its being held down, page-9

Hard to know what the future holds for either, but off the cuff and based on dated and patchy research...

HDF:

My dodgy balance sheet gearing at 59%.
Reported gearing 50.8%, covenant 65%.
Underlying earnings around 25m?
Market cap 137m
Price 65c, NTA 2.05?, Divs 12c pa?
Upcoming refi of $60 in 200908?
TAPS Hybrid securities exist - havent followed recent developments there. I like the gas pipeline asset, but not wild about the UK electricity/water. Have you tasted the water over there? it ought to be free!

IOF:

My dodgy balance sheet gearing at 34% (better).
Reported gearing (LT) 35.2%, covenant unknown. (better)
TLR 43.5%, covenant 50%.
(can supposedly withstand a 15% devaluation)
Underlying earnings around 144m?
Market cap 740m.
(Above represent a similar ratio to HDF, but I guess HDF's income is supposed to be more stable as a utility)
Price 41.5c, NTA 1.30?, Divs 8.5c pa? (seems better than HDF but they might get trimmed further)
Upcoming refi of $570 in 201006?
I guess incomes and asset prices are subject to much wilder swings than HDF's, and I could never understand why HDF got such a good smacking considering a comparison to other Utilities. IOF also has a chance, IF the share price EVER recovers of being one of the REIT's to sweep up discounted assets of other failed REIT's. BUT this needs a SP recovery followed by a cap raising at much higher prices - maybe over a dollar. I thought this was a possibility some weeks back, but look at the chart! lol. Clearly no major shareholders are interested at the moment.

It's a tough choice, but I prefer IOF, having bailed on HDF for a small profit some weeks back. Why? - I guess the dividends, the NTA discount, gearing. Probably likely to have a better reaction to a economic recovery due to pricing power not available to utilities?

Tell us - which do you prefer, and why?