New York Mortgage Trust Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results

NEW YORK, March 4, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. (Nasdaq:NYMT) ("NYMT," the "Company," "we," "our" or "us") today reported results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2013.

Summary of Fourth Quarter 2013:

• Net income attributable to common stockholders of $21.8 million, or $0.34 per share, for the quarter as compared to $9.4 million, or $0.19 per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.
   
• Net interest income rose to $18.2 million for the quarter, an increase of $6.9 million over the quarter ended December 31, 2012 and $2.7 million over the quarter ended September 30, 2013.
   
• Portfolio net interest margin increased to 410 basis points from 359 basis points the previous quarter.
   
• Book value per common share of $6.33 at December 31, 2013 as compared to $6.32 per common share at September 30, 2013.
   
• Invested $30.4 million in first loss PO security issued by a Freddie Mac-sponsored multi-family K-Series securitization.
   
• Declared fourth quarter dividend of $0.27 per common share that was paid on January 27, 2014. 

Highlights for Full Year 2013:

• Net income attributable to common stockholders of $65.4 million, or $1.11 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2013 as compared to $28.3 million, or $1.08 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2012.
   
• Net interest income rose to $60.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2013.
   
• Received net proceeds of approximately $100.2 million through common stock offering and at-the-market program and $72.4 million through preferred stock offering.
   
• Invested an aggregate of approximately $94.9 million in multi-family CMBS, first mortgage loan, mezzanine loan and preferred equity investments, and $218.2 million in distressed residential mortgage loans.
   
• Financed a portion of 2013 investments in credit sensitive assets through three securitizations of distressed residential mortgage loans for an aggregate of $136.6 million and one multi-family CMBS-backed three year privately placed term repo for approximately $55.1 million.
   
• Declared aggregate 2013 dividends of $1.08 per common share.

Subsequent Developments:

• Completed public offering of 11,500,000 shares of common stock (including 1,500,000 shares issuable pursuant to an additional-allotment option to the underwriters) in January 2014, resulting in net proceeds to the Company of approximately $75.8 million, after deducting estimated offering expenses. 
   
• Sold a pool of distressed residential mortgage loans with a carrying value of approximately $29.4 million for aggregate proceeds of approximately $36.9 million in January 2014, resulting in a net realized gain, before income taxes to the Company of approximately $7.5 million. 

About New York Mortgage Trust

New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. is a Maryland corporation that has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"). NYMT is an internally managed real estate investment trust, or REIT, which invests in mortgage-related and financial assets and targets multi-family CMBS, direct financing to owners of multi-family properties through mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments, residential mortgage loans, including loans sourced from distressed markets, Agency RMBS consisting of fixed-rate, adjustable-rate and hybrid adjustable-rate RMBS and Agency IOs consisting of interest only and inverse interest-only RMBS that represent the right to the interest component of the cash flow from a pool of mortgage loans. RiverBanc, LLC, The Midway Group, L.P. and Headlands Asset Management, LLC provide investment management services to the Company with respect to certain of its targeted asset classes. For a list of defined terms used from time to time in this press release, see "Defined Terms" on page 7.

Management Overview    

Steven Mumma, NYMT's Chief Executive Officer and President, commented: "Despite the difficult and volatile investment environment for fixed-income investors in 2013, the Company's portfolio and investment strategy produced strong results in the fourth quarter and full year 2013, with net income per share higher by 79% and 3%, respectively, over the corresponding prior periods. The Company benefitted significantly in 2013 from its decision to allocate greater capital to credit sensitive assets that rely on asset selection rather than leverage to generate the Company's targeted returns, with our multi-family strategy leading the way. This approach to capital allocation and asset selection has yielded impressive results, with fourth quarter net interest margin up by 51 and 77 basis points, respectively, over the prior quarter and the fourth quarter of 2012, and has helped us to maintain a stable book value per share throughout 2013, something that was difficult for many mortgage REITs last year. As of the end of 2013, 69% of our capital was allocated to investments in CMBS, multi-family investments and distressed residential mortgage loans, up from 44% last year."

"The Company grew its capital by $159 million in 2013 through accretive equity offerings and has maintained that growth momentum in early 2014, as evidenced by the $75.8 million of common equity we raised in January 2014. Similar to our 2013 offerings, the capital raised in our January 2014 offering was accretive to book value. We intend to continue our focus in 2014 on growing the credit-sensitive portion of our portfolio, while maintaining an opportunistic approach to our Agency IO and Agency RMBS portfolios, and will continue to pursue attractive structured financing opportunities capable of enhancing the yields on these credit-sensitive assets while minimizing the Company's liquidity risk. We believe the portfolio is well-positioned as we move forward in 2014 to take advantage of new interest earning and capital gain opportunities."

