Slate Office REIT 9 00 Convertible Unsecured Subordinated Debentures Exp 28 Feb 2026 T.SOT.DB

RBC Initial Comments

[hawk35]

No surprise today.  Office vacancy rates still high and interest rates still high.  Still a lot of working from home going on. 

Leasing looks to improve in 2023 so with reduced distribution, they should be able to start paying down the debt.

In this environment, no one should expect selling or buying any assets.  Plus side of that is lower fees to the management group.

Don't get excited about voting against management at the AGM.  Best you can do is with hold your vote since a replacement slate of candidates is not in the cards.  Expect SP drop tomorrow but with Q1 due in four weeks, we should see a SP recovery.

I only have small holding here so I'm not too excited about this.  Will continue to hold.

Here are RBC initial comments.

April 4, 2023
 
Slate Office REIT Distribution reduced 70% in conjunction with the conclusion of review of strategic alternatives
 
TSX: SOT-U | CAD 3.38 | Sector Perform | Price Target CAD 4.75
 
Sentiment: Negative
 
In conjunction with the conclusion of its review of strategic alternatives, Slate Office (SOT) announced a 70% reduction in its monthly distribution to an annualized rate of $0.12 (from $0.40 previously). While not entirely surprising given the REIT’s elevated leverage, along with the uncertain backdrop for the office sector, we believe the distribution cut will weigh on units tomorrow given SOT’s income-focused investor base. Key Points:
• The reduction is effective for the April 2023 distribution, and will provide SOT an incremental $23.9 million in cash (annually). Savings will be directed towards the balance sheet and bolstering liquidity. As a point of reference, 4Q/22 liquidity stood at $61.7 million.
• Slate Office noted that while the strategic review considered a broad range of alternatives, the Board determined the reduction was the most prudent path forward given the current macroeconomic landscape.
• The updated distribution maps to an annualized yield of 3.6% (at today’s closing price of $3.38). Based upon our current 2023E outlook (all else equal), the revised distribution would map to an AFFO payout ratio that we peg at 32% (on an annualized basis), down from 107% previously.

[Capharnaum]

Wow... bad news... Considering Slate management's history of destructing value in SOT.UN, it may get ugly in the next few days. How can the NAV and the value of their properties be taken seriously when they conclude the strategic review with nothing else than a large dividend cut? Historically, all they've ever done with liquidities is to multiply transactions to get fees for Slate

[pjn0987654321]

Armoyan's plan all along may have been to buy the majority of SOT.UN on the cheap after a distribution cut.