CT REAL ESTATE INV TRUST achieves robust 5.5% NOI growth in Q3, expands portfolio with new investments and maintains high occupancy at 99.4%.
In this transcript
Summary
- CT REAL ESTATE INV TRUST completed significant investments this quarter, including acquisitions and redevelopments, adding substantial gross leasable area (GLA) to their portfolio. The developments in Calgary and Winkler amounted to $72 million and increased the GLA by over 350,000 square feet.
- The company's development pipeline remains strong with 20 projects, including the Canada Square Office Retrofit, representing a total committed investment of approximately $427 million. These projects are expected to add over 1 million square feet to the portfolio, with 90% already leased.
- Financial performance showed growth with a 5.5% increase in NOI and improvements in AFFO per unit. The company's occupancy rate is high at 99.4%, and the weighted average lease term is 7.3 years. The balance sheet reflects financial flexibility, with improvements in the indebtedness ratio and a robust interest coverage ratio.
- Management highlighted continued strong leasing activities, with a focus on Canadian Tire Store lease extensions and strategic investments. There was no significant bad debt or tenant issues reported.
- The company maintains a cautious approach to acquisitions, emphasizing strategic growth and maintaining financial strength, while expressing a willingness to explore third-party retail properties if financially viable.
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OPERATOR - (00:00:00)
Investments this Quarter Our first new investment involves the acquisition of the freehold interest underlying an existing ground lease along with an adjacent multi tenant commercial retail building in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. Additionally, we are expanding the Canadian Tire Store located in Collingwood, Ontario that Kevin mentioned earlier. These new investments require a total of $19 million to complete and are projected to earn going in yield of 6.45%. Combined, they will add approximately 50,000 square feet of high quality GLA to our portfolio. In the third quarter we completed two previously announced the acquisition of a Canadian Tire anchored property in Calgary, Alberta that we discussed last quarter and the redevelopment of our existing enclosed mall in Winkler, Manitoba. Since acquiring Southland Mall in Winkler, Manitoba in 2016, the REIT has made substantial improvements to the property including the expansion of the Canadian tire store in 2018 as well as a significant demolishing and renovation that has allowed us to introduce new retailers to the mall including Winners Anytime Fitness, Stacked Pancake House and a relocated and expanded Marks. Part of the rationale for acquiring this property originally was based on the strength of the Canadian Tire Store and the steps that we have taken since that time illustrate how the REIT has been able to create value in an asset that we decided to invest in. Based on the insights that we gleaned through our relationship with Canadian Tire, the Calgary acquisition and the Winkler redevelopment totaled $72 million and have added over 350,000 square feet of additional GLA to our portfolio. Our development pipeline overall remains strong with 20 projects at various stages, seven of which are expected to be completed by the end of this year and the remainder expected to be completed in 2026 and beyond. These developments, including Canada Square Office Retrofit project, represent a total committed investment of approximately 427 million upon finalization, 113 million of which has already been spent and 148 million of which we anticipate will be spent in the next 12 months. Once built, these projects will add a total incremental GLA of just over 1 million square feet to the portfolio, approximately 90% of which has been leased. With respect to our leasing activities during the third quarter, CT Re completed four Canadian Tire Store lease extensions and as of the end of Q3, the weighted average lease term for our portfolio was 7.3 years, which remains one of the longest in the sector. At the end of the quarter, CT REIT's occupancy rate remained strong at 99.4%. I will now turn it over to Leslie to discuss our financial results.
