Tanger Inc. (SKT) Q4 2011 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good morning. I am Cyndi Holt, Assistant Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations and I would like to welcome you to the Tanger Factory Outlet Center’s Fourth Quarter and Year End 2011 Conference Call. Yesterday, we issued our earnings release as well as our supplemental information package and investor presentation. This information is available on our website under the Investor Relations tab. Please note that during this call some of management’s comments will be forward-looking statements regarding the company’s property operations, leasing, tenant sales trends, development, acquisition, expansion and disposition activities, as well as their comments regarding the company’s funds from operations, funds available for distribution, and dividends. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to factors including, but not limited to, changes in economic and real estate conditions, the availability and cost of capital, the company’s ongoing ability to lease, develop and acquire properties, as well as potential tenant bankruptcies and competition. We direct you to the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties. During the call, we will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release, in our supplemental information and in our Form 10-K, which will be filed later this month. This call is being recorded for rebroadcast for a period of time in the future. As such, it is important to note that management’s comments include time-sensitive information that maybe accurate only as of today’s date, February 15, 2012. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following management’s prepared comments, the call will be opened for your questions. [Operator Instructions] On the call today will be Steven Tanger, President and Chief Executive Officer and Frank Marchisello, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Steven Tanger.

Thank you, Cyndi and good morning everyone. I am delighted to report that Tanger generated an 18% total return to our shareholders in 2011. This marks yet another year in our long history of rewarding our shareholders. As of December 31, 2011 Tanger ranked #1 of all mall REITs and total return to shareholders in both the 5- and 10-year categories with cumulative total shareholder returns of 81% and 831% respectively. Obviously, this is a tough act to follow, but I am convinced that our team, our portfolio, our pipeline for growth and our fortress balance sheet have us well positioned for continued success. Our business model helps make us both resilient and agile. Our 2011 operating results were strong. We reported adjusted funds from operations for the year above the high end of the guidance we issued last quarter and well above our initial guidance of $1.35 to $1.41 per share, which we issued on February 22, 2011. This 2011 performance was fueled by best-in-class same center net operating income growth of 5.3% for the year and 6.2% for the fourth quarter. This internal growth exceeds all reporting mall REITs and compares favorably to our 2010 performance of 2.6% for the year and 3.7% for the fourth quarter. Also driving our 2011 growth was the expansion of our strong portfolio of core properties. We delivered our 177,000 square foot lease certified Hilton Head one redevelopment in Bluffton, South Carolina on March 31, 2011. In addition, we acquired 5 existing outlet centers in key markets during the second half of the year. Proactively, these acquisitions totaled approximately 1,500,000 square feet expanding the Tanger footprint by 15% and into 3 new states domestically and across the border into Canada. In 2012, we will enjoy the full year positive impact of these…

Thank you, Steve and good morning everyone. Our reported year-end funds from operations or FFO were a $1.44 per share was at the top end of our guidance range of $1.41 to $1.44 per share. Total adjusted funds from operations for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 14.7% to $141.3 million compared to $123.2 million last year. Adjusted FFO per share increased 10.5% to $1.47 per share compared to $1.33 per share for the 12 months ended December 31, 2010. In spite of the dilution cost, but [ph] the successful offering of $4.6 million additional common shares issued on July 31, 2011 in connection with our 2011 property acquisitions. Net proceeds of the offering of $117.4 million were used to repay borrowings under the company’s unsecured revolving lines of credit, which we utilized to initially fund our acquisitions. Their share price at $25.66 per share at 2.5% discount at the pre-announced closing price of $26.32 per share. Our shares have traded well post offering, a feat accomplished by only a couple of other REIT issuers among recently completed bought deal. On a consolidated basis, our total market capitalization at December 31, 2011 was approximately $3.9 billion, including $1 billion of debt outstanding, equating to a debt total market capitalization of approximately 26.3%. We also maintained a very strong interest coverage ratio of 4.07 times for 2011. As of December 31 approximately 65.2% of our debt was at fixed rates. In November of 2011, we closed on an amendment to our unsecured revolving lines of credit increasing the total capacity to $520 million from $400 million extending the maturity through November 2015 plus an additional one-year extension option and reducing our overall pricing. Based on our current credit ratings the LIBOR spread was reduced to 125 basis points from 190…

