Archive for February, 2007

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.

February 19, 2007

Monday, February 19th, 2007
Note that these indices are experimental; the absolute and relative daily values are expected to change in the final version. In this version, index values are based at 1,000.0 on 2006-6-30
Index Mean Current Yield (at bid) Mean YTW Mean Average Trading Value Mean Mod Dur (YTW) Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 4.08% 4.10% 28,327 17.23 1 -0.3175% 1,044.4
Fixed-Floater 4.79% 3.36% 86,996 6.36 7 +0.3377% 1,046.5
Floater 4.48% -21.55% 55,437 6.59 5 -0.2655% 1,047.8
Op. Retract 4.70% 2.37% 75,401 2.07 18 +0.0357% 1,032.0
Split-Share 5.09% 1.28% 260,867 2.63 14 +0.0197% 1,044.9
Interest Bearing 6.47% 3.95% 59,409 2.36 5 +0.3539% 1,039.2
Perpetual-Premium 5.03% 3.90% 222,165 4.91 51 +0.0438% 1,053.6
Perpetual-Discount 4.53% 4.55% 1,159,789 16.30 11 +0.0479% 1,059.9
Major Price Changes
Issue Index Change Notes
SXT.PR.A SplitShare +1.1623% I don’t get it. How about a word from the sponsor? “The special annual retraction date occurs on March 15th of each year. … The Company may redeem Preferred Shares on any annual retraction date at a price per share equal to $25.00 to the extent that Capital Shares are retracted under a special annual retraction.” I’ve brought this up before, but no one pays attention. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of -16.14% (NEGATIVE 16.14%) based on a bid of $26.11 and a call 2007-4-14 at $25.00. It will be most interesting to learn the percentage retraction this time ’round.
BSD.PR.A InterestBearing +1.6000% This one makes more sense. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 5.97% (as interest) based on a bid of $10.16 and a hardMaturity 2015-3-31 at $10.00
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Volume Notes
SLF.PR.D PerpetualDiscount 56,437 Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.49% based on a bid of $24.65 and a limitMaturity.
AL.PR.E Floater 51,125 TD crossed 44,300 at $26.50.
CM.PR.J PerpetualDiscount 50,430 Recent New Issue. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.53% based on a bid of $24.90 and a limitMaturity.
BNS.PR.L PerpetualPremium 36,100 Recent New Issue. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.51% based on a bid of $25.10 and either a call 2016-5-27 at $25.00, or a limitMaturity. Take your pick.
SLF.PR.E PerpetualDiscount 23,900 Recent New Issue. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.53% based on a bid of $24.76 and a limitMaturity.

There were nine other “$25 p.v. equivalent” index-included issues with over 10,000 shares traded today.

New Issue : YPG Holdings 4.25% 6-Year Retractible

Monday, February 19th, 2007

 

Yellow Pages Income Fund (the “Fund”) (TSX:YLO.UN) announced today that its subsidiary, YPG Holdings Inc. (the “Issuer”), will be issuing 12,000,000 cumulative redeemable preferred shares, series 1 (the “Series 1 Shares”) for aggregate gross proceeds of $300 million on a bought deal basis to a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotia Capital Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., RBC Capital Markets and BMO Capital Markets, acting as joint book-runners.

 

The issue price is $25.00 and the dividend is 4.25% p.a., payable quarterly. Issue size is 12-million shares ($300-million) and the underwriters have the option until March 31 to purchase an additionaly 1.8-million shares ($45-million).

The initial dividend will be $0.32894, payable June 27 based on a closing date of March 6, 2007.

There are call privileges on the issue, which are exercisable only in circumstances in which the Series 1 shares are entitled to vote separately as a class or series by law. This “special call privilege” has the following schedule:

Special Call, if redeemed during the 12 months
Commencing March 31, Redemption Price
2007 $26.25
2008 26.00
2009 25.75
2010 25.50
2011 25.25

There is a normal call, exercisable on and after March 31, 2012 at the corporation’s whim, to call at $25.00 cash.

The corporation can force conversion in to Trust Units of Yellow Pages Income Fund at the greater of (i) $2, or (ii) 95% of the Trust Units’ trading price at any time at which it could redeem the shares (including the special call).

The shares are retractible to cash on and after Dec 31, 2012 at $25.00.

This issue has ratings (provisional, presumably) of :

DBRS Pfd-3(high)
S&P P-3

More later.

Update & Bump: The issue has been entered into the HIMIPref™ database on a preIssue basis, with the securityCode P50011.

There aren’t too many comparables for this issue, but I’ll do what I can!

