Patrick Mattson
Analyst · Raymond James. Please go ahead
Thank you, Matt. Good morning, everyone. I'll focus today on our efforts on the capital and liquidity front, and provide an update around our CECL reserve and watch list loans. As discussed in the past, creating a diversified liability structure built on non-mark-to-market financing has been a top priority of KREF. And I'm pleased to note that, since the beginning of Q3 last year, we have added over $4 billion of non-mark-to-market financing capacity, including two CRE-CLOs, five bespoke facilities, an upsize of our secured term loan B, and an extension and upsize to our corporate revolver. Specifically in the third quarter, with the help of our partners and KKR Capital Markets, we entered into a new $266 million bespoke nodal note financing facility in connection with one of our loan originations. And we completed a second upsize on one of our existing match term financing facilities, from $750 million to $1 billion. Subsequent to quarter-end, we closed a new $125 million match term non-recourse facility. And importantly, as of quarter-end, 76% of financing remained fully non-mark-to-market. The resilient financing we developed, much of which has been done on a bespoke basis, buffers us during times of capital markets volatility. In addition to the fully non-mark-to-market features associated with these structures, we've also achieved an attractive cost to capital relative to other means of financing that can be sourced today. As the CLO market has cooled over the past nine months and the spreads in the CLO market have widened, our mix of alternative sources of financing away from some of the more public capital market sources remains a major differentiator for KREF. In terms of capital management strategy, KREF is preserving flexibility in operating at the lower end of target leverage range given the broader market backdrop. Our total -- our debt-to-equity ratio was 1.9 times and total leverage ratio was 3.6 times as of quarter end. And we expect to maintain total leverage in the mid 3s over the coming quarters. Our approach to managing the balance sheet allowed us to start to the fourth quarter with a record level of liquidity in excess of $900 million. Additionally at quarter end, KREF had $370 million in unencumbered senior loans on the balance sheet. Turning to our CECL reserves and watch list. This quarter, we recorded increase in our CECL of $81 million to $115 million or 156 basis points based on the funded loan portfolio. As a reminder, the change in reserves is unrealized, is non-cash. It does not reduce distributable earnings in Q3. However, if such amounts are deemed non-recoverable in the future, we would recognize a loss to our cash metric of distributable earnings. We have five loans on the watch list as of quarter end; all of which are secured by office properties. And consistent with past quarters, we highlight those loans in our earnings supplement. New loans were downgraded to a risk rating of 5 and account for nearly half of the $115 million in total CECL reserves. We have not disclosed the individual CECL reserves around the 5-rated loans in order to not disadvantage us as we continue discussions with our sponsors and other market participants; some additional details of the 5-rated loans. First, the Philadelphia loan is secured by a $4 billion portfolio comprised of approximately $600,000 square feet of office and includes a 500 space parking garage. Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and return to office in the Philadelphia market has been relatively slow compared to some other major U.S. cities. Current occupancy at the property is approximately 50%, down from the low 60s at closing. The loan's initial maturity date is May 2023. But in recent conversations, the sponsor indicated it does not want to continue the business plan. The loan remains current however. And KREF is evaluating alternative to maximize value including a potential sale of the loan or properties. Second, the Minneapolis loan is secured by 1.1 million square foot, two building Class A property. Our loan supported the refinance remaining CapEx and subsequent lease up of the property from occupancy of 62% at closing to an occupancy rate of 88% today. NOI from the property generates a current debt yield of over 8%, fully covering the debt service on our loan. However, the loan has an upcoming final maturity date in December '22. And the sponsor has indicated an inability to refinance the loan given current market conditions. We are continuing to dialog with the sponsor and are considering a number of options. With regard to the broader portfolio, 89% of our loan portfolio remains risk-rated 3 or better. And we collected 100% of scheduled interest payments across the entire portfolio in Q3 and through the first payment period in Q4. In summary, KREF finished the quarter with a $7.7 billion total funded portfolio which has grown by approximately 33% on a year-over-year basis. We originated two senior loans in Q3 for a total $458 million. And have over $400 million in loans under exclusivity. This quarter and subsequent quarter end, we sourced and closed two new non-mark-to-market, in Matt's term, financing facilities and completed a second upsize on one of our existing non mark-to-market facilities to $1 billion. Finally, we repurchased approximately 600,000 shares of common stock at a weighted average price per share of $17.42 in Q3, for a total of over $10 million. Over the last two reported quarters and subsequent to quarter-end, we have been opportunistic in utilizing our share repurchase program, with year-to-date purchases of 2.1 million shares for a total of 36 million. Our record liquidity puts us in a strong position to efficiently manage in this current environment, and to further capitalize on the market opportunities ahead of us. Thank you for joining us today. Now, we're happy to take your questions.