CBL Properties Reports Results for Second Quarter 2019

Improved Operating Metrics; Full-Year Same-Center NOI Guidance Range Maintained

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–$CBL–CBL Properties (NYSE:CBL) announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019. A description of each supplemental non-GAAP financial measure and the related reconciliation to the comparable GAAP financial measure is located at the end of this news release.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Same-center sales per square foot for the stabilized mall portfolio for the second quarter improved 4.1%. For the twelve-months ended June 30, 2019, same-center sales increased 0.8% to $381 per square foot compared with the prior-year period.
• FFO per diluted share, as adjusted, was $0.34 for the second quarter 2019, compared with $0.46 per share for the second quarter 2018. Second quarter 2019 FFO per share was impacted by higher general and administrative expense due to $0.01 per share related to litigation, $0.02 per share of lower outparcel sales, $0.02 per share of dilution from asset sales completed since the prior-year period and $0.05 per share of lower property NOI.
• Total Portfolio Same-center NOI declined 5.7% for the three months and declined 5.3% for the six months ended June 30, 2019, as compared with the prior-year periods.
• Portfolio occupancy declined 90 basis points to 90.2% as of June 30, 2019, compared with 91.1% as of June 30, 2018. Same-center mall occupancy was 88.1% as of June 30, 2019, a 130 basis point decline compared with 89.4% as of June 30, 2018.
• Year-to-date, CBL has completed or announced gross asset sales totaling $147.9 million (details herein).
• Significant progress on its anchor redevelopment program, including two dozen former anchor spaces committed, under construction or with replacements already open.

“We are pleased to see improved performance this quarter in several key areas across our portfolio. Our second quarter results were in-line with expectations with adjusted FFO per share of $0.34 and same-center NOI declining 5.7%,” commented Stephen Lebovitz, chief executive officer. “Lease spreads showed a nice improvement and same-center sales increased over 4% during the second quarter. With our operating metrics on-track, we are reiterating our annual guidance for same-center NOI. At the same time, we are updating FFO per share guidance for the year primarily to incorporate dilution from recent sales transactions, which we exclude from guidance until announced, as well as lower projected gains on outparcel sales.

“The progress we have made on our redevelopment program is energizing our market-dominant properties and our company. As we have said, we have over 20 replacements committed, under construction or open for the 40 closed anchors in our portfolio and are making additional progress every day. The new tenants we are adding, including restaurants, entertainment, service, value and non-retail uses such as medical, office, hotels and residential, drives additional traffic, sales and NOI.

“Our free cash flow of over $200 million is the primary source for funding these redevelopments. Disciplined capital allocation remains a priority, and we are stretching our dollars through joint ventures and ground leases. We have also had strong results year-to-date from our disposition program, with over $145 million of transactions announced or closed year-to-date. We have no major unsecured maturities until December 2023, and the refinancings closed earlier this year have extended our debt maturity profile, providing significant runway to execute our strategy to stabilize and transform our properties.”

Net loss attributable to common shareholders for the second quarter 2019 was $35.4 million, or a loss of $0.20 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $35.0 million, or a loss of $0.20 per diluted share, for the second quarter 2018. Net loss for the second quarter 2019 was impacted by a $33.3 million loss on impairment of real estate to write down the carrying value of Eastgate Mall to the property’s estimated fair value. The impairment was primarily a result of declines in projected future cash flows.

FFO allocable to common shareholders, as adjusted, for the second quarter 2019 was $59.4 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared with $80.2 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, for the second quarter 2018. FFO allocable to the Operating Partnership common unitholders, as adjusted, for the second quarter 2019 was $68.5 million compared with $92.8 million for the second quarter 2018.

Percentage change in same-center Net Operating Income (“NOI”)⁽¹⁾:

Major variances impacting same-center NOI for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, include:

• Same-center NOI declined $8.7 million, due to an $11.5 million decrease in revenues offset by a $2.8 million decline in operating expenses.
• Rental revenues declined $15.4 million, including a $7.9 million decline in tenant reimbursements and real estate tax reimbursements and an $8.3 million decline in minimum and other rents. Percentage rents increased $0.8 million.
• Property operating expenses declined $1.8 million compared with the prior year. Maintenance and repair expenses increased $0.1 million. Real estate tax expenses declined $1.1 million.

PORTFOLIO OPERATIONAL RESULTS

Occupancy⁽¹⁾:

New and Renewal Leasing Activity of Same Small Shop Space Less Than 10,000 Square Feet:

Same-Center Sales Per Square Foot for Mall Tenants 10,000 Square Feet or Less:

DISPOSITIONS

Year-to-date, CBL has closed on $120.2 million in asset sales, including the sale of a community center, an office building and a hotel.

