UNIONDALE, N.Y., Feb. 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ABR), today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021. Arbor reported net income for the quarter of $106.0 million, or $0.71 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $96.6 million, or $0.80 per diluted common share for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. Net income for the year was $317.4 million, or $2.28 per diluted common share, compared to $163.4 million, or $1.41 per diluted common share for the year ended December 31, 2020. Distributable earnings for the quarter was $94.2 million, or $0.57 per diluted common share, compared to $67.4 million, or $0.49 per diluted common share for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. Distributable earnings for the year was $313.7 million, or $2.01 per diluted common share, compared to $234.9 million, or $1.75 per diluted common share for the year ended December 31, 2020.1
Agency Business
Loan Origination Platform
| Agency Loan Volume (in thousands) | ||||||||||||
| Quarter Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||
| December 31, 2021 | September 30, 2021 | December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||
| Fannie Mae | $ | 968,105 | $ | 719,730 | $ | 3,389,312 | $ | 5,041,925 | ||||
| Freddie Mac | 437,847 | 307,664 | 1,016,142 | 960,508 | ||||||||
| Private Label | 282,038 | 625,176 | 1,436,853 | 382,191 | ||||||||
| FHA | 148,647 | 84,430 | 430,320 | 327,345 | ||||||||
| SFR-Fixed Rate | 57,709 | 67,227 | 136,931 | – | ||||||||
| Total Originations | $ | 1,894,346 | $ | 1,804,227 | $ | 6,409,558 | $ | 6,711,969 | ||||
| Total Loan Sales | $ | 2,084,211 | $ | 1,006,958 | $ | 6,415,169 | $ | 6,587,728 | ||||
| Total Loan Commitments | $ | 1,836,799 | $ | 1,856,474 | $ | 6,347,752 | $ | 6,810,666 | ||||
For the quarter ended December 31, 2021, the Agency Business generated revenues (excluding gains and losses on derivative instruments) of $107.1 million, compared to $79.7 million for the third quarter of 2021. Gain on sales, including fee-based services, net was $36.9 million for the quarter, reflecting a margin of 1.77%, compared to $16.3 million and 1.62% for the third quarter of 2021. Income from mortgage servicing rights was $34.5 million for the quarter, reflecting a rate of 1.88% as a percentage of loan commitments, compared to $32.5 million and 1.75% for the third quarter of 2021.
At December 31, 2021, loans held-for-sale was $1.09 billion which was primarily comprised of unpaid principal balances totaling $1.08 billion, with financing associated with these loans totaling $956.3 million.
The Company closed its third private label securitization totaling $535.0 million. The Company originated and sold multifamily mortgage loans to the securitization and is the primary servicer. The Company retained subordinate certificate interests in the securitization of $47.5 million, in satisfaction of credit risk retention requirements.
Fee-Based Servicing Portfolio
The Company’s fee-based servicing portfolio totaled $26.96 billion at December 31, 2021 and excludes $507.9 million of private label loans originated that were not yet securitized. Servicing revenue, net was $23.9 million for the quarter and consisted of servicing revenue of $38.8 million, net of amortization of mortgage servicing rights totaling $14.9 million.
| Fee-Based Servicing Portfolio ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||
| As of December 31, 2021 | As of September 30, 2021 | ||||||||||
| UPB | Wtd. Avg. Fee | Wtd. Avg. Life (years) | UPB | Wtd. Avg. Fee | Wtd. Avg. Life (years) | ||||||
| Fannie Mae | $ | 19,127,397 | 0.535% | 8.0 | $ | 19,271,527 | 0.532% | 8.4 | |||
| Freddie Mac | 4,943,905 | 0.271% | 9.3 | 4,726,587 | 0.281% | 9.8 | |||||
| Private Label | 1,711,326 | 0.200% | 8.3 | 1,176,391 | 0.200% | 8.8 | |||||
| FHA | 985,063 | 0.154% | 21.0 | 933,519 | 0.156% | 21.4 | |||||
| SFR-Fixed Rate | 191,698 | 0.200% | 6.5 | 104,094 | 0.200% | 5.7 | |||||
| Total | $ | 26,959,389 | 0.449% | 8.8 | $ | 26,212,118 | 0.457% | 9.1 | |||
Loans sold under the Fannie Mae program contain an obligation to partially guarantee the performance of the loan (“loss-sharing obligations”) and includes $34.4 million for the fair value of the guarantee obligation undertaken at December 31, 2021. The Company recorded a $5.1 million reversal of provision for loss sharing associated with CECL for the fourth quarter of 2021. At December 31, 2021, the Company’s total CECL allowance for loss-sharing obligations was $21.7 million, representing 0.11% of the Fannie Mae servicing portfolio.
