Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.: Pension Funding

An investor is scrutinizing the financial statements of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS). The investor notices that MTS faces several significant challenges in the short and long-term. MTS's credit ratings on its senior debt are rated at investment grade BBB high and BBB+ but are two notches from falling into the speculative grade rating. Worse, both DBRS and S&P have a negative trend rating on MTS's debt. MTS's stock price has fallen about 20 per cent from during the past five months. This case discusses the impact a pension plan can have on a firm's financial flexibility.