In June, CBL completed the sale of the Courtyard by Marriott at Pearland Town Center in Pearland, TX, for $15.1 million, cash.

In July, CBL sold an office building in Chesapeake, VA, for $10.5 million. CBL also completed the sale in July of The Forum at Grandview, a 215,000-square-foot community center located in Madison, MS, for $31.75 million, cash.

CBL has entered into an agreement with its existing joint venture partner, Horizon Group Properties (“Horizon”), whereby Horizon will purchase a 25% interest in The Outlet Shoppes at El Paso for cash of $9.2 million and the assumption of 25% interest in the existing loan (representing approximately $18.5 million as of August 2019). Following the completion of the sale, CBL and Horizon will each own a 50% interest, and Horizon will continue to lease and manage the asset. CBL anticipates closing on the transaction in August.

FINANCING ACTIVITY

In April, CBL closed a new $50 million non-recourse loan secured by Volusia Mall for a term of five years at a fixed interest rate of 4.56%. CBL concurrently retired the existing cross-collateralized loans secured by Honey Creek Mall in Terre Haute, IN, and Volusia Mall in Daytona Beach, FL, which aggregated to $64.0 million and bore an interest rate of 8%. CBL used proceeds from the new loan as well as the sale of Honey Creek Mall to retire the maturing loans.

In July, the foreclosure of Triangle Town Center was completed and the related debt was extinguished.

ANCHOR REPLACEMENT PROGRESS

Anchor replacements recently opened or pending include (complete list and additional information can be found in the financial supplement):

OUTLOOK AND GUIDANCE

CBL is updating FFO, as adjusted, per share guidance to incorporate $0.04 per share dilution from dispositions completed and announced, $0.06 per share lower anticipated gains on outparcel sales and $0.01 per share of higher anticipated general and administrative expense related to ongoing litigation. CBL has reduced its projection for outparcel sales gains in part due to a shift in expectation to more ground leased outparcels versus sales as well as the shift in timing of certain sales to 2020. CBL now anticipates achieving 2019 FFO, as adjusted, in the range of $1.30 – $1.35 per diluted share. Guidance incorporates a reserve in the range of $5.0 – $15.0 million (the “Reserve”) for potential future unbudgeted loss in rent from tenant bankruptcies, store closures or lease modifications that may occur in 2019. Based on bankruptcy and leasing activity year-to-date, including the impact of any co-tenancy, CBL currently expects to utilize approximately $8 – $10 million of the Reserve.

Key assumptions underlying guidance are as follows:

Reconciliation of GAAP net income (loss) to 2019 FFO, as adjusted, per share guidance:

INVESTOR CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

CBL Properties will host a conference call on Thursday, August 1, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. ET. To access this interactive teleconference, dial (888) 317-6003 or (412) 317-6061 and enter the confirmation number, 9046905. A replay of the conference call will be available through August 8, 2019, by dialing (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088 and entering the confirmation number, 10131564.

The Company will also provide an online webcast and rebroadcast of its second quarter 2019 earnings release conference call. The live broadcast of the quarterly conference call will be available online at cblproperties.com on Thursday, August 1, 2019, beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. The online replay will follow shortly after the call.

To receive the CBL Properties second quarter earnings release and supplemental information, please visit the Invest section of our website at cblproperties.com.

ABOUT CBL PROPERTIES

Headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, CBL Properties owns and manages a national portfolio of market-dominant properties located in dynamic and growing communities. CBL’s portfolio is comprised of 108 properties totaling 68.2 million square feet across 26 states, including 68 high-quality enclosed, outlet and open-air retail centers and 9 properties managed for third parties. CBL continuously strengthens its company and portfolio through active management, aggressive leasing and profitable reinvestment in its properties. For more information visit cblproperties.com.

ADOPTION OF NEW LEASE ACCOUNTING STANDARD

The Company adopted Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 842, Leases, effective January 1, 2019, which resulted in the Company revising the presentation of rental revenues in its consolidated statements of operations. In the past, certain components of rental revenues were shown separately in the consolidated statements of operations. Upon the adoption of ASC 842, these amounts have been combined into a single line item. Please see the Company’s Supplemental Financial and Operating Information located in the Invest section of the Company’s website for more information regarding the components of rental revenues.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Funds From Operations

FFO is a widely used non-GAAP measure of the operating performance of real estate companies that supplements net income (loss) determined in accordance with GAAP. The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) defines FFO as net income (loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP) excluding gains or losses on sales of depreciable operating properties and impairment losses of depreciable properties, plus depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures and noncontrolling interests. Adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures and noncontrolling interests are calculated on the same basis. We define FFO as defined above by NAREIT less dividends on preferred stock of the Company or distributions on preferred units of the Operating Partnership, as applicable. The Company’s method of calculating FFO may be different from methods used by other REITs and, accordingly, may not be comparable to such other REITs.

