QUEBEC CITY, Nov. 6, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Cominar Real Estate
Investment Trust ("Cominar" or the "REIT") (TSX: CUF.UN) announced
today its results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2014.
Highlights for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2014
- Acquisition of a property portfolio for $1.4 billion (+ 4.9 million sq. ft.) from Ivanhoé
Cambridge Inc.
- Issuances exceeding $1 billion, half of which in
equity
- Increased net operating income by 6.2%
- Increased monthly distributions from $0.12 to $0.1225
per unit
Subsequent Event
- Closing of the previously announced acquisition of Centre
Rockland from Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. for a purchase price
of $271.7 million
(+ 649,000 sq. ft.)
"The highlight of the third quarter is without a doubt the
closing on September 30 of the second
largest acquisition in our history, whereby our total assets
increased by 25.1%, now totalling $8.2 billion. The closing of this
acquisition of primarily retail properties for a purchase price of
$1.6 billion from
Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc., which became one of the largest
unitholders of the REIT, constitutes a major achievement for us",
said Michel Dallaire, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Cominar.
"With this important transaction, we also accomplished two
things at once by continuing our penetration of the Toronto market, now reaching 2.9 million
square feet, while significantly improving our asset class
diversification", added Michel
Dallaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Cominar.
"For the third quarter of 2014, our results continue to show our
team's solid performance in achieving our business plan, as
evidenced by our overall financial indicators. For a second
consecutive quarter, we achieved positive organic growth with an
increase of 0.9% of our same property portfolio net operating
income," said Gilles Hamel,
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of
Cominar.
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
For the quarter ended September 30,
2014, operating revenues increased to $173.5 million, up 7.4% over the
corresponding period in 2013 when operating revenues were
$161.5 million.
Net operating income reached $99.1 million, up 6.2% compared to net
operating income in the third quarter of 2013.
Recurring distributable income reached $53.6 million, up 4.3% over the third quarter of
2013. The basic recurring distributable income per unit
amounted to $0.41 for the quarters
ended September 30, 2014 and 2013.
Recurring funds from operations for the third quarter of
2014 reached $61.7 million, up 7.9%
compared to the third quarter of 2013. Recurring adjusted
funds from operations per unit fully diluted amounted to
$0.47 in the third quarter, up 4.4%
from those of the same quarter of 2013.
Recurring adjusted funds from operations for the third
quarter of 2014 reached $52.3 million, up 3.4% compared to 2013.
Fully diluted per unit, they reached $0.40, in the third quarters of 2014 and
2013.
FINANCIAL SITUATION
As at September 30, 2014, Cominar
had a debt ratio (excluding convertible debentures) of
52.6%. The annualized interest coverage ratio stood at
2.71:1. At the end of the third quarter of 2014, total
assets reached $7.9 billion,
up 32.1% over December 31, 2013.
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
On August 4, 2014, Cominar
replaced its secured credit facility by a new unsecured credit
facility of up to $550.0 million.
This new credit facility will mature in August 2017. Cominar's unencumbered income
properties now stand at $3.3
billion.
On August 7, 2014, Cominar
announced the increase of monthly distributions per unit from
$0.12 to $0.1225, up 2.1%.
On September 16, 2014, Cominar
closed a public offering of $287.5 million in units.
On September 17, 2014, Cominar
issued $250.0 million in Series 6
senior unsecured debentures bearing a variable interest rate and
maturing in September 2016, and
issued $300.0 million in Series
7 senior unsecured debentures bearing an interest rate of 3.62% and
maturing in June 2019.
On September 30, Cominar also
closed a private placement of units of $250.0 million with Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc.
as part of the acquisition.
ACQUISITION OF A PROPERTY PORTFOLIO FROM IVANHOÉ CAMBRIDGE INC.
On September 30, 2014, Cominar
completed the acquisition of a retail property portfolio from
Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. for a purchase price of $1.4 billion totalling 4.9 million
square feet, at a weighted average capitalization rate of 6.5%.
During the first nine-month period of the year, we invested in
strategic acquisitions, totalling approximately $1.7 billion in income properties, which
increased the total leasable area of our portfolio by
7.4 million square feet, 3.0 million of which are located
in the Greater Toronto Area.
SUBSEQUENT EVENT
On October 17, 2014, following the
expiry of the right of first refusal, Cominar completed the
acquisition of Centre Rockland from Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc., a
shopping centre with a total leasable area of 649,000 square feet,
located in the Greater Montreal
Area, for a purchase price of $271.7 million.
ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Cominar's condensed interim consolidated financial statements
and management's discussion and analysis for the third quarter
2014, will be filed with SEDAR at www.sedar.com and will be
available on Cominar's website at www.cominar.com.
CONFERENCE CALL ON NOVEMBER 6,
2014
On Thursday, November 6, 2014
at 11 a.m. (ET), Cominar's management will hold a conference
call to present the results for third quarter 2014. Anyone who is
interested may take part in this call by dialing
1 888-390-0605. A presentation regarding these results
will be available before the conference call on the REIT's website
at www.cominar.com, under the Conference Call header. In addition,
a taped rebroadcast of the conference call will be available from
Thursday, November 6, 2014 at
2 p.m. to Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 11:59 p.m., by dialing
1 888-390-0541 followed by this code:
296640.
DISTRIBUTION REINVESTMENT PLAN
Cominar offers unitholders the opportunity to participate in its
Unitholder Distribution Reinvestment Plan, which allows them to
receive their monthly cash distributions as additional Cominar
units. Participants will be entitled to receive an additional
distribution equal to 5% of the distributions reinvested, which
will be reinvested in additional units. For more information and to
obtain a participation form, please visit Cominar's website at
www.cominar.com.
PROFILE AS AT NOVEMBER 6,
2014
Cominar is the third largest diversified real estate investment
trust in Canada and currently
remains the largest commercial property owner in the Province of
Quebec. The REIT owns a real
estate portfolio of 563 properties in three different market
segments, that is, office properties, retail properties and
industrial and mixed-use properties. Cominar's portfolio totals
45.4 million square feet spread out across Quebec, Ontario, the Atlantic Provinces and
Western Canada. Cominar's
objectives are to pay growing cash distributions to unitholders and
to maximize unitholder value through proactive management and the
expansion of its portfolio.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain forward-looking statements
with respect to Cominar and its operations, strategy, financial
performance and financial condition. These statements generally can
be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may",
"will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" or
"continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The
actual results and performance of Cominar discussed herein could
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the
inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations.
Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from expectations include, among other things, general
economic and market factors, competition, changes in government
regulation and the factors described under "Risk Factors" in
Cominar's Annual Information Form. The cautionary statements
qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to Cominar and
persons acting on its behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press
release. Cominar does not assume any obligation to update the
aforementioned forward-looking statements, except as required by
applicable laws.
NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES
Net operating income, recurring distributable income (DI),
recurring funds from operations (FFO) and recurring adjusted funds
from operations (AFFO) are not measures recognized by International
Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and do not have standardized
meanings prescribed by IFRS. Such measures may differ from similar
computations as reported by similar entities and, accordingly, may
not be comparable to similar measures reported by such other
entities. Cominar's Management Discussion and Analysis for the
third quarter ended September 30,
2014, presents the reconciliation of DI, FFO and AFFO with
the most similar IFRS measures:
NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES
Quarters ended
September 30
|
2014
|
2013
|
Δ%
|
2014
|
2013
|
Δ%
|
|
($000)
|
($000)
|
|
($ per
unit)
|
($ per
unit)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net operating
income
|
99,131
|
93,338
|
6.2
|
|
|
|
Recurring
distributable income
|
53,579
|
51,369
|
4.3
|
0.41(1)
|
0.41(1)
|
-
|
Distributions
|
51,211
|
45,886
|
11.6
|
0.365
|
0.36
|
1.4
|
Recurring funds from
operations
|
61,713
|
57,193
|
7.9
|
0.47(2)
|
0.45(2)
|
4.4
|
Recurring adjusted
funds from operations
|
52,331
|
50,593
|
3.4
|
0.40(2)
|
0.40(2)
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1)
Basic
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(2) Fully
diluted
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOURCE Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust