Americold Realty Trust Announces Third Quarter 2019 Results

ATLANTA, Nov. 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD) (the “Company”), the world’s largest publicly traded REIT focused on the ownership, operation and development of temperature-controlled warehouses, today announced financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019.

Fred Boehler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Americold Realty Trust, stated, “The third quarter was strong, with total company revenue growth of 16.0%, total company NOI growth of 18.9%, and Core EBITDA growth of 21.6%. This growth was driven by contribution from our second quarter acquisitions, continued operating efficiency gains, and solid performance from our core same store portfolio. At the same time, we continue to benefit from our integration efforts to realize synergies as we implement our Americold Operating System and commercial business practices. Additionally, we continued to make steady progress on our five active expansion and development projects.”

“As we look ahead to the end of the year and into 2020, underlying supply and demand dynamics within our industry remain steady. We continue to see a wealth of potential opportunities. Our strong balance sheet supports our ability to execute a multi-pronged growth strategy, and we have demonstrated our ability to integrate new properties and portfolios efficiently and effectively. We remain committed to providing world class service to our existing and new customers, and driving stable cash flow growth and creating long term value for our shareholders.”

Third Quarter 2019 Highlights

• Total revenue of $466.2 million, a 16.0% increase over the same quarter last year.
• Total NOI of $120.7 million, an 18.9% increase over the same quarter last year.
• Core EBITDA of $93.4 million, a 21.6% increase over the same quarter last year, or a 23.4% increase on a constant currency basis.
• Net income of $27.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $24.5 million in the same quarter last year.
• Core FFO of $59.1 million, or $0.30 per diluted common share, compared to $43.9 million in the same quarter last year.
• AFFO of $52.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted common share, compared to $41.4 million in the same quarter last year.
• Global Warehouse segment revenue of $365.6 million, a 23.0% increase over the same quarter last year.
• Global Warehouse segment NOI of $113.4 million, a 21.1% increase over the same quarter last year.
• Global Warehouse segment same store revenue grew 2.0%, or 3.3% on a constant currency basis, with same store segment NOI improving 1.0%, or 2.3% on a constant currency basis.
• Sold minority interest in its China joint venture for approximately $15.0 million in cash proceeds.
• Received Baa3/stable rating from Moody's, which reduced the Company's $800 million Unsecured Revolver spread by 55 basis points to L+90, and its $475 million Unsecured Term Loan A spread by 45 basis points to L+100

Year to Date 2019 Highlights

• Total revenue increased 9.3% to $1,297.7 million.
• Total NOI increased 14.7% to $340.5 million.
• Core EBITDA increased 16.2% to $258.0 million for the year to date 2019, or a 17.8% increase on a constant currency basis.
• Net income of $27.4 million, or $0.15 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $45.3 million for the same period of the prior year.
• Core FFO of $155.1 million, or $0.87 per diluted common share for the year to date 2019.
• AFFO of $154.8 million, or $0.87 per diluted common share for the year to date 2019.
• Global Warehouse segment revenue of $993.4 million, a 14.0% increase over the prior period.
• Global Warehouse segment NOI increased 16.1% to $318.0 million for the year to date 2019.
• Global Warehouse segment same store revenue grew 1.3%, or 3.2% on a constant currency basis, with same store segment NOI improving 2.1%, or 3.4% on a constant currency basis, for the year to date 2019.

Third Quarter 2019 Total Company Financial Results

Total revenue for the third quarter of 2019 was $466.2 million, a 16.0% increase from the same quarter of the prior year. This growth was driven by the incremental revenue from the 2019 acquisitions, improvements in contractual rate escalations, growth in fixed commitment storage contracts, and one additional business day compared to the same quarter last year. Additionally, the launch of the Chicago expansion and the stabilization of the Middleboro, MA facility also contributed to this growth. These factors were partially offset by the translation impact of the strengthening US dollar.

For the third quarter of 2019, the Company reported net income of $27.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to $24.5 million for the same quarter of the prior year. Net income for the current quarter included $4.3 million of gain from the sale of partially owned entities, and recognition of a $7.8 million deferred tax benefit. Net income for the prior quarter included a $3.7 million benefit related to refundable Alternative Minimum Tax credits that are no longer subject to limitation under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act.

Total NOI for the third quarter of 2019 was $120.7 million, an increase of 18.9% from the same quarter of the prior year.

