Timbercreek Financial Corp
TSX:TF
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Timbercreek Financial Corp
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Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us to discuss the first quarter financial results. I'm joined by Scott Rowland, CIO; Tracy Johnston, CFO; and Geoff McTait, Head of Canadian Originations and Global Syndications.
Q1 '23, we reported another strong quarter -- another quarter of strong financial performance, and year-over-year increases in earnings and distributable cash. Of note, we delivered record quarterly net investment income of $32.7 million, up 44% from last year, record adjusted net income and comprehensive income of $18 million (sic) [ $18.1 million ], up from $13.8 million in the same period last year, and a significant increase in distributable income, which reached $18.3 million or $0.22 per share at a very comfortable payout ratio of 79.1%.
While transaction activity was lighter in the first quarter, we continue to see healthy borrower demand and anticipate higher new funding activity as we look ahead in coming quarters. We have the financial capacity and the team ready to execute. Generally, the portfolio performed well in the first quarter, reflecting our ongoing focus on high-quality, income-producing assets in urban markets.
However, as we discussed with Q4 results in March, in select situations or the experiencing challenges in this environment. Our investment team continues to actively manage these loans and advance our exit plans to achieve the best outcome for shareholders, something we're accustomed to doing over 14 years in this business.
We remain confident in the quality and value of the underlying assets in each instance, which should more than support our loan exposures. With strong cash generation and a low payout ratio, we are fundamentally well positioned to manage through this period and deliver on our core financial objectives.
With that, I'll turn it over to Scott to discuss the portfolio trends and market conditions. Scott? .
Great. Thanks, Blair, and good afternoon, everyone. It was another strong quarter across key financial metrics as our largely floating rate portfolio continues to generate strong top line income and a low payout ratio. This provides a meaningful buffer to manage through a period when inevitably, some borrowers encounter challenges, specifically from higher interest expense burden than they originally anticipated.
I'll quickly cover the portfolio metrics before commenting on the origination environment and several specific loans in Stage 2 and Stage 3 at quarter end. So looking at the portfolio KPIs, at first quarter end, 89% of our investments were in cash flowing properties up from 87.4%. Multi-residential real estate assets, apartment buildings continue to comprise the largest portion of the portfolio at 50.8% at quarter end compared to 52.5% in Q4 '22.
Including retirement loans, approximately 58% of the portfolio was in multifamily residential assets at year-end, and we remain almost entirely invested in urban markets, which provide superior liquidity. We continue to carefully manage risk and ensure the portfolio is conservatively positioned. First, mortgages represent 92% of the portfolio consistent with 92.4% in Q4.
Our weighted average LTV for Q1 was consistent with the prior quarter of 68.5% compared to 68.3% in Q4, and the portfolio's weighted average interest rate or WAIR was 9.7%, the same as in Q4. Our Q1 exit WAIR was 9.7% also, down from 10% exiting Q4.
Decrease reflects our strategy to deploy loans with a reduced risk profile in this environment. As demonstrated this quarter with a low distributable income payout ratio, we have the flexibility to do this while still generating very healthy results, have moderately lower the risk.
For reference, the WAIR at this time last year was 6.6%, year-over-year increase is due to the impact of rate hikes on our floating rate loans, which represented 88% of the portfolio at year-end. Looking forward, we will continue this conservative stance on new investments and put new money to work on an attractive risk-adjusted basis. After a reasonably active Q4, portfolio activity was a bit lighter in Q1, both for repayments and originations.
In Q1, we invested roughly $39 million in new mortgage investments and additional advances on existing mortgages totaled $13 million. This was offset by net mortgage repayments and syndications of about $99 million, resulting in a decrease in the net value of the mortgage portfolio from year-end.
Portfolio turnover was also lower at 8.4% compared with 17.2% in Q4 '22. As Blair mentioned, we expect activity to pick up in the coming quarters, and the team has a solid pipeline of opportunities. In terms of asset allocation, there were no material changes from Q4 with respect to geographic concentration with the vast majority of the portfolio in urban markets in the largest provinces, Ontario, B.C. Quebec and Alberta.
We continue to be pleased with the quality of the deal flow in these core markets. Our origination focus remains on income-producing multifamily properties, and we are also seeing diversification opportunities with warehouse style industrial assets. There has also been a pullback by bank lenders in unimproved land. This is creating unique opportunities to invest in low LTV properties with stronger sponsors than typical.
Our exposure to land and industrial were at 5.8% and 10.5% of the portfolio, respectively, both up from Q4 '22. On the other hand, we continue to be cautious on older format retail centers and the office sector in general. The office market is in a period of transition as owners and tenants adjust to post-COVID realities, and as a lender, we are monitoring the situation closely.
Fortunately, TF has limited exposure to this sector, and we are comfortable with the loans that we do have. Overall, we utilize a disciplined risk management approach to all of our investment activities, and we have the flexibility to move quickly to take advantage of changing market environments.
At this time, I'll provide a progress update on our Stage 3 assets. We discharged $1.9 million of the Stage 3 condo inventory loan in the quarter with more units under contract to close in Q2 and increased sales activity expected in the second half of '23.
