Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc. (BRG)

[SPORTSPROPHET]

Bluerock Residential Growth REIT Announces Third Quarter 2016 Results

Today : Monday 7 November 2016


NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BRG, BRG PrA, BRG PrC and BRG PrD) ("the Company") announced today its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2016.

Highlights
•Total revenues grew 69% to $19.6 million for the quarter from $11.6 million for the prior year quarter primarily as a result of significant investment activity in the past year.
•Net loss attributable to common stockholders for the third quarter of 2016 was $2.6 million, or $(0.12) per share, as compared to a net loss of $0.6 million, or $(0.03) per share, in the prior year period. Net loss attributable to common stockholders included non-cash expenses of $8.3 million in the third quarter of 2016 vs. $4.8 million for the prior year period.
•Adjusted funds from operations attributable to common stockholders ("AFFO") was $4.3 million for the quarter compared to $4.4 million for the prior year quarter.
•AFFO per diluted share is $0.21 for the third quarter of 2016 as compared to $0.22 for the third quarter of 2015, and exceeded guidance of $0.08 - $0.10.
•Pro forma AFFO per share of $0.40 for the third quarter exceeded pro forma guidance of $0.28 to $0.30 per share.
•The Company paid the full amount of the third quarter's management fee of $1.9 million in LTIP Units in lieu of cash payment. This favorably impacted both AFFO per share and pro forma AFFO per share by $0.09.
•Property Net Operating Income (NOI) grew 75% to $12.1 million for the quarter, from $6.9 million in the prior year quarter.
•Property NOI margins improved 220 basis points to 61.6% of revenue for the quarter, from 59.4% of revenue in the prior year quarter.
•Same store NOI increased 8.1% for the quarter, as compared to the prior year quarter.
•Consolidated real estate investments, at cost, increased 32% to $738 million at September 30, 2016 from $557 million at December 31, 2015.
•The Company invested in one operating property totaling 336 units for a total purchase price of approximately $74.5 million and one property for the development of 90 units during the third quarter. In addition, the Company invested in two operating properties totaling 800 units for a total purchase price of $106.6 million subsequent to end of the quarter.
•The Company declared a quarterly cash dividend on the 8.250% Series A preferred stock of $0.515625 per share for the third quarter, which was paid in cash on October 5, 2016.
•The Company declared monthly dividends for the fourth quarter of 2016 equal to a quarterly rate of $0.29 per share on the Company's Class A common stock. This equates to an 8.9% annualized yield based on the closing price of $13.00 for the Class A common stock as of September 30, 2016.
•The Company sold 6,937 shares of Series B preferred stock with associated warrants at a public offering price of $1,000 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $7.0 million during the third quarter.
•The Company declared monthly dividends for the fourth quarter of 2016 of $5.00 per share on the Company's Series B preferred stock.
•On July 19, 2016, the Company completed an underwritten offering of 2,300,000 shares of 7.625% Series C preferred stock at a public offering price of $25.00 per share, including the full exercise of the underwriter's allotment for gross proceeds of $57.5 million.
•On August 8, 2016, the Company entered into an At-the-Market offering for Class A common stock up to $100,000,000.
•On September 14, 2016, the Company commenced an At-the-Market 7.6250% Series C preferred stock offering ("ATM") for up to $36,000,000. The Company sold 23,750 shares of Series C preferred stock under the At-the-Market offering during the third quarter for gross proceeds of approximately $0.6 million.
•On October 13, 2016, the Company completed an underwritten offering of 2,700,000 shares of 7.125% Series D perpetual preferred stock at a public offering price of $25.00 per share for gross proceeds of $67.5 million, and on November 3, 2016, the Company closed on the sale of 150,602 shares of Series D preferred stock for gross proceeds of approximately $3.8 million pursuant to the underwriters' exercise of the overallotment option.

Management Commentary

"We are pleased to report our portfolio continued to perform well during the third quarter with same store NOI growth of 8.1% and AFFO per share above the high end of our guidance," said Ramin Kamfar, the Company's Chairman and CEO. "We remain focused on reducing our cost of capital, and building a high quality portfolio in our current footprint of growth markets in the Sunbelt, from the Carolinas to Florida and Texas."

Third Quarter Acquisition, Development and Disposition Activity
•On July 14, 2016, the Company acquired a 90% leasehold interest in a 336-unit, Class A, mixed-use apartment community located in Atlanta, Georgia, known as Tenside Apartment Homes. The property was rebranded as ARIUM Westside. The total purchase price was approximately $74.5 million, funded in part with a $52.2 million senior mortgage loan secured by the leasehold interest in the property.
•On August 10, 2016, the Company disposed of Springhouse at Newport News for a sales price of approximately $38.0 million, generating net proceeds to the Company of $9.0 million, an IRR of 17% and a return on equity of 1.8x.
•On September 1, 2016, the Company made an investment in a 90-unit to-be-built Class A apartment community located in Boca Raton, Florida. This investment is for approximately $9.1 million, of which approximately $1.1 million was funded as of September 30, 2016.