I am pleased to report that through the end of the fourth quarter, we continued to see positive rent spreads on the renewal and releasing of space within our portfolio. As of the end of December, we executed 463 leases totaling 2,007,000 square feet throughout our wholly-owned portfolio. New tenants and concepts to Tanger in 2011 include outstanding brands such as Andrew Marc, Bare Essentials, Christopher & Banks, Crazy 8, Crewcuts, [indiscernible], Joe's Jeans, Theory, and Vince Camuto. Lease renewals for the year 2011 accounted for 1.459 million square feet or about 82.4% of the square footage coming up for renewal in 2011 and generated an increase on average based rental rates on the executed renewals of 13.1%, up from 9.2% in 2010. In addition, during the year, we re-tenanted approximately 548,000 square feet with an increase in average base rental rates of 50.1%, up from 25.9% last year. The blended rent increase on lease renewals and re-tenanted space was 23.4% compared to 13.8% in 2010. Tenant comparable sales for the rolling 12 months ended December 31 increased 3.5% to $366 per square foot, comparable sales for the fourth quarter increased 4.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. Tanger’s low cost of occupancy and our tenants increasing sales allow us the opportunity to continue to drive our brands while maintaining a very profitable distribution channel for our tenant partners. The overall occupancy rate for our consolidated stabilized properties was 98.8% at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 98.3% at September 30, 2011 and 98.4% at the end of 2010. This is Tanger’s 31st consecutive year. This is -- the company was formed in 1981 that we achieved a year-end portfolio occupancy rate at or above 95%. This long-term consistent performance is unmatched by any other REIT. There…

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Craig Schmidt from Bank of America.

Steve, I was wondering approximately where does the preleasing stand on Scottsdale and National Harbor?

We have received terrific response from our tenant community. We are not at the 50% level yet and when we do receive that level we will proceed to break ground, but it’s -- we don't announce interim leasing statistics.

Okay. And then just one other question, do you sense of sales in 2012 will be at a same pace as 2011 or above or below?

We’re being conservative on our estimate. It’s hard in the middle of February to judge with the economy is going to look like for the rest of the year. I think that we would be very happy to have sales compound at the same rate as last year.

Your next question comes from the line of Samit Parikh from ISI.

Could you provide just anymore granularity on your same-store guidance for next year expectations for year-end occupancy, anything on what you’re expect or releasing spreads and if you’re expecting any sort of churn of tenants in 1Q that might give you a large rollup in leases somewhere to where you have this have this year?

That’s several questions in one. We don’t anticipate any large bankruptcies or tenants that have multiple stores in our portfolio. With regard to our pure guess as with regard to sales we’re not prepared to do that. Our guidance as I mentioned in our conference call, assumes same-center net operating income of between 4% and 5% increase, which compounded with this year’s terrific performance, I think this is just fine.

Okay. And then just listening to the RioCan call, it sounded like they were very optimistic on Canada and on Cookstown that there is a lot of interest there and it sounded like construction there might even start towards the later end of this year. Do you have any timeframe in mind of when you think construction might be starting for those 2 projects?

We have no reason to disagree with our fine partners in Canada.

Your next question comes from the line of Todd Thomas from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

I’m on with Jordan Sadler as well. Just as a quick follow up to the previous question on leasing spreads, given that the spreads on the new leases are much higher than those on renewals, it sounds like you’re not expecting anything in the first quarter. I know you don’t have much inventory to lease. But I was just wondering if you do foresee any opportunities in 2012 to get back some space and having the ability to re-tenant the space at market rents at all?

I think you stated it very well. With our portfolio at 98.8%, we certainly do what we can to recapture underperforming space -- underperforming tenant space in our various properties and that’s an ongoing effort. But right now we’re not prepared to announce anything.

Alright. And then can you remind us how the leases are structured with regard to rents during option periods. Do the option periods contain -- generally contain stated rents or the rents on renewals negotiated at fair market?

We have 2,500 leases and I can assure you everyone is different, but on a just a global basis, we started several years ago, rather than a fixed rent for the first 5-year term and then a bump up at the end of 5. We’ve worked with our tenants and now we’re getting annual bumps. So, you have to pay attention to numerous metrics at one time. The metric that we look at is comp NOI growth and I think you’ll agree that the comp NOI growth in the fourth quarter was best-in-class for the mall and the strip shopping REIT industry.