Structured Business
Portfolio and Investment Activity
Quarter ended December 31, 2021:
- Substantial growth in the portfolio of $2.99 billion, or 32.6%
- Originated 156 loans totaling $4.32 billion, consisted primarily of multifamily bridge loans totaling $4.13 billion
- Payoffs and pay downs on 60 loans totaling $1.05 billion
- Committed to fund $321.2 million single-family rental loans
Year ended December 31, 2021:
- Record portfolio growth of $6.68 billion, or 122.1%
- Originated 422 loans totaling $9.72 billion, consisted primarily of multifamily bridge loans totaling $9.10 billion
- Payoffs and pay downs totaling $2.52 billion
- Committed to fund $729.5 million single-family rental loans
- $34.6 million of income generated by our residential mortgage banking joint venture
At December 31, 2021, the loan and investment portfolio’s unpaid principal balance, excluding loan loss reserves, was $12.16 billion, with a weighted average current interest pay rate of 4.26%, compared to $9.17 billion and 4.56% at September 30, 2021. Including certain fees earned and costs associated with the loan and investment portfolio, the weighted average current interest pay rate was 4.62% at December 31, 2021, compared to 4.97% at September 30, 2021.
The average balance of the Company’s loan and investment portfolio during the fourth quarter of 2021, excluding loan loss reserves, was $10.46 billion with a weighted average yield of 5.03%, compared to $8.18 billion and 5.55% for the third quarter of 2021. The decrease in average yield was primarily due to lower rates on originations when compared to runoff.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, the Company recorded a $10.3 million reversal of provision for loan losses associated with CECL on the Company’s loan and investment portfolio. At December 31, 2021, the Company’s total allowance for loan losses was $113.2 million. The Company had three non-performing loans with a carrying value of $22.7 million, before related loan loss reserves of $2.6 million, compared to six loans with a carrying value of $55.6 million, before related loan loss reserves of $2.6 million as of September 30, 2021.
Financing Activity
The Company completed its largest collateralized securitization vehicle to date totaling $2.10 billion of real estate related assets and cash. Investment grade-rated notes totaling $1.71 billion were issued, and the Company retained subordinate interests in the issuing vehicle of $385.9 million. The facility has a two-and-a-half-year asset replenishment period and an initial weighted average interest rate of 1.68% over LIBOR, excluding fees and transaction costs.
The Company completed the unwind of a previously issued CLO, redeeming $533.0 million of outstanding notes, which were repaid primarily from the refinancing of the remaining assets primarily within the $2.10 billion CLO described above, as well as with cash held by this CLO, and expensed $2.0 million of deferred financing fees into loss on extinguishment of debt on the consolidated statements of income.
The balance of debt that finances the Company’s loan and investment portfolio at December 31, 2021 was $11.17 billion with a weighted average interest rate including fees of 2.61% as compared to $8.58 billion and a rate of 2.64% at September 30, 2021. The average balance of debt that finances the Company’s loan and investment portfolio for the fourth quarter of 2021 was $9.38 billion, as compared to $7.31 billion for the third quarter of 2021. The average cost of borrowings for the fourth quarter of 2021 was 2.65%, compared to 2.76% for the third quarter of 2021.
Capital Markets
The Company raised a substantial amount of accretive capital to fund its significant growth primarily through the following transactions:
- A public offering of 8.05 million shares of 6.25% Series F fixed-to-floating cumulative redeemable preferred stock, including the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option, generating net proceeds of $194.8 million
- Issuance of $180.0 million of 5.00% senior unsecured notes due in 2028 in a private placement, generating net proceeds of $177.2 million
- Issuance of 7.91 million shares of common stock in a public offering receiving net proceeds of $153.9 million
Dividends
The Company announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.37 per share of common stock for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, the Company’s seventh consecutive quarterly increase, representing a 23% increase over that time span. The dividend is payable on March 18, 2022 to common stockholders of record on March 4, 2022. The ex-dividend date is March 3, 2022.
About Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.
Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ABR) is a nationwide real estate investment trust and direct lender, providing loan origination and servicing for multifamily, single-family rental (SFR) portfolios, and other diverse commercial real estate assets. Headquartered in New York, Arbor manages a multibillion-dollar servicing portfolio, specializing in government-sponsored enterprise products. Arbor is a leading Fannie Mae DUS® lender and Freddie Mac Optigo® Seller/Servicer, and an approved FHA Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) lender. Arbor’s product platform also includes bridge, CMBS, mezzanine and preferred equity loans. Rated by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, Arbor is committed to building on its reputation for service, quality, and customized solutions with an unparalleled dedication to providing our clients excellence over the entire life of a loan.
