TORONTO, May 13, 2013 /CNW/ - H&R Real Estate Investment Trust ("H&R
REIT") and H&R Finance Trust (collectively, "H&R") (TSX: HR.UN;
HR.DB.C; HR.DB.D; HR.DB.E, HR.DB.F and HR.DB.H) announced their
financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2013.
Operating Highlights
H&R REIT's average remaining term to maturity as at March 31, 2013 was
11.9 years for leases and 7.5 years for outstanding mortgages.
Occupancy at March 31, 2013 was 99.0%, down slightly from 99.1% at
March 31, 2012. Leases representing 1.7% of total rentable area will
expire during 2013. As at March 31, 2013, the ratio of H&R's debt to
fair market value of assets was 49.5% compared to 50.3% as at December
31, 2012. H&R's debt excluding convertible debentures to fair market
value of assets ratio was 46.0% compared to 46.9% as at December 31,
2012.
Capital Transaction Highlights
During the first quarter of 2013, H&R REIT sold three Canadian
industrial properties and one Canadian office property totalling
427,029 square feet for gross proceeds of approximately $37.5 million;
and repaid one Canadian mortgage totalling $69.5 million bearing
interest at a rate of 8.16%.
Development Highlights
H&R REIT's new 58-storey, downtown office complex in Calgary's financial
district (The "Bow") has recently been recognized as one of the world's
most spectacular corporate buildings. Germany-based Emporis, with its
internationally renowned database of building and construction project
information, formed a jury of building experts to select the world's
most dazzling buildings in terms of innovative design, visual impact
and function of significant corporate architecture. Among the 16
buildings selected, The Bow is the most recently built and the only
Canadian property. The Bow is a two-million-square-foot, Class AAA
skyscraper with a unique, energy efficient, bow-shaped building
footprint, and three "Sky Garden" common areas with trees. The Emporis
Skyscraper Award is the world's most renowned prize for high-rise
architecture.
On March 15, 2013, the final floors of The Bow were delivered to Encana
Corporation and its 25-year lease term will mature on May 14, 2038.
Rent escalations will be at 0.75% per annum on the office space and
1.5% per annum on the parking income for the full 25-year term. H&R
REIT estimates a further $36.0 million in costs will be incurred to
complete this project. As at March 31, 2013, the total cost incurred
on the project, including the South Block, amounted to $1.68 billion
(December 31, 2012 - $1.67 billion) which includes the costs for the
construction of 1,358 underground parking stalls. Encana Corporation
was entitled to a 60-day free rent fixturing period and a rent credit
equal to the delay penalty of approximately $32.0 million. As at March
31, 2013, this rent credit has been fully utilized by the tenant. This
rent free period, combined with the interest expense that was
capitalized, resulted in an AFFO loss of $1.7 million in Q1 2013 as
shown in the table below. The table below also provides an estimate of
FFO and AFFO for the next two quarters in 2013.
|
Actual
|
Estimate (2)(3)
|
In Millions
|
Q1 2013
|
Q2 2013
|
Q3 2013
|
Basic rent
|
$2.2
|
$21.9
|
$23.3
|
Straight-lining of contractual rent
|
20.6
|
3.0
|
1.9
|
Interest capitalized
|
0.5
|
-
|
-
|
Mortgage interest
|
(4.4)
|
(4.6)
|
(4.6)
|
Expected Bow impact on FFO(1)
|
18.9
|
20.3
|
20.6
|
Expected Bow impact on AFFO(1)
|
(1.7)
|
17.3
|
18.7
|
(1)
|
H&R's combined MD&A includes reconciliations of: net income to FFO; FFO
to AFFO; and AFFO to cash provided by operations. Readers are
encouraged to review such reconciliations in the combined MD&A.
|
(2)
|
This information is being provided so that investors are able to
understand the expected impact of the Bow to H&R REIT's operations.
This information may not be appropriate for other purposes.
|
(3)
|
The estimates for Q2 2013 and Q3 2013 supersede the estimates previously
provided by H&R REIT.
|
Financial Highlights
The following table includes non-Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles ("GAAP") information that should not be construed as an
alternative to comprehensive income (loss) or cash provided by
operations and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by
other issuers as there is no standardized meaning of FFO under GAAP.
Management believes that these are meaningful measures of operating
performance. Readers are encouraged to refer to H&R's combined MD&A
for further discussion of non-GAAP information presented.
|
3 months ended March 31
|
2013
|
2012
|
Rentals from investment properties (millions)
|
$222.6
|
$183.0
|
Net income (millions)
|
$132.1
|
$199.3
|
FFO (millions)(1)(2)
|
$90.0
|
$72.4
|
FFO per Stapled Unit (basic)(2)
|
$0.45
|
$0.40
|
Cash provided by operations (millions)
|
$137.1
|
$140.7
|
Distributions (millions) (3)
|
$49.2
|
$35.1
|
Distributions per Stapled Unit
|
$0.34
|
$0.27
|
(1)
|
H&R's combined MD&A includes reconciliations of: net income to FFO; FFO
to AFFO; and AFFO to cash provided by operations. Readers are
encouraged to review such reconciliations in the combined MD&A.
|
(2)
|
See below for significant and non-recurring items included in FFO and
FFO per Stapled Unit.
|
(3)
|
Cash distributions exclude distributions reinvested in units pursuant to
H&R's unitholder distribution reinvestment plan.
|
Included in net income is the fair value adjustment on real estate
assets which could be subject to large fluctuations. The fair value
adjustment on real estate assets was $38.6 million for the three months
ended March 31, 2013 (Q1 2012 - $127.0 million).
