Choice lifts its outlook

Article Excerpt

CHOICE PROPERTIES REIT $14.49 (Toronto symbol CHP.UN; Units o/s: 309.6 million; Mkt. cap: $10.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Divd. yield: 5.1%; www.choicereit.ca) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust, with 756 properties, including 20 under development. Altogether, that makes for 68.0 million square feet of retail, industrial and office space. The occupancy rate is a high 97.7%. The REIT will now sell 30 of its properties (3 distribution centres and 27 standalone retail properties) for $426 million. All the sites are in smaller towns. The sale will free up cash for development projects. This includes building new properties, but also intensifying and modifying existing ones. In response to slowing customer traffic and online shopping, Choice is also adding office and residential space to its retail sites. In addition, the REIT will use some of the proceeds to pay down long-term debt. It totalled $6.4 billion on June 30, 2019. That’s a high 63% of the $10.1 billion market cap (the value of…