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TORONTO, March 13,
2023 /CNW/ - H&R Real Estate Investment
Trust ("H&R" or the "REIT") (TSX: HR.UN),
today announced the appointment of Donald
Clow to the REIT's Board of Trustees. Mr. Clow will fill a
vacancy left by Ronald Rutman, who
is leaving the Board following a successful term as vice-chair and
Independent Lead Trustee. Subsequent to his appointment, the
Trustees appointed Mr. Clow as Independent Lead Trustee of the
REIT's Board of Trustees.
Mr. Clow recently retired as a Trustee and President and CEO of
Crombie REIT and previously served as a Trustee of Granite
REIT.
"Under Don's leadership, Crombie delivered consistent growth and
superior unitholder returns, while achieving record occupancy
levels and significantly strengthening the balance sheet," said
Executive Chairman Tom Hofstedter.
"His experience and expertise encompass the entire real estate
development cycle, from land assembly, acquisitions and
divestments, development planning approval and capital structure.
We welcome Don as a Trustee of H&R, where his guidance will be
invaluable as we seek to accelerate the REIT's transformation
strategy."
Mr. Clow's appointment is another milestone in a board renewal
process that began in 2017. With Mr. Clow's appointment to the
Board of Trustees, all six of the REIT's independent trustees have
joined the Board within the last three years.
Mr. Hofstedter added, "Our Board renewal process has been aided
by our consultation with and feedback from unitholders. While we
have heard strong support from unitholders for the REIT's
Transformational Strategic Repositioning Plan announced in 2021, we
believe we can achieve further progress on this plan by ensuring we
have the right skills and experience on our Board."
Under this plan, the REIT is repositioning its portfolio to
focus on high-quality residential and logistics properties in U.S.
gateway and sunbelt cities, while divesting of H&R's legacy
office and retail properties, and streamlining its operating
platform.
"The Board thanks Ronnie Rutman
for his 27 years of service to H&R, including his eight years
as Chair of the Board, and most recently as Vice-Chair and Lead
Independent Trustee," said Mr. Hofstedter.
In 2022, the REIT sold over $463
million in non-core properties and reallocated much of that
capital to buy back units through its Normal Course Issuer Bid
pursuant to which the REIT bought back and canceled almost
$300 million of H&R's outstanding
units, or 22.9 million units in 2022, at a 40% discount to the
REIT's NAV per Unit1. So far in 2023, H&R has
announced an agreement to sell 160 Elgin Street in Ottawa, Ontario for $277 million and has plans to accelerate
additional asset sales. Meanwhile, the development of $370 million of industrial and U.S. sunbelt
residential properties core to H&R's strategy is progressing
well, with embedded value and growth expected to be realized over
the next two years. The REIT continues to execute its plan with
discipline and a focus on maximizing value for unitholders.
____________________________________
|
1
|
This is a non-GAAP
ratio. Refer to the "Non-GAAP Measures" section of this news
release.
|
About H&R REIT
H&R REIT is one of Canada's
largest real estate investment trusts with total assets of
approximately $11.4 billion as at
December 31, 2022. H&R REIT has
ownership interests in a North American portfolio comprised of
high-quality residential, industrial, office and retail properties
comprising over 28.7 million square feet.
Forward-Looking
Disclaimer
Certain information in this news release contains
forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable
securities laws (also known as forward-looking statements)
including, among others, statements made or implied relating to
H&R's Transformational Strategic Repositioning Plan, H&R's
objectives, beliefs, plans, estimates, targets, projections and
intentions and similar statements concerning anticipated future
events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that
are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements generally can
be identified by words such as "outlook", "objective", "may",
"will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe",
"should", "plans", "project", "budget" or "continue" or similar
expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Such
forward-looking statements reflect H&R's current beliefs and
are based on information currently available to management.
Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of
presenting information about management's current expectations and
plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such
statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based
on H&R's estimates and assumptions that are subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors including those risks and
uncertainties discussed in H&R's materials filed with the
Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time, which
could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
H&R to differ materially from the forward-looking statements
contained in this news release. Material factors or assumptions
that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set
out in the forward-looking statements include assumptions relating
to the general economy, including the effects of increased
inflation; debt markets continue to provide access to capital at a
reasonable cost, notwithstanding rising interest rates; and
assumptions concerning currency exchange and interest rates
including, for the purposes of expected Same-Property net operating
income (cash basis) growth, that there won't be any change in the
currency exchange rate. Additional risks and uncertainties include,
among other things, risks related to: real property ownership; the
current economic environment; credit risk and tenant concentration;
lease rollover risk; interest rate and other debt-related risk;
development risks; residential rental risk; capital expenditures
risk; currency risk; liquidity risk; risks associated with disease
outbreaks; cyber security risk; financing credit risk; ESG and
climate change risk; co-ownership interest in properties; general
uninsured losses; joint arrangement and investment risks;
dependence on key personnel and succession planning; potential
acquisition, investment and disposition opportunities and joint
venture arrangements; potential undisclosed liabilities associated
with acquisitions; competition for real property investments; Unit
price risk; potential conflicts of interest; availability of cash
for distributions; credit ratings; ability to access capital
markets; dilution; unitholder liability; redemption right risk;
risks relating to debentures; tax risk; additional tax risks
applicable to unitholders; investment eligibility; and statutory
remedies. H&R cautions that these lists of factors, risks and
uncertainties are not exhaustive. Although the forward-looking
statements contained in this news release are based upon what
H&R believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no
assurance that actual results will be consistent with these
forward-looking statements.
Readers are also urged to examine H&R's materials filed with
the Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time as
they may contain discussions on risks and uncertainties which could
cause the actual results and performance of H&R to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this
news release. All forward-looking statements in this news release
are qualified by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking
statements are made as of today and H&R, except as required by
applicable Canadian law, assumes no obligation to update or revise
them to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events
or circumstances.
Non-GAAP Measures
The audited consolidated financial statements of the REIT and
related notes for the year ended December
31, 2022 (the "REIT's Financial Statements") were prepared
in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards
("IFRS"). However, H&R's management uses a number of measures,
including NAV per Unit, which do not have meanings recognized or
standardized under IFRS or Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles ("GAAP"). These non-GAAP measures and non-GAAP ratios
should not be construed as alternatives to financial measures
calculated in accordance with GAAP. Further, H&R's method of
calculating these supplemental non-GAAP measures and ratios may
differ from the methods of other real estate investment trusts or
other issuers, and accordingly may not be comparable. H&R uses
these measures to better assess H&R's underlying performance
and provides these additional measures so that investors may do the
same. For information on the most directly comparable GAAP
measures, composition of the measures, a description of how the
REIT uses these measures and an explanation of how these measures
provide useful information to investors, refer to the "Non-GAAP
Measures" section of the REIT's management's discussion and
analysis as at and for the three months and year ended December 31, 2022, available at www.hr-reit.com
and on the REIT's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, which is
incorporated by reference into this news release.
Additional information regarding H&R REIT is available at
www.hr-reit.com and on www.sedar.com
SOURCE H&R Real Estate Investment Trust