It Helps Two Ways…

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $35.72 (Toronto symbol BCE; SI Rating: Above-Average) has deferred declaring its second-quarter quarter common share dividend of $0.365 a share. That will save the company $294 million. BCE feels that holding on to the cash will make the $42.75-a-share takeover price more attractive to the buyers. The buyers may wind up paying less for BCE in the wake of tighter bank lending and lower stock markets. But if the dividend deferral pushes up the ultimate price, and you hold your shares outside an RRSP, you will wind up better off — the tax rate on the capital gains you’ll realize on the takeover is less than the tax you would have paid on the dividend. BCE is still a buy. buy…