Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat, can you please comment on Premium Brands? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: Premium Brands Holdings Corp., $88.25, symbol PBH on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 33.4 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; www.premiumbrandsholdings.com), took its current form on July 22, 2009, when it converted to a corporation from an income trust. Before the changeover, it was called Premium Brands Income Fund. The company operates through two businesses: Specialty Foods supplies 67% of Premium Brands’ revenue and mainly serves food sellers such as delicatessens, specialty grocery chains, convenience stores, national and regional grocery brands and warehouse clubs. The business also sells to cafés that offer premade foods such as sandwiches, wraps and pastries. Specialty Foods’ brands include Harvest, Grimm’s, Freybe, Hygaard, Quality Fast Foods, Hempler’s, Made-Rite Meat Products, Creekside, Stuyver’s Bakestudio, Duso’s, SK Food Group, Deli Chef, SJ Irvine, Piller’s, Isernio’s, Expresco and Belmont Meats. The Premium Food Distribution business (33% of overall revenue) serves restaurants, concessions, bars, caterers, hotels, schools and hospitals. Its brands consist of Centennial Foodservice, B&C Food Distributors, Harlan Fairbanks, Worldsource, E1even, Wescadia, Maximum Seafood…