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Topic: Growth Stocks

AIMIA INC. $17.56 – Toronto symbol AIM

AIMIA INC. $17.56 (Toronto symbol AIM; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-205-7315; www.aimia.com; Shares outstanding: 173.0 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.9%) owns and operates Aeroplan, Canada’s largest loyalty program, with over 4.6 million members who collect Aeroplan miles from participating companies. Members can exchange miles for flights, car rentals, hotel rooms and merchandise.

Aimia also owns Nectar, the U.K.’s biggest loyalty program. In addition, it has interests in Air Miles Middle East and Nectar Italia, as well as Club Premier, the leading loyalty program in Mexico.

In the three months ended December 31, 2013, Aimia’s revenue rose 1.4%, to $687.6 million from $678.2 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share fell 5.8%, to $0.49 from $0.52. The earnings decline was due to an increase in the company’s cost per mile, mostly because its expenses rose as it expanded its operations.

On January 1, 2014, TD Bank replaced CIBC as the main credit card issuer for Aeroplan. Under a new 10-year deal, TD is now launching new credit cards under the Aeroplan banner, including cards for frequent flyers and small businesses. The deal also let CIBC, the former issuer, hang on to Aeroplan accounts held by customers who also bank at CIBC. That was about half the Aeroplan portfolio.

The TD deal is working well for Aimia, with the bank issuing far more new cards than expected and few former CIBC cardholders cancelling.

The company will likely earn $1.50 a share in 2014. The stock trades at just 11.7 times that forecast. A slow global recovery could hinder Aimia’s growth, but its long-term outlook is positive.

Aimia is a buy.

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