Companies which bought back their stock or debt in the last 3-6 months ?

[cheapguy]

Which companies bought their stock or their debt and retired them ?

If they did in the last 3-6months during this credit crunch, that would be great.

 

That list would be good to start looking for prudent capital allocation by management, or even show their confidence in their financial situation or moat.

 

Greatly appreciate, if anyone can post a list of such companies.

 

 

[JAllen]

PLD, APL, FUR come to mind immediately.

[benhacker]

SHLD, UNAM, ORH, FFH

[cheapguy]

In the same spirit of this thread;;;;

 

Which companies increased their dividends in the latest quarter ?

 

and

 

Which companies did cash only acquisitions ?

[Phoenix01]

NEM (Canada) bought back 1% of outstanding in Jan & Feb 09.

[JAllen]

MCF

[claphands22]

PPD...trying to rationalize my morality to buy it.

[enoch01]

LUK said they were going to look for opportunities to buy back their debt.  I don't know if they've actually done it yet.

[ubuy2wron]

Celestica  CLS bought back debt it was a net-net by the way.

[marcowelby]

Not only  in the last 6 months  but active shares buyback for years

 

Onex (OCX on the TSX)

 

Year Shares(millions)

2000:        164

2001:        162.5

2002:        161.1

2003:        153.7

2004:        140

2005:        138.8

2006: 133

2007: 125

2008: 122.5

 

Brault & Martineau (GBT.A on the TSX)

[this is my own estimate correcting for split]

 

Year Shares(millions)

2000:        54.2

2001:        49.3

2002:        47.4

2003:        39.8

2004:        37.7

2005:        36.1

2006: 35.1

2007: 33.1

2008: 30.8

 

[WideMoat]

Moody's (MCO) was in Oct and Nov, but slowed down significantly in December and January.

[prevalou]

Has somebody an idea about the competitive advantage of Brault & Martineau?

[bookie71]

First National Bank of Alaska bouth back about 5000 share (1.3%) this past year.  FBAK

[marcowelby]

Brault et Martineau (BMTC) is a “boring” furniture store in the province of Quebec.

 

Its main competitor are Leon’s furniture [LNF] and the Brick Income Trust [bRK.UN] (which has suspended its distribution in February 2009)

 

BMTC CEO is Mr. Yves Des Groseillers. Who seems dedicated to increase shareholder value

 

I am not sure what is its competitive advantage compared to its competitor though except for its management, dedication to share buyback throughout the years and profitability.

 

For those who have invest in BMTC throughout the years, it has been a tremendously profitable investment.See attachment(sorry it is in french though)

 

[ECCO]

If i can had to your post Dr, I would say that BMTC Group is as you say a very well run company,  with a perfect balance sheet, a big market share that make them dominating their market in term of advertising. Management is dedicated to shareholder as they increased dividend every years and also buyback share every years.

 

They own most of the buildings they used, without any loan on it.

 

Im a proud owner of this compagny for 12 years now. That makes BMTC a 17 baggers for me. Can i tell you guys that I like boring company like that!

 

That being said, I expect BMTC to give me a good return in the next few years but not as good as the last 10 years. With BMTC, you buy a good company that can give you 15% per year over the long term without (almost) any risk.

 

 

ECCO

 

 

[prevalou]

thanks for all these informations about BMTC.

Is there something different with the shopping experience? Are they cheaper than their competitors ? Are their products better quality ? Or is BMTC a better known brand?

Maybe someone who lives nearby can tell why they are successful ?

[marcowelby]

A few years ago BMTC changed their store with large surface. They sell furniture, mattress, appliances and electronics.

 

The furniture is aimed at the average costumer. I can’t see much differences from one from BTMC or The Brick. (My own experience when we bought a bedroom set for my two sons is that one chose from The Brick and the other from BMTC. The price and financing was about equal. The service after the sale was better at BMTC [the furniture from BMTC was received promptly whereas we had to wait from The Brick]. The furniture from BMTC seems to withstand time somewhat bettter. But what  is a single experience worth? ).

 

 

They have financing options which third party take over.

 

They have regular advertising on TV so everybody know Brault and Martineau in Quebec. They have not venture to develop the business outside Quebec so far.

 

When the price of the share is between ~$30 and $40 they split the stock 2 to 1 and keep on buying back the stock

 

 

What can I say more?

 

[i have translated my previous attachment, I hope it is understandable]

[marcowelby]

My link from the previous post does not work!

 

Trying again

[ubuy2wron]

I have owned Leon for  longer a very similar company with a similar management style

[prevalou]

does someone know how old is Yves des Groseillers ?

[calonego]

From my limited experience in La Belle Province, BMTC historically had a substantial advantage based on the limited national competition there (The Brick and Leon's weren't as prevalent there till recently, The Brick only recently expanded to the second largest city, Quebec).

 

So going forward you have a little more competition, but that's not that big of a deal, The Brick shouldn't push margins much. And the main story with BMTC is working capital efficiency and smart buy-backs.

 

The board of BMTC includes Lucien Bouchard, the leader of the 'oui' side of the '95 referendum (Quebec the province, or Nation as he would say, nearly separated from the rest of Canada). Bouchard is listed in the annual filings as the former Prime Minister of Quebec, where as every other leader of a Canadian Province is referred to as a Premiere (he is similarly referred to as a Premier by most Canadians and on sites like Wikipedia...) The company is based in Quebec City, and is likely pro the Quebec Nationalistic ideal... This bothers me slightly, as does the valuation.

I have friends that are Quebec Nationalists, and dated a few Quebecous, but am clearly no expert.

[ECCO]

Living in Montreal (french canadian, that explain my bad english) and as a BMTC stock holder, I can tell you more.

 

The company is based in Quebec City, and is likely pro the Quebec Nationalistic ideal... This bothers me slightly, as does the valuation.

 

The company is based in Montreal-east not in Quebec city. For sure Lucien Bouchard is nationalist (20 years ago he was not), but does that make the company nationalist? If it is the case that doesnt mean anything as long as Quebec is part of Canada.

 

Also, if I can tell you my feeling of the "Quebec Nationalistic ideal", right now we should not ear seriously about it for many years to come. It used to have an impact on Quebec based companies prices but I think it is not the case anymore.

 

But if that fact bothers you, you should not invest.

 

 

ECCO

 

[calonego]

Sorry about the inaccuracy ECCO - The management is from Quebec (the city) as far as I can tell, even though the company is in MTL.

 

You're probably right on the Quebec issue, Bouchard just scares me a ton. It's highly likely he and management are in similar social circles, why else would a politician be on the board? Having said that, it's probably not a material point at this time, in the future it may be.

I should have stated this properly - with no tax issue for me (you have one from your phenomenal historic investment), I believe the valuation is high given the opportunities out there and that a smaller issue is the slight uncertainty of ownership for a foreigner a long ways out (10+ yrs). I'm a resident of another province and in a hostile situation would be deemed a foreigner by the Nation of Quebec. BTW - I love la belle Province. I own land there as well, so I'm not overly concerned, but it's a factor in my valuation.

[prevalou]

is there some sort of boycott by consumers of "foreign companies" which could explain the success of national companies in Quebec ? How can BMTC make 40% gross margins in the distribution business ?

[calonego]

Look at GM at The Brick and Leon's.

Not sure why gross margin in furniture retail in Canada is healthy, but it is.