Commenting on the results of operations for the quarter and year ended September 30, 2007, Jeffrey Gould, President and Chief Executive Officer of BRT, noted that the 2007 year was an unusual and difficult year. He stated that “during the second half of our fiscal year, we realized an increase in the number of borrowers defaulting on their monetary obligations to us. We attribute these defaults to a major fall off in the sale of condominium apartments and reduced liquidity in the market for mortgage products. Although this liquidity problem was acute in the single family home and CDO markets, markets in which we do not participate, it had an adverse effect on our borrower base and, therefore, on our business. Many potential purchasers of residential condominium units had difficulty in obtaining mortgage loans, which adversely affected our borrowers engaged in the condominium conversions. In addition, the tightening of credit generally impacted the ability of our borrowers to refinance and repay loans due to us.” “Therefore,” Mr. Gould stated, ”during the third and fourth quarters of our fiscal year, loans aggregating $63,627,000 in principal amount became non-earning all of which are the subject of foreclosure actions. In addition, we added $9,300,000 to our loan loss allowances. Non-earning loans in both the quarter and year ended September 30, 2007, coupled with the loan loss allowance taken in both the quarter and the year ended September 30, 2007, significantly reduced our earnings for the quarter and year ended September 30, 2007. Mr. Gould further commented that the gain on sale of available-for-sale securities of $19,455,000, or $1.85 per share principally due to the sale of shares of Entertainment Properties Trust contributed to net income for the 2007 fiscal year. He noted that the company still owned shares of EPR, having a current market value of approximately $31.6 million.
BRT Realty Trust is a mortgage oriented real estate investment trust.
Certain information contained herein is forward looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. BRT intends such forward looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and includes this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions. The forward looking statements should not be relied upon since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which, in some cases, are beyond BRT’s control and could materially affect actual results, performance or achievements.
Contact: Simeon Brinberg - (516) 466-3100
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