The Company believes that FFO provides an additional indicator of the operating performance of its properties without giving effect to real estate depreciation and amortization, which assumes the value of real estate assets declines predictably over time. Since values of well-maintained real estate assets have historically risen with market conditions, the Company believes that FFO enhances investors’ understanding of its operating performance. The use of FFO as an indicator of financial performance is influenced not only by the operations of the Company’s properties and interest rates, but also by its capital structure.

The Company presents both FFO allocable to Operating Partnership common unitholders and FFO allocable to common shareholders, as it believes that both are useful performance measures. The Company believes FFO allocable to Operating Partnership common unitholders is a useful performance measure since it conducts substantially all of its business through its Operating Partnership and, therefore, it reflects the performance of the properties in absolute terms regardless of the ratio of ownership interests of the Company’s common shareholders and the noncontrolling interest in the Operating Partnership. The Company believes FFO allocable to its common shareholders is a useful performance measure because it is the performance measure that is most directly comparable to net income (loss) attributable to its common shareholders.

In the reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to the Company’s common shareholders to FFO allocable to Operating Partnership common unitholders, located in this earnings release, the Company makes an adjustment to add back noncontrolling interest in income (loss) of its Operating Partnership in order to arrive at FFO of the Operating Partnership common unitholders. The Company then applies a percentage to FFO of the Operating Partnership common unitholders to arrive at FFO allocable to its common shareholders. The percentage is computed by taking the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period and dividing it by the sum of the weighted-average number of common shares and the weighted-average number of Operating Partnership units held by noncontrolling interests during the period.

FFO does not represent cash flows from operations as defined by GAAP, is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund all cash flow needs and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) for purposes of evaluating the Company’s operating performance or to cash flow as a measure of liquidity.

The Company believes that it is important to identify the impact of certain significant items on its FFO measures for a reader to have a complete understanding of the Company’s results of operations. Therefore, the Company has also presented adjusted FFO measures excluding these items from the applicable periods. Please refer to the reconciliation of net loss attributable to common shareholders to FFO allocable to Operating Partnership common unitholders on page 10 of this news release for a description of these adjustments.

Same-center Net Operating Income

NOI is a supplemental non-GAAP measure of the operating performance of the Company’s shopping centers and other properties. The Company defines NOI as property operating revenues (rental revenues, tenant reimbursements and other income) less property operating expenses (property operating, real estate taxes and maintenance and repairs).

The Company computes NOI based on the Operating Partnership’s pro rata share of both consolidated and unconsolidated properties. The Company believes that presenting NOI and same-center NOI (described below) based on its Operating Partnership’s pro rata share of both consolidated and unconsolidated properties is useful since the Company conducts substantially all of its business through its Operating Partnership and, therefore, it reflects the performance of the properties in absolute terms regardless of the ratio of ownership interests of the Company’s common shareholders and the noncontrolling interest in the Operating Partnership. The Company’s definition of NOI may be different than that used by other companies and, accordingly, the Company’s calculation of NOI may not be comparable to that of other companies.

Since NOI includes only those revenues and expenses related to the operations of the Company’s shopping center properties, the Company believes that same-center NOI provides a measure that reflects trends in occupancy rates, rental rates, sales at the malls and operating costs and the impact of those trends on the Company’s results of operations. The Company’s calculation of same-center NOI excludes lease termination income, straight-line rent adjustments, amortization of above and below market lease intangibles and write-off of landlord inducement assets in order to enhance the comparability of results from one period to another. A reconciliation of same-center NOI to net income is located at the end of this earnings release.

Pro Rata Share of Debt

The Company presents debt based on its pro rata ownership share (including the Company’s pro rata share of unconsolidated affiliates and excluding noncontrolling interests’ share of consolidated properties) because it believes this provides investors a clearer understanding of the Company’s total debt obligations which affect the Company’s liquidity. A reconciliation of the Company’s pro rata share of debt to the amount of debt on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet is located at the end of this earnings release.

Information included herein contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Such statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which cannot be predicted with accuracy and some of which might not even be anticipated. Future events and actual events, financial and otherwise, may differ materially from the events and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The reader is directed to the Company’s various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included therein, for a discussion of such risks and uncertainties.

Contacts

Katie Reinsmidt, Executive Vice President – Chief Investment Officer, 423.490.8301, [email protected]

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