Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) today announced that the Company has sold an apartment property in San Diego and used the sale proceeds to enhance its already strong financial position by addressing 2021 debt maturities.
The Company sold Vantage Pointe, a 679-unit apartment property located in downtown San Diego, for a sale price of approximately $312.5 million at a Disposition Yield of 4.1%, generating a preliminary Unlevered IRR of 8.8% over the Company’s ten-year ownership period. The Company used the proceeds from this sale as well as cash on hand and borrowings under its commercial paper program to satisfy its obligations on its $750.0 million 4.625% unsecured notes which are due in December 2021, by discharging them pursuant to their indenture. As a result, the Company will incur approximately $39.1 million in debt extinguishment charges, of which $25.8 million represents a cash charge and the remaining $13.3 million corresponds to write-offs of unamortized debt costs. These charges will impact the Company’s 2020 Earnings Per Share and Funds from Operations per share but will not impact the Company’s Normalized Funds from Operations per share.
“We are pleased to execute on the opportunity to sell this asset at a price that we had ascribed to the property pre-pandemic,” said Mark J. Parrell, Equity Residential’s President and CEO. “The use of these proceeds to address our only significant 2021 maturity leaves us with minimal near-term maturities, preserves the flexibility of our balance sheet and maintains credit capacity for future opportunities.”
About Equity Residential
Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract high quality long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 304 properties consisting of 77,889 apartment units, located in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Southern California and Denver. For more information on Equity Residential, please visit our website at www.equityapartments.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions made by management. While Equity Residential’s management believes the assumptions underlying its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such information is inherently subject to uncertainties and may involve certain risks, including, without limitation, changes in general market conditions, including the rate of job growth and cost of labor and construction material, the level of new multifamily construction and development, competition and local government regulation. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which are unknown, including the duration and severity of the pandemic, the extent of the adverse health impact on the general population and on our residents, customers and employees in particular, its impact on the employment rate and the economy and the corresponding impact on our residents’ and tenants’ ability to pay their rent on time or at all, the extent and impact of governmental responses and the impact of operational changes we have implemented and may implement in response to the pandemic. Other risks and uncertainties are described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available on our website, www.equityapartments.com. Many of these uncertainties and risks are difficult to predict and beyond management’s control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, results or events. Equity Residential assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.
Terms and Definitions:
Disposition Yield – NOI that the Company anticipates giving up in the next 12 months less an estimate of property management costs/management fees allocated to the project (generally ranging from 2.0% to 4.0% of revenues depending on the size and income streams of the asset) and less an estimate for in-the-unit replacement capital expenditures (generally ranging from $100-$450 per apartment unit depending on the age and condition of the asset) divided by the gross sales price of the asset.
Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) – Net income per share calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). Expected EPS is calculated on a basis consistent with actual EPS. Due to the uncertain timing and extent of property dispositions and the resulting gains/losses on sales, actual EPS could differ materially from expected EPS.
FFO and Normalized FFO:
Funds From Operations (“FFO”) – The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“Nareit”) defines FFO (December 2018 White Paper) as net income (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains or losses from sales and impairment write-downs of depreciable real estate and land when connected to the main business of a REIT, impairment write-downs of investments in entities when the impairment is directly attributable to decreases in the value of depreciable real estate held by the entity and depreciation and amortization related to real estate. Adjustments for partially owned consolidated and unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures are calculated to reflect FFO on the same basis. Expected FFO per share is calculated on a basis consistent with actual FFO per share and is considered an appropriate supplemental measure of expected operating performance when compared to expected EPS.
The Company believes that FFO and FFO available to Common Shares and Units are helpful to investors as supplemental measures of the operating performance of a real estate company, because they are recognized measures of performance by the real estate industry and by excluding gains or losses from sales and impairment write-downs of depreciable real estate and excluding depreciation related to real estate (which can vary among owners of identical assets in similar condition based on historical cost accounting and useful life estimates), FFO and FFO available to Common Shares and Units can help compare the operating performance of a company’s real estate between periods or as compared to different companies.
Normalized Funds From Operations ("Normalized FFO") – Normalized FFO begins with FFO and excludes:
- the impact of any expenses relating to non-operating asset impairment;
- pursuit cost write-offs;
- gains and losses from early debt extinguishment and preferred share redemptions;
- gains and losses from non-operating assets; and
- other miscellaneous items.
Expected Normalized FFO per share is calculated on a basis consistent with actual Normalized FFO per share and is considered an appropriate supplemental measure of expected operating performance when compared to expected EPS.
The Company believes that Normalized FFO and Normalized FFO available to Common Shares and Units are helpful to investors as supplemental measures of the operating performance of a real estate company because they allow investors to compare the Company's operating performance to its performance in prior reporting periods and to the operating performance of other real estate companies without the effect of items that by their nature are not comparable from period to period and tend to obscure the Company's actual operating results.
FFO, FFO available to Common Shares and Units, Normalized FFO and Normalized FFO available to Common Shares and Units do not represent net income, net income available to Common Shares or net cash flows from operating activities in accordance with GAAP. Therefore, FFO, FFO available to Common Shares and Units, Normalized FFO and Normalized FFO available to Common Shares and Units should not be exclusively considered as alternatives to net income, net income available to Common Shares or net cash flows from operating activities as determined by GAAP or as a measure of liquidity. The Company's calculation of FFO, FFO available to Common Shares and Units, Normalized FFO and Normalized FFO available to Common Shares and Units may differ from other real estate companies due to, among other items, variations in cost capitalization policies for capital expenditures and, accordingly, may not be comparable to such other real estate companies.
FFO available to Common Shares and Units and Normalized FFO available to Common Shares and Units are calculated on a basis consistent with net income available to Common Shares and reflects adjustments to net income for preferred distributions and premiums on redemption of preferred shares in accordance with GAAP. The equity positions of various individuals and entities that contributed their properties to the Operating Partnership in exchange for OP Units are collectively referred to as the "Noncontrolling Interests – Operating Partnership". Subject to certain restrictions, the Noncontrolling Interests – Operating Partnership may exchange their OP Units for Common Shares on a one-for-one basis.
Unlevered Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) – The Unlevered IRR on sold properties is the compound annual rate of return calculated by the Company based on the timing and amount of: (i) the gross purchase price of the property plus any direct acquisition costs incurred by the Company; (ii) total revenues earned during the Company’s ownership period; (iii) total direct property operating expenses (including real estate taxes and insurance) incurred during the Company’s ownership period; (iv) capital expenditures incurred during the Company’s ownership period; and (v) the gross sales price of the property net of selling costs.
The calculation of the Unlevered IRR does not include an adjustment for the Company’s property management expense, general and administrative expense or interest expense (including loan assumption costs and other loan-related costs). Therefore, the Unlevered IRR is not a substitute for net income as a measure of our performance. Management believes that the Unlevered IRR achieved during the period a property is owned by the Company is useful because it is one indication of the gross value created by the Company’s acquisition, development, renovation, management and ultimate sale of a property, before the impact of Company overhead. The Unlevered IRR achieved on the property as cited in this release should not be viewed as an indication of the gross value created with respect to other properties owned by the Company, and the Company does not represent that it will achieve similar Unlevered IRRs upon the disposition of other properties.
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