RioCan steps up its plan

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $24.75 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 326.1 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.7%; www.riocan. com) owns all or part of 299 shopping centres in Canada. That includes 15 properties under development. RioCan continues to focus on six major urban markets—Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. It will now sell about 100 properties in smaller cities over the next two to three years. In all, the REIT expects those sales to generate $1.5 billion. It will use about half of the proceeds to repurchase units. The remaining cash will support Rio- Can’s plan to spend $300 million to $400 million a year on new projects in its six main markets. Once RioCan completes all its transactions, about 90% of its annual rental income will come from those major cities. Right now, they supply 75%. Most of the REIT’s properties in smaller cities are less profitable than those in major centres, so a narrower focus on…