Investment Q&A

Q: Eighty year old income investor. I am down a little ($2500) on T:ca. Based on your thoughts about these companies in questions today: Should I sell T:CA and buy more QBR.B:CA which I also own and is up for me by ($1500) or hold everything and let T:CA eventually go up? I do not need the funds immediately. I enjoy the dividend of T:CA.

Q: If--for diversification purposes, not to mention buying into an unloved investment space--which one of the 4 major Canadian telecom companies (BCE, Quebecor, Rogers, Telus)-- would you be most interested in owning long-term, for >10-year hold? Could you rank them from #1 (top choice) thru #4, and provide a rationale for your ranking?
Ted

Q: I believe your last Telus vs "the others" comparison was a couple months ago in which you had favoured T. Has that changed? I believe in a comparison, T's debt ratio was worse than both BCE and Rogers.

A recent guest on BNN stated that his preference was moreso for the other two, but actually even more for Quebecor. His concern on T was the lack of dividend coverage over the next few years. Do you have concerns here? I'm trying to determine whether I should make the switch from T to BCE since the latter has already took the dividend-cut pain.

Q: I would very much appreciate your views on this firm.
How do QBR metrics compare to other Canadian telecoms?
Is the 3.4% dividend sustainable?
Debt level?
Cause of growth in 2025 – is there a viable growth trajectory? Reasons to think it will continue?
Thank you for your valued views.

Q: Hi Peter and 5i Team,

What do you make of this from the Globe & Mail for Friday, June 20? “CRTC upholds decision allowing large telecoms to resell internet services on each other’s networks”

This decision looks like it will benefit Telus. I recently sold BCE at a loss because I had lost all confidence in their ability to turn things around, especially by keeping their current CEO. However, we still hold Telus and a small amount of Quebecor. Do you think that the CRTC decision could negatively impact QBR.B?

If so, I’m considering selling it and deploying the proceeds to T, to stay in the same sector. QBR.B has given us a nice return in the short time we’ve owned it. Your thoughts?

You recently answered my question about Ts plans to improve infrastructure by spending 70 billion dollars over the next five years. Is it possible that the CRTC decision could mitigate some or all of the risk caused by this planned expenditure?

Thanks as always for your insight.

Q: Hi Peter and 5i Team,

An article in the Globe & Mail (May 27) was titled:

“Telus to invest more than $70-billion in Canada over next five years to expand infrastructure”

Given that its payout ratio is now approximately 100%, and if interest rates should rise while there’s a slowdown in the economy, is this a prudent decision for Telus to take? Having recently sold BCE at a loss, and still owning T, are my concerns justified?

In the Communications Services Sector, we also have a small position in QBR.B, which is doing reasonably well so far. Its debt leverage is the lowest among its peers, which I believe to be an important metric at this time.

Thanks in advance for your insight.

Q: Hello 5i,
There have been many negative questions regarding Tariffs and other non-Canadian officials. Wondering if it makes sense to look to those Canadian companies that would benefit from the upcoming April 28, 2025 event results.
Following is my list of questions for you – please feel free to take as many credits as you require since I typically don’t use many.
• The clear winner looks to be BAM/BN/BIP/BEP with the massive housing & project build plans. Some housing build plans look to be well beyond anything the private sector has ever seen. Outside of investing in BAM/BN/BIP/BEP are there any other companies that will experience increased growth rates? Perhaps Canadian Only Lumber Companies, Steel, etc.… Being careful to ensure the industrial carbon tax doesn’t offset any building growth rates.
• Looks like major projects are going to be built to save the country from the tariffs. Assuming these are going to be non-conventional energy would the companies such as BAM/BN/BIP/BEP/WSP, benefit the most? Are there any other companies to start looking at? Perhaps carbon capture companies?
• I wonder if there are any areas of benefactors increasing/decreasing the amount of tax havens in Canada? There are a fair number of mid/small companies that could setup a beneficial tax structure and become more profitable. My experience with setting up offshore structures is that there are setup/dismantle/maintenance costs with Lawyers and Accountants but perhaps other benefactors are investable. Are there any publicly traded Accounting or Legal companies to start watching?
• With proposed additional spend to media companies are there any benefactors? Will BCE benefit from the overall plan? Are there companies worth looking at in the media sector?
• With the additional military spend are there any companies in Canada to invest in? I have a small position in MAL which could benefit from Canada built fighter jets. Is BBD.B a good one to look at?
• After reviewing the proposed firearm buyback pricing list, the overall program looks to be worth ~$2B in 2025 for Canadians. My question is could there be benefactors to this spend? Maybe ~$2B is not enough to stimulate the economy considering the current spending levels but it reminds me of a COVID-like spend bump. Assuming a large portion of the funds will be redistributed back into the economy.
• Health care seems to be getting an increased focus compounded with the buy Canada therefore are there any pure Canadian pharmaceutical/healthcare companies that will benefit? I have a SIS position that I could add to if they are going to be benefactors. Are there any companies that provide safe site vending machines or building structures?

