QUÉBEC, May 7, 2015 /CNW Telbec/
- Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust ("Cominar" or
the "REIT") (TSX: CUF.UN) announced today its results for
the first quarter of fiscal year 2015.
Highlights for the Quarter Ended March
31, 2015
- Increased net operating income of 31.2%
- Closing of a public unit offering of $155.3 M
"Our results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 present,
for the fourth consecutive quarter, positive organic growth of the
order of 1.4% compared to the same period of 2014", said
Michel Dallaire, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Cominar.
"At the same time, our cautious and effective allocation of
Cominar's debt helped us maintain as at March 31, 2015, the senior unsecured
debts-to-total-debt ratio at 52.2%, and our unencumbered assets at
$3.7 billion", said Gilles Hamel, Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Cominar.
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
For the quarter ended March 31,
2015, operating revenues increased to $229.4 million, up 32.1% over the comparable
period in 2014 when operating revenues were $173.7 million.
Net operating income reached $119.1 million, up 31.2% compared to net
operating income in the first quarter of 2014.
Recurring distributable income reached $63.7 million, up 30.0% over the first quarter of
2014. The basic recurring distributable income per unit
amounted to $0.39 for the quarters
ended March 31, 2015 and 2014.
Recurring funds from operations for the first quarter of
2015 reached $72.0 million, up 29.2%
compared to the first quarter of 2014. Recurring funds from
operations per unit fully diluted remained stable at
$0.44.
Recurring adjusted funds from operations for the first
quarter of 2015 reached $62.5
million, up 29.4% compared to the same quarter of 2014.
Fully diluted per unit, they remained stable at $0.38.
FINANCIAL SITUATION
As at March 31, 2015, Cominar had
a debt ratio (excluding convertible debentures) of 52.0%,
down from 53.9% as at December 31,
2014. At the end of the first quarter of 2015, total
assets reached $8.2 billion, up
30.5% compared to March 31, 2014.
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
On January 30, 2015, Cominar
closed a public offering of units for $155.3 million, which allowed us to reduce
our debt ratio (excluding convertible debentures) to 52.0%.
SUBSEQUENT EVENT AFTER MARCH 31,
2015
On April 23, 2015, Cominar
acquired a portfolio of 3 industrial properties of approximately
697,000 square feet in total leasable area, located in the Greater
Montréal area, for a purchase price of $34.5 million paid in cash. The
capitalization rate for this transaction is 8.1%.
ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Cominar's condensed interim consolidated financial statements
and interim management's discussion and analysis for the first
quarter ended March 31, 2015, will be
filed with SEDAR at www.sedar.com and will be available on
Cominar's website at www.cominar.com.
CONFERENCE CALL ON MAY 7,
2015
On Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 11
a.m. (ET), Cominar's management will hold a conference call to
present the results for the first quarter of 2015. 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, May 7, 2015 at 2 p.m. to Thursday, May
14, 2015 at 11:59 p.m., by
dialing 1 888 390-0541 followed by this code:
174413 #.
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 MAY 7,
2015
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 566 properties in three different market
segments, that is, office properties, retail properties and
industrial and mixed-use properties. Cominar's portfolio totals
45.9 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 MEASURES
Net operating income, recurring distributable income (DI),
recurring funds from operations (FFO), recurring adjusted funds
from operations (AFFO) and proportionate share in joint ventures
adjustments 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 Interim Management Discussion and Analysis for
the quarter ended March 31, 2015,
presents the reconciliation of DI, FFO and AFFO with the most
similar IFRS measures:
NON-IFRS FINANCIAL
MEASURES
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For the quarters
ended March 31
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2015
|
2014
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% Δ
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2015
|
2014
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% Δ
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($000)
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($000)
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($ per
unit)
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($ per
unit)
|
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Net operating
income
|
119,066
|
90,778
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31.2
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Recurring
distributable income
|
63,697
|
49,009
|
30.0
|
0.39
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(1)
|
0.39
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(1)
|
-
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Distributions
|
62,369
|
46,277
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34.8
|
0.368
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|
0.360
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|
2.2
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Recurring funds from
operations
|
71,983
|
55,700
|
29.2
|
0.44
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(2)
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0.44
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(2)
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-
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Recurring adjusted
funds from operations
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62,516
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48,319
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29.4
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0.38
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(2)
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0.38
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(2)
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-
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(1)
basic (2) fully diluted
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SOURCE COMINAR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST