CBL & Associates Properties Reports First Quarter 2013 Results

CBL & Associates Properties Reports First Quarter 2013 Results

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYS: CBL) :

• FFO per diluted share increased 8.2% to $0.53 for the first quarter of 2013, compared with $0.49 for the prior-year period.

• Same-center NOI, excluding lease termination fees, increased 1.0% in the first quarter 2013 over the prior-year period.

• Portfolio occupancy at March 31, 2013, increased 40 basis points to 92.2% from 91.8% for the prior-year period.

• Average gross rent per square foot for stabilized mall leases signed in the first quarter of 2013 increased 10.8% over the prior gross rent per square foot.

• Same-store sales increased 4.4% to $355 per square foot for mall tenants 10,000 square feet or less for stabilized malls for the rolling twelve months ended March 31, 2013 compared with the prior-year period.

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYS: CBL) announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. A description of each non-GAAP financial measure and the related reconciliation to the comparable GAAP measure is located at the end of this news release.

"The strong operating performance of our market-dominant mall portfolio in the first quarter coupled with the benefits of our new growth platforms have us well on the path towards achieving our 2013 goals," said Stephen Lebovitz, CBL's president and chief executive officer. "We are seeing solid improvement in occupancy, NOI, sales and leasing across the portfolio even with the tougher comparison from a year ago. The acquisition of the remaining interest in Kirkwood Mall (Bismarck, ND) also highlights that our focused growth strategy can yield a strong pipeline of profitable investment opportunities in this environment. We will look to build on this momentum throughout the year.

"Our plans for further enhancements to our capital structure with the ultimate goal of an investment grade rating are well underway. Our long-stated preference is for long-term, fixed-rate sources of capital at the most effective pricing, as evidenced by the refinancing of Friendly Center (Greensboro, NC) and Renaissance Center (Durham, NC) at a low ten-year weighted average fixed rate of 3.48%. Raising over $100 million of equity capital in the quarter from the initial activity on our ATM program and the disposition of five non-core office buildings clearly demonstrates our ability to prudently fund our growth. The continued access to these attractive sources of capital and the ample availability on our unsecured credit facilities provide us the flexibility to execute our capital plan and our corporate strategy."

FFO allocable to common shareholders for the first quarter of 2013 was $85,912,000, or $0.53 per diluted share, compared with $72,178,000, or $0.49 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2012. FFO of the operating partnership for the first quarter of 2013 was $101,623,000, compared with $92,476,000, for the first quarter of 2012.

Net income attributable to common shareholders for the first quarter of 2013 was $19,090,000, or $0.12 per diluted share, compared with net income of $15,455,000, or $0.10 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2012.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Portfolio same-center net operating income ("NOI"), excluding lease termination fees, for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, increased 1.0% compared with an increase of 1.5% for the prior-year period.

• Average gross rent per square foot on stabilized mall leases signed during the first quarter of 2013 for tenants 10,000 square feet or less increased 10.8% over the prior gross rent per square foot.

• Same-store sales per square foot for mall tenants 10,000 square feet or less for stabilized malls for the rolling twelve months ended March 31, 2013, increased 4.4% to $355 per square foot compared with $340 per square foot in the prior-year period.

• Consolidated and unconsolidated variable rate debt of $1,097,660,000, as of March 31, 2013, represented 10.4% of the total market capitalization for the Company, compared with 12.7% as of March 31, 2012, and 20.4% of the Company's share of total consolidated and unconsolidated debt, compared with 22.8% as of March 31, 2012.

• Debt-to-total market capitalization was 51.0% as of March 31, 2013, compared with 55.7% as of March 31, 2012.

• The ratio of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") to interest expense was 2.64 times for the first quarter of 2013, compared with 2.46 times for the first quarter of 2012.

PORTFOLIO OCCUPANCY

ACQUISITIONS

Subsequent to the quarter end, CBL announced that it had completed the acquisition of the remaining 51% interest in Kirkwood Mall in Bismarck, ND. In December 2012, CBL acquired a 49% non-controlling interest in Kirkwood Mall. In conjunction with the acquisition of the remaining interest, CBL assumed the $40.4 million non-recourse loan secured by the property, which bears a fixed interest rate of 5.75% and matures in April 2018.

DISPOSITION ACTIVITY

During the first quarter 2013, CBL disposed of five office buildings generating total net proceeds of $43.5 million.

