Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the third quarter conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you need assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, October 31st, 2024. I will now turn the conference over to Paul Miatello. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you, and good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for joining us for our Q3 results call. With me in the room here, I have Angela Sahi, Senior Vice President, Canadian Operations, Beverley Flynn, Senior Vice President, General Counsel. On the phone, we have John Talano, Senior Vice President, U.S. Operations. I am Paul Miotello, Senior Vice President, and we have Chris Newman, our Chief Financial Officer, and I'll turn it over to Chris now for some prepared comments.
Okay, thank you, Paul. As is customary, I'll provide comments on the REIT's financial position and performance. In terms of our financial position, the REIT completed the third quarter of 2024 with total assets amounting to $4.4 billion, higher compared to $4.1 billion as of December 31st, 2023, and this was due to fair value increase on our real estate properties, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, and an increase in cash. The REIT finished the third quarter with approximately $103.3 million of cash on hand and $100 million available under the REIT's revolving credit facility with Morguard Corporation, and the REIT completed the third quarter with $1.7 billion of long-term debt obligations. As of September 30th, 2024, the REIT's mortgage payable has an overall weighted average term to maturity of 5.1 years and an increase from 4.9 years as of December 31st, 2023.
And the weighted average interest rate increased to 3.87% from 3.72% at December 31st, 2023. The REIT's debt-to-gross book value ratio was 38.9% at September 30th, 2024, an increase compared to 38.7% at December 31st, 2023. During 2024, the REIT continued to be active under its NCIB, repurchasing approximately 1.1 million units at an average unit price of CAD 16.94. The REIT's IFRS net asset value per unit is CAD 41.30, making the NCIB plan an appealing use of capital. In addition, the REIT is pleased to announce an increase in annual cash distribution of CAD 0.02 per unit, an increase of 2.7%. This will bring the distributions to CAD 0.76 per unit on an annualized basis from the current level of CAD 0.74 per unit. Turning to the statement of income, net loss was CAD 18.8 million for the third quarter compared to net income of CAD 39.2 million in 2023.
The CAD 58 million decrease in net income was primarily due to the following non-cash items: an increase in fair value loss on Class B LP units of CAD 99.7 million, and an increase in deferred income taxes of CAD 12.5 million, which was partially offset by an increase in fair value gain on real estate properties of CAD 51.5 million. IFRS net operating income was CAD 52 million for the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of CAD 0.4 million, or 0.7%, compared to 2023. The change in foreign exchange rate increased NOI by CAD 0.1 million of the overall variance to last year. On the same property proportionate basis, NOI in Canada increased by CAD 0.8 million, or 5.3%, mainly due to AMR growth, net of higher vacancy, partially offset by an increase in operating expenses. NOI in the U.S. decreased by $0.8 million.
dollars, or 4%, from higher vacancy, net of AMR growth, and an increase in operating expenses. And the change in foreign exchange rate increased same property proportionate NOI by CAD 0.2 million. Interest expense increased by CAD 5.5 million for the third quarter of 2024 compared to 2023, primarily due to an increase in interest on mortgages of CAD 1.7 million from higher principal and higher interest rates on the completion of the REIT's refinancings, and an increase in the non-cash fair value loss on the convertible debentures conversion option of CAD 3.5 million. Partially offsetting the additional interest on mortgages was an increase in other income of CAD 1.6 million, primarily from interest earned on excess cash. The REIT's third quarter performance translated into basic FFO of CAD 21.9 million, a decrease of 0.1 million, or 0.4%, when compared to 2023.
On a per-unit basis, FFO was CAD 0.40 per unit for the three months ended September 30th, 2024, compared to CAD 0.40 per unit in 2023, as an increase in interest expense was offset by an increase in interest income, which offset on a per-unit basis. The REIT's FFO payout ratio of 45.9% for the three months ended September 30th, 2024, compared to 45.5% in 2023, represents a very conservative level, which allows for significant cash retention. Operationally, the REIT's average monthly rent in Canada increased to CAD 1,754 at September 30th, 2024, a 6% increase compared to 2023, reflecting the quality of our Canadian portfolio. During the third quarter, the Canadian portfolio turned over 8% of total suites and achieved AMR growth on suite turnover of 24.1%.
