Topic: Growth Stocks

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Thursday, May 20, 2016

Article Excerpt

AIMIA INC., $7.45, symbol AIM on Toronto, owns and operates Aeroplan, Canada’s largest loyalty program. The plan has over 5 million members who collect Aeroplan miles from participating companies. They can exchange those miles for flights, but also car rentals, hotel rooms and merchandise. In the U.K., Aimia owns Nectar, that country’s biggest loyalty program. The company also has interests in Air Miles Middle East and Club Premier—the leading loyalty program in Mexico. In the three months ended March 31, 2016, the company’s revenue fell 13.6%, to $570.1 million from $660.1 million a year earlier. The decline was the result of the lower contribution from Nectar as well as the shutdown of the Nectar Italia program. Excluding one-time items, overall earnings per share fell 13.3%, to $0.13 from $0.15. Aimia’s debt of $647.6 million is high at 59% of its $1.1 billion market cap. But it does hold cash of $382.3 million, or $2.51 a share. In 2015, the company cut…