Included in FFO are the following items which can be a source of
significant variances between different periods:
|
3 months ended March 31
|
In millions
|
2013
|
2012
|
Additional recoveries for capital expenditures
|
$2.1
|
$1.0
|
Incentive fee waived by the Property Manager
|
$1.1
|
-
|
|
$3.2
|
$1.0
|
Excluding the above items, FFO would have been $86.8 million for the
three months ended March 31, 2013 (Q1 2012 - $71.4 million) and $0.43
per basic Stapled Unit (Q1 2012 - $0.40 per basic Stapled Unit).
Subsequent to March 31, 2013, H&R REIT:
-
Completed the acquisition of 27 properties from Primaris Retail Real
Estate Investment Trust ("Primaris") with a fair value of approximately
$3.1 billion, and assumed indebtedness of approximately $1.4 billion of
which $339.0 million was subsequently repaid. In relation to this
acquisition, H&R REIT and Finance Trust issued approximately 62.5
million Stapled Units for delivery to certain Primaris unitholders, and
H&R REIT assumed the 6.75% convertible debentures (the "6.75%
Debentures") (remaining aggregate principal amount outstanding is
approximately $1.2 million, as of April 4, 2013), 6.30% convertible
debentures (the "6.30% Debentures") (remaining aggregate principal
amount outstanding is approximately $7.7 million, as of April 4, 2013)
and 5.40% convertible debentures (remaining aggregate principal amount
outstanding is approximately $75.0 million, as of April 4, 2013) issued
by Primaris. On April 8, 2013, H&R REIT issued notices of intent to
redeem all the remaining 6.75% Debentures on May 27, 2013 and 6.30%
Debentures on May 13, 2013 in accordance with their terms. In
connection with the Primaris transaction, holders of approximately 2.1
million exchangeable units of certain subsidiaries of Primaris now hold
an equal number of exchangeable units of certain subsidiaries of H&R
REIT each of which is exchangeable for 1.166 Stapled Units.
-
Sold 1235 Bay St., an office property in Toronto, ON for gross proceeds
of approximately $25.0 million.
-
Repaid two U.S. mortgages totalling U.S. $22.8 million bearing interest
at an average rate of 5.95%.
June's Monthly Distributions Declared
June's declared distribution is scheduled as follows:
|
Distribution/Stapled Unit
|
Annualized
|
Record date
|
Distribution date
|
June 2013
|
$0.11250
|
$1.35
|
June 14, 2013
|
June 28, 2013
|
2013 Annual and Special Unitholders' Meeting
H&R will host their Annual and Special Unitholders' meeting this year on
Thursday, June 20 at 1:00 pm at the TSX Gallery, 130 King Street West,
Toronto, Ontario.
About H&R REIT and H&R Finance Trust
H&R REIT is an open-ended real estate investment trust, which owns a
North American portfolio of 40 office, 112 industrial and 163 retail
properties comprising over 53 million square feet and 3 development
projects, with a fair value of approximately $13 billion. The
foundation of H&R REIT's success since inception in 1996 has been a
disciplined strategy that leads to consistent and profitable growth.
H&R REIT leases its properties for long terms to creditworthy tenants
and strives to match those leases with primarily long-term, fixed-rate
financing.
H&R Finance Trust is an unincorporated investment trust, which primarily
invests in notes issued by a U.S. corporation which is a subsidiary of
H&R REIT. As at March 31, 2013, the note receivable balance is U.S.
$163.2 million. In 2008, H&R REIT completed an internal reorganization
which resulted in each issued and outstanding H&R REIT unit trading
together with a unit of H&R Finance Trust as a "Stapled Unit" on the
Toronto Stock Exchange.
Forward-looking Statements
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 relating to the objectives of H&R REIT and H&R Finance
Trust, strategies to achieve those objectives, H&R's beliefs, plans,
estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning
anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or
expectations that are not historical facts including, H&R REIT's
expectation in connection with the financial impact of The Bow and the amount of distributions to unitholders. 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. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on
H&R's estimates and assumptions that are subject to risk and
uncertainties, including those discussed in H&R's materials filed with
the Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time, which
could cause the actual results and performance of H&R to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news
release. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the
completion of the acquisition of Primaris, risks related to: prices and
market value of securities of H&R availability of cash for
distributions; restrictions pursuant to the terms of indebtedness;
liquidity; credit risk and tenant concentration; interest rate and
other debt related risk; tax risk; ability to access capital markets;
dilution; lease rollover risk; construction risks; currency risk;
unitholder liability; co-ownership interest in properties; competition
for real property investments; environmental matters; reliance on one
corporation for management of substantially all H&R REIT's properties;
and changes in legislation and indebtedness of H&R. Material factors or
assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an
estimate set out in the forward-looking statements include that the
general economy is stable; local real estate conditions are stable;
interest rates are relatively stable; and equity and debt markets
continue to provide access to capital. H&R cautions that this list of
factors is 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. 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 law, assumes no
obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information or the
occurrence of future events or circumstances.
SOURCE: H&R Real Estate Investment Trust
Additional information regarding H&R REIT and H&R Finance Trust is available at www.hr-reit.com and on www.sedar.com. For more information, please contact Larry Froom, Chief Financial Officer, H&R REIT, 416-635-7520, or e-mail info@hr-reit.com.