STUDENT TRANSPORTATION INC 5.25 PCT DEBS T.STB.DB.A

Screwed

[Rak2]

We just got screwed on the divvy being paid in USD. Now we, the shareholders: - Get to pay the exchange fees to convert from USD to CAD - Get the risk of USA vs. CAD exchange rates - Have to do more work to reconcile income for CRA - More time from my accountant ($$) to do more reconciliation - Forecasting income in CAD gets messier and inaccurate Overall, this is going to cost the shareholders money. It's a dividend cut in another way. B@stards! Those in the know got out of course, hence the slide of the last 2 months.

[indoubtgetout]

Stop the whining. The dividend yield is still the same!!!!!! You can own STB in USD in a USD cash or registered or tfsa account. So if you own STB individually then your custodian should have a way to hold STB in a USD account. You can buy STB either on the CDN exchange or US exchange. You can buy STB on a CDN exchange and then transfer it to a USD account. Same difference. The benefit is STB will

[Rak2]

Indoubt, how does a Canadian investor get the same CAD dollars if the divvy is paid in USD and we need to exchange it to CAD? All I am saying is that if you want to use your divvies in CAD, you are now incurring exchange costs and hence the yield is going to be lower for CAD investors who want to use the dividend income in Canada.

[jammo71]

You're not screwed per se, but the company has shifted the exchange exposure to its investors. Sure, now you'll have to worry about handling the USD, but before the company did it without a lot of visibility (unless you pored over the financials to track the exchange rates). If you have a need for USD this is no big deal. If not, and if you keep the stock, then you will be a currency

[b4545]

perhaps if one enrolled in the drip, the divs would buy new shares and the FX is moot. If you need the cash you can then sell a few shares equalling the div. I can use the U$ $$ each winter so I would be ok with this change if I wasn't enrolled in the drip. love the drip. Save 3% + no commission.

[indoubtgetout]

Great idea b4545 - never thought of the DRIP option.

[borne2run]

The dividend yield is NOT the same; it has been lowered.  The new rate of US $0.44 per year is equivalent to the current CAD $0.556 at an exchange rate of less than 79 cents US per CAD.  Currently, the Canadian loonie is trading at over 83 cents US.  How convenient to use the average exchange rate for the first quarter of 2015, which just so happems to be the lowest quarterly

[goldsternp]

Doesn't seem that anyone is too happy about the equity offering or the dividend cut. One thing the company could do at this point is reverse the dividend change and the other is buy back shares using the line of credit. This would reduce the POR. Replace non expensable 8% dividend with expensable 2-4% debt interest. I waited too long but nonetheless sold 25% of my shares today but hope to buy

[borne2run]

goldsternp, The company will not reverse the dividend change - they lost a bundle hedging the Canadian dollar dividend exposure over the period July 2014 - March 2015.  So now they have decided to eliminate the need to hedge.  I agree, focus on running a bus company, not the ups and downs of the forex market. Going forward, I expect the U.S. listing to set the price.  If the

[goldsternp]

I totally agree with you that Denis and his team do a great job running the bus business and should focus on what they are best at. I also noticed that their forward currency contracts were not a good deal. Not having to worry about that in the future makes sense, but they could have set the new US$ dividend  closer to the historical rate as a nice gesture.  If, as they say, a $2.1