While in the U.S., AMR increased by 2% compared to 2023, having an average monthly rent of $1,911 at the end of the third quarter. The REIT's occupancy in Canada finished the third quarter of 2024 at 97.8% compared to 98.9% at September 30th, 2023. Rental market conditions remain strong and stable as housing demand continues to outdistance supply. Occupancy in the U.S. of 91.7% at September 30th, 2024, was lower compared to 93.7% at September 30th, 2023. The decrease in occupancy was driven by turnover in our more busy summer leasing season. During the nine months ended September 30th, 2024, the REIT's total Capex amounted to CAD 31.8 million. That included revenue-enhancing in-suite and tenant improvements, garage renovations, exterior building projects, common area, energy initiative expenditures, as well as mechanical, plumbing, and electrical projects. At this time, I'll turn the call back over to the moderator to answer some questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. If you are using a speakerphone, please flip the handset before pressing any keys. Your first question comes from Dean Wilkinson at CIBC. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Afternoon, everyone. Just a quick question vis-à-vis both the cash and the refinancing that you will get on those mortgages in Canada. I guess you're going to have about CAD 160 million. How are you thinking about that? Is that going to be more geared towards the share buyback, and how do you look at that versus sort of shrinking the float, or do you see opportunities at the real property side where maybe you could be back on the acquisition side of things going into 2025?
Thanks, Dean. It's Paul here. I'll start, and then I'll see if anybody has anything to add. But in terms of allocation, the NCIB will continue to be a feature for sure. We've got daily purchase restrictions, right? So we're limited to about 6,600 units per day, and then there's exemptions for a block trade per week. So we're looking, we're on the bid. So we'll continue to allocate capital to the NCIB. We still think at this point that's probably the best use of capital, just given where the stock's trading today. So we'll keep chipping away at that if nothing else. And then on the acquisition side, yeah, I mean, we're definitely knowing that the balance sheet is pretty loaded up right now. We're looking in Canada and the U.S. There is a fair bit of product available in Canada.
So we've got the teams doing deep dives on the product that's for sale. And likewise in the U.S., the transaction market is still somewhat slow but has picked up over the last three or six months, I would say. And we're seeing more and better opportunities in the U.S. as well. And seeing stuff that's in the low five cap range. A lot of product in the U.S. in the low five cap range. Seeing some opportunities in around five and a half and higher. Those might have some more capital challenges and things like that, a little higher on the risk scale, perhaps. But we're seeing a number of opportunities. But as usual, disciplined capital deployment is kind of the hallmark of a Morguard company. So we're screening lots and taking things back for deeper conversations internally.
Right. And I'm assuming that those are in the existing markets that you're already in or, from the Canadian perspective, closer to, let's call it, home?
Yeah. I mean, well, I might characterize things a little bit differently in Canada and the U.S. I mean, we are looking at some major markets where we may not—that may not be in footprint right now. So looking at Calgary, looking a little bit at BC, and looking at some other major markets that are Eastern Seaboard, but maybe not currently in footprint. And again, it's just we're screening a lot of stuff right now. Not to say that we're going to necessarily pull the trigger on anything out of footprint, but we're screening a lot of product.
That makes sense. I mean, if the opportunity comes up, right, you don't want to walk from something. That's all I had. I'm sure that my other colleagues will have a couple of other questions, so I will hand it back. Thanks, guys.
Thanks. Thank you. Next question comes from Jonathan Kelcher at TD Cowen. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Paul, just to follow up on the acquisition stuff, I think you said in the mid-fives in the U.S. is kind of where you're looking. What about cap rates in Canada?
Cap rates in Canada are in the usual typical range where they've been for the last year or two. There's stuff in the high threes. There's some stuff in the low fours. It's kind of where we're seeing the stuff that we're screening.
Okay. Then on the operations, I guess the year-over-year decline in the U.S. occupancy, was that you guys trying to push rents a little bit, maybe aggressively? I noticed that the occupancy was back up post the quarter.
Yeah. I'm going to turn that one over to John to assist.
Sure. Well, if you look at our rents, really, even over the last 24 months, we've had a compound annual growth rate of 10.9% over the last two years. So we have been aggressive. That said, we have not been as aggressive as our peers in a lot of cases. We were very cognizant not to push out what our core rental base was, especially in the southern markets like Florida. But there are a few places that I think we have gotten ahead of ourselves a bit. But there's no cliffs. It's more rents normalizing. And we had a lot of activity in the U.S., specifically over the last in Q3, the majority of our move-outs happened over those three months. But it was a little more active. And yes, we were pushing rents at that time.
So in a few places, we did get a little bit ahead of ourselves. Our occupancy has improved already. So we're right at about 93 and change occupied and 95 and change leased today. So we're doing well.
You think you can say that through sort of the winter leasing season? Is that in your mind?
Things have been stable, but it has been whack-a-mole a little bit with our various locations. We dipped in New Orleans. That came back. We dipped in Tampa. That came back. We dipped in Dallas. That is coming back. And then we recently dipped in one of our properties in Colorado. So we're attacking it. We're really focused on marketing and leasing. We're adjusting our rents daily. But it's been stable. Going into the winter months, definitely things slow down. We do push the majority of our, especially in the northern properties, exposure into the summer months. So we should be good.