Leslie - (00:02:59)
Leslie thanks Jody and good morning everyone. We were pleased with the results delivered by the REIT again this quarter. This quarter, same store NOI increased 2.0% or $2.3 million, mainly driven by contractual rent escalations averaging 1.5% per year. As contained in the Canadian Tire leases, same property NOI saw a rise of 2.6% or $3 million compared to the previous year. This increase was largely due to the same store NOI growth mentioned earlier, along with approximately $700,000 of additional contribution from inintensifications completed in 2024 and 2025. Overall, in the third quarter, NOI experienced robust growth of 5.5% or $6.2 million. This was fueled by the 3.2 million contribution from the four acquisitions completed in 24 and 25 as well as the development completions over that time. In the third quarter, excluding fair value adjustments, G&A expense as a percentage of Property revenue was 2.5%, which was higher than the same period in the prior year of 2.2%. This increase was due to the timing of a deferred income tax provision in 2024 that reversed by the end of the year. On a year to date basis, G&A expenses as a percentage of revenue are running at a consistent 2.9%. The fair value adjustment of $36.7 million in the quarter was primarily driven by contractual rent increases, leasing renewals, and change to certain valuation metrics and assumptions, as well as the development completions within the property portfolio. In the quarter, diluted FFO per Unit was up 2.1% to 33.8 cents compared to 33.1 cents in the third quarter of 2024. AFFO per unit on a diluted basis was 31.7 cents, up 2.9% compared to Q3 of 2024. Cash distributions paid in the quarter increased 2.5% compared to the same period in the previous year due to the increase in distributions, which became effective with the monthly distributions paid in July 2025. With the increase in AFFO per unit outpacing the rate of the monthly distributions. The AFFO Payout ratio for Q3 was 74.8%, a slight improvement from 75.0% in the period last year. Turning to the balance sheet, our interest coverage ratio for the current quarter was 3.37 times compared to 3.52 times in the same quarter of 2024. This decrease is due to a combination of increased interest costs resulting from the resetting of the interest rate on the Series 3 and 16 to 19 class CLP units and effective June 1, 2025. Higher utilization of the credit facilities to fund acquisitions, intensifications and developments in 24 and 25, as well as the issuance of the $200 million Series J unsecured debentures in June of this year. The indebtedness to EBIT fair value ratio was 6.61 times during the quarter, improved from last year's ratio of 6.81 times. Our indebtedness ratio this quarter was 39.8%, down from 40.7% at the end of last year. This improvement is mainly attributable to the continued increases in the fair value of investment properties and higher total assets from acquisitions and developments, partially offset by the increased use of the credit facilities. The ratio has consistently trended lower over recent years, giving us ample financial flexibility for future growth. Lastly, with respect to liquidity, we ended Q3 with $5 million of cash on hand. 298 million of that remains available to her committed credit facility. And a further 186 million is also available on our uncommitted facility, the entire corporation. And with that I will turn the call back to the operator for any questions.
OPERATOR - (00:06:54)
At this time. I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, please press DAR11, then the number on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q and A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Lauren Calmar with Desjardins. Your line is now open.
Lauren Calmar - Equity Analyst at Desjardins - (00:07:15)
Thanks. Good morning everyone. Just on the Canada Square retrofit, I was wondering what is the progress on tendering costs? I mean, obviously you guys have started work there and have you guys seen any reprieve on the cost side with sort of the slowdown in development activity more broadly?
Jody - (00:07:37)
Good morning, Lauren, it's Jody. Thanks for the question. So the retrofit just started this quarter, effectively, so it really starts to pick up the pace in 2026 and beyond. So it's in the initial stages so far. Oxford, of course, is managing this on behalf of the co owners. They are in the process of tendering and securing the various contracts and trades. They have their CM in place. I don't think there's been any noticeable difference in terms of tendering versus budget at this stage. However, I would say it's early on in the retrofit, so that could be a case as we move forward.
Lauren Calmar - Equity Analyst at Desjardins - (00:08:17)
Okay, lovely. And then just on the intensification development side, obviously Canadian Tire is a large chunk of that, but one thing we've been hearing is there's a lot of opportunity out there to intensify for, for other retailers. I was just wondering if you guys are seeing any demand and if that's something you look to focus the pipeline a little bit more on as dynamics call for it.
Kevin - (00:08:44)
Hi, Lauren, it's Kevin. We definitely have inbound interest from retailers. We don't have a lot of large pad opportunities that can accommodate the users who are expressing interest. Grocery, pharmacy, liquor. Most of our pad opportunities are smaller and we've actually affected quite a few of them to date. But that doesn't mean we're not out selectively looking for alternative sites or opportunities to work with the retailers who are looking to expand. Our Lloyd Minster redevelopment is a good example of where we can take advantage of opportunities like that. So, yeah, we're trying to find the balance between the demand side, finding opportunities that we can make financial sense of and obviously where it complements existing assets.
Lauren Calmar - Equity Analyst at Desjardins - (00:09:38)
Okay, thank you very much. I'll turn it back. Thanks.
OPERATOR - (00:09:42)
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Sam Damiani with TD Securities. Your line is now open.
Sam Damiani - Equity Analyst at TD Securities - (00:09:50)
Thank you. Good morning everyone. Maybe just to get into the leasing side of the business, maybe Jody could just comment on leasing spreads in the quarter both to Canadian Tire and third party tenants.
Jody - (00:10:04)
Good morning, Sam. It's Jody. So the third party renewals, typically our volumes are on the lower side just because of the high occupancy rate and the bulk of our activities with Canadian Tires. So it is at the lower end, I'd say. The spreads though are consistent with what we see in every other quarter. So we're pleased with that. In terms of the related party, we had quite a number this quarter, as noted. Obviously we don't comment on the specifics, but the escalations that we achieved have been continuing on these months.
Kevin - (00:10:36)
And Sam, as we talked about before, as we look at the escalations, we are looking at market specific dynamics. And whereas on average certainly 1.5% is the number for the entire portfolio, there are selective opportunities within each set of renewals to address that and possibly get that number a little higher. And we also continue to have discussions with Canadian Tire about as we, I guess enter into some of the more significant years in terms of the number of renewals that we'll be dealing with, what the best collective situation is for both the REIT and for CTC in terms of continuing on with the annual rent escalations or looking at more conventional fixed five year rent numbers. So as of right now, we're still playing with the same rhyme scheme, but that could be subject to change in the future, as we've discussed before.
Sam Damiani - Equity Analyst at TD Securities - (00:11:33)
Thank you both. And Kevin, your comment on looking at other alternatives versus the annual escalations. I mean, what would be the, I guess the benefit for the REIT in looking at a different structure?
Kevin - (00:11:46)
Well, like you guys, we can forecast out the next five to 10 years based on our portfolio and obviously looking to if there's any spread between one versus the other. The fixed contracts to recall have a floor and a ceiling in terms of the renewal rate. They can't be less than the amount they were paying in the preceding term and it's capped out at 112%. So just based on where we forecast the market to be and where it might be going, if there is a difference financially for us, that's of benefit to look at one version versus the other. To date there hasn't been a big difference, but that might not always be the case.
Sam Damiani - Equity Analyst at TD Securities - (00:12:30)
Got it. Appreciate that. And then just on the macro, it's a little more challenging. You seeing any retailer start to feel, feel some pain. Do you have any known move outs in the portfolio? Any problem tenants, bad debt, expense, any of that sort of getting a little bit coming into focus these days?
Kevin - (00:12:49)
That hasn't been our experience. We don't have any real bad debt that's any different than in any preceding periods. I don't think there's, you know, the major retailers are, seem to be showing any signs of weakness at this point. So certainly with the some Bay stores being returned to some of the major landlords out there, there could be a little bit of distraction in terms of other opportunities. There's a lot of square footage to be addressed in the market. Not all of it obviously reusable or appropriate to the tenants that we deal with, but I think the only indication of potentially them slowing down with respect to our discussions would be based on other alternatives and the market that they're considering.
Sam Damiani - Equity Analyst at TD Securities - (00:13:34)
Okay, very helpful. And last one for me just in Kelowna with the new store, I guess ready to be open soon. And I believe the REIT owns the other store that's going to be vacated in that market. Is there plans to backfill that? What's the sort of plan there?
Kevin - (00:13:53)
We're working on that right now, Sam. We do have a couple different alternatives for the site, so we're thinking our way through options, so stay tuned.
Sam Damiani - Equity Analyst at TD Securities - (00:14:04)
All right, good luck with that. Thank you very much.
Kevin - (00:14:06)
Thank you.
OPERATOR - (00:14:08)
Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone keypad. Our next Question comes from the line of Mark Marquettes with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is now open.
Mark Marquettes - Equity Analyst at BMO Capital Markets - (00:14:23)
Thank you, operator. Good morning everyone. Two quick ones for me, I guess just first on Winkler, just a modeling question here. I guess it's a redevelopment that came on stream in the third quarter. Presumably there was. It's now substantially complete, but presumably there was some income tied to it before. So how should we be thinking of the increment from that delivery that came on stream going forward.
Jody - (00:14:46)
With that particular one? Mike? We had at one point the Canadian Tire store in hud because we were expanding it and the mall wasn't. And then the store went back in and the mall went into Property Under Development (PUD). I would say maybe 60% is attributable to the mall versus 40% to the CT store, if that helps is my best guess.
Mark Marquettes - Equity Analyst at BMO Capital Markets - (00:15:10)
So the total amount delivered is just with respect to what was completed, not the entire project?
Jody - (00:15:15)
That's right, the mall redevelopment component of it.
Mark Marquettes - Equity Analyst at BMO Capital Markets - (00:15:19)
Got it. Okay, thank you for that. And then just with respect to the $148 million of capital that you guys have to spend or are committed to spend over the next 12 months, obviously opportunity dependent, but given where your balance sheet is, where your cost of capital is, what's your appetite if the opportunities presented themselves to ramp that up materially further, how much capacity do you see yourselves as having?
Kevin - (00:15:43)
I think we have a strong appetite to ramp it up. I don't know if I would describe that appetite as material. You know, we see some opportunities in the market and I think we're in a good spot. We've talked about our dry powder in past quarters and certainly we have the financial capability and flexibility to go hunting a little bit. But retail is still among the most sought after asset classes. The type of assets we're looking at are well leased with good tenants. So there's competition for that. But we try to pick our spots and I think we got a nice pipeline on the development side. We're showing all the different ways we can affect our growth through our investment program. And I think we'd like to do a little bit more as we look to 2026 if possible.
Mark Marquettes - Equity Analyst at BMO Capital Markets - (00:16:38)
Okay. And actually just one more from you before I turn it back. So with respect to hunting out there for retail, is the acquisition criteria such that if, if it doesn't from third parties, if it doesn't have a CT entire store in it, that it would potentially that would be the goal is to have something like that or would you ever purchase something that would just be a third party? Retail Property and so be it.
Kevin - (00:17:02)
We would definitely purchase third party retail property unaffiliated with Canadian Tire. Now there's two versions of what that could look like. Something that's a little bit more strategic. So adjacent land, adjacent assets. Something that we think long term we can bring Canadian Tire into. So I'll say unaffiliated with Canadian Tire in its current form, but potential strategic rationale for why we'd be acquiring it. The other one that we would look at is things like what we've done in the past with our bank branch portfolio, just third party, single tenant, net lease, long term leases, good credit type assets portfolios preferably. But it's been a long time since we've seen something like that that we're interested in that the pricing works for us. I mean it's gotten quite expensive in that space. Especially when you're talking about tenants like banks or certain QSR restaurants or pharmacies. So again, we've always looked at that opportunistically. We like it, we'd like to own more of it. But we're only going to do that if it's makes sense for us.
Mark Marquettes - Equity Analyst at BMO Capital Markets - (00:18:09)
Thank you for the color. Turn it back.
OPERATOR - (00:18:12)
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Pam E. Burr with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is now open.
Pam E. Burr - Equity Analyst at RBC Capital Markets - (00:18:20)
Thanks. Maybe just one for me along the lines of acquisitions. Can you maybe just comment on perhaps the timing of when we may see additional bend inside from CTC? If I recall, I think there's maybe 15, 20 properties left in that left at that level. And then secondly, if you have any comments on the potential value of those remaining assets.
Kevin - (00:18:48)
Hi Pami. Yeah, there's probably closer to 15 now. We've always looked at the bend ins as a lever we can pull when maybe there isn't as much development or as much third party that's ongoing to continue our steady pace of investment activity generally. So I think you'll see us continue to do a couple a year. I think the total size of Canadian Tires portfolio that we would be interested in buying is probably somewhere between 150 and 200 million dollars today.
Pam E. Burr - Equity Analyst at RBC Capital Markets - (00:19:26)
Got it. That's all I had. Thanks very much, Kevin.
Kevin - (00:19:31)
Thanks, Colin.
OPERATOR - (00:19:33)
Thank you. As there are no further questions at this time, I will turn the call over to Kevin Salzberg, President and CEO for closing remarks.
Kevin Salzberg - President and CEO - (00:19:42)
Thank you, Lauren. And thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you again in February after We release our Q4 results. Have a good day.
OPERATOR - (00:19:52)
This concludes today's call. Thank you. You may now disconnect.
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