DBRS Upgrs Three Classes of N-45° 2000-2, Confs Four Classes

Dominion Bond Rating Service (“DBRS”) has today upgraded the ratings of N-45° First CMBS Issuer Corporation’s Commercial Mortgage-Backed Bonds, Series 2000-2 as follows: Class C to AA (high) from AA (low), Class D to “A” from BBB (high), and Class E to BB (high) from BB. In addition, four classes are confirmed: Classes A, B, and IO at AAA, and Class F at B. The upgrades reflect improved credit enhancement within the transaction due to loan payoffs and amortization, and the stable financial performance of the remaining loans.

The transaction consists of 28 commercial mortgage loans totalling Cdn$127,319,424. The pool is concentrated with the largest ten loans compromising 62.5% of the pool. The loans are also concentrated by location with 60.2% in the province of Québec. There is one loan, Place du Saguenay (5% of the current pool balance), which has been placed on the DBRS HotList because of persistent vacancy issue. Place du Saguenay is the fifth largest in the pool and will remain on the HotList until occupancy has stabilized.

The pool has paid down 49% since issuance, and has an average term to maturity of 43 months with two of the top ten loans maturing in the next 12 months. Overall, financial performance is stable and the weighted-average net operating income debt service coverage ratio has improved from 1.59x at issuance to 1.72x. In addition, leverage on the loans is low with a current weighted-average loan to value of 57.5% (assuming the original appraisal value).