VERO BEACH, Florida, Oct. 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE: ARR and ARR-PB) (“ARMOUR” or the “Company”) today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2019.
Q3 2019 Highlights and Financial Information$(61.0) million ($(1.09) per Common share) net loss under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) based on 59,076,935 weighted average diluted Common shares outstanding$35.9 million ($0.55 per Common share) Core Income including “Drop Income” (as defined below), which represents an annualized return of 10.4% based on stockholders’ equity at the beginning of the quarter$0.51 per Common share dividends for Q3 at the rate of $0.17 per monthCore Income exceeded dividends paid for the thirteenth straight quarter330,000 Common shares repurchased; current remaining repurchase authorization of 8,295,000 shares696,479 shares of 7.875% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series B Preferred Stock”) issued3.6% average yield on assets and 1.3% average net interest margin11.8% annualized average principal repayment rate (“CPR”)2.2% total economic return, representing dividends plus change in stockholders’ equity per Common share(7.4)% total shareholder return, representing dividends plus change in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) price per Common shareAt September 30, 2019$16.75 NYSE closing price per Common share$1.4 billion stockholders’ equity based on period-end stock outstanding of:
○ 58,889,758 shares of Common Stock
○ 7,201,971 shares of Series B Preferred Stock$20.43 stockholders’ equity per Common share, a decrease of (0.3)% from June 30, 2019$12.8 billion portfolio of securities, including $0.8 billion of Credit Risk and Non-Agency Securities$7.1 billion notional amount of interest rate swaps8.45 to 1 “leverage;” (based on repurchase agreements divided by stockholders’ equity)$607.7 million of liquidity in cash and unpledged securities (43.9% of stockholders’ equity)Updated InformationCommon dividends per share – $0.17 to be paid on October 28, 2019, and November 27, 2019Book value at October 22, 2019, was estimated to be $19.76 per Common share outstanding, on a GAAP basisAdditional updated information on the Company’s investment, financing and hedge positions can be found in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc.’s most recent “Company Update.” ARMOUR posts unaudited and unreviewed Company Updates on www.armourreit.com.GAAP Net Loss and Comprehensive IncomeFor the purposes of computing GAAP net income (loss), the change in fair value of the Company’s derivatives is reflected in current period net income (loss), while the change in fair value of its Agency Securities is reflected in comprehensive income (loss). Comprehensive income for Q3 2019 was approximately $28.4 million. GAAP net loss for Q3 2019 was approximately $(61.0) million, including unrealized mark-to-market gain on derivatives of $3.8 million and losses on Credit Risk and Non-Agency Securities of $(8.8) million, as well as $(85.1) million of realized loss on derivatives.Core Income, Including Drop IncomeCore Income, including Drop Income, for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, was approximately $35.9 million, exceeding total dividend payments to stockholders for the quarter of $33.7 million. Core Income, including Drop Income, is a non-GAAP measure and is defined as net income excluding impairment losses, gains or losses on sales of securities and early termination of derivatives, unrealized gains or losses on derivatives and certain non-recurring expenses, plus Drop Income (as defined below). Core Income may differ from GAAP net income, which includes the unrealized gains or losses of the Company’s derivative instruments and the gains or losses on Agency and Credit Risk and Non-Agency Securities. Core Income has exceeded dividends paid by $42.0 million in the aggregate over 13 straight quarters, or $0.71 per Common share outstanding at September 30, 2019.For a portion of its Agency securities the Company may enter into to-be-announced (TBA) forward contracts for the purchase or sale of Agency Securities at a predetermined price, face amount, issuer, coupon and stated maturity on an agreed-upon future date, but the particular Agency Securities to be delivered are not identified until shortly before the TBA settlement date. The Company accounts for TBA Agency Securities as derivative instruments if it is reasonably possible that it will not take or make physical delivery of the Agency Securities upon settlement of the contract. The Company may choose, prior to settlement, to move the settlement of these securities out to a later date by entering into an offsetting short or long position (referred to as a “pair off”), net settling the paired off positions for cash, and simultaneously purchasing or selling a similar TBA Agency Security for a later settlement date. This transaction is commonly referred to as a “dollar roll.” The Company accounts for TBA dollar roll transactions as a series of derivative transactions.Forward settling TBA contracts typically trade at a discount, or “Drop,” to the regular settled TBA contract to reflect the expected interest income on the underlying deliverable Agency Securities, net of an implied financing cost, which would have been earned by the buyer if the contract settled on the next regular settlement date. When the Company enters into TBA contracts to buy Agency Securities for forward settlement, it earns this “Drop Income,” because the TBA contract is essentially a leveraged investment in the underlying Agency Securities. The amount of Drop Income is calculated as the difference between the spot price of similar TBA contracts for regular settlement and the forward settlement price on the trade date. The Company generally accounts for TBA contracts as derivatives and Drop Income is included as part of the periodic changes in fair value of the TBA contracts that the Company recognizes currently in the Other Income (Loss) section of its Consolidated Statement of Operations.Common StockThe Company paid dividends of $0.17 per Common share of record for each month in Q3 2019. Payments to Common stockholders for Q3 2019 were approximately $30.3 million. Common dividends in the amount of $0.17 per Common share are to be paid on October 28, 2019, to holders of record on October 15, 2019, and on November 27, 2019, to holders of record on November 15, 2019. The Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) determines the Common share dividend rate based upon the REIT requirements and other relevant considerations. Dividends in excess of current tax earnings and profits for the year (including any amounts carried forward from prior years) will generally be treated as non-taxable return of capital to Common stockholders.During Q3, we repurchased 330,000 common shares, bringing the total of common shares repurchased since May 2019 to 955,000. At September 30, 2019, there were 8,295,000 authorized shares remaining under the Board’s current repurchase authorization.Preferred StockAs previously announced, the Company fully redeemed all 2,180,572 issued and outstanding shares of its Series A Preferred Stock ($25.00 per share, $54.5 million in the aggregate liquidation preference). Pursuant to this redemption, each share of Series A Preferred Stock was canceled in exchange for cash in the amount of $25.00 per share on July 26, 2019. Pursuant to the terms of the Series A Preferred Stock, holders of record of the Series A Preferred Stock on July 15, 2019 received the full monthly dividend for July. The final dividend amount of $375 was paid on July 29, 2019 and was recorded as other expense in our consolidated statements of operations.