Pending Investments at September 30, 2016
•On October 13, 2016, the Company acquired a 90% interest in a 480-unit apartment community located in Atlanta, Georgia, known as Nevadan Apartments. The total purchase price was approximately $68.3 million, funded in part with a $48.4 million senior mortgage secured by the property.
•On October 31, 2016, the Company acquired an 85% interest in a 320-unit, garden-style apartment community in Port St. Lucie, Florida, known as Apex Prima Vista Apartments. The total purchase price was $38.3 million, funded in part with a senior mortgage loan secured by the property of approximately $27.0 million.
•The Company has an agreement to acquire a 92.5% interest in a 324-unit, garden-style apartment community located in Austin, Texas, known as Deerfield Apartments. The total purchase price is expected to be approximately $48.9 million, to be funded in part with a mortgage loan of approximately $34.2 million.
•The Company has an agreement which entitles the Company to invest in a 266-unit to-be-built Class A apartment community located in Jacksonville, Florida. The investment of approximately $24.4 million is expected to be structured as a convertible mezzanine loan with an option to convert into majority indirect ownership of the underlying property upon stabilization.
•The Company has an agreement to acquire a 90% interest in a 250-unit apartment community located in Austin, Texas, known as Legacy at Southpark. The total purchase price is expected to be approximately $36.8 million, to be funded in part with a mortgage loan of approximately $26.5 million.
•The Company has an agreement to acquire a 98% interest in a 320-unit apartment community in the Roswell submarket of Atlanta, Georgia, known as Roswell City Walk. The total purchase price is expected to be approximately $76.0 million, to be funded in part with a mortgage loan of approximately $50.9 million.

Third Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Net loss attributable to common stockholders for the third quarter of 2016 was $2.6 million, as compared to a net loss of $0.6 million in the prior year period. The change in net loss was primarily driven by positive increases in property NOI of $5.2 million and income of unconsolidated real estate joint ventures of $0.7 million due to the increase in the size of our invest-to-own portfolio, a gain on sale of real estate investments of $4.9 million offset by related increases in management fees of $1.0 million, interest expense of $2.3 million, depreciation and amortization expense of $3.2 million, loss on early extinguishment of debt of $2.4 million, and the preferred stock income and accretion allocation of $4.2 million.

AFFO for the third quarter of 2016 was $4.3 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, as compared to $4.4 million, or $0.22 per share in the prior year period. AFFO was impacted by increases in property NOI of $5.2 million arising from significant investment activity in the past year and in income of unconsolidated real estate joint ventures of $0.7 million caused by expanding the size of our invest-to-own portfolio, offset by higher interest expense of $2.0 million and the preferred stock income allocation of $3.9 million.

Same Store Portfolio Performance

Same store NOI for the third quarter of 2016 increased by 8.1% from the same period in the prior year. There was a 7.5% increase in same store property revenues as compared to the same prior year period, primarily attributable to a 4.7% increase in average rent per occupied unit, a 39 basis point increase in average occupancy and an additional 17 units acquired at our Lansbrook property and 15 additional units at Park & Kingston. Same store expenses increased 6.5%.

Dividend Details

On October 4, 2016, our board of directors authorized, and we declared, monthly dividends for the fourth quarter of 2016 equal to a quarterly rate of $0.29 per share on our Class A common stock, payable to the stockholders of record as of October 25, 2016, which was paid in cash on November 4, 2016, and as of November 25, 2016 and December 23, 2016, which will be paid in cash on December 5, 2016 and January 5, 2016, respectively. Holders of OP and LTIP Units are entitled to receive "distribution equivalents" at the same time as dividends are paid to holders of our Class A common stock.

The declared dividends equal a monthly dividend on the Class A common stock as follows: $0.096666 per share for the dividend paid to stockholders of record as of October 25, 2016, $0.096667 per share for the dividend which will be paid to stockholders of record as of November 25, 2016, and December 23, 2016. A portion of each dividend may constitute a return of capital for tax purposes. There is no assurance that we will continue to declare dividends or at this rate.

On October 4, 2016, our board of directors authorized, and we declared, a monthly dividend of $5.00 per Series B preferred stock, payable to the stockholders of record as of October 25, 2016, which was paid in cash on November 4, 2016 and as of November 25, 2016 and December 23, 2016, which will be paid in cash on December 5, 2016 and January 5, 2017.

Q4 2016 Outlook

For the fourth quarter of 2016, the Company anticipates AFFO in the range of $0.05 to $0.07 per share, and $0.31 to $0.33 per share on a pro forma basis. For assumptions underlying earnings guidance, please see page 29 of Company's Q3 2016 Earnings Supplement available under Investor Relations on the Company's website (www.bluerockresidential.com). Pro forma AFFO is used for illustrative purposes only, is hypothetical and does not represent historical performance or management's estimates or projections for future performance.

Conference Call

All interested parties can listen to the live conference call at 11:00 AM ET on Monday, November 7, 2016 by dialing [phone] within the U.S., or [phone], and requesting the "Bluerock Residential Conference."

For those who are not available to listen to the live call, the conference call will be available for replay on the Company's website two hours after the call concludes, and will remain available until December 7, 2016 at services.choruscall.com/links/brg161107.html, as well as by dialing [phone] in the U.S., or [phone] internationally, and requesting conference number 10095582.

The full text of this Earnings Release and additional Supplemental Information is available in the Investor Relations section on the Company's website at http://www.bluerockresidential.com.