And part of our NOI growth for 2012 is associated with some of the releasing and renewals that were done in ’11. We’re getting a full year benefit of those rent bumps and we do have quite a few renewals in ‘12 that come up without renewal option so we should be able to mark some of those to market.

Okay. And then just lastly as a follow up to that actually, on the leases that you’re moving towards putting in the annual escalators, what do those look like on average?

Again, everyone is different and for competitive reasons I prefer not to mention individual lease terms. But I would encourage you to look at our comp NOI growth, which incorporates all of the different metrics that we look at in the business.

This is Frank, I think if you look at Page 10 where we showed the cash in those straight line stats, it will give you some indication of how to come up with those numbers.

Your next question comes from the line of Quentin Velleley from Citi.

Steve, I’m just wondering if you could give us some sense of how much of the 2012 leasing you’ve done and what are those renewals are coming through similar spreads to what you achieved through 2011.

We right now as historically are probably between 45% and 50% complete on 2012 renewals and right now we’re really not prepared to announce interim results with regard to that. We will next quarter when we have more of an indicator -- more indicative numbers. But just to take the first would -- I think would not be an appropriate measurement.

Okay, that’s great. Just in terms of your development -- predevelopment work I know you always stuck with 50% pre-leasing before you break ground, given in some particular markets, there is a little bit more competition at the moment. Are there any circumstances, where you might look to break ground if you did have a lower pre-releasing amount or is that -- do you still sticking with 50%?

Well, we’re just awaited that we reached the threshold in the Glendale market in Westgate area and that as you know is competitive market. The tenants have rallied around our site. We were the first one into the market and we will be the first one to deliver in that market. We will open this year in time for the holiday season. Going forward, every market stands on its own. And we will analyze every market based on its potential, based on the mix of tenants that are signed and commuters to how we go forward.

Your next question comes from the line of Ben Yang from KBW.

Just a question on the 5 acquisition routs obviously the impact does hit FFO, but I believe excluded from the same-store NOI guidance. So, I’m just curious is it fair to assume that the comp NOI growth for these 5 assets is better than the portfolio average given your plans to I think you said Tanger-ize them or do you think it just kind take you several years to basically cap into the source of internal growth?

I think in a couple of instances we have the ability to raise occupancies and drive rental rates and overall NOI. But I think if you look at them as a whole, I think the growth rate that we are going to get from the acquisition properties in ’12 would be similar to what we would see in our entire portfolio, which is 4% to 5%.

4% to 5% okay.

We Tanger-izing, let me just say we're Tanger-izing it, we may have some downtime as we’ve released certain space and so that’s going to obviously dampen the growth in the short-term during 2012. But I think you’ll see a ramp up in the future years.

So from these by that -- the 4% to 5% this year may be even higher going forward?

Well, we are not prepared to make that statement, but we have the opportunities to drive occupancies. But we may not get the full benefit of that occupancy gain until 2013.

Okay, got it. And then second question, given all the competition in rental space, one of your peers recently suggested they might build new outlets without getting any previously hurdles. Is this a strategy that you would also consider to maybe build on the fact that went out in certain markets or is that completely off the table for you guys?

I think I just answered that question from the last person, but we don’t build on speculation. We never have. It’s not type of company we run, but I don’t want to reiterate the answer.

Got it. Sorry I missed that.

Your next question comes from the line of Carol Kemple from Hilliard Lyons.

Considering the strong occupancy at lot of your centers, would you look to expand any of those especially where you're 99% or 100% occupied?

Yes, I love to Carol. Unfortunately it’s tough to put a second level on top of these structures.

Are there any of that have room excess land nearby where you could build?

We just completed a small expansion of our property south of Atlanta in Locust Grove, it’s about 25,000 feet and the tenants will start open in April-May. We are looking at another site to expand in Park City, Utah, where we’re going through some permitting process. We have a small expansion, again another 25,000, 30,000 feet that we're in the process of starting in Gonzales, Louisiana. But on aggregate our portfolio is an essence built out and we don’t buy excess land on speculation and then land bank. We’ve always just been very conservative and build to what we own.

Okay. I don’t know, I think when I was talking to you there you mentioned that you’re seeing that allow your customers are wanting more like the home stores like the Pottery Barns in the outlet centers. Are you seeing any of those retailers wanting space?

