Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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milton
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Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

Post by milton »

The next chapter in the saga of travel points woes following Air Miles' redemption quandary in 2016:
Air Canada and the well-known Aeroplan loyalty program will part ways in mid-2020, but the airline says customers can continue redeeming Aeroplan miles for Air Canada flights even after the new program is in effect.

That's little consolation for shareholders in Aimia, the parent company of Aeroplan. Aimia's common shares fell almost 63 per cent on Thursday to close at $3.33 on the TSX. Air Canada shares gained more than 10 per cent to reach $16.46.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-can ... -1.4109868

Aimia's contract with TD Aeroplan credit cards runs till 2024. AC is parting ways mid-2020. Any thoughts how this works out?
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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I cancelled my TD Aeroplan card this morning. The guy on the phone went through his script and asked why, and laughed a little when I said I had given up on Aeroplan. I got a strong impression this wasn't the first time he had heard that. I don't see how the CIBC/TD/Amex premium Aeroplan cards can possibly remain attractive, but I don't know what that might do to Aimia or what the terms of their contract are. Running loyalty programs no doubt has a future, odds are there's a price where Aimia becomes interesting. Maybe $3.33 isn't a bad price. Aimia showed up on value lists I follow but I never bought it because of its strong dependency on a fickle company (AC). The company might be more attractive now that that has been resolved :thumbsup:
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

How about this scenario. Air Canada needs to build up a new loyalty program. Aimia share price has significantly dropped. Would it cost Air Canada less to purchase Aimia than to develop and getting running their new loyalty program?
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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Peculiar_Investor wrote: 12 May 2017 07:17 How about this scenario. Air Canada needs to build up a new loyalty program. Aimia share price has significantly dropped. Would it cost Air Canada less to purchase Aimia than to develop and getting running their new loyalty program?
You mean right now? Or guess that 3 years from Aimia will be worth almost nothing and buy it then.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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Has anyone held AIM?
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kcowan wrote: 13 May 2017 12:37 Has anyone held AIM?
Yes I hold it in a yield chasing portfolio that I manage.
Patiently waiting to see what direction it moves next week.
It caused about a 2.5% drop in the portfolio. :(
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

Post by kukucanuck »

It seems Business as usual for next three years, Enough time for the company to look at other options. The dividend on preferred shares may be safe.
Preferred shares were up somewhat on Friday. I do hold preferred shares (0.6 percent of total portfolio).
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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kukucanuck wrote: 13 May 2017 15:51 The dividend on preferred shares may be safe.
It's good that their prefs are cumulative!

https://aimia.com/en/investors/stock.html

Holding AIM.PR.A and will pick up some more to rebalance the pref portfolio.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

Post by Thegipper »

i held one of there bonds a feel years back. I sold because I didn't like the way the company treated customers and for the understanding that the business model was sitting upon a trap door.
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It seems like a kiss of death to me. Air Miles screwed up and reversed themselves while AIM seems to be tone deaf. I have dropped both of them because I no longer trust either of them. Cashback and Westjet for a while.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

Post by jay »

milton wrote: 14 May 2017 13:15
kukucanuck wrote: 13 May 2017 15:51 The dividend on preferred shares may be safe.
It's good that their prefs are cumulative!

https://aimia.com/en/investors/stock.html

Holding AIM.PR.A and will pick up some more to rebalance the pref portfolio.
Preferreds have recovered nicely but the commons are now back to the lows
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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Preferreds have recovered nicely but the commons are now back to the lows
Similar story with the common vs pref shares of Bombardier in 2015 when their cSeries flew into a gutter. The common shares fell harder than the prefs, and, while they both are below what they were trading at, the common shares are down 40% vs about 20% for the prefs. The prefs also kept paying the dividend, which was not the case with the common shares.

Maybe a similar story will play out with Aimia?
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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50M shares out of 150M total have traded since May 11 (9 trading sessions including today) which is when AC announced they were cutting ties with Aeroplan. According to Morning Star, many institutions and funds owned it with Fidelity as a major holder. There is always someone on the other end of the trade and that someone sees value for sure. I wonder who is doing all the buying and selling.

I wonder if they will cut their dividend now or wait. At $2.13/share and a dividend of $0.8/year, yield is 37.5% :shock:
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

Post by kcowan »

I suspect they are reeling from the impact. I would stay away. But if you already hold, how confident are you that you can sell after they reduce the dividend?

