Focus on packaging cuts this printer’s risk

Article Excerpt

TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $30 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 87.8 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) has completed its $1.7 billion acquisition of Chicago-based Coveris Americas. That privately held firm makes plastic packaging for consumer and industrial products at 21 plants in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand and China. With the Coveris purchase, Transcontinental will now get 48% of its revenue from packaging. That cuts the company’s reliance on its traditional commercial printing operations and advertising flyer distribution. The addition of Coveris will add $1.3 billion to Transcontinental’s annual revenue. The company also expects to cut $20 million U.S. from its annual costs by the end of the second year. Transcontinental borrowed $1.1 billion to help finance the purchase. The move increased its long-term debt from $298.4 million as of April 30, 2018, to around $1.4 billion. That’s a high, but manageable, 52% of its $2.7 billion…