Mr. Groia has spoken scathingly about his profession’s “civility movement” and has painted the discipline proceedings as a worrying attack on the ability of all lawyers to mount vigorous defences in high-stakes cases. He has received support from prominent voices in the legal community, including former Conrad Black lawyer Edward Greenspan, who warned of a chill that could see defence lawyers second-guess tough arguments for fear they will be face discipline years later.
DBRS has confirmed Brookfield Canada Office Properties at BBB:
The confirmation is based primarily on BCOP’s steady operating performance and stable financial profile within the context of a relatively inactive year for new investment. The Stable trend reflects DBRS’s expectation that operating performance will remain consistent in the near to medium term, incorporating the potential for moderately higher financial leverage that may be incurred with the refinancing of upcoming debt maturities.
…
BCOP’s operating income increased significantly to $239 million in 2012 from $204 million in 2011, primarily due to a full year of contribution from the 25% interest in the Canadian Office Fund, which was acquired in late 2011. BCOP achieved same-property net operating income growth of 4.8% in 2012, mainly due to higher average rental rates on renewals and a slight improvement in overall occupancy rate (96.9% as at December 31, 2012). The higher rental rates and solid occupancy levels reached by BCOP are reflective of favourable office leasing conditions in its core markets. That said, there has been a lack of suitable supply with attractive valuations in these markets, which contributed to the fact that BCOP did not make any significant new investments or require any material capital raises in 2012.As such, BCOP’s debt balance and EBITDA interest coverage remained relatively steady in 2012 at 2.19 times (x), versus 2.22x in 2011. DBRS notes that debt-to-capital decreased to 39.9% at December 31, 2012, from 43.1% at the end of 2011, based on higher asset valuations.
This is relevant to BAM investors because:
The Trust is a subsidiary of BPO Properties Ltd. (“BPP”), which owns an aggregate equity interest in the Trust of 83.3% as of December 31, 2012 consisting of 40.5% of the issued and outstanding units of BOX (“Trust Units”) and 100% of the issued and outstanding Class B limited partnership units (“Class B LP Units”) of Brookfield Office Properties Canada LP (“BOPC LP”), a subsidiary of BOX that owns direct interests in the Trust’s investment properties.
… and BPO Properties has proposed to exchange its preferreds for preferreds in it its owner, Brookfield Office Properties, and:
Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (“Brookfield Office Properties” or “the company”) is incorporated under the laws of Canada. The company owns, develops and operates commercial office properties in select cities in North America, Australia and the United Kingdom. The company is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (“BAM”), which owns approximately 51% of the company’s voting shares.
DBRS also confirmed Thomson Reuters at A (low), R-1 (low) and Pfd-2 (low), Stable, proud issuer of TRI.PR.B:
The ratings confirmation reflects positive expectations regarding the Company’s enhanced product offerings, particularly in the Financial & Risk segment, along with its stable free cash flow generation over the past year. The ratings continue to be supported by the Company’s entrenched market position, predominantly subscription-based revenue model and the diverse nature of its customer base. The ratings also reflect intensifying competition in key segments as well as risks associated with the Company’s acquisition and divestiture program.
It was another poor day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums off 11bp, FixedResets losing 31bp and DeemedRetractibles down 14bp. A relatively lengthy list of Performance Highlights is dominated by losing FixedResets – highly skewed towards those with low Issue Reset Spreads. Volume was extremely high; perhaps related to Monday’s index changes.
| HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
|||||||
| Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
| Ratchet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.2054 % | 2,586.4 |
| FixedFloater | 3.92 % | 3.13 % | 32,963 | 18.85 | 1 | 2.1044 % | 4,195.7 |
| Floater | 2.69 % | 2.89 % | 84,637 | 20.01 | 4 | 0.2054 % | 2,792.7 |
| OpRet | 4.81 % | 2.17 % | 63,447 | 0.19 | 5 | -0.1005 % | 2,606.8 |
| SplitShare | 4.80 % | 4.02 % | 127,814 | 4.12 | 5 | -0.0549 % | 2,962.8 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1005 % | 2,383.7 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.19 % | 3.51 % | 85,203 | 0.53 | 32 | -0.1114 % | 2,377.1 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 4.84 % | 4.83 % | 172,368 | 15.73 | 4 | -0.0607 % | 2,690.0 |
| FixedReset | 4.95 % | 2.87 % | 248,118 | 4.00 | 80 | -0.3127 % | 2,495.1 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.88 % | 3.52 % | 127,865 | 1.53 | 44 | -0.1447 % | 2,447.6 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | -5.71 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.75 Bid-YTW : 4.34 % |
| GWO.PR.N | FixedReset | -1.82 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.80 Bid-YTW : 3.30 % |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | -1.78 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-19 Maturity Price : 23.66 Evaluated at bid price : 25.88 Bid-YTW : 2.82 % |
| GWO.PR.H | Deemed-Retractible | -1.50 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.92 Bid-YTW : 4.94 % |
| MFC.PR.J | FixedReset | -1.30 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2018-03-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.86 Bid-YTW : 3.32 % |
| IAG.PR.G | FixedReset | -1.14 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2017-06-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.97 Bid-YTW : 3.38 % |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset | -1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.73 Bid-YTW : 3.20 % |
| BAM.PR.G | FixedFloater | 2.10 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-19 Maturity Price : 23.06 Evaluated at bid price : 24.26 Bid-YTW : 3.13 % |
| BAM.PR.K | Floater | 2.32 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-19 Maturity Price : 18.05 Evaluated at bid price : 18.05 Bid-YTW : 2.92 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| TRP.PR.D | FixedReset | 747,098 | Added to TXPR.
Scotia crossed 100,000 at 26.00. National crossed blocks of 200,000 shares, 101,000 and 25,000, all at 26.00. TD crossed blocks of 50,000 shares, 10,000 and 22,000, all at 26.00. |
| GWO.PR.P | Deemed-Retractible | 134,966 | Nesbitt crossed 75,600 at 26.40; National crossed two blocks of 25,000 each at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-03-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.37 Bid-YTW : 4.64 % |
| BNS.PR.P | FixedReset | 109,446 | Imminent partial conversion to first FloatingReset. TD crossed 70,700 at 25.19. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-05-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.15 Bid-YTW : -2.59 % |
| POW.PR.G | Perpetual-Premium | 102,520 | RBC crossed 60,000 at 27.10; Scotia crossed 39,700 at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2017-04-15 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.01 Bid-YTW : 4.35 % |
| FTS.PR.C | OpRet | 95,353 | Added to TXPR. Scotia crossed 10,000 at 25.43; Desjardins crossed 75,000 at 25.45. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-06-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.45 Bid-YTW : -3.54 % |
| CU.PR.F | Perpetual-Premium | 79,535 | Added to TXPR.
National crossed 25,000 at 25.46. Scotia crossed 34,400 at 25.50. |
| There were 83 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | Quote: 24.75 – 26.35 Spot Rate : 1.6000 Average : 0.8961 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.J | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 25.90 – 27.00 Spot Rate : 1.1000 Average : 0.7879 YTW SCENARIO |
| BNA.PR.E | SplitShare | Quote: 25.70 – 26.20 Spot Rate : 0.5000 Average : 0.2902 YTW SCENARIO |
| GWO.PR.H | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 24.92 – 25.35 Spot Rate : 0.4300 Average : 0.2611 YTW SCENARIO |
| PWF.PR.O | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 26.48 – 26.92 Spot Rate : 0.4400 Average : 0.2790 YTW SCENARIO |
| PWF.PR.R | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 26.67 – 27.04 Spot Rate : 0.3700 Average : 0.2608 YTW SCENARIO |