares is subject to Brookfield fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX.

BN.PF.B was issued as BAM.PF.B, a FixedReset, 4.20%+263, that commenced trading 2012-9-12 after being announced 2012-8-23. It reset to 4.437% effective 2019-4-1. I recommended against conversion and there was no conversion. The ticker changed to BN.PF.B in late 2022. The issue is tracked by HIMIPref™ and assigned to the FixedReset (Discount) sub-index.

Thanks to Assiduous Readers CanSiamCyp, niagara and PC for bringing this to my attention!