Capital Allocation

The following table sets forth our allocated capital by investment type at December 31, 2013 (dollar amounts in thousands):

Results of Operations

For the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, we reported net income attributable to common stockholders of $21.8 million and $65.4 million, respectively, as compared to net income attributable to common stockholders of $9.4 million and $28.3 million for the same respective periods in 2012. The main components of the change in net income for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, as compared to the same periods for the prior year are set forth in the following table (dollar amounts in thousands, except per share data):

In general, the significant increases in a number of the line items are largely a function of the growth in the Company's stockholders' equity from $322.0 million as of December 31, 2012 to $480.7 million as of December 31, 2013 and the corresponding growth in the size of the Company's portfolio of interest earning assets.

Net Interest Income / Interest Earning Assets

The significant increase in net interest income is directly attributable to the growth in our interest earning assets as compared to the previous year. During the year ended December 31, 2013, the Company increasingly allocated capital to credit sensitive, higher yielding investments and allocated less capital to its Agency RMBS portfolio, which is lower-yielding. This selective allocation of capital favorably impacted net interest margin for the third and fourth quarters of 2013. The fourth quarter was also favorably impacted by a significant slowdown in prepayment rates in our Agency RMBS and Agency IO portfolios (See table below). The combination of investment allocation to credit sensitive assets and decreased prepayment rates resulted in a 77 basis point increase in net interest spread when comparing the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2012 and an increase of 51 basis points as compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2013.

The following table sets forth the net interest spread for our portfolio of interest earning assets by quarter for the five most recently completed quarters, excluding the costs of our subordinated debentures:

Portfolio Asset Yields

The following table summarizes the Company's significant assets at and for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, classified by relevant categories (dollar amount in thousands):

Prepayment History

Prepayment rates decreased significantly in the fourth quarter favorably impacting the net interest spread of the portfolio. The following table sets forth the actual CPRs for selected asset classes, by quarter, for the periods indicated below:

Other Income

Total other income increased by $10.7 million and $20.0 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 as compared to the same periods in 2012, respectively. The changes in total other income for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 as compared to the same periods in 2012 were primarily driven by:

• an increase in net unrealized gains on multi-family loans and debt held in securitization trusts of $7.5 million and $24.8 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, respectively, from the corresponding periods in 2012, primarily due to improved pricing on our multi-family CMBS investments as well as an increase in multi-family CMBS investments as compared to the corresponding periods in 2012;
   
• a decrease in unrealized loss on investment securities and related hedges of $3.8 million and $9.4 million and a decrease in realized gain on investment securities and related hedges of $3.0 and $17.0 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2012, which is primarily related to our Agency IO strategy. The increased interest rate volatility combined with illiquidity in the inverse IO market resulted in larger than expected losses in this strategy during the second quarter of 2013, with a partial reversal realized during the third and fourth quarters of this year; and
   
• an increase in realized gains on distressed residential mortgage loans of $0.5 million and $1.5 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2012. 

Comparative General, Administrative and Other Expenses (dollar amounts in thousands)

The increase in general, administrative and other expenses was largely attributable to the increase in management fees and expenses related to our distressed residential mortgage loan investments. The increase in management fees was driven in large part by the increase in assets managed by our external managers. The increase in expenses related to distressed residential mortgage loans is due to the significant increase in our investment in this asset class as compared to the corresponding periods in 2012. 

Analysis of Changes in Book Value

The following table analyzes the changes in book value of our common stock for the three months and year ended December 31, 2013 (amounts in thousands, except per share):

Conference Call

On Wednesday, March 5, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, New York Mortgage Trust's executive management is scheduled to host a conference call and audio webcast to discuss the Company's financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2013. The conference call dial-in number is (877) 312-8806. The replay will be available until Wednesday, March 12, 2014 and can be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 and entering passcode 5169074. A live audio webcast of the conference call can be accessed via the Internet, on a listen-only basis, at the Company's website at http://www.nymtrust.com. Please allow extra time, prior to the call, to visit the site and download the necessary software to listen to the Internet broadcast.

