Bill McMorrow
Analyst · JMP Securities. Please go ahead
Thanks, Daven and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. We are pleased to have reported a strong third quarter driven by growth in recurring income across our platforms and highlighted by the performance of our multifamily business. We would like to discuss the following topics today. We will start by discussing our key financial highlights for the quarter, followed by a review of the operating performance across our real estate portfolio. Next, we will discuss our balance sheet before turning to a summary of our investment activity for the quarter. We will then give you an update on our major value-add projects that we have in progress. And finally, we will discuss our current market outlook before opening up to your questions. So, starting off with the financial highlights for the third quarter, adjusted EBITDA was $88 million, an increase of 6% compared to $83 million during Q3 2015. The increase in our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was largely due to a substantial increase in our recurring cash flow year-over-year. To provide a bit more detail around these results, during the third quarter of 2016, our pro rata share recurring NOI, property level NOI was up by $9 million or 17% to $61 million. Now, I would like to review the key parts of our investment portfolio. At the end of the quarter, we had an ownership interest in 444 real estate properties. Geographically, 62% of our portfolio is in the Western U.S. and 35% is located in Europe, which is primarily in the UK and Ireland. The Western U.S. multifamily represents our largest sector. The NOI of our multifamily portfolio continues to produce significant recurring income for the company, which is driven by our increased ownership in the portfolio coupled with the exceptional performance of our properties. For the quarter, our share of total multifamily revenues increased by 10% and our share of NOI was up nearly 13% on a same property basis. Looking at some of the larger public multifamily REITs, NOI growth has averaged 5% on a same property basis versus 13% for our portfolio. For KW, our Western U.S. portfolio, which represents 85% of our unit count lead the way. In particular, in the state of Washington which is our largest apartment market, our portfolio saw strong same property growth with our share of revenues up almost 11% and NOI up 15%. Driven by job creation from some of the world’s largest companies based in Washington, including Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks to name a few, the states population has also grown by more than 50% since 1990 to over 7 million people today. This compares to growth in the country’s overall population of less than 30% over the same period. We remain bullish on our portfolio of over 10,000 units in Washington, the majority of which are in and around the city of Seattle. Turning back to our global multifamily portfolio, which is currently 95% leased, the majority of our assets sit in or adjacent to high growth cities, such as Seattle or San Francisco with attractive underlying fundamentals. Through value-add programs, our typical communities offer upgraded units and newly amenitized common areas, but come at a substantial discount to Class A CBD rents. Our average rent per month is approximately $1.75 per square foot or $1,500 per unit across the portfolio. In total, our multifamily portfolio has almost 26,000 units and produces $276 million of annual NOI, which is up over $100 million since the beginning of 2014. Our share of that NOI is $150 million or roughly 54%. Also, we now have 8,400 units that we own 100% and that generate $96 million of NOI for Kennedy-Wilson on an annual basis. Looking at our commercial portfolio for the quarter, occupancy grew by 1%, while our share of revenues and NOI increased by 3% on a same property basis. In particular, we saw strength in our Western U.S. office and retail portfolio, with NOI up 7% on a same property basis. We expect further upside in our recurring income in the commercial business as we continue to make progress across our un-stabilized commercial portfolio. That portfolio is comprised of 14 properties, 6 in the U.S. and 8 in Europe totaling 1.3 million square feet. While these properties were only 56% occupied, they are currently 75% leased. Over the next few quarters, you will see some of these properties move into the stabilized bucket, including office properties in Marina Del Rey and Beverly Hills, which will represent some of the highest rents in our entire U.S. commercial portfolio. Also I would like to touch on the performance of our hotel portfolio, which is now comprised of 972 keys or rooms across 5 properties, 2 of which are owned through KWE. This product type currently represents about 7% of our total investment portfolio. The largest component of our hotel portfolio is the Shelbourne in Dublin, Ireland, which is 100% owned by Kennedy-Wilson U.S. At the Shelbourne, we have seen stabilized NOI increased by 36% to $16 million over the past year. We continue to invest in this historic property having completed a renovation of the exterior façade earlier this year and we are currently in the process of upgrading the interiors, which will be finished by the end of next year. We expect these capital expenditures to continue to drive an increase in our ADR and NOI. The Shelbourne is 1 of 15 remaining assets that we acquired in Europe prior to the formation of KWE in 2014. The remainder of our European portfolios held through KWE, in which we own as of today, 22.6% of the share of capital and act as its investment manager. Earlier this morning, KWE released its third quarter 2016 business update. The annualized NOI in KWE’s portfolio as of September 30 stands at $203 million. KWE’s portfolio of 265 properties is 95% occupied. During the quarter, KWE completed sales of $80 million at a 3.4% premium to book value, valued as of June 30, as well as completing 31 commercial leases post Brexit, which added over $2 million of incremental annualized NOI. In September, KWE sold and an additional £2 million of unsecured bonds maturing in 2022. The yield on those bonds was 3.6%. At the end of Q3 2016, KWE’s cash positions stood at $625 million. Additionally, in September, KWE announced a share buyback of £100 million. As of today, KWE has repurchased and retired 4.9 million shares for a total purchase price of £15 million. Turning to the KW balance sheet, during the quarter of Kennedy-Wilson raised $250 million of unsecured debt maturing in 2024 with a fixed rate of 5.875%. We used the proceeds to pay off our line of credit and for general corporate purposes. We closed the quarter with nearly $300 million of cash and $475 million of availability on our un-drawn revolver for a total of over $750 million of liquidity at the KW corporate level, with no corporate debt maturities for another 8 years. We also have minimal property level debt maturities in the next couple of years. For the two largest maturities in 2017, which represent over half of our property level debt maturities for next year, we have already received commitments and have locked rates in advance of the closing of these refinances in December and