FINANCING ACTIVITY

During the quarter, CBL closed on a $100.0 million non-recourse loan secured by Friendly Center in Greensboro, NC. The ten-year loan bears a fixed interest rate of 3.4795% and replaced an existing $77.6 million loan that was scheduled to mature in April 2013. CBL also closed a $16.0 million non-recourse loan secured by Renaissance Center Phase II in Durham, NC. The ten-year loan bears a fixed interest rate of 3.4895% and replaced the existing $15.7 million loan that was scheduled to mature in April 2013. CBL owns 50% of Friendly Center and Renaissance Center Phase II. Excess proceeds from the loans were used to retire loans on several office buildings owned in this same joint venture.

CAPITAL MARKETS ACTIVITY

During the first quarter of 2013, CBL sold 2.7 million common shares, at a weighted average price of $23.58 per share, under its At-The-Market ("ATM") equity offering program, generating net proceeds of $62.1 million. The proceeds generated from the ATM program were used to reduce the outstanding balances under the Company's unsecured credit facilities.

OUTLOOK AND GUIDANCE

Based on first quarter results and today's outlook, the Company is maintaining 2013 FFO guidance in the range of $2.18 - $2.26 per share. Full-year guidance assumes same-center NOI growth in a range of 1.0% - 3.0%, $2.0 million to $4.0 million of outparcel sales and a 25-50 basis point increase in year-end occupancy. The guidance also assumes the pay-off of the Westfield Preferred Units mid-year using the Company's lines of credit and cash on hand. The guidance excludes the impact of any future unannounced transactions. The Company expects to update its annual guidance after each quarter's results.

INVESTOR CONFERENCE CALL AND SIMULCAST

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. will conduct a conference call at 11:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, to discuss its first quarter results. The numbers to call for this interactive teleconference are (800) 736-4594 or (212) 231-2901. A seven-day replay of the conference call will be available by dialing (402) 977-9140 and entering the passcode 21646863. A transcript of the Company's prepared remarks will be furnished on a Form 8-K following the conference call.

To receive the CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., first quarter earnings release and supplemental information please visit our website at cblproperties.com or contact Investor Relations at 423-490-8312.

The Company will also provide an online web simulcast and rebroadcast of its 2013 first quarter earnings release conference call. The live broadcast of the quarterly conference call will be available online at cblproperties.com on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. The online replay will follow shortly after the call and continue through May 7, 2013.

CBL is one of the largest and most active owners and developers of malls and shopping centers in the United States. CBL owns, holds interests in or manages 158 properties, including 96 regional malls/open-air centers. The properties are located in 31 states and total 92.7 million square feet including 10.5 million square feet of non-owned shopping centers managed for third parties. Headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, CBL has regional offices in Boston (Waltham), MA, Dallas (Irving), TX, and St. Louis, MO. Additional information can be found at cblproperties.com.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Funds From Operations

FFO is a widely used 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 allocable to common shareholders as defined above by NAREIT less dividends on preferred stock. The Company's method of calculating FFO allocable to its common shareholders 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 of its operating partnership and FFO allocable to its common shareholders, as it believes that both are useful performance measures. The Company believes FFO of its operating partnership 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 attributable to the Company's common shareholders to FFO allocable to its common shareholders, 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 its operating partnership. The Company then applies a percentage to FFO of its operating partnership 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 outstanding during the period.

FFO does not represent cash flows from operations as defined by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, 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.

Same-Center Net Operating Income

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

Similar to FFO, the Company computes NOI based on its pro rata share of both consolidated and unconsolidated properties. The Company's definition of NOI may be different than that used by other companies and, accordingly, the Company's NOI may not be comparable to that of other companies. A reconciliation of same-center NOI to net income is located at the end of this earnings release.

Since NOI includes only those revenues and expenses related to the operations of its shopping center properties, the Company believes that same-center NOI provides a measure that reflects trends in occupancy rates, rental rates and operating costs and the impact of those trends on the Company's results of operations. Additionally, there are instances when tenants terminate their leases prior to the scheduled expiration date and pay the Company one-time, lump-sum termination fees. These one-time lease termination fees may distort same-center NOI trends and may result in same-center NOI that is not indicative of the ongoing operations of the Company's shopping center properties. Therefore, the Company believes that presenting same-center NOI, excluding lease termination fees, is useful to investors.

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 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.