We also continue to work forward on exit plan on the Stage 3 medical office building in Ottawa. This strategy is advancing well with a meaningful progress expected in the coming months. You may also recall that the remaining 2 assets in Stage 3 are owned by a sponsor group that filed for CCAA in Q4 '22. Both assets are attractively located in Montreal, one is a high-quality income-producing senior living facility and the other is a multifamily building that is currently under construction.
The legal process here has been advancing, and we will likely exit the CCAA in the coming months. Resolution could take different forms from outright repayment to a period of lender control. But overall, we continue to believe there will be a limited principal exposure, and we are satisfied with the progress being made.
Additionally, during the quarter, we added a series of individual loans with one sponsorship group into Stage 2. While these loans continue to be performing loans where interest payments are current, we believe there is increased risk in the liquidity of the sponsorship group. The loans are secured by high-quality income-producing multifamily assets built less than 7 years ago in Quebec.
In short, we concluded that while there is sponsorship level risk, the underlying assets are strong with valuations that should more than support our loan exposures. Stage 2 loans may well resolve themselves without any issue. This is an exposure we are monitoring closely and reviewing the plans of the borrower carefully. We continue to have high confidence in the overall durability and performance of the portfolio through market cycles.
In the near term, higher rates can place some strain on certain borrowers as they manage the higher carrying cost. This is a normal and expected reality in our business. We are very prepared to work through these situations. And fortunately, with these types of assets, our borrowers typically have several options as well.
Lastly, as Blair highlighted, we are currently managing from a position of financial strength, the high cash yield and strong interest income.
I will now pass the call over to Tracy to review the financial results. Tracy?
Thank you, Scott, and good afternoon, everyone. Our full filings are available online, so I'll focus on the main highlights of the first quarter. As Blair mentioned, we reported strong income growth for Q1. Net investment income on financial assets measured at amortized costs was $32.7 million, up 44% from $22.7 million in the prior year, reflecting significantly higher interest rates positively impacting the variable rate loans.
Fair value gains and other income on financial assets measured at fair value through profit and loss improved from a loss of $100,000 in Q1 2022 to a gain of $282,000 in Q1 2023. We reported a modest net rental loss from real estate properties of $359,000, this is related to land inventory from an equity interest conversion completed last year. We intend on selling the land and have accordingly recorded this as inventory with rental income of $83,000 offset by operating losses of $442,000.
In terms of the provisions for mortgage investment losses, we reported $300,000 for Q1 2023 versus $649,000 in last year's Q1. Overall, this is due to some movement in the provision among Stage 3 loans.
As Scott discussed earlier, we continue to believe there is limited principal exposure on these loans given the quality of the assets. Lender fee income was $2.5 million, up from $2.3 million in Q1 2022. Q1 net income was a record $18.1 million compared to $12.9 million in Q1 last year. Q1 basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.22 and $0.21, respectively, up from $0.15 in the prior year.
After adjusting for net unrealized fair value gains and losses on financial assets measured at fair value through profit and loss, Q1 adjusted net income was $18 million compared to $13.8 million in Q1 last year. Q1 basic and diluted adjusted earnings per share were $0.21, respectively, up from $0.17 in the prior year. We also reported strong growth in quarterly distributable income and adjusted distributable income of $18.3 million in Q1 2023, up from 20% for the same period last year.
On a per share basis, we reported distributable income of $0.22, up from $0.18 in last year's Q1, and as you can see in this chart of our longer-term quarterly average. The Q1 payout ratio on DI was very healthy at 79.1%, similar to Q4, but considerably lower than last year's Q1.
Turning now to the balance sheet highlights. The net value of the mortgage portfolio, excluding syndications, was $1.15 billion at the end of the quarter, a decrease of about $47 million from the fourth quarter due to repayments exceeding new investments in the period. The enhanced return portfolio decreased to $59.4 million from $80.6 million in Q1 2022, primarily as a result of repayments in the period. The credit facility for mortgage investments was $387 million at the end of Q1 2023 compared to $450 million (sic) [ $451 million ] at the end of Q4 2022, with $133.7 million available on the credit facility, we continue to be a strong liquidity position for 2023.
Shareholders' equity increased to $701 million at quarter end, up from $696 million last year and $699 million at year-end 2022. This reflects our focus on increasing book value after disposing and restructuring some of our noncore assets and investments during 2022. Under the normal course issuer bid program, we repurchased for cancellation 112,500 common shares this past quarter at an average price of $7.52 per share. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to use us to acquire shares accretively, especially when we trade below book value. I will now turn the call back to Scott for closing comments.
Thanks, Tracy. We provided a longer outlook with our Q4 financial results. And in short, we remain generally positive on the market environment for 2023. After a rapid rise in rates, both buyers and sellers are adjusting to the current environment and the reassuring outlook that rates remain steady for a while. Given this backdrop, we continue to expect an increase in activity in 2023 as borrowers move to execute on plans after in many cases, staying on the sidelines through 2022. This bodes well for increased originations, repayments and portfolio turnover after a comparatively quiet first quarter. .