Curve Price & Comparables for YPG.PR.?
Item YPG.PR.? BNA.PR.C BAM.PR.J CFS.PR.A
Price due to base-rate 24.15 24.00  26.57  9.89 
Price due to short-term -0.51  -0.61  -0.65  -0.19
Price due to long-term 1.40  1.67  1.78  0.52
Price to to Cumulative Dividends 0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00
Price due to SplitShareCorp 0.00  -1.19  0.00  -0.22
Price due to Retractibility 0.84  1.52  1.52  0.29
Price due to Liquidity 0.46  0.85  -0.09  0.16
Price due to Credit Spread (2) 0.00  -0.39  -0.39  0.00
Price due to Credit Spread (3) -0.60  0.00  0.00  0.00
Price due to Credit Spread (High) 0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00
Price due to Credit Spread (Low) 0.00  0.00  -0.29  0.00
Price due to error 0.02  0.09  0.05  0.01
Curve Price (Taxable Curve)  $25.76  $25.94  $28.50  $10.46
DBRS Credit Rating Pfd-3(high) Pfd-2 Pfd-2(low) Pfd-1
Quote, 2/19  $25.00 (Issue Price)  24.91-95  27.86-97  $10.20-23
YTW (After Tax)  3.36%  3.54%  3.32%  3.07%
Modified Duration (YTW – after tax)  5.27  9.61  6.16  5.40
Pseudo-Convexity (YTW – after tax)  0.38  0.42  -12.44  0.47
YTW (Pre-tax)  4.24%  4.46% 4.17%  3.86% 

Update 2007-02-20 : I note that the YPG bonds, 5.25% of Feb. 2016 are indicated at Canada 4.5/15 + 143bp, call it 5.51% at last night’s close. So, at a pre-tax YTW of 4.24%, interest equivalent (for rich Ontario residents)  to 5.94%, the new prefs are trading at a reasonable spread to bonds.

Mind you, these are only Pfd-3(high). As credit quality decreases, so does the quality of HIMIPref™’s yield curve analysis. I do not recommend that these prefs be considered for more than 5% of a diversified preferred share portfolio.

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

HIMIPref Indices : October, 1997

Monday, February 19th, 2007

All indices were assigned a value of 1000.0 as of December 31, 1993.

HIMI Index Values 1997-10-31
Index Closing Value (Total Return) Issues Mean Credit Quality Median YTW Median DTW Median Daily Trading Mean Current Yield
Ratchet 1,547.7 0 0 0 0 0 0
FixedFloater 1,551.5 6 2.00 3.45% 17.4 272M 5.10%
Floater 1,457.3 5 1.80 3.84% 17.2 127M 4.20%
OpRet 1,324.6 31 1.25 3.76% 4.3 113M 6.04%
SplitShare 1,356.0 2 1.50 4.82% 5.1 87M 5.32%
Interest-Bearing 1,324.6 0 0 0 0 0 0
Perpetual-Premium 1,233.6 4 1.00 1.94% 1.80 106M 7.95%
Perpetual-Discount 1,177.8 0 0 0 0 0 0

Index Constitution, 1997-10-31, Pre-rebalancing

Index Constitution, 1997-10-31, Post-rebalancing

February 16, 2007

Friday, February 16th, 2007
Note that these indices are experimental; the absolute and relative daily values are expected to change in the final version. In this version, index values are based at 1,000.0 on 2006-6-30
Index Mean Current Yield (at bid) Mean YTW Mean Average Trading Value Mean Mod Dur (YTW) Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 4.06% 4.08% 29,489 17.29 1 0.3584% 1,047.8
Fixed-Floater 4.81% 3.59% 88,954 6.38 7 +0.0129% 1,042.9
Floater 4.47% -23.24% 55,666 3.33 5 -0.0622% 1,050.6
Op. Retract 4.70% 2.28% 75,887 2.07 18 +0.0615% 1,031.6
Split-Share 5.09% 1.78% 267,398 2.64 14 -0.0028% 1,044.6
Interest Bearing 6.49% 3.58% 59,106 2.35 5 -0.1837% 1,035.5
Perpetual-Premium 5.03% 3.70% 225,523 5.11 51 +0.0090% 1,053.1
Perpetual-Discount 4.52% 4.56% 1,178,685 16.27 11 +0.0621% 1,059.4
Major Price Changes
Issue Index Change Notes
ACO.PR.A OpRet +1.4177% Traded as high as $28.40 today and closed at 27.90-06, 3×10. The buyers are obviously sanguine about the potential for a redemption at $26.00, 2008-12-31, which results in the YTW scenario yielding 1.45% pre-tax … they seem to be hoping for the softMaturity 2011-11-30, which will yield 3.09%. Of course, that’s still only the equivalent of a bond paying 4.33% for rich Ontario investors, but that doesn’t seem to matter much!
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Volume Notes
BMO.PR.J PerpetualDiscount 227,100 Recent new issue. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.52% based on a bid of $25.05 and a limitMaturity.
CM.PR.H PerpetualPremium 167,740 Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.18% based on a bid of $26.05 and a call 2014-4-29 at $25.00.
CM.PR.J PerpetualDiscount 166,075 Recent New Issue. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.53% based on a bid of $24.91 and a limitMaturity.
PWF.PR.I PerpetualPremium 30,750 Desjardins bought 12,700 from National Bank in 7 tranches at $26.77 commencing 11:40am, and crossed 10,000 at the same price. It seems awfully brave – the pre-tax bid-YTW is 3.53% based on a bid of $26.80 and a call 2008-5-30 at $26.00. They would appear to be hoping for the call 2012-5-30 at $25.00, which will result in a much more attractive yield of 4.54%. I’d prefer to do that without quite so much risk, though!
BNS.PR.L PerpetualPremium 28,115 Recent New Issue. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.51% based on a bid of 25.07 and a limitMaturity.

