GREAT NECK, N.Y., April 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BRT Apartments Corp. (NYSE:BRT), a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops multi-family properties, today announced it is providing an update on the steps it is taking to mitigate COVID-19 as well as a Business update.

Jeffrey A. Gould, President and CEO commented, “We are currently living in an unprecedented time and the safety and health of our team members, partners and residents is our top priority. We have taken the steps recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and governmental authorities to keep all our stakeholders safe, while providing critical services to ensure our residents’ needs are met.”

Rent Update

As of April 20, 2020, the Company collected 96% of the rent from its multi-family properties for the month of April. BRT is in contact with select residents who have, due to severe economic difficulty, asked for some form of rent relief and is working with these residents to create a fair payment plan.

Operational Update

The Company has financial capacity of approximately $10 million of cash on hand as of April 15, 2020. The Company has implemented the following procedures to accommodate its team members, partners and residents:

• Following guidelines established by the CDC and governmental authorities across all of its properties and offices.
• Closed all leasing offices and in lieu of in-person apartment tours, the Company is providing virtual tours.
• Closed the majority of common areas and staggered on-site staffing schedules, with a focus on only providing critical functions, to implement social distancing.
• Halted evictions for 120 days as stipulated under the CARES Act and is working with residents, who are unable to pay rent due to the impact of COVID-19, to create fair payment plans.

2019 Preliminary Financial Expectations and Restatement

The Company is reiterating its financial expectations for 2019 that it originally disclosed on March 12, 2020. BRT still expects that for the year ended December 31, 2019, it will report net income of at least $856,000, or $0.05 per diluted share, funds from operations¹ of $12.0 million or $0.74 per diluted share, adjusted funds from operations of $16.6 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, and total BRT Apartment’s stockholders’ equity of $192.1 million.

The Company will restate certain previously issued consolidated financial statements to reflect a change to the equity method of accounting for three joint ventures previously reported using a consolidated approach. This is a presentation issue that will not reduce net income, FFO, AFFO and BRT Apartments Corp. total stockholders’ equity for prior periods. Investors should no longer rely upon the Company’s consolidated financial statements, earnings releases or similar prior communications issued on or after March 31, 2018 through November 7, 2019. The Company has requested guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission as to whether certain properties that have historically been presented on a consolidated basis should instead be presented on the equity method. Depending on the results of such guidance, BRT may be required to report that it will restate its presentation of its financial statements with respect to such other properties accordingly. Such restatement, if any, will not result in any reduction in previously reported net income, FFO, AFFO and BRT Apartments Corp. total stockholders’ equity.

About BRT Apartments Corp.:

BRT is a real estate investment trust that either directly, or through joint ventures, owns, operates and develops multi-family properties. Additional financial and descriptive information on BRT, its operations and its portfolio, is available at BRT’s website at: http://BRTapartments.com. Interested parties are encouraged to review BRT’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2018, and the other reports filed thereafter with the Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information.