Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you (Operator instructions) And your first question will come from the line of Bishop Cheen with Wachovia. Please proceed.
Bishop Cheen – Wachovia
Hi, Colleen, Joe, Rob; thank you for taking the question. Let me focus first on the balance sheet. I won’t take long, as we go forward with the Safeco stock now a grand chapter in your history there should be no difference basically between the operating cash flow metrics and the EBITDA metrics, is that correct?
Joseph Lovejoy
There will be some, as you know at a low interest rate, but there will be interest income from the cash and short-term investments that would account the difference, but you are right, most of it was in the form of Safeco dividends and they form our present.
Bishop Cheen – Wachovia
And then pro forma, and by the way, thanks for a great format on the press release, the transparency is very helpful.
Colleen Brown
Thank you.
Bishop Cheen – Wachovia
And the presentation. The cash at $92 million at year end and you spent about 13 in change buying, arbitraging your bond, so roughly we are looking about of 89 of cash as we shift today? 79 of cash on hand?
Joseph Lovejoy
Well we are making an interest payment, so – or we just made one so it is not quite, but that is right. That is pro forma of the debt pre-purchased that is about it.
Bishop Cheen – Wachovia
Got it, alright. So, you know the age old debate is what are going to do with the cash, depending on how you read the language of the covenants you could par put the bonds for the Safeco asset sale, I believe that timeline begins or we could make acquisitions, you could just sit with the cash and sit with the bonds, can you give us any color or what you are thinking is given the difficult environment we are in?
Joseph Lovejoy
Yeah, sure. Happy to do so, as you mentioned given the difficult economic environment we are in and the lack of visibility in terms of how deep the recession will go or how long it will last having more cash than less is a paramount now. So, we are comfortable despite the lower earnings that cash receives these days, a good use of the proceeds is sitting in cash right now, having said that we will opportunistically seek further bond repurchases if they make sense. But in terms of acquisitions there is nothing on the timeline or anything like that.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