Full year 2013 financial and operating data can be viewed on the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is expected to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or about March 7, 2014. A copy of the Form 10-K will be posted at the Company's website as soon as reasonably practicable following its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Defined Terms

The following defines certain of the commonly used terms in this press release: "RMBS" refers to residential mortgage-backed securities comprised of adjustable-rate, hybrid adjustable-rate, fixed-rate, interest only and inverse interest only, and principal only securities; "Agency RMBS" refers to RMBS representing interests in or obligations backed by pools of residential mortgage loans issued or guaranteed by a federally chartered corporation, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), or an agency of the U.S. government, such as the Government National Mortgage Association ("Ginnie Mae"); "Agency ARMs" refers to Agency RMBS comprised of adjustable-rate and hybrid adjustable-rate RMBS; "IOs" refers collectively to interest only and inverse interest only mortgage-backed securities that represent the right to the interest component of the cash flow from a pool of mortgage loans; "Agency IOs" refers to an IO that represents the right to the interest component of cash flow from a pool of residential mortgage loans issued or guaranteed by a GSE, or an agency of the U.S. government; "POs" refers to mortgage-backed securities that represent the right to the principal component of the cash flow from a pool of mortgage loans; "ARMs" refers to adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans; "residential securitized loans" refers to prime credit quality residential ARM loans held in securitization trusts; "distressed residential mortgage loans" refers to pools of performing, re-performing and to a lesser extent non-performing, fixed-rate and adjustable-rate, fully amortizing, interest-only and balloon, seasoned mortgage loans secured by first liens on one- to four-family properties; "CMBS" refers to commercial mortgage-backed securities comprised of commercial mortgage pass-through securities, as well as IO or PO securities that represent the right to a specific component of the cash flow from a pool of commercial mortgage loans; "multi-family CMBS" refers to CMBS backed by commercial mortgage loans on multi-family properties; "multi-family securitized loans" refers to the commercial mortgage loans included in the Consolidated K-Series; "CDO" refers to collateralized debt obligation; "CLO" refers to collateralized loan obligation; and "Consolidated K-Series" refers to, in the case of the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, six separate Freddie Mac- sponsored multi-family loan K-Series securitizations, or in the case of the quarter and year ended December 31, 2012, four separate Freddie Mac-sponsored multi-family loan K-Series securitizations, of which we, or one of our special purpose entities, or SPEs, own the first loss PO securities and certain IO securities.

Additional Information

We determined that the Consolidated K-Series were variable interest entities and that we are the primary beneficiary of the Consolidated K-Series. As a result, we are required to consolidate the Consolidated K-Series' underlying multi-family loans including their liabilities, income and expenses in our consolidated financial statements. We have elected the fair value option on the assets and liabilities held within the Consolidated K-Series, which requires that changes in valuations in the assets and liabilities of the Consolidated K-Series be reflected in our consolidated statements of operations.

A reconciliation of our net capital investment in multi-family investments to our financial statements as of December 31, 2013 is set forth below:

When used in this press release, in future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") or in other written or oral communications, statements which are not historical in nature, including those containing words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "continue," "intend," "should," "would," "could," "goal," "objective," "will," "may" or similar expressions, are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions.

Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's beliefs, assumptions and expectations of its future performance, taking into account all information currently available to it. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations are subject to risks and uncertainties and can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to the Company. If a change occurs, the Company's business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in its forward-looking statements. The following factors are examples of those that could cause actual results to vary from the Company's forward-looking statements: changes in interest rates and the market value of the Company's securities; changes in credit spreads; the impact of the downgrade of the long-term credit ratings of the U.S., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae; market volatility; changes in the prepayment rates on the mortgage loans underlying the Company's investment securities; increased rates of default and/or decreased recovery rates on the Company's assets; the Company's ability to borrow to finance its assets; changes in governmental laws, regulations or policies affecting the Company's business; the Company's ability to maintain its qualification as a REIT for federal tax purposes; the Company's ability to maintain its exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; and risks associated with investing in real estate assets, including changes in business conditions and the general economy. These and other risks, uncertainties and factors, including the risk factors described in the Company's periodic reports filed with the SEC, could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements it makes. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. New risks and uncertainties arise over time and it is not possible to predict those events or how they may affect the Company. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated to, and does not intend to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW

CONTACT: For Further Information
         AT THE COMPANY
         Kristine R. Nario
         Investor Relations
         Phone:  (646) 216-2363
         Email: knario@nymtrust.com