Smart acquisitions fuel their growth

Article Excerpt

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $39.54 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 74.7 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 138 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 9.9 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century light industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors. Allied bought $400 million of properties in 2012 and $182.4 million in 2013. In the first three quarters of 2014, it added seven more for $210.0 million. The trust’s new buildings helped raise its revenue by 11.5% in the quarter ended September 30, 2014, to $85.8 million from $77.0 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 8.0%, to $0.54 from $0.50. In July 2012, Allied entered into a joint venture with RioCan REIT to buy buildings in urban areas that the partners…