holding company
BCE INC. $29 (Toronto symbol BCE; SI Rating: Above average) has struggled in the past few years due to increasing competition in its core telephone business, which supplies 40% of its revenue and half of its profit. It also suffers from a “holding company discount": the current price of the stock is less than the total value of its various assets (wireless, Internet, satellite TV, etc.). Selling or rearranging these assets would give BCE more cash and/or income, and let it focus on its core operations.
Older businesses go into new trust
BCE now hopes that several recent announcements will simplify its operations and spur the stock price. The latest is a proposal to form a new trust that will hold its rural telephone lines in Ontario and Quebec. The new trust will also hold the land-line business of 53.2%-owned Aliant Inc., which is the main telephone company in Atlantic Canada. BCE will own 73.5% of the new trust, but that will fall to 45% after it hands out some of these units to its owns shareholders as a tax-deferred distribution. The company will also assume control over Aliant’s wireless business, which will expand the geographic reach of it’s own wireless operations....
DUNDEE CORP. $33 (Toronto symbol DBC.SV.A; SI Rating: Average) holds equity interests in several businesses. Its main asset is its 63% stake in Dundee Wealth Management Inc., which sells investments, life insurance and other financial services through about 4,000 independent advisors across Canada. Through 86%-owned Dundee Realty Corp., Dundee invests in commercial and residential real estate developments in Canada and the United States. It also invests in junior resource companies. In the three months ended September 30, 2005, Dundee earned $0.24 a share (total $6.4 million), down 56.4% from $0.55 a share ($14.4 million) a year earlier. But the latest results included a $5.0 million pre-tax charge related to Dundee’s plan to upgrade the computer systems of its brokerage operations. Revenue fell 7.7%, to $205.7 million from $222.8 million, mostly due to lower revenue from its real estate division, following last year’s sale of a condominium project. Investors tend to avoid Dundee for several reasons, including its complex holding company structure and dual-class shares....
Many investors limit their holdings in the Finance sector of their portfolio to Canada’s big five banks. While we have a high opinion of the banks, and recommend that every investor own at least one of them, we also advise investors to look beyond them. Here are three non-bank financial services stocks that we see as buys for long-term gains. However, only two are suitable for conservative investors. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $29 (Toronto symbol GWO; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s largest insurance company, with assets under administration of $174.1 billion. Power Financial Corp. owns 75% of the company’s stock....
BCE INC. $28 (Toronto symbol BCE; SI Rating: Above-Average) provides local and long distance telephone service to customers throughout Ontario and Quebec. Other services offered by the company include wireless communications, direct-to-home satellite television, Internet access and e-commerce. BCE also owns 68.5% of Bell Globemedia, the owner of CTV, The Globe and Mail and several specialty channels. BCE made $0.50 a share from ongoing operations in the three months ended September 30, 2005, down 3.8% from $0.52 a year earlier. Revenues rose 3.1%, to $4.95 billion from $4.8 billion. BCE still suffers from a “holding company” discount, and may spin off or sell more of its divisions to unlock its hidden value. The company recently agreed to sell most of its shares in computer consulting firm CGI Group back to CGI for $859.2 million. That still leaves BCE with $242 million worth of CGI shares, which it plans to sell in 2006. BCE has also agreed to sell most of its controlling stake in Bell Globemedia. It will receive $1.3 billion, and see its interest in Bell Globemedia fall from 68.5% to 20%....