Within our portfolio, we will continue to see such strong top line income, supporting healthy distributable income, earnings and payout ratios. While certain borrowers will feel the strain from higher expenses, our team is experienced and adapt at managing these situations, and we are confident in the quality of the assets supporting our loans.
With that, that completes our prepared remarks, and I will now open the call to questions.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Rasib.
If I can start on the credit side. The condo portfolio in Edmonton, two-part question here. One, did you take any losses on the initial $1.9 million divestment? And second, judging by your commentary, it looks as if you are planning to exit by the end of this year, would that be a fair takeaway?
It's Tracy. I'll answer the first question on the release. So, in terms of what we value the inventory at the sale of the condos were within range of that. They are at about 95% of the list price, which is consistent with how we had valued the inventory relative to what it was listed for on MLS. So we actually had a bit of a recovery in the provision ultimately on the sale of those units. Timing on the rest? .
Yes. I mean I think the -- yes, like in general, the market appetite has continued to be within range of where we've listed and valued assets and certainly in excess of our exposure there continues to be activity. We are expecting activity to pick up in the second half for this market. And we do have prospective interest from some sort of larger bulk bidders that could clean up the residual before the end of the year. But that's still to be determined at this point.
That's helpful. And I had a couple of more questions on the credit side. One on the medical office building in Ottawa, I don't recall, but did you ever share an LTV on that project? And second, the exit plan. Could you provide more color on that? Is this a restructuring that you're working on or complete exit of the loan?
Yes. It's -- right now, we're sort of working with the borrower and working through what our options are, which could include full enforcement on the property. We're continuing to work with the borrower. So it's a bit sensitive to discuss given sort of the status of the deal. Depending on how that resolves though, this is one where I think we may change the situation, but we do think there's value in this asset, additional value as well.
There's some lease-up opportunities here. So this is why we may work with the borrower or if we're taking control ourselves, we may invest a bit more here to create additional value in the property. So I'd say at the actual plan that will come together in the next few months.
Okay. That's fair. And my last question, the Stage 2 or the new Stage 2 loans this quarter. I wanted to confirm if I heard right, these are all cash flowing properties first. And are you able to share any more color around the loans, maybe LTVs or tenancy rates or anything to give comfort here?
Yes. So these are current loans. They are all income-producing multifamily properties. I will say at this point, given how the rapid rise of rates, the properties themselves, like the borrower is having to inject some equity along with the cash flow from the properties to make the full interest payment.
From an LTV perspective, I mean, the LTVs are elevated, but I would say it's in the 80s. So there's still quite an equity cushion to our debt exposure. And so the borrowers working through plans for -- that could be refinancing, it could be sales, it could be various different solutions and situations.
So for us smart perspective, we just moved them into Stage 2 because it just gives us -- we know it's an elevated risk there. And we're not entirely sure, of course, what the outcome will be. It depends a lot on the borrowers' plans. But as of now, the loans are current. And I would say, but overall, like these are newly built assets. They're very high quality, we're quite comfortable with the security itself.
[Operator Instructions]
Sorry, I didn't want to be greedy and take both of your time.
No Problem.
I had a couple of more questions. On the exit weighted average mortgage rate 9.7%, it's down from the 10% level. Is it fair to say that your mortgage might have peaked now given where rates are or absent any unexpected rate hikes by the Bank of Canada?
Yes. I think I got that question correctly. Has the WAIR peaked, was essentially the question. .
Yes.
I think that I would say that, that's true, absent any more rate increases. I would say that's true. I would expect our rates to stabilize to come down maybe 0.25-point-ish as we sort of progress to the road. And that's a little bit of us -- I'm sort of looking at my origination had here, Geoff.
As we look at loans and of opportunities coming to the shop. Just listen, the environment remains a little unstable. And so for us, knowing where we are with our distributable income, which is quite a positive and healthy range. We've got that latitude, right, to maybe take -- do some loans, whether it's -- whatever the risk profile is that makes it a little safer like a lower LTV or stronger location.
I'm happy to trade a little rate for that safety, especially in this environment, right?
And so I think we'll be able to maintain rates. But I would -- if we -- was at 25 basis points or 50 basis points, it's a bit of a shaving down of that top line were well within a healthy range of our distribution.
Makes sense. And as an extension of that, your distributable EPS on the dividend payout ratio, there's quite a bit of margin over there. I'm just wondering how you're thinking about -- are you considering increasing the dividend or would you rather deploy excess capital towards either share buybacks or save it for a rainy day? And any thoughts on that?
Yes. We certainly talked about this a lot. And just looking at the -- a bit of the uncertainty in the market right now, we're comfortable kind of proceeding as is, but we'll certainly take closer a look at it as we get through the balance of the year. And if the opportunity presents itself, yes, sure. But right now, just with some of the things we're working through, we're okay with keeping the cash as is.
Since there are no further questions at this time, I'll turn the call over to Blair for final remarks.
Great. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to speaking again when we release our Q2 results. And as always, please reach out to the team if you have any questions in the interim. Have a great afternoon. .