Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What would your view or recommendation be on Pacific & Western Credit Corp.?

Article Excerpt

Pacific & Western Credit Corp., $3.36, symbol PWC on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 14.2 million; Market cap: $47.7 million; www.pwbank.com) operates through its wholly owned subsidiary Pacific & Western Bank of Canada. The bank specializes in providing financial services to niche markets, including large corporations and government organizations, such as hospitals, school boards, universities and colleges, municipalities and provincial and federal agencies. Pacific & Western Bank has no branches, and manages only $1.6 billion in assets. That makes it one of Canada’s smallest banks. In the three months ended October 31, 2010, the company lost $1.4 million, or $0.10 a share. A year earlier, it lost $2.1 million, or $0.15 a share. Total assets fell 6.5%, to $1.32 billion from $1.41 billion. Strong competition from other banks, especially Canada’s big-five banks, continues to hurt Pacific & Western’s earnings, and hold back its growth. We recommend investing in the big five banks, rather than smaller banks like Pacific & Western. The big banks…