(Of course, I got out of the air miles game last year, and only use cashback cards.)
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AIMIA set to release Q results after the close today. Be very interesting to see if they improve on LAST Q, or if we get a suggestion of Aeroplan use fading .
Could be another nice pop. Suspending the dividends has certainly helped add to the bottom line, altho I believe the preferred share dividends are cumulative, which means AIM owes them no matter what. Or at least until they do a consolidation and revamp the structure, which at this time is not in the works.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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shellybear wrote: 25 Oct 2017 09:57 AIMIA set to release Q results after the close today. Be very interesting to see if they improve on LAST Q, or if we get a suggestion of Aeroplan use fading .
Could be another nice pop. Suspending the dividends has certainly helped add to the bottom line, altho I believe the preferred share dividends are cumulative, which means AIM owes them no matter what. Or at least until they do a consolidation and revamp the structure, which at this time is not in the works.
Aimia's website says Q3 results to be released on November 9th..
https://www.aimia.com/en/investors/events.html
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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OOPS guess i got the Q release date wrong. AIMIA opened with some selling, but apparently the powers that be read into the report and liked what they saw. Shorts getting scorched today as last trade at 2.83 and up 5.6 % on the day.
Here is the some of the news for any interested in this bottom bouncer.
Aimia loses $40.3-million in Q3 2017



2017-11-08 16:57 MT - News Release


Mr. David Johnston reports

AIMIA REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2017 RESULTS

Aimia Inc. has released its financial results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2017.

This quarterly earnings release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the MD&A which can be accessed on the company's website.

Q3 highlights - operational(1):

Gross Billings of $496.8 million, down 10.0% on a constant currency basis including the impact of divestitures; core business(2) down 3.6% on a constant currency basis
Loyalty Units Gross Billings up 1.0% on a constant currency basis
Adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.1%; Aeroplan contribution driving 250 bps improvement in core business(2) margin (excluding restructuring expense) to 14.5%
Free Cash Flow before Dividends Paid of $51.9 million
2017 FCF guidance maintained, with increased Adjusted EBITDA margin expected on core business Gross Billings of between $2.0 to $2.1 billion
Q3 highlights - strategic:

Solid performance at Aeroplan with Loyalty Units Gross Billings up 3.4%; year to date redemption expense up 3.4%
Business simplification on track to deliver annualized savings of $70 million from 2019, with expected savings of around $9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017
Increased cash balances reflect disposals during the quarter
"The business delivered a solid performance in the quarter. We saw good execution in our coalition programs around new partnerships and campaigns. Our Moments Worth Millions campaign demonstrated through more than 75,000 submissions how important Aeroplan is to our members," said David Johnston, Group Chief Executive.

"We're very focused on securing long-term strategic and commercial partnerships that will provide even better experiences in the future and are making good progress on strengthening the balance sheet and executing on our cost reduction plans."

Consolidated Financial Highlights(1)

HIGHLIGHTS (1)
(in millions of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)

Three Months Ended September 30,
2017 2016

Gross Billings 496.8 558.5
Total Revenue 452.1 503.6
Operating Loss (19.6) (13.9)
Adjusted EBITDA 60.3 60.5
ROIC(3) 6.1% 5.2%
Net Loss(4) (40.3) (1.5)
Loss per Common Share(4) (0.26) (0.04)
Adjusted Net Earnings per Common Share(4) 0.11 0.29
Cash from Operating Activities(5) 63.1 102.8
Free Cash Flow before Dividends Paid(5) 51.9 86.7
Free Cash Flow before Dividends Paid
per Common Share(5) 0.34 0.54

Please refer to "Notes" for details on notations that appear on tables in this Press Release.
Progress on key priorities

Ongoing business simplification and acceleration of cost savings

The transition to a two-division structure, expected to result in a significant reduction in divisional overhead and corporate costs, was initiated at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2017. At the end of September, headcount was 10% below the same time last year. Initial savings of around $9 million are expected to be achieved in 2017, ramping to an annualized 2019 run rate of $70 million.

At the end of August 2017, the company completed the sale of the Canadian Air Miles trademarks. The company continues to explore further asset sales.