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

Do news stories like this affect the stock price of either the plaintiff or the defendant?

“Quebecor Inc.-subsidiary Videotron is suing Rogers Communications Inc. for $91 million over an alleged breach of contract related to the sale of Freedom Mobile two years ago.”

We have a small holding in QBR.B and although it’s slightly down in price compared to when we bought it, it certainly is holding up better than our large holding in BCE (down almost 50%, not including dividends), but BCE is an issue for another question!

Thanks for the great help you’ve supplied over the years.

Q: What is your take on the possibility that Quebecor might try to purchase Corus Entertainment, considering the massive debt that has caused most analysts to rate Corus as a strong sell and an under-perform rating. For example, National Bank views its real share price as one cent - yikes! If Quebecor could buy Corus at a 'bargain-basement' price, could this act as a tailwind for Quebecor? Thanks as always for your insight.

Q: Like many others, I’m very frustrated with the performance of both Bell and Telus. (Bell is held in a non-registered account so could be a tax-loss candidate. Unfortunately Telus is held in my RRIF.)

Due to the decline in both BCE and T, Portfolio Analytics indicates that I'm underweight in the Telecom sector - not surprising! With such headwinds in this sector, do you see the need to replace Bell with Quebecor to stay in the same sector, or should I accept that being underweight can be a good thing?

The reason I’m considering QBR.B is because we recently switched from Bell to Freedom for our mobile phones. As well, their chart looks a lot better than either Bell or Telus.

Would you sell BCE to buy QBR.B or would you use the proceeds to buy into a sector with some tailwinds?

What sector(s) do you feel have tailwinds going forward?

Your comments are valued greatly. Please deduct as many questions as you see fit.

Q: QBR.B seems to have some favourable financial metrics and to be liked by analysts, yet the share price has been drifting lower for a couple of months. What is your view of this stock and do you see it's share price improving over time? Would you buy, sell or hold? Thanks.

Q: Please give your opinion on qbr as a buy for growth/dividend vs Bell,Rogers for a 3-5 yr hold
Is the growth potential margin worth the bet on a smaller more regional player
Thanks for your great service
Peter

Q: Hi Guys
Comparing the 2 Companies, Telus is about 5 x bigger in MCAP. I was surprised to see QBR.B had about 618 million in FCF LTM, which was about the same as Telus at 622 million if my numbers are correct. Telus is about 2x as expensive on Forward P/E.
Yahoo shows Telus having next 5year growth at 17.8% per annum, verses QBR.B at only 5.15%.
Total Debt/EBITDA is actually higher at Telus from what i see at 5.2x Verses QBR.B at 4.0x
How do you view these to companies when comparing them. Is it strictly the poor future growth of QBR.B and the smaller size that makes it unattractive ?
Thanks Gord

Q: Can 5i give a brief clarification explaining why two listings for Quebecor, is there a preference, and in general, thoughts on Quebecor as an investment right now for medium term, please?

Q: My portfolio analytics is showing that I'm a bit low in my communication services sector.

Beyond the obvious telecom companies, what are some of the less obvious companies or perhaps ETFs that would fit into this sector?

Also, including the telecoms, could you rank your top few Canadian and US buys for this sector.

Thanks as always.

Q: Hello 5i, Could you comment as to which company is likely to buy Freedom Mobile from Shaw so that Rogers can takeover Shaw. I think Quebecor and Globalive want to purchase Freedom Mobile.

Q: I would like to increase my holdings in telecom stocks. I currently have BCE and would like to know if you would recommend buying more BCE. Or buy one or two other telecom stocks, such as T, RCI.a, QBR.b, or etc? Again, primary aim is income and secondary is balance equity. I plan hold them for more than 5 years. Thanks, Roger

Q: Rogers' ambition to purchase Shaw may have the side-effect of more-than-doubling Quebecor's wireless footprint. Assuming this occurs, does QBR.B become more attractive as an investment, or does the prospect of even more debt outweigh this windfall growth? In this connection, it's interesting that the company has already paid for substantial 5G spectrum.

Q: Is quebecor a good stock to be looking at right now. if so which one would you suggest A shares or B shares. Steve

Q: Would appreciate your thoughts on QBR.B. Has an ok dividend, reasonable PE and seems to be growing outside of Quebec. Can you compare it to Telus and BCE.