Core EBITDA was $93.4 million for the third quarter of 2019, compared to $76.8 million for the same quarter of the prior year. This reflects a 21.6% increase over prior year, or 23.4% on a constant currency basis, largely impacted by increased Core EBITDA from acquisitions. Additionally, Core EBITDA margin increased by 92 basis points to 20.0%. This growth and margin improvement was partially offset by higher health insurance costs related to an increase in high dollar claims, the translation impact of the strengthening US dollar, and startup costs related to its Chicago development project.

For the third quarter of 2019, Core FFO was $59.1 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, compared to $43.9 million for same quarter of the prior year. The year-over-year increase is driven primarily by increased FFO as a result of acquisitions.

For the third quarter of 2019, AFFO was $52.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, compared to $41.4 million for same quarter of the prior year. AFFO excludes certain expenses and income items that do not represent core expenses and income streams.

Please see the Company's supplemental financial information for the definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures.

Third Quarter 2019 Global Warehouse Segment Results

For the third quarter of 2019, Global Warehouse segment revenues were $365.6 million, an increase of $68.4 million, or 23.0%, compared to $297.2 million for the third quarter of 2018. This growth was driven by the incremental revenue from the 2019 acquisitions as well as the same revenue growth factors mentioned above.

Warehouse segment NOI was $113.4 million for the third quarter of 2019, which reflects growth of 21.1%. The year-over-year growth was driven by incremental NOI from its 2019 acquisitions, the previously mentioned revenue trends, and disciplined power and facility related cost controls through the Americold Operating System. Global Warehouse segment margin was 31.0% for the third quarter of 2019, a 48 basis point decline compared to the same quarter of the prior year. The decrease in margin was primarily due to higher health insurance costs related to an increase in high dollar claims, the translation impact of the strengthening US dollar, and startup costs related to its Chicago development project.

The following tables summarize the global warehouse and same store financial results and metrics for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:

⁽¹⁾ The adjustments from our U.S. GAAP operating results to calculate our operating results on a constant currency basis are the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the comparable prior period.

(n/a = not applicable)

Fixed Commitment Rent and Storage Revenue

For the third quarter of 2019, $244 million of the Company's rent and storage revenues were derived from customers with fixed commitment storage contracts. This compares to $232 million for the second quarter of 2019 and $215 million for the third quarter of 2018. The Company's recent acquisitions had a lower percentage of fixed committed contracts as a percentage of rent and storage revenue. On a combined pro forma basis, 40.0% of rent and storage revenues were generated from fixed commitment storage contracts.

Economic and Physical Occupancy

Contracts that contain fixed commitments are designed to ensure the Company's customers have space available when needed. At times, these customers may be paying for space that is not physically occupied. For the third quarter of 2019, economic occupancy for the total warehouse segment was 79.0% and warehouse segment same store pool was 79.2%, representing a 369 basis point and 414 basis point increase above physical occupancy, respectively. For the third quarter of 2019, physical occupancy for the total warehouse segment was 75.3% and warehouse segment same store pool was 75.0%.

Real Estate Portfolio

As of September 30, 2019, the Company's portfolio consists of 176 facilities, two less than what was reported as of the second quarter 2019. The Company ended the third quarter of 2019 with 165 facilities in its Global Warehouse segment portfolio and 11 facilities in its Third Party Managed segment portfolio. During the third quarter, the Company exited a leased facility in Heyburn, Idaho that was classified as non-same store. Additionally, the Company exited the operations of one of its Third Party Managed facilities in Crete, Nebraska. The same store population consists of 138 facilities as of September 30, 2019, which is unchanged from the second quarter of 2019. The remaining twenty-seven non-same store Warehouse facilities include the 24 facilities that were acquired in 2019, and three legacy facilities that are in various stages of operational stabilization.

Balance Sheet Activity and Liquidity

At September 30, 2019, the Company had total liquidity of approximately $1.5 billion, including cash and capacity on its revolving credit facility and $137 million and $235 million of net proceeds from its September 2018 and April 2019 equity forwards, respectively. Total debt outstanding was $1.9 billion (inclusive of $174 million of capital leases/sale lease-backs and exclusive of unamortized deferred financing fees), of which 76% was in an unsecured structure. The Company has no material debt maturities until 2022, assuming the one-year extension option is exercised on its revolver. At quarter end, its net debt to pro forma Core EBITDA was approximately 4.1x. Of the Company's total debt outstanding, $1.7 billion relates to real estate debt, which excludes sale-leaseback and capitalized lease obligations. The Company's real estate debt has a remaining weighted average term of 6.5 years and carries a weighted average contractual interest rate of 4.29%. As of September 30, 2019, 92% of the Company's total debt outstanding was at a fixed rate, inclusive of the $225 million interest rate swap that was entered into during the third quarter of 2019.