Okay. And then lastly, just switching gears to Canada, maybe give your thoughts high level on the impact of the immigration announcement last week on, I guess, specifically on your portfolio and then more generally for what you think for the industry?
Hi, this is Angela. So I can answer that. So I would say that over the last couple of years when immigration was very strong, we did have an influx of tenants. And just the momentum was there in terms of increasing rents. We were increasing rents about CAD 50-CAD 100 every month. I think that's all kind of plateaued now, and we're still holding rents and achieving high rent growth on turnover. However, we have to tolerate a little bit of vacancy. I think it's taking a few weeks longer than usual, we would say. And then in cases where we have some extra vacancy coming up in the pipeline, for example, when we have some external projects like parking and things like that happening, there is more turnover, which is obviously good for our rent growth.
But we do not want to have too much vacancy at once. So we are offering some incentives once in a while in these cases. But typically, it hasn't had a huge impact. I would just say that the pace of occupancy is not as strong as it was prior. The immigration is mostly in the Mississauga area, I would say. It's the young professionals that are coming in. We had some relationships with a few IT companies, and we were getting a handful of residents from these companies quite frequently over the last couple of years. And now that's all tapered off. I think just because of the announcements over the last couple of months, these companies are afraid. We talk to their HR group often, and they're just afraid of bringing candidates in here and being rejected eventually. So some of their people are still in the U.S.
or abroad. So that's a little bit of what we're finding. Overall, there's still a big housing shortage, and so I don't think in the long term it should be an issue.
Okay. That's helpful. Thanks. I'll turn it back.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have any questions, please press star one. Next question from Jimmy Shen at RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Just to follow up on the U.S. occupancy. So for Dallas in particular, I know the occupancy is around 88%. And if I look at the market occupancy in the submarket that you're in in Dallas, it's sitting around 93%. What would you attribute that difference to? Was it kind of what you referenced earlier in terms of seeing a lot of movers, you were pushing rents a little bit too aggressive in that market? Maybe some thoughts there.
Specifically in Dallas, the majority of our properties are in Las Colinas, and that is high tech, and there are lots of foreign nationals that rent apartments but are also on visas. I think part of that was definitely rents a little bit, but part of it was the Fed doing its work and slowing things down a bit. Our properties in Las Colinas have also improved a little bit. Retreat at Spring Park is actually 95% leased today. Verandah at Valley Ranch is 93%, so we're definitely moving in the right direction, but it hit those industries, I think, all at the same time, so that was the blip. They're stable. We don't have a whole lot of product that is coming up in and around our assets because I would call them more core.
A lot of the occupancy issues in Texas are with newer properties further out on the loop. They might be 40 minutes, an hour outside of the city where we're literally wedged between both airports. So it's a different submarket, if that makes sense.
Yeah. Okay. And so if we were to think about 2025 for the U.S. portfolio, how do you see occupancy and rents trending in 2025?
I think we had some tremendous growth over the last several years, and it's going back to normal. So we've budgeted 3.5%-5% annually on average over the years. And you could go back and look at our performance, those pre-COVID numbers, and I think we're going back there.
That's rent growth, right, you're referring to? Or revenue growth?
Yeah. Yeah. The rent we expect. We don't expect the 10% year-over-year growth that we have had in the past, or I mean, in the very recent past. I would say, depending on the market, we're looking at between 3% and 5% in rent growth across the portfolio.
Okay. All right. Thanks. And then just follow up on Canada then, Angela. So you mentioned that you're holding rents. I'm assuming market rents are sort of flat. Is that what you're referring to? Are you seeing market rents actually starting to come down a little bit so far? And would that be your expectation as we move to 2025?
I think it'll depend property to property. I mean, when there's low vacancy, we can really dictate what we want to achieve in rent. But it's basically for these older buildings; it's CAD 3 a foot or north of CAD 3 a foot. Even at Thorncliffe Park, we're only having a few units turnover. And when we do, it's close to CAD 3 a foot, CAD 2.89-CAD 3.10, something around there. And Mississauga, it's definitely north of CAD 3, CAD 3.10, CAD 3.56 for smaller units. So we're holding those rents. So yeah, so compared to last year, it's definitely gone up. I think we were in the mid- to high twos last year on turnover. And so it's definitely gone up, but it probably will plateau around here. There's only so much further we can go.
When you're competing with new construction and condos and things like that, I don't know that we could achieve CAD 4. But I think we're achieving pretty strong rents. And I think it depends on the property. We might have to reduce a couple as loss leaders and offer some incentives in situations, as I mentioned before, when you have a big parking project going on or something like that. But they'll still be high.
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. We have no further questions. I will turn the call back over for closing comments.
Okay. Thanks again, everybody, for attending the call, and we look forward to speaking to you next quarter. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference for today. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.