The Company paid monthly dividends of $0.1640625 per outstanding share of Series B Preferred Stock, resulting in aggregate payments to preferred stockholders of approximately $3.4 million in Q3 2019.During Q3, we sold 696,479 shares of Series B Preferred Stock under the previously announced “at-the-market” offering program.At September 30, 2019, 2,499,987 shares of Series B Preferred stock were available for issuance under the previously announced 2019 Series B Preferred Stock Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan.Per Share AmountsPer Common share amounts are net of applicable Preferred Stock dividends and liquidation preferences.PortfolioAs of September 30, 2019, the Company’s Agency Securities portfolio consisted of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage securities, substantially all of which are fixed rate securities, and was valued at $12.0 billion on a trade date basis. The Company’s Credit Risk and Non-Agency Securities portfolio was valued at $0.8 billion. During Q3 2019, the annualized yield on the Company’s MBS portfolio (including TBA Agency Securities) was 3.6%, and the annualized cost of funds on average liabilities (including realized cost of hedges) was 2.3%, resulting in a net interest spread of 1.3% for Q3 2019.Portfolio Financing, Leverage and Interest Rate HedgesAs of September 30, 2019, the Company financed its mortgage-backed securities portfolio with approximately $11.7 billion of borrowings under repurchase agreements. The Company’s leverage ratio as of September 30, 2019, was 8.45 as calculated by dividing the amount outstanding under our repurchase agreements at period end by total stockholders’ equity at period end. As of September 30, 2019, the Company’s liquidity totaled approximately $607.7 million, consisting of approximately $160.5 million of cash, plus approximately $447.2 million of unpledged securities (including securities received as collateral). As of September 30, 2019, the Company’s repurchase agreements had a weighted-average maturity of approximately 9 days, an average rate of 2.5% and a haircut of 5.0%.The Company had a notional amount of various maturities of interest rate swap contracts of approximately $7.1 billion with a weighted average swap rate of 1.8%.Regulation G ReconciliationCore Income excludes impairment losses, gains or losses on sales of securities and early termination of derivatives, unrealized gains or losses on derivatives and certain non-recurring expenses, plus Drop Income. The Company believes that Core Income is useful to investors because it is related to the amount of dividends the Company may distribute. However, because Core Income is an incomplete measure of the Company’s financial performance and involves differences from net income computed in accordance with GAAP, Core Income should be considered as supplementary to, and not as a substitute for, the Company’s net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of the Company’s financial performance.
Common StockAs of September 30, 2019, there were 58,889,758 Common shares outstanding.Conference CallAs previously announced, the Company will provide an online, real-time webcast of its conference call with equity analysts covering Q3 2019 operating results on Thursday, October 24, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). The live broadcast will be available online and can be accessed at https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/896/31929. To monitor the live webcast, please visit the website at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to register, download, and install any necessary audio software. An online replay of the event will be available on the Company’s website at www.armourreit.com and continue for one year.ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc.ARMOUR invests primarily in fixed rate residential, adjustable rate and hybrid adjustable rate residential mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises (“GSEs”), or guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association. In addition, ARMOUR invests in other securities backed by residential mortgages for which the payment of principal and interest is not guaranteed by a GSE or government agency. ARMOUR is externally managed and advised by ARMOUR Capital Management LP, an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).Safe HarborThis press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from expectations, estimates and projections and, consequently, do not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors are contained in the Company’s most recent filings with the SEC. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning the Company are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in their expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.Additional Information and Where to Find ItInvestors, security holders and other interested persons may find additional ARMOUR’s most recent Company Update and information regarding the Company at the SEC’s Internet site at www.sec.gov, or the Company website, www.armourreit.com or by directing requests to: ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc., 3001 Ocean Drive, Suite 201, Vero Beach, Florida 32963, Attention: Investor Relations.[email protected]
James R. Mountain
Chief Financial Officer
ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc.
(772) 617-4340
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