RAIT Posts 22% Rise in Assets for the Year

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PHILADELPHIA-Locally based RAIT Investment Trust reported total assets of $890.1 million at the end of this third quarter, an increase of 22% from $729.5 million at the end of 2004. Third-quarter net income was $16.8 million, up from $16.2 million for the same quarter a year ago. Total revenues for the quarter were $31.5 million, an increase from $25.4 million in the parallel quarter of 2004.

Characterizing this as a quarter of “no surprises,” during a conference call, Betsy Cohen, CEO, attributed the specialty finance REIT’s steady climb to “keeping a focus on our base business, which is providing bridge and mezzanine loans to real estate owners that are too small to access the capital markets on their own.” Asked if real estate valuations were over-heated, Cohen said, “The overheating relates to types of transactions we don’t do…we’re cash flow lenders and added-value lenders.”

Scott Schaeffer, president, added, “our overriding question when we look to lend is: How are we going to get paid back?” Loans are structured, both principals said, to include incentives for early pay-off.

The mix of RAIT’s portfolio is 26% office, which is down 3% this quarter; 46% multifamily, unchanged; 23% retail, which is up 3%, and 5% other. Geographically, there has been a 3% increase in the Southeast, which Cohen says, “is diversified a bit, so we’re not dependent on any one region.”

Shares of RAS common stock on the NYSE opened on Monday, Nov. 7 at $26.63 a share. The 52-week high was $31.72 a share on Aug. 1 and the 52-week low was $24.71 a share on Oct. 12.