Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust Announces 4% Distribution Increase And Release of Q3 2012 Financial Results

VANCOUVER, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust ("PIRET" or "REIT") (TSX: AAR.UN) today announced that its Board of Trustees has approved an increase to its monthly distribution to unitholders to $0.026 per trust unit commencing with the November 2012 distribution payable in December 2012.  The 4% increase of $0.012 per trust unit on an annualized basis will increase PIRET's annualized distribution to $0.312 per trust unit.

Darren Latoski, PIRET's Co-CEO, commented, "PIRET's healthy growth is something we have strategically planned. During the past two and a half years, we have seen significant growth in our industrial platform combined with strong financial and operating performance. The distribution increase reflects our expectation of continued growth in earnings, while still working towards our target of delivering an AFFO payout ratio that is in the mid-70% range and maintaining our conservative balance sheet."

"We see demand for high quality industrial warehouse and distribution facilities remaining strong, especially in Western Canada, where currently approximately 38% of PIRET's industrial portfolio is located. The economy in Western Canada has been supported by global trade and investment in Alberta's resource industries, which can be translated into increased demand for industrial properties located in primary industrial markets."

PIRET's policy is to pay cash distributions on or about the 15th day of each month to the unitholders of record on the last business day of the preceding month.

Q3 2012 Financial Results

PIRET is also pleased to announce the release of its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012.

The results, consisting of PIRET's unaudited interim condensed financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") dated November 13, 2012, are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Darren Latoski, PIRET's Co-CEO, said, "The REIT continues to perform strongly and this quarter's results clearly indicate the upward trend in our earnings and cash flow.  Our payout ratios have improved steadily throughout this year as we continue to diligently manage our existing properties and continue to add to our portfolio with accretive, high-quality acquisitions."

Highlights for the nine months ended September 30, 2012:

• As at September 30, 2012, PIRET's portfolio consists of 77 properties representing gross leasable area ("GLA") of over 5.4 million square feet, up from 62 properties and 4.0 million square feet at December 31, 2011.  The acquisitions continue to strengthen the REIT's high quality national and regional tenant base within Canada. 
  
  
• The occupancy is 97% for our portfolio as at September 30, 2012 with a weighted average lease term of 9.2 years. 

• Investment properties increased to $587.5 million as at September 30, 2012 from $439.5 million at December 31, 2011 due to the acquisition of 16 properties with a GLA of 1.4 million square feet.
  
  
• Loan to Gross Book Value as at September 30, 2012 was 49.8%, down from 55.7% at December 31, 2011.
  
  
• Revenue for the nine months ended September 30 increased 55% from $23.7 million in 2011 to $36.8 million in 2012. 
  
  
• Earnings from property operations increased by 49% for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the same period at September 30, 2011 from $18.9 million to $28.1 million.
  
  
• Net earnings increased to $25.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 from a loss of $4.4 million in 2011.  On a quarterly basis, the net earnings increased 183% from $2.7 million in Q3-2011 to $7.8 million in Q3-2012.  On a fully diluted per unit basis, the increase was from $0.05 to $0.11 quarter on quarter.
  
  
• Funds from operations ("FFO")¹for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 increased to $17.8 million compared to $11.4 million for the same period in 2011.  On a per unit basis, FFO for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 increased to $0.27 from $0.26 for the same period in 2011. 
  
  
• Adjusted funds from operations ("AFFO")¹ increased from $10.0 million to $16.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2012 respectively.  On a per unit basis, AFFO was $0.24 for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to $0.22 for the same period for 2011, representing an increase of 9.1%.

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¹ _{FFO and AFFO are widely accepted supplemental measures of financial performance for real estate entities.  However, these measures are not defined under IFRS.  The MD&A provides more detail regarding this measure.} 

Conference Call

As previously announced on November 2, 2012, management will host the conference call at 4:30pm (EST), 1:30 pm (PST), on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, to review the financial results and corporate developments for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012.

To participate in this conference call, please dial one of the following numbers approximately 10 minutes prior to the commencement of the call, and ask to join the Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust Conference Call.

Dial in numbers:

Conference Call Replay

If you cannot participate on November 13, 2012, a replay of the conference call will be available by dialing one of the following replay numbers. You will be able to dial in and listen to the conference 120 minutes after the meeting end time, and the replay will be available until November 20, 2012.

Please enter the Replay ID# 51874526, followed by the # key.

Issuance of Units

PIRET also announces that, further to its news release dated September 20, 2012 in connection with the appointment of Kevan Gorrie as President of PIRET and the employment agreement therefor, the REIT issued to Mr. Gorrie 20,834 trust units of PIRET at a deemed price of $4.80 per trust unit, representing $100,000 in compensation.  The price per unit was determined based on the closing price of the trust units on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") on November 9, 2012.  The TSX has previously provided conditional acceptance for the issuance of trust units.

After the issuance of the trust units, PIRET has 73,423,988 trust units issued and outstanding.

About Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust

PIRET is an unincorporated, open-ended investment trust established for the purposes of acquiring, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of income-producing industrial properties in primary markets across Canada.  PIRET focuses exclusively on investing in industrial properties and is one of the largest publicly traded vehicles in Canada that offer investors exclusive exposure to Canada's industrial asset class.

PIRET's trust units are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AAR.UN.  Additional information about the REIT is available at www.piret.ca or www.sedar.com.

THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR THE ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (PIRET)