January. In total, 71% of our corporate and property level debt is fixed at a fixed rate and an additional 15% was hedged against long-term rate increases. Although we are focused on building the liquidity position of the company, we continue to find great opportunities to invest our capitol both within our existing platforms and in new acquisition opportunities. During the first nine months of 2016, Kennedy-Wilson invested approximately $250 million of cash from our balance sheet. Of that, roughly half of our investment dollars went towards a combination of KWE share repurchases, KWE stock purchases and value add capital X spent on our existing portfolio where we expect to add new sources of recurring income. The other half of our investment dollars went into new acquisitions. As part of our capital recycling program, we continue to selectively harvest gains from investments where we have completed our value added business plan. The sales proceeds have helped us fund a combination of our CapEx programs, share purchases as well as our property acquisitions where we have been upgrading the quality and location of our portfolio. In total, the company and its equity partners completed approximately $900 million in investment transactions in Q3, bringing our year-to-date total to $2.2 billion, with $1 million of acquisitions and $1.2 billion of dispositions. For the quarter, we and our equity partners acquired $460 million of real estate, all of which is located in the Western U.S. On the disposition side, together with our partners we sold $444 million of real estate. Excluding KWE’s sales, KW’s equity multiple on these realized investments was 2.2x including our share of promoted interest. For the year, we have sold $190 million of non-income producing assets, which our share is $60 million. We remain focused on reducing our non-income producing assets in the company by either selling or creating income through asset management and construction initiatives. Also after the end of the quarter, we and our partners entered into separate contracts to sell five investments in the Western U.S. including three multifamily properties, one office property and a residential land investment. The aggregate sales price for these transactions if they all close, is $309 million. Additionally, the company is currently under contract to purchase a multifamily investment in Portland for $93 million. I would like to go a little bit – into a little bit more detail on the acquisition and disposition activity of our multifamily portfolio. So far in 2016, we have now completed over $1 billion in multifamily investment transactions. On the buy side, including one deal that closed in October, we have acquired a total of $684 million across 2,800 units in which we have an average 51% ownership interest. We have also sold $325 million of multifamily assets totaling 1,240 units in which we held only 23% average ownership. From these transactions, we are adding almost $15 million net of annual NOI to Kennedy-Wilson, which we think will grow substantially as our various value add asset management initiatives are completed on the newly acquired properties. Finally, I would like to discuss our major development initiatives where we continue to make great progress. Many of these projects are big built on excess land, which we originally acquired with little or no basis within or adjacent to income producing assets that we also own. This is allowing us to build below replacement costs and create new income streams at above market cap rates. In total, we expect to invest between $150 million to $200 million of KW’s cash over the next 12 months to 18 months into these projects and we are targeting a 10% to 15% annual return on that equity once these assets or stabilized. Additionally, within KWE there is CapEx of over $100 million planned over the next 12 months to 18 months. I would like to give you an update on some of our larger projects that are in progress. At the Capital Dock campus which is being developed in the Docklands Section of Dublin, Ireland and sits adjacent to our State Street office building, which is fully occupied by State Street on a lease with over 11 years remaining. We are on track to deliver the first new office building in 2017, with the project expected to be fully completed by 2019. The South Docklands sub-market currently has less than 2% vacancy for Class A office space. Kennedy-Wilson has a 42.5% ownership stake in Capital Dock, which is one of the largest development projects in all of Ireland. When completed, this spectacular waterfront project will deliver a total of 690,000 square feet including 425,000 square feet of office, 25,000 square feet of retail and 190 multifamily units house in a 23-story high-rise. The site, which is in excess of 5 acres will create a unique live work campus environment in the heart of Dublin. At Clancy Quay, which is situated on the Southern bank of River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, we are building an additional – additional apartment units on 8 acres situated adjacent to an existing 423 unit apartment community that we purchased in 2013. Those 423 units are currently 97% occupied. As part of Phase 2, we are delivering 163 units in total, including 46 units completed during the third quarter, with another 32 units expected to be completed in Q4 of 2016 and the remaining 85 units expected to be completed by Q3 of 2017. Phase 3, which is still in design, will deliver another 213 units by 2020. When completed, Clancy Quay will total almost 800 units making it one of the largest residential communities in Dublin. As an aside we have new videos up on our website on both Capital Dock and Clancy Quay, which would be a good way for you to see the size and scale of these two projects. In the U.S, we continue to build multifamily units through our Vintage Housing joint venture. Vintage, which is 62% owned by Kennedy-Wilson is engaged in the development and management of a portable housing on the West Coast with a focus on independent senior living. As of September 30, the portfolio has grown to 5,600 units across 35 properties. Additionally, Vintage has 1,300 units either in planning or under construction in Seattle and in Santa Rosa that we expect to complete over the next 12 to 13 months. Looking ahead into 2017 and beyond we believe that we will continue to experience global volatility, but it’s important to remember a few key points. Number one, we have invested through many decades with a strong track record of creating long-term value. We remain disciplined in how we allocate our capital, investing for the long-term to create value for our shareholders. Number two, with $1.6 billion of liquidity between KW and KWE, we remain well-positioned to take advantage of any market dislocations, but also remain very focused on executing our business plan, which involves creating value and recurring income through asset management strategies on properties that we already own. And finally, we have built a proprietary global network of relationships that have been cultivated over many decades, which provide us both market intelligence, as well as new investment opportunities. With that, I would like to open it up to any questions.