In its SEC filing, the specialty finance REIT says it may issue up to 200 million common shares and 25 million preferred shares, and will use the funds for general corporate purposes. These purposes may include repayment or redemption of debt, redemption of preferred equity, capital expenditures and working capital. Currently, RAIT has approximately 64 million common shares and 6.5 million preferred shares outstanding. Calls to RAIT for additional details were not returned by deadline.
GlobeSt.com reported in February that RAIT ended 2007 with a $379-million loss including a loss of $183.5 million in Q4 '07 alone, although its revenue for the quarter was up 25% year-over-year from Q4 2006. Its Q3 loss was $244 million. The losses were related primarily to credit deterioration in the residential mortgage and homebuilder sectors. Last December, GlobeSt.com reported that 10 executive officers of RAIT voluntarily forfeited $11.8 million in equity incentive awards. The largest of these forfeitures was $3.7 million that had been granted to chairman Betsy Cohen. In an SEC filing announcing the forfeitures, Cohen said, "the action of our senior executives reflects their commitment to aligning their long-term incentive compensation with our shareholders' interests."
More recently, RAIT reported that its Q1 2008 earnings were $2.14 per diluted share, compared to a loss of $3.02 per diluted share for Q4 '07. The first quarter of this year also saw $331.4 million of gross asset production and the company had a book value of $25.63 per share, according to a news release from the REIT.
"During the first quarter, in what continued to be a challenging market environment, RAIT's portfolio performed well and generated $0.52 of adjusted earnings per share which supported the declaration of a $0.46 quarterly common dividend per share," Daniel Cohen, RAIT's CEO, said in a prepared release issued in May. He added, "for the remainder of 2008, we will continue to focus on generating cash flows from our investment portfolio, originating assets and fees, reducing our exposure to repurchase agreements and generating adjusted earnings for our investors."
Earlier this month, RAIT's board of trustees declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common shares of $0.46 per common share. The dividend will be paid on August 12 to holders of record on July 16, according to a news release.
RAIT expects to report its Q2 financial results before US stock markets open on August 1 and has scheduled a conference call for 10:30 a.m. Eastern time that day to discuss the results, according to a news release.
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Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