Dividend

On August 22, 2019, the Company's Board of Trustees declared a dividend of $0.20 per share for the third quarter of 2019, which was paid on October 15, 2019 to common shareholders of record as of September 30, 2019.

2019 Outlook

The Company updated guidance for full year 2019 as follows:

• Global warehouse segment same store revenue growth to range between 2 and 4 percent on a constant currency basis and same store NOI growth to be 100 to 200 basis points higher than the associated revenue. Given the higher than expected healthcare costs experienced year to date, the Company now expects same store NOI growth for this year to be in the bottom half of its stated range of 100 to 200 basis points higher than the associated revenue growth.
• Selling, general, and administrative expense, as a percentage of total revenue, is expected to range between 7.0 and 7.2 percent.
• Total recurring maintenance capital expenditures is now expected in the range of $50 to $60 million.
• Total expansion and development capital expenditures is expected to aggregate in a range of $205 to $215 million, which includes spending related to the Company's announced development projects.
• Anticipated AFFO payout ratio of 65 to 68 percent.
• Full year weighted average diluted share count of 180 to 184 million shares.

The Company's guidance is provided for informational purposes based on current plans and assumptions as is subject to change. The ranges for these metrics do not include the impact of acquisitions, dispositions, or capital markets activity beyond that which has been previously announced.

Investor Webcast and Conference Call

The Company will hold a webcast and conference call on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss third quarter 2019 results. A live webcast of the call will be available via the Investors section of Americold Realty Trust's website at . To listen to the live webcast, please go to the site at least five minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. Shortly after the call, a replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days on the Company’s website.

The conference call can also be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-3982 or 1-201-493-6780. The telephone replay can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921 or 1-412-317-6671 and providing the conference ID# 13695203. The telephone replay will be available starting shortly after the call until November 21, 2019.

The Company’s supplemental package will be available prior to the conference call in the Investors section of the Company’s website at .

About the Company

Americold is the world’s largest publicly traded REIT focused on the ownership, operation and development of temperature-controlled warehouses. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Americold owns and operates 176 temperature-controlled warehouses, with over 1 billion refrigerated cubic feet of storage, in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina. Americold’s facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors and retailers to consumers.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures, including FFO, core FFO, AFFO, EBITDAre, Core EBITDA and same store segment revenue and contribution. A reconciliation from U.S. GAAP net income (loss) available to common shareholders to FFO, a reconciliation from FFO to core FFO and AFFO, and definitions of FFO, and core FFO are included within the supplemental. A reconciliation from U.S. GAAP net income (loss) available to common shareholders to EBITDAre and Core EBITDA, a definition of Core EBITDA and definitions of net debt to Core EBITDA are included within the supplemental.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains statements about future events and expectations that constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future financial and operating performance and growth plans, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations of future results we express or imply in any forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include adverse economic or real estate developments in our geographic markets or the temperature-controlled warehouse industry; general economic conditions; risks associated with the ownership of real estate and temperature-controlled warehouses in particular; defaults or non-renewals of contracts with customers; potential bankruptcy or insolvency of our customers; uncertainty of revenues, given the nature of our customer contracts; increased interest rates and operating costs; our failure to obtain necessary outside financing; risks related to, or restrictions contained in, our debt financing; decreased storage rates or increased vacancy rates; risks related to current and potential international operations and properties; our failure to realize the intended benefits from our recent acquisitions including synergies, or disruptions to our plans and operations or unknown or contingent liabilities related to our recent acquisitions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired properties or businesses, including but not limited to: Cloverleaf Cold Storage, Lanier Cold Storage and PortFresh Holdings, LLC; difficulties in identifying properties to be acquired and completing acquisitions; acquisition risks, including the failure of such acquisitions to perform in accordance with projections; risks related to expansions of existing properties and developments of new properties, including failure to meet budgeted or stabilized returns in respect thereof; difficulties in expanding our operations into new markets, including international markets; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; our operating partnership’s failure to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters and global climate change; possible environmental liabilities, including costs, fines or penalties that may be incurred due to necessary remediation of contamination of properties presently or previously owned by us; financial market fluctuations; actions by our competitors and their increasing ability to compete with us; labor and power costs; changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates; the competitive environment in which we operate; our relationship with our employees, including the occurrence of any work stoppages or any disputes under our collective bargaining agreements; liabilities as a result of our participation in multi-employer pension plans; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; the cost and time requirements as a result of our operation as a publicly traded REIT; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; the potential dilutive effect of our common share offerings; the impact of anti-takeover provisions in our constituent documents and under Maryland law, which could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our shareholders to replace our trustees and affect the price of our common shares of beneficial interest, $0.01 par value per share, or our common shares; and risks related to our forward sale agreement entered into with Bank of America, N.A. in September 2018, as amended, or the 2018 forward sale agreement, and our forward sale agreement entered into with Bank of America, N.A. in April 2019, or the 2019 forward sale agreement, including substantial dilution to our earnings per share or substantial cash payment obligations.

Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “continues,” “estimates,” “expects,” “goal,” “objectives,” “intends,” “may,” “opportunity,” “plans,” “potential,” “near-term,” “long-term,” “projections,” “assumptions,” “projects,” “guidance,” “forecasts,” “outlook,” “target,” “trends,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements included in this document include, among others, statements about our expected expansion and development pipeline and our targeted return on invested capital on expansion and development opportunities. We qualify any forward-looking statements entirely by these cautionary factors. Other risks, uncertainties and factors, including those discussed under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 and our other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements we make. We assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Contacts:

Americold Realty Trust

Investor Relations

Telephone: 678-459-1959

Email:

We view and manage our business through three primary business segments—warehouse, third-party managed and transportation. Our core business is our warehouse segment, where we provide temperature-controlled warehouse storage and related handling and other warehouse services. In our warehouse segment, we collect rent and storage fees from customers to store their frozen and perishable food and other products within our real estate portfolio. We also provide our customers with handling and other warehouse services related to the products stored in our buildings that are designed to optimize their movement through the cold chain, such as the placement of food products for storage and preservation, the retrieval of products from storage upon customer request, blast freezing, case-picking, kitting and repackaging and other recurring handling services.

Under our third-party managed segment, we manage warehouses on behalf of third parties and provide warehouse management services to several leading food retailers and manufacturers in customer-owned facilities, including some of our largest and longest-standing customers. We believe using our third-party management services allows our customers to increase efficiency, reduce costs, reduce supply-chain risks and focus on their core businesses. We also believe that providing third-party management services to many of our key customers underscores our ability to offer a complete and integrated suite of services across the cold chain.

In our transportation segment, we broker and manage transportation of frozen and perishable food and other products for our customers. Our transportation services include consolidation services (i.e., consolidating a customer’s products with those of other customers for more efficient shipment), freight under management services (i.e., arranging for and overseeing transportation of customer inventory) and dedicated transportation services, each designed to improve efficiency and reduce transportation and logistics costs to our customers. We provide these transportation services at cost plus a service fee or, in the case of our consolidation services, we charge a fixed fee.

We also operate a limestone quarry on the land we own around our Carthage, Missouri warehouse, which contains substantial limestone deposits. We do not view the operation of the quarry as an integral part of our business.

Notes and Definitions

We calculate funds from operations, or FFO, in accordance with the standards established by the Board of Governors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, or NAREIT. NAREIT defines FFO as net income or loss determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, excluding extraordinary items as defined under U.S. GAAP and gains or losses from sales of previously depreciated operating real estate assets, plus specified non-cash items, such as real estate asset depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. We believe that FFO is helpful to investors as a supplemental performance measure because it excludes the effect of depreciation, amortization and gains or losses from sales of real estate, all of which are based on historical costs, which implicitly assumes that the value of real estate diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, FFO can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and among other equity REITs.

We calculate core funds from operations, or Core FFO, as FFO adjusted for the effects of gain or loss on the sale of non-real estate assets, non-real estate asset impairment, non-offering related equity issuance expenses, non-recurring public company implementation costs, stock-based compensation expense for the IPO retention grants, severance, reduction in workforce costs and equity acceleration, acquisition, diligence and integration related costs, terminated site operations costs, bridge loan commitment fees, litigation and other related settlements, loss on debt extinguishment and modification, and foreign currency exchange gain or loss. We believe that Core FFO is helpful to investors as a supplemental performance measure because it excludes the effects of certain items which can create significant earnings volatility, but which do not directly relate to our core business operations. We believe Core FFO can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods, while also providing a more meaningful predictor of future earnings potential.

