Simon, a global leader in the ownership of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, today reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.
“We are very pleased with our first quarter results,” said David Simon, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. “Our business has substantially improved after addressing the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic including significantly restrictive governmental orders as evidenced by our improved profitability and cash flow growth, increasing shopper traffic, increasing retailer sales, and leasing momentum across our portfolio. We are also seeing similar results in the Taubman Realty Group portfolio and are encouraged by our collective progress in increasing its profitability. Today we are increasing our full-year 2021 guidance.”
Results for the Quarter
U.S. Malls and Premium Outlets Operating Statistics
Development Activity
West Midlands Designer Outlet opened on April 12, 2021, upon the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions which delayed the center’s initial planned opening. The center includes 197,000 square feet of high-quality, name brand stores providing shoppers in the United Kingdom with one of the finest open-air retail and leisure experiences. Simon owns a 23% interest in this center.
Construction continues on redevelopments including Northshore Mall (Boston, MA), West Town Mall (Knoxville, TN), Burlington Mall (Boston, MA) and Tacoma Mall (Tacoma, WA). These redevelopments, scheduled to be completed in 2021, will significantly benefit the communities in which they operate.
Progress continues on transformative mixed-use redevelopments of Northgate (Seattle, WA) and Phipps Plaza (Atlanta, GA). The transformation of Northgate will feature the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken corporate offices and practice and training facility. This first phase of the Northgate transformation is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2021. The dynamic redevelopment at Phipps Plaza is headlined by a Nobu Hotel and Restaurant, Citizens food hall, Life Time athletic club and Life Time Work. These additions are scheduled to open in 2022.
Capital Markets and Balance Sheet Liquidity
The Company has been active in both the unsecured and secured credit markets.
During the quarter, the Company completed a two tranche senior notes offering totaling $1.5 billion. Combined, the two new issues of senior notes had a weighted average term of 8.4 years and a weighted average coupon rate of 1.96%.
The Company, through one of its subsidiaries, also completed a Euro senior notes offering totaling €750 million with a 1.125% coupon rate and term of 12 years.
Net proceeds from the offerings were used to fund the optional redemption of the Company’s $550 million aggregate principal amount of 2.50% notes due July 2021 and fully repay the $2.0 billion unsecured delayed-draw term loan facility.
The Company closed six non-recourse mortgage loans totaling approximately $1.3 billion (U.S. dollar equivalent), of which Simon’s share is $589 million. The weighted average interest rate on these loans is 3.36%.
As of March 31, 2021, Simon had more than $8.4 billion of liquidity consisting of $1.5 billion of cash on hand, including its share of joint venture cash, and $6.9 billion of available capacity under its revolving credit facilities, net of $500 million outstanding under its U.S. commercial paper program.
Dividends
The Company paid its first quarter 2021 common stock dividend of $1.30 per share, in cash, on April 23, 2021. Simon’s Board of Directors will declare a common stock cash dividend for the second quarter of 2021 on or before June 30, 2021.
Simon’s Board of Directors declared the quarterly dividend on its 8 3/8% Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock of $1.046875 per share, payable on June 30, 2021 to shareholders of record on June 16, 2021.
2021 Guidance
The Company currently estimates net income to be within a range of $4.47 to $4.57 per diluted share and FFO will be within a range of $9.70 to $9.80 per diluted share for the year ending December 31, 2021. The FFO per diluted share range is an increase from the $9.50 to $9.75 per diluted share range provided on February 8, 2021, or an increase of $0.13 per diluted share at the mid-point.
The following table provides the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation for the expected range of estimated net income attributable to common stockholders per diluted share to estimated FFO per diluted share:
For the year ending December 31, 2021 |
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Low |
High |
||
End |
End |
||
Estimated net income attributable to common stockholders |
|||
per diluted share |
$4.47 |
$4.57 |
|
Depreciation and amortization including Simon’s share |
|||
of unconsolidated entities |
5.47 |
5.47 |
|
Unrealized losses in fair value of equity instruments |
0.01 |
0.01 |
|
Gain on acquisition of controlling interest, sale or |
|||
disposal of, or recovery on, assets and interests in |
|||
unconsolidated entities and impairment, net |
(0.25) |
(0.25) |
|
Estimated FFO per diluted share |
$9.70 |
$9.80 |
Conference Call
Simon will hold a conference call to discuss the quarterly financial results today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Monday, May 10, 2021. A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible in listen-only mode at investors.simon.com. An audio replay of the conference call will be available until May 17, 2021. To access the audio replay, dial 1-855-859-2056 (international 404-537-3406) passcode 5363499.
Supplemental Materials and Website
Supplemental information on our first quarter 2021 performance is available at investors.simon.com. This information has also been furnished to the SEC in a current report on Form 8-K.
We routinely post important information online on our investor relations website, investors.simon.com. We use this website, press releases, SEC filings, quarterly conference calls, presentations and webcasts to disclose material, non-public information in accordance with Regulation FD. We encourage members of the investment community to monitor these distribution channels for material disclosures. Any information accessed through our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release includes FFO, FFO per share and portfolio Net Operating Income growth which are financial performance measures not defined by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in this press release and in Simon’s supplemental information for the quarter. FFO and Net Operating Income growth are financial performance measures widely used in the REIT industry. Our definitions of these non-GAAP measures may not be the same as similar measures reported by other REITs.