riocan real estate investment trust

BANK OF MONTREAL, $61.74, Toronto symbol BMO, rose 4% this week after it reported earnings that matched the consensus estimate. In its 2010 fiscal year, which ended October 31, 2010, the bank earned $2.8 billion. That’s up 57.2% from $1.8 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 54.2%, to $4.75 from $3.08, on more shares outstanding. Unusual items, such as severance costs and writedowns of securities the bank holds, depressed its fiscal 2009 earnings. If you exclude these items, earnings per share would have risen 19.9%. Earnings at Bank of Montreal’s main retail-banking division rose 7%, while its wealth-management business’s earnings gained 31%. However, earnings at its capital-markets division fell 6%. That’s because volatile stock markets and concerns over European sovereign debt hurt trading volumes. Revenue rose 10.4%, to $12.2 billion from $11.1 billion....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $22 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 252.3 million; Market cap: $5.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.3; Dividend yield: 6.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) operates 289 retail properties in Canada, mainly outdoor shopping malls. It also owns 28 malls in the U.S. through a joint venture it formed in 2009 with Cedar Shopping Centers Inc. (New York symbol CDR). RioCan owns 80% of this joint venture, and 14% of Cedar. The contribution from the new U.S. malls was the main reason why RioCan’s earnings rose 37.7%, to $39.2 million, in the three months ended September 30, 2010. A year earlier, the trust earned $28.4 million. Earnings per unit rose 33.3%, to $0.16 from $0.12, on more units outstanding. Cash flow per unit rose 20.0%, to $0.36 from $0.30. Revenue rose 14.6%, to $216.6 million from $189.0 million. RioCan pays monthly distributions of $0.115 a unit. The annual rate of $1.38 yields 6.3%. The trust paid out 95.4% of its cash flow in the past quarter. However, 16.0% of its investors prefer to receive new units instead of cash. On this basis, RioCan’s actual cash payout was a more reasonable 80.1% of its cash flow....

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) resemble income trusts, but with a key difference: REITs invest in income-producing real estate, such as office buildings and hotels. The best REITs have good management and balance sheets strong enough to weather an economic downturn. They also have high-quality tenants, and they carefully match their debt obligations with income from their leases. The best ones are still doing well, despite the weak economy, and are taking advantage of low interest rates to refinance long-term mortgages. We advise against overindulging in REITs. But high quality REITs can make attractive, low-risk additions to your portfolio....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $23.15 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 250.9 million; Market cap: $5.8 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.0%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest REIT. RioCan has interests in 289 shopping malls across Canada, including 11 under development. In all, these properties contain over 66 million square feet of leasable area. The trust has a 97.1% occupancy rate. RioCan is Canada’s largest owner of neighbourhood shopping centres, which are enclosed malls in smaller cities. But the trust’s strongest growth is in its “New Format” malls, in the suburbs of larger cities. RioCan is Canada’s largest owner of these malls, which have lots of parking and room for new building, and mainly consist of big-box stores, or large stores that are usually part of a chain. RioCan also owns an 80% interest in 28 malls in the U.S. through joint ventures. As well, it owns 14% of Cedar Shopping Centers, a U.S. REIT that owns malls anchored by supermarkets and drug stores, mainly in the northeastern U.S....

Most real estate investment trusts (REITs), including our recommendations, are exempt from Ottawa’s new tax on income-trust distributions, which comes into effect on January 1, 2011. As a result, these REITs should continue to attract investor interest as the tax prompts more trusts to convert to corporations and cut their distributions. RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $23.15 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 250.9 million; Market cap: $5.8 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.0%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest REIT. RioCan has interests in 289 shopping malls across Canada, including 11 under development. In all, these properties contain over 66 million square feet of leasable area. The trust has a 97.1% occupancy rate. RioCan is Canada’s largest owner of neighbourhood shopping centres, which are enclosed malls in smaller cities. But the trust’s strongest growth is in its “New Format” malls, in the suburbs of larger cities. RioCan is Canada’s largest owner of these malls, which have lots of parking and room for new building, and mainly consist of big-box stores, or large stores that are usually part of a chain....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $22.80 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 250.9 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.1%) continues to expand in the U.S. RioCan already owns nine malls in the U.S. through a joint venture with Cedar Shopping Centers. RioCan owns 80% of this joint venture. The trust also owns 14% of Cedar. The joint venture recently agreed to buy a mall in New Jersey (RioCan’s share of the cost is $21.8 million). This mall’s five anchor tenants have long-term leases that expire between 2018 and 2023. That cuts the risk of this purchase....

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN, $151.59, Toronto symbol POT, continues to trade above the $130.00 U.S.-a-share hostile takeover offer from BHP Billiton Ltd. (New York symbol BHP). That’s partly due to rumours that Potash Corp.’s management is planning to buy a majority interest in the company using borrowed funds. Some of these funds would probably come from several Chinese firms, as well as some sovereign wealth funds from China and other countries. (Sovereign wealth funds are state-owned investment funds that are usually financed by an economic surplus.) However, sovereign wealth funds would only hold a minority stake in Potash Corp. That would help the buyers win regulatory approval for a takeover....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $21.02 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 243.4 million; Market cap: $5.1 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.6%) operates 267 retail properties in Canada, mainly outdoor shopping malls. It also owns nine malls in the U.S. through a joint venture with Cedar Shopping Centers Inc. (New York symbol CDR). RioCan owns 80% of this joint venture. The joint venture recently agreed to buy six malls in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Jersey. RioCan and Cedar also agreed to buy a seventh property on a 50/50 basis. In all, RioCan will pay $150 million for these malls. Four of the seven malls have grocery stores as anchor tenants. That helps cut the risk of these purchases, because these retailers stay busy no matter what the economy is doing. As well, tenants of these malls have an average of 9.2 years remaining on their leases....

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN, $157.06, Toronto symbol POT, jumped 35% this week after Australia-based BHP Billiton Ltd. (New York symbol BHP) launched a hostile takeover bid for the company. (BHP is the world’s largest mining company, and a recommendation of our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter.) Potash Corp. is the world’s largest fertilizer producer. It has six potash mines in Saskatchewan and one in New Brunswick. Five of its mines have reserves of between 60 and 97 years. BHP is developing a potash mine near Potash Corp.’s operations in Saskatchewan, so a takeover of Potash Corp. would let it cut some costs. In October 2009, rumours of a takeover bid by BHP helped push up Potash Corp.’s shares to around $106 from $93....

ENCANA CORP., $32.22, Toronto symbol ECA, fell 4% after the company reported lower-than-expected earnings. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, Encana earned $81 million, or $0.11 a share (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). These figures exclude a $340-million loss on hedging contracts that the company uses to lock in selling prices for its natural gas, and a $246-million foreign-exchange loss. On this basis, the latest earnings fell well short of the consensus estimate of $0.22 a share. They were also down 82.8% from the company’s year-earlier earnings of $472 million, or $0.63 a share. Cash flow per share fell 13.2%, to $1.65 from $1.90. Revenue rose 10.2%, to $1.5 billion from $1.3 billion. (Note: The year-earlier figures assume that the break-up of the old EnCana Corp. into the new Encana and Cenovus Energy Inc. took place at the start of 2009 instead of December 1, 2009.)...