Preserving strong cash and liquidity position

The sale of the Canadian Air Miles trademarks contributed to a further strengthening of the cash balances. Proceeds of $53.8 million contributed to a $101.7 million increase in cash and cash equivalents to $374.8 million. Combined with short- and long-term investments in bonds and restricted cash, total cash and investments (before accounting for program reserves of $507.7 million) was at $668.6 million.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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Don't understand how anyone can play with these kinds of things. Like Bombardier, it's a case of betting on the horse when the buggy is obsolete.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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We listened to nearly every analyst telling everyone who would listen to unload this stock and never look back. Even when it was trading below 2$...
However you have take this BS with a grain of salt,, many times they are saying sell, so they can rebuy at or near the bottom.
All the dividend funds unloaded AIMIA, as it no longer fit the criteria.
However there was still some value in AIM, and that showed when they sold a small part of the company (Air Miles) for 53 million $$.At that time the market had only given them a valuation of about 300 million.
Suspending dividends has given them some breathing room and obviously many of those looking at the company's fundamentals decided it was time to buy again. REALLY WISHING I HAD KEPT ALL 10,000 SHARES I HAD AT 1.70.
I decided to get into more dividend paying stocks instead... should never look in the rear view mirror. I lost money by playing it safe.
Funny how one persons garbage is another persons treasure...
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Maybe, but I see no point in owning a piece of a company that appears to be have no future, i.e. working itself out of business. You probably look at these things as trading opportunities while I look at them as owning a piece of a business that I want to grow long term.

Example: If I owned a local 'small business' like a fabrication shop. My goal would be to grow my customer base and thus the volume of business and thus the profitability and net worth of the business. I am not interested in milking it for what it is worth until I have to close the doors in receivership proceedings.

Buggies have come and gone, print media has come and gone (Torstar or Yellow Pages anyone?). Davis-Henderson might be on its way out unable to re-invest itself. Bombardier may follow shortly. Why would anyone truly want to 'hold' an ownership stake in these things long term?
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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shellybear wrote: 10 Nov 2017 10:26 We listened to nearly every analyst telling everyone who would listen to unload this stock and never look back. Even when it was trading below 2$...
However you have take this BS with a grain of salt,, many times they are saying sell, so they can rebuy at or near the bottom.
All the dividend funds unloaded AIMIA, as it no longer fit the criteria.
However there was still some value in AIM, and that showed when they sold a small part of the company (Air Miles) for 53 million $$.At that time the market had only given them a valuation of about 300 million.
Suspending dividends has given them some breathing room and obviously many of those looking at the company's fundamentals decided it was time to buy again. REALLY WISHING I HAD KEPT ALL 10,000 SHARES I HAD AT 1.70.
I decided to get into more dividend paying stocks instead... should never look in the rear view mirror. I lost money by playing it safe.
Funny how one persons garbage is another persons treasure...
Did you lose money or just opportunity? Having the discipline to follow your plan will keep you in the game.

I lost 61% when I sold right after the big drop. However I reinvested that capital in another high yield stock and it looks like I'm still ahead of the game.

Technically you have a breakout on above average volume. There is a good possibility that someone knows something you don't. Or at least thinks they know something you don't.

It is not something I would buy because of the overhead resistance. But for someone a little more risk adverse it might be a good time to get in.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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Nothing is safe... when a market wants to have a huge correction, nearly everything gets sold. SO i actively manage my portfolio. Normally i have about 60% in dividend payers and 40% in bottom bounce opportunities, or venture plays.
I GET IT that some people prefer to buy stocks they believe have longterm appreciation outlook and safety in dividends. And you dont have to watch it every day to see where its going.
Another i regret selling is GIGA, formerly HNC, Hardy Creek Nickel . They have a huge nickel/cobalt resource in NW B.C. They did a reverse split and changed the name to GIGA metals . I owned it as HNC and sold off after the reverse split... dont usually like those. However it went from .10 , where I sold at breakeven to a high of .90 last week. Cobalt plays are in vogue, along with pot stocks. I know the bubble will burst soon, same with bitcoin.
Going to 90% dividend payers, didnt work out for me.... for others perhaps it is the only way to go.
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

Post by milton »

Aeroplan aims to get into the airline business by offering charter flights to its most popular destinations as the loyalty program prepares for the end of its exclusive partnership with Air Canada in 2020.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/aimia-t ... -1.4020420
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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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Re: Aimia (Symbol-AIM)

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We have 250000 Aeroplan points and once again booked a direct Business class flight from YVR to Mexico City directly with AC for October. No suitable Aeroplan flights were available as usual. Even at a discount, a dead horse will not run.
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