InterRent REIT Results for the Fourth Quarter and 2015 Results

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 9, 2016) -

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InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:IIP.UN) ("InterRent" or the "REIT") today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015.

Highlights

• Gross rental revenue for 2015 increased by $17.7 million, or 26.9%, over 2014.
• Gross rental revenue for 2015 from stabilized operations increased by $2.6 million, or 4.1%, over 2014.
• Average monthly rent per suite for the portfolio increased to $996 (December 2015) from $965 (December 2014), an increase of 3.2%. Average monthly rent from stabilized operations increased by 4.0% to $1,004 per suite (December 2015) from $965 per suite (December 2014).
• Occupancy for the overall portfolio was 94.6%, down 1.5% (December 2015 compared to December 2014) as a result of an increase in acquisitions and continued repositioning of properties in 2015. Occupancy from stabilized operations was up modestly from 96.1% (December 2014) to 96.2% (December 2015).
• Net Operating Income (NOI) for the year increased by $10.6 million, or 28.0%, to $48.5 million. NOI margin for 2015 was 58.4%, up 50 basis points over 2014.
• Stabilized NOI for the year increased by $2.3 million, or 6.3%, to $39.3 million. Stabilized NOI margin for 2015 was 59.6%, up 110 basis points over 2014.
• For the year, FFO per unit increased by 8.2%, from $0.32 per unit to $0.35 per unit.
• For the year, AFFO per unit increased by 9.3% from $0.28 per unit to $0.31 per unit.
• The weighted average interest rate on mortgage debt has been reduced by 39 basis points from 3.13%, at December 31, 2014, to 2.74%, at December 31, 2015.
• The weighted average life to maturity of the mortgage debt has been extended from 3.9 years, at December 31, 2014, to 5.0 years, at December 31, 2015.
• Debt to GBV has increased by 150 basis points from 52.7% (December 2014) to 54.2% (December 2015) as a result of the pace of acquisitions in 2015 as well as the extensive capital investment in the non-stabilized properties.
• InterRent closed on the acquisition of 741 suites in the three months ended December 31, 2015, bringing the total acquisitions completed in the year to 1,702 suites. This represents an addition of 25.4% from the 6,700 suites owned by InterRent at the beginning of the year. In 2015, InterRent disposed of one property in Hamilton that housed a 17 suite building that had been previously damaged by fire.
• InterRent has announced the acquisition of 127 suites (which closed on March 9, 2016) within one of the core markets that have been targeted for growth as well as the disposition of one property (closed in January 2016).

Financial Highlights

Gross rental revenue for the year ended December 31, 2015 increased 26.9% to $83.8 million compared to $66.1 million for the prior year. Operating revenue for the year was up $17.6 million to $83.0 million, or 26.9% compared to the prior year. NOI for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 amounted to $48.5 million or 58.4% of operating revenue compared to $37.9 million or 57.9% of operating revenue for 2014. These increases were largely the result of a record year of acquisitions as the Trust increased the net suite count by 1,689 suites over the course of the year, to end the year with 8,389.

InterRent's focus on growing its core markets of GTA (including Hamilton), Ottawa/NCR and Montreal over the past few years, and taking into consideration announced acquisitions and dispositions, has resulted in approximately 69% of InterRent's suites now being located in these core markets.

For the stabilized portfolio, gross rental revenue for the year ended December 31, 2015 increased 4.1% to $66.2 million compared to $63.6 million for the prior year. NOI for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 amounted to $39.3 million or 59.6% of operating revenue compared to $36.9 million or 58.5% of operating revenue for 2014. These increases were largely the result of continued strong revenue growth combined with reductions in both operating costs and utility costs as a percentage of operating revenue.

In keeping with management's strategy of maximizing returns for Unitholders and focusing on clusters of buildings within geographical proximity to each other (in order to build operational efficiencies and attract focused, professional staff) properties are reviewed on a regular basis to determine if they should be kept or disposed of. "Over the last 3 years, the REIT has acquired 3,686 suites and grown our portfolio by over 78%. We expect repositioning efforts at the properties acquired over the last three years to be strong contributors to our bottom line as the investment of time, effort and capital takes hold at the properties," said Mike McGahan, CEO.

About InterRent

InterRent REIT is a growth-oriented real estate investment trust engaged in increasing Unitholder value and creating a growing and sustainable distribution through the acquisition and ownership of multi-residential properties.

InterRent's strategy is to expand its portfolio primarily within markets that have exhibited stable market vacancies, sufficient suites available to attain the critical mass necessary to implement an efficient portfolio management structure and, offer opportunities for accretive acquisitions.

InterRent's primary objective is to use the proven industry experience of the Trustees, Management and Operational Team to: (i) provide Unitholders with stable and growing cash distributions from investments in a diversified portfolio of multi-residential properties; (ii) enhance the value of the assets and maximize long-term Unit value through the active management of such assets; and (iii) expand the asset base and increase Distributable Income through accretive acquisitions.

*Non-GAAP Measures

InterRent prepares and releases unaudited quarterly and audited consolidated annual financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS (GAAP). In this and other earnings releases, as a complement to results provided in accordance with GAAP, InterRent also discloses and discusses certain non-GAAP financial measures, including NOI, FFO, AFFO, and EBITDA. These non-GAAP measures are further defined and discussed in the MD&A dated March 9, 2016, which should be read in conjunction with this press release. Since NOI, FFO, AFFO, and EBITDA are not determined by GAAP, they may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other issuers. InterRent has presented such non-GAAP measures as Management believes these measures are relevant measures of the ability of InterRent to earn and distribute cash returns to Unitholders and to evaluate InterRent's performance. These non-GAAP measures should not be construed as alternatives to net income (loss) or cash flow from operating activities determined in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of InterRent's performance.

Cautionary Statements

The comments and highlights herein should be read in conjunction with the most recently filed annual information form as well as our consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the same period. InterRent's publicly filed information is located at www.sedar.com.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning applicable to Canadian securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "anticipated", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". InterRent is subject to significant risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements contained in this release. A full description of these risk factors can be found in InterRent's most recently publicly filed information located at www.sedar.com. InterRent cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward looking statements and InterRent assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward looking statements contained in this release to reflect actual events or new circumstances.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.