TORONTO — InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust capped off its third quarter, ending Sept. 30, with a strong performance driven by new hotel acquisitions, renovations and sale of non-core assets.
RevPAR grew by 12 per cent during the quarter, and 10.8 per cent since the beginning of the year. Same-hotel RevPAR was up four per cent for the quarter. Revenues increased 12.2 per cent and 4.1 per cent in the third quarter and first nine months of 2015, respectively.
Large-scale renovations, including the revamp of its portfolio of 58 Comfort Inns, have contributed to the strong performance. The renovated Comfort Inn portfolio grew room revenue by 7.1 per cent during the quarter.
The Toronto-based REIT achieved the highest occupancy in Atlantic Canada during the quarter, at 79.1 per cent occupancy, followed by Quebec (78.3 per cent), Ontario (76.4 per cent) and Western Canada (71.5 per cent). Western Canada properties achieved the highest ADR, capping off the quarter with an average daily rate of $164.93, followed by Atlantic Canada ($136.19), Quebec ($129.77) and Ontario ($120.71).
In early September, InnVest acquired the Hotel Saskatchewan in downtown Regina for $38 million, plus $7 million in renovation capital. The property is being rebranded to a Marriott Autograph Collection. It also acquired a one-third interest in the Courtyard by Marriott hotel north of College St. in Toronto for $33 million.
“We made solid progress on our key strategic priorities in the quarter. We strengthened and diversified our property portfolio with two well-positioned, high-quality hotel acquisitions, we invested in renovation and upgrade programs within our core properties and we enhanced our financial position with reduced leverage, lower average interest cost and extended term to maturity for our mortgage portfolio,” said Drew Coles, president and CEO. “Most importantly, our emphasis on growing and repositioning our hotel portfolio is generating solid increases in our key performance benchmarks and we look for continued progress in the quarters ahead.”
