QHLHA - Quayside Holdings Pref Shares

[Lego_Man]

Anyone looked at these? Best value fixed interest investment on the NZX IMO. Currently trading at 86c, you get a 6.64% distribution. So running yield at current prices around 7.5%.

As a reminder, Quayside Holdings is the investment arm of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, major assets being Port of Tauranga majority stake and other local real assets.
Ultimate risk of these notes is therefore equivalent to council so AA+.

However the kicker is that the BOP Regional Council are currently consulting to reduce their stake in Port of Tauranga. Should this happen, Quayside Holdings are required to redeem the notes at par. This juices up the projected return over the next couple of years to possibly mid teens as you will get the capital uplift to par possibly in short order.

A similar thing happened to FCGHA which was redeemed at par shortly after trading at 90c.

Risk free 15% p.a in the base case looks pretty good to me.

[Aaron]

How likely is it that the shares will be redeemed? "Consulting" sounds pretty early in the process of getting the shares redeemed?

If I understand correctly, at the current bid of $.88 wouldn't that be 7.5% (.0664/.88) yield.

I guess your 15% is based on repayment at $1 at some stage in the future. Although it is a preference share does the share agreement require the shares to be redeemed at $1par value or can they buy them back on market at $.88cents.

If you could be sure of redemption it sounds pretty good, also being stuck at 7.5% is not so bad if interest rates are falling.

My understanding is that preference shares provide a guaranteed dividend but looking at the 2023 Annual report they say the following

The Perpetual Preference Shares have no fixed term and are not redeemable. Holders of Perpetual Preference Shares are entitled to receive Dividends which are fully imputed (or “grossed up” to the extent they are not fully imputed), quarterly in arrears. These dividends are at the discretion of the board of directors.

Are these the same shares? Is there a guarantee of 6.64% on a $1par value?

I guess liquidity would not be an issue for someone as small as me anyway.

Sorry 15% risk free got me excited and brought up some initial questions and I have not done my own research.

[Grimy]

"The Perpetual Preference Shares have no fixed term and are not redeemable. Holders of Perpetual Preference Shares are entitled to receive Dividends which are fully imputed (or “grossed up” to the extent they are not fully imputed), quarterly in arrears. These dividends are at the discretion of the board of directors."

That is pretty much the definition of any PPS. Same as the banks PPS issues.
From memory the interest rate is reset every three years (I haven't checked-just saw this thread), in the recent past it has been quite low.
I have owned some of these since inception and topped up 2 or 3 weeks back.
The redemption at par is a possibility, but not something I would base an investment on.

[Lego_Man]

"The Perpetual Preference Shares have no fixed term and are not redeemable. Holders of Perpetual Preference Shares are entitled to receive Dividends which are fully imputed (or “grossed up” to the extent they are not fully imputed), quarterly in arrears. These dividends are at the discretion of the board of directors."

That is pretty much the definition of any PPS. Same as the banks PPS issues.
From memory the interest rate is reset every three years (I haven't checked-just saw this thread), in the recent past it has been quite low.
I have owned some of these since inception and topped up 2 or 3 weeks back.
The redemption at par is a possibility, but not something I would base an investment on.

Thanks for your input. My read is that it's overwhelmingly likely that Quayside sell down some POT stake in the next couple of years. It's clearly the direction they want to go in and they even reference it in the job ad for the new CIO.

In the near term it's a good interest rate for good credit risk with a free call option on extra return.

[Lego_Man]

How likely is it that the shares will be redeemed? "Consulting" sounds pretty early in the process of getting the shares redeemed?

If I understand correctly, at the current bid of $.88 wouldn't that be 7.5% (.0664/.88) yield.

I guess your 15% is based on repayment at $1 at some stage in the future. Although it is a preference share does the share agreement require the shares to be redeemed at $1par value or can they buy them back on market at $.88cents.

If you could be sure of redemption it sounds pretty good, also being stuck at 7.5% is not so bad if interest rates are falling.

My understanding is that preference shares provide a guaranteed dividend but looking at the 2023 Annual report they say the following

The Perpetual Preference Shares have no fixed term and are not redeemable. Holders of Perpetual Preference Shares are entitled to receive Dividends which are fully imputed (or “grossed up” to the extent they are not fully imputed), quarterly in arrears. These dividends are at the discretion of the board of directors.

Are these the same shares? Is there a guarantee of 6.64% on a $1par value?

I guess liquidity would not be an issue for someone as small as me anyway.

Sorry 15% risk free got me excited and brought up some initial questions and I have not done my own research.

Prospectus is here:

https://quaysideholdings.co.nz/wp-co...-Statement.pdf

There's a procedure for vote to put them back to the Council at par if they miss a distribution payment.

[Grimy]

2008. I've had them a while....
Yes, rate reset is 3-yearly.
Since inception the rate has been set at 5.42% - 5.88% - 4.32% - 2.46% - 6.64%.
My average is 88 cents (bought the bulk of them at 85 cents in 2012), so yes, currently just over 7.5%.
By no means a stellar performer, but a sleep easy one and a redemption at par would help the numbers.

[Aaron]

Many thanks for the information.

I don't know that I understand the dividend calculation formula. The 3 year swap rate + a margin (that is not very clear) reduced by 1-taxrate and finally increased by 25%.

I guess they have reset fairly recently as the 3 year swap rate per interest.co.nz was nothing in 2020.

With a formula to calculate yield and you will get a minimum $1 if redeemed, and if Legoman is right about the result, if a distribution is missed this is not that scary.

My first thought being risk averse was that in a crisis, directors could cancel the dividend and you would have no one to sell to, to free up capital but that is obviously wrong.

Redemption aside, as the yield on these move with interest rates (3 yearly) I would have thought a long term corporate bond at a similar or higher yield would provide potential capital appreciation if interest rates get slashed in the next crisis. Conversely this would beat the long term bond if interest rates rise.

Which way are interest rates going to go? A 30 year trend down might be hard to break.

I would note that I have also been afraid to buy long term bonds as well as I worry about liquidity in a crisis and the erosion of purchasing power through inflation. Not sure why I am posting really as for me at this stage it is all theoretical. I guess 15% risk free got me going.

[Grimy]

Funnily enough, today I have received from Quayside a sheet with the terms and conditions of the Perpetual Preference Shares. No cover letter-just the summary of principal terms.
Which as a holder I already have.
It's almost as though they are priming holders for an announcement. Or the possibility of an announcement.......

[Lego_Man]

Funnily enough, today I have received from Quayside a sheet with the terms and conditions of the Perpetual Preference Shares. No cover letter-just the summary of principal terms.
Which as a holder I already have.
It's almost as though they are priming holders for an announcement. Or the possibility of an announcement.......

Random. Trading at 91c now too so a nice IRR for recent buyers. And that's despite market yields having risen recently.

[Grimy]

Yes. Looks like it was good buying a few weeks back.