Toronto, December 28, 2007 – BAM Split Corp. announced today that income available for distribution for the year ended September 30, 2007, was $19.6 million, an increase from $14.7 million for the same period in the prior year, as a result of the acquisition of additional Brookfield shares and an increase in the dividends received on the Brookfield shares. Operating expenses for the year were $2.6 million, compared to $0.9 million in the prior year, of which $1.4 million were related to Preferred share amortization costs on the adoption of the new Financial Instrument accounting standards. During the year, the company paid dividends of $17.3 million to Preferred shareholders, compared to 11.8 million for the same period in the prior year. The increase in Preferred share dividends is due to the issuance of additional preference shares during the year. Dividends paid to Capital shareholders for the year ended September 30, 2007 were $3.9 million, an increase from $3.2 million paid in the year ended September 30, 2006.
The Board of Directors declared quarterly dividends of $0.39, $0.31 and $0.27 per Preferred share Class A, Class AA Series 1, and Class AA Series 3, respectively, payable on March 7, 2008 to shareholders of record on February 22, 2008.
The net asset value per unit, consisting of one Preferred share and one Capital share, was $97.74 based on a Brookfield share price of $38.07 as at September 30, 2007. The net asset value per unit is posted monthly on www.bamsplit.com
STATEMENTS OF INVESTMENT OPERATIONS AND RETAINED EARNINGS
For the years ended September 30
$thousands, except per share amounts |
2007
|
2006
|
|
|
|
| Income |
|
|
Investment
|
$22,154
|
$15,633
|
| Expenses |
|
|
Operating
|
2,600
|
904
|
Income available for distribution
|
19,554 |
14,729 |
Dividends paid on Preferred shares
|
(17,290) |
(11,773) |
| Income available for distribution on Capital and Preference shares |
2,264 |
2,956 |
Change in unrealized appreciation of investment
|
212,079 |
352,908 |
Results of investment operations
|
$214,343 |
$355,864 |
| Retained earnings, beginning of period |
$945,835 |
$593,195 |
| Results of investment operations |
214,343 |
355,864 |
| Dividends paid on Capital shares |
(3,916) |
(3,224) |
Financial instruments transition adjustment
|
1,532 |
- |
| Retained earnings, end of period |
$1,157,794 |
$945,835
|
Dividends per Preferred share
|
|
|
– Class A
|
$1.5625 |
$1.5625 |
– Class AA, Series 1
|
$1.2375
|
$1.2375 |
– Class AA, Series 31
|
$1.0876
|
$-
|
1. Class AA Preferred shares, Series 3 were issued January 10, 2007.
BAM Split Corp. owns a portfolio consisting of 45,022,950 Class A Limited Voting shares of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in order to generate quarterly fixed cumulative preferential dividends for the holders of the company's Preferred shares and to enable the holders of the company's Capital shares to participate in any capital appreciation of Brookfield Shares. Brookfield Asset Management Inc., focused on property, power and infrastructure assets, has over US$90 billion of assets under management and is co-listed on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbol BAM.
Brian Lawson will be available at (416) 359-8601 to answer any enquiries on the company's financial results.
This news release contains forward-looking statements concerning the company's business and operations. The company cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty and the company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Reference should be made to the most recent Annual Information Form for a description of the major risk factors.