However, because FFO and Core FFO add back real estate depreciation and amortization and do not capture the level of recurring maintenance capital expenditures necessary to maintain the operating performance of our properties, both of which have material economic impacts on our results from operations, we believe the utility of FFO and Core FFO as a measure of our performance may be limited.

We calculate adjusted funds from operations, or Adjusted FFO, as Core FFO adjusted for the effects of amortization of financing costs, pension withdrawal liability and above or below market leases, straight-line net rent, provision or benefit from deferred income taxes, stock-based compensation expense from grants of stock options and restricted stock units under our equity incentive plans, excluding IPO grants, non-real estate depreciation, depletion or amortization (including in respect of the China JV), and recurring maintenance capital expenditures. We believe that Adjusted FFO is helpful to investors as a meaningful supplemental comparative performance measure of our ability to make incremental capital investments in our business and to assess our ability to fund distribution requirements from our operating activities.

FFO, Core FFO and Adjusted FFO are used by management, investors and industry analysts as supplemental measures of operating performance of equity REITs. FFO, Core FFO and Adjusted FFO should be evaluated along with U.S. GAAP net income and net income per diluted share (the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures) in evaluating our operating performance. FFO, Core FFO and Adjusted FFO do not represent net income or cash flows from operating activities in accordance with U.S. GAAP and are not indicative of our results of operations or cash flows from operating activities as disclosed in our consolidated statements of operations included in our annual and quarterly reports. FFO, Core FFO and Adjusted FFO should be considered as supplements, but not alternatives, to our net income or cash flows from operating activities as indicators of our operating performance. Moreover, other REITs may not calculate FFO in accordance with the NAREIT definition or may interpret the NAREIT definition differently than we do. Accordingly, our FFO may not be comparable to FFO as calculated by other REITs. In addition, there is no industry definition of Core FFO or Adjusted FFO and, as a result, other REITs may also calculate Core FFO or Adjusted FFO, or other similarly-captioned metrics, in a manner different than we do. The table above reconciles FFO, Core FFO and Adjusted FFO to net income, which is the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We calculate EBITDA for Real Estate, or EBITDAre, in accordance with the standards established by the Board of Governors of NAREIT, defined as, earnings before interest expense, taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization, gains or losses on disposition of depreciated property, including gains or losses on change of control, impairment write-downs of depreciated property and of investments in unconsolidated affiliates caused by a decrease in value of depreciated property in the affiliate, and adjustment to reflect share of EBITDAre of unconsolidated affiliates. EBITDAre is a measure commonly used in our industry, and we present EBITDAre to enhance investor understanding of our operating performance. We believe that EBITDAre provides investors and analysts with a measure of operating results unaffected by differences in capital structures, capital investment cycles and useful life of related assets among otherwise comparable companies.

We also calculate our Core EBITDA as EBITDAre further adjusted for impairment charges on intangible and long-lived assets, severance, reduction in workforce costs and equity acceleration, terminated site operations costs, non-offering related equity issuance expenses, non-recurring public company implementation costs, acquisition, diligence and integration related costs, bridge loan commitment fees, litigation and other related settlements, loss on debt extinguishment and modification, stock-based compensation expense, foreign currency exchange gain or loss, loss or gain on other asset disposals, loss or income on partially owned entities, gain on sale of partially owned entities and reduction in EBITDAre from partially owned entities. We believe that the presentation of Core EBITDA provides a measurement of our operations that is meaningful to investors because it excludes the effects of certain items that are otherwise included in EBITDAre but which we do not believe are indicative of our core business operations. EBITDAre and Core EBITDA are not measurements of financial performance under U.S. GAAP, and our EBITDAre and Core EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. You should not consider our EBITDAre and Core EBITDA as alternatives to net income or cash flows from operating activities determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our calculations of EBITDAre and Core EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools, including:

• these measures do not reflect our historical or future cash requirements for recurring maintenance capital expenditures or growth and expansion capital expenditures;
• these measures do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
• these measures do not reflect the interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our indebtedness;
• these measures do not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes; and
• although depreciation, depletion and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated, depleted and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future and these measures do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements.

We use Core EBITDA and EBITDAre as measures of our operating performance and not as measures of liquidity. The table on page 20 of the Company's supplemental financial information reconciles EBITDA, EBITDAre and Core EBITDA to net income, which is the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

All quarterly amounts and non-GAAP disclosures within this filing shall be deemed unaudited.