From the Desk of Irwin Michael – October 30, 2015 Three of our common stock selections held in our ABC Funds reported news this week. We believe that these announcements were quite positive and should eventually lead to higher share prices: Transforce, a transportation and logistics services company, announced that it would be selling its Waste Management division for $800 million to GFL Environmental. We view the sale as a very positive catalyst in that it simplifies the company’s business model and the proceeds should materially reduce the company’s debt. Uni-Select,a wholesale distributor of automotive replacement parts, reported impressive Q3/14 results; organic sales increased 4.0% to $276.2 million, EBITDA margins reached a respectable 9.4%, and EPS was $0.73 vs. an estimated $0.60. Moreover, the company is continuing to benefit from its U.S. dollar exposure as adjusted EPS was up 18.8% when converted to Canadian dollars. We remain optimistic on Uni-Select’s business model and industry outlook. Boston Scientific, a developer and manufacturer of medical technology products announced solid Q3 results; the company generated sales of $1.89 billion, which represented 9% operational revenue growth (assuming constant currencies and excluding divested businesses). Furthermore, Boston Scientific reported EPS of $0.24 compared to $0.20 last year. This improvement was attributable to strong sales and operating margin expansion. We believe that the company has an excellent product mix, great business fundamentals, and a promising outlook. Irwin A. Michael, President I.A. Michael Investment Counsel Ltd.