There were eight other “$25 p.v. equivalent” index-included issues with over 10,000 shares traded today.

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.

HIMI Preferred Indices : September 1997

Friday, February 16th, 2007

All indices were assigned a value of 1000.0 as of December 31, 1993.

HIMI Index Values 1997-09-30
Index Closing Value (Total Return) Issues Mean Credit Quality Median YTW Median DTW Median Daily Trading Mean Current Yield
Ratchet 1,536.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FixedFloater 1,544.9 6 2.00 3.05% 18.0 516M 5.10%
Floater 1,446.3 6 1.83 3.48% 18.0 154M 3.80%
OpRet 1,352.1 29 1.24 3.88% 4.3 107M 6.16%
SplitShare 1,357.4 2 1.51 4.57% 5.1 87M 5.28%
Interest-Bearing 1,352.1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Perpetual-Premium 1,226.3 4 1.00 2.04% 1.88 120M 7.96%
Perpetual-Discount 1,170.8 0 0 0 0 0 0

February 15, 2007

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

Hell. I have just realized that instead of copying February 14 as a template, I have instead over-written it. All that deathless prose, gone! Sorry.

Note that these indices are experimental; the absolute and relative daily values are expected to change in the final version. In this version, index values are based at 1,000.0 on 2006-6-30
Index Mean Current Yield (at bid) Mean YTW Mean Average Trading Value Mean Mod Dur (YTW) Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 4.07% 4.08% 28,150 17.28 1 0.0000% 1,044.0
Fixed-Floater 4.81% 3.47% 89,478 8.17 7 +0.0339% 1,042.8
Floater 4.46% -24.20% 55,828 3.32 5 +0.0315% 1,051.3
Op. Retract 4.71% 2.28% 77,183 2.08 18 -0.0268% 1,031.0
Split-Share 5.09% 1.70% 273,487 2.64 14 -0.0213% 1,044.7
Interest Bearing 6.48% 3.47% 58,743 2.36 5 +0.2675% 1,037.4
Perpetual-Premium 5.06% 3.76% 227,505 5.06 51 +0.0312% 1,053.0
Perpetual-Discount 4.52% 4.56% 1,178,412 16.27 11 +0.0693% 1,058.8
Major Price Changes
Issue Index Change Notes
There were no index-included issues with significant price moves today.
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Volume Notes
GWO.PR.I PerpetualDiscount 84,315 Nesbitt crossed 75,000 at $25.00. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.55% based on a bid of $25.01 and a limitMaturity.
WFS.PR.A SplitShare 163,312 Scotia crossed 100,000 @ 10.70, then Desjardins bought 25,000 from RBC in two tranches at the same price. Desjardins then crossed 25,000 at $10.70. Nice to see some action in this issue … it’s a perennial favourite of mine. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 3.70% based on a bid of $10.70 and a hardMaturity 2011-6-30 at $10.00. That’s an interest-equivalent of nearly 5.2% at the Ontario Equivalency … not bad for a Pfd-2 (DBRS) with a known maturity of less than five years!
GWO.PR.X OpRet 51,974 I’m not such a big fan of this one … pre-tax bid-YTW of 2.57% based on a bid of $27.55 and a call 2009-10-30 at $26.00. Given the issuer bid, it doesn’t seem likely to me that it will survive to its softMaturity 2013-9-29 to yield 3.20% (especially considering that one can buy GWL bonds maturiting in 2018 to yield about 4.75% – do the math, people!) … but it takes two to make a market!
CM.PR.J PerpetualDiscount 50,480 Recent new issue. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.53% based on a bid of $24.90 and a limitMaturity.
WN.PR.E PerpetualPremium (but not for long, I suspect!) 43,178 Credit Watch Negative! Nesbitt crossed 11,500 at $24.65, CIBC bought 14,500 from Nesbitt at the same price. Now with a pre-tax bid-YTW of 4.88% based on a bid of $24.61 and a limitMaturity. Weston bonds maturing in 2031 are now trading to yield about maybe 5.85% (interest) Make of that what you will.

There were nineteen other “$25 p.v. equivalent” index-included issues with over 10,000 shares traded today.

ENB.PR.D Redemption Completed

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

ENB.PR.D, an interest bearing preferred security, was redeemed today as previously noted. They had, presumably, no difficulty in finding the money for the redemption, what with their recent equity issue and my January gas bill.

This leaves the interestBearing index bereft of all operating companies; it is now populated solely by split-share corporations.

It now remains to be seen whether they will also redeem ENB.PR.A, a perpetual that is currently part of the PerpetualPremium index. This issue has been mentioned as occasionally drifting into negative YTW territory; it’s currently redeemable at $25.25, but will be redeemable at par in December.

Oops! There is actually one remaining operating company issue left in the interestBearing index … BAM.PR.T. However, it is virtually certain that BAM.PR.T will be redeemed in June, so I was only off by five months!