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Sherritt International Corp.S.TOCOMMENTJan 29, 2014Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of May 19, 2026. Market Open.
It is certainly not beyond possibility. Bloomberg default ratio is 7.36%, which is very high for that indicator. Cash flow was negative in the last quarter, yet 12-month interest expenses were $36.1M net. With its small size and Cuban and other issues, we are not sure it could raise a lot of money with a dilutive equity issue. Most debt matures in 2026. Certainly any investment here needs to be considered extremely risky.
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Your opinion on their bond maturing in 2020? This bond has had a history because of its involvement in Cuba. The major dealers in Canada would not underwrite their securities so it has always had a reasonably good balance sheet but is rated below investment grade. They have rallied lately and it has gone down about 150 basis points and its current level is at about 8%. Nickel production is up and running full time and the nickel glut has seemed to have come to an end. He would recommend that no more than 5% of a fixed income portfolio be in such securities, and even then, he is reluctant to buy individual bonds. He prefers ETFs if he were going to buy high yields at all.