Well, we’ve been fortunate that we’ve executed a deal with Restoration Hardware. Pottery Barn, we’re pleased to have a couple of their stores and we just executed a lease with Kaplan [ph] for a store in one of our centers. So, yes, I believe as the housing market continues to recover there will be more demand for products such as home furnishings, tabletop, domestics et cetera, which basically went away rapidly with the housing bust in the last 5 years.

Your next question comes from the line of Rich Moore from RBC Capital Markets.

Steve, on the Canadian side of things can you give us a little color on what exists up there that might or you how much space exists currently that might be of interest may be from an acquisition standpoint kind of lay of the land for Canadian outlet centers at this point?

Well there is several existing Canadian outlets that we’re in the process of analyzing. Right now we’ve not decided to move forward. With regard to the Canadian market as you well know there is per capita significantly less GLA per person in Canada than in the United States. We are very confident that we can deliver successfully with our outstanding partners RioCan in Canada, American style Outlet Centers to the Canadian market on a national basis.

Okay, all right good. Thank you. And then just in general you answered Carol on a specific type of tenant, but can you give us some thoughts on just overall what retailer and manufacture demand is for outlet centers space say versus a year ago or 5 years ago or however you think about it?

Tenants that we work with, and tenants that we’re talking to all the time about opening outlet stores. Look at this is a valuable, profitable distribution channel. It’s a business unit within their companies with all the skill sets of any other business unit. We feel that demand is the same or greater than it has been evidenced by 98.8% occupancy. And I think our major competitor probably has the same or even greater occupancy. So we have a mismatch in our business, which is more demand for space than space available, but we are being very conservative and not overbuilding and building on speculation.

Your next question comes from the line of Michael Mueller from JPMorgan.

A couple of questions for Frank. First of all, Frank the $250 million term loan, why is $250 million the right size, I want to go a little bit larger considering you had about 350 on the line of credit at year-end?

Yes, with our maturity schedule, we wanted to do 250 so that if and when we take it out in the future, it’ll be a chunk that’s index eligible. We also felt like leaving some on our line of credit was reasonable at this juncture considering we just expanded it to $520 million. Obviously, there is a little dilutive impact of using the term loan. So we wanted to balance all that out and we felt 250 was the right number.

Okay. And then second question with the bigger portfolio after the acquisition. Can you just talk about expectations for 2012 looking at straight line rent, TIs, leasing commissions, CapEx, those sorts of numbers?

Yes, I think we’re looking at second generation tenant allowance in CapEx similar to 2011. Not materially above those levels. We did a lot of work last year and a lot of our centers are in great shape. So our CapEx budget is very similar to this year tenant allowance may be slightly higher.

Okay, and what about straight line rent?

Straight line rent will probably be slightly up given the new acquisition properties being added into the mix. That’s a tough one for us to really budget given that we have to time, turnover dates and things like that.

Your next question comes from the line of Cedrik Lachance from Green Street Advisors.

Just going back to the term loan, I'm curious as to philosophically why use flexible -- why use variable rates versus secured rates?

Well, we did what now?

Why did you go for variable instead of fixed?

Well, when we analyze the situation we could take a seven year term loan and actually swap it to fix and have lower all-in rate and if we went out to the bond market for a 7-year bond. Our estimate is that we’re saving about 50 to 60 basis points. So we are -- and we entered into the term loan and the -- we don't believe current rates are going to be increasing anytime soon, so we felt like using this term loan was the best approach.

So it was your intention to potentially swap it or do you…?

We are not intending to do it at the time we close, but we will monitor the situation and potentially swap at some time in the future if we see things changing.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of David Liebowitz from Horizon Kinetics.

Yes, a couple of unrelated questions, if I may. Right now, looking at your roster of existing accounts, how many of them as a percentage of your revenue might be in financial difficulty before the end of this calendar year?

Very few. Our tenants are not local mom-and-pop type shops as you might find in the strip shopping center. Most of -- the very, very large majority of our tenants are New York Stock Exchange or similar size, but very professionally run enterprises. So, we have a low credit risk and if we do get space back through bankruptcy, normally the bankrupt estate wants to keep the stores open because it’s the way of liquidating excess inventory.

And the second question on your Canadian joint ventured, could you run us through what the numbers will be once they are up and operating, how much you invest? What you expect your return on investment to be, and what sort of bottom line contribution can be viewed as a likely number?

All that is speculative at this point in time until we break ground and we would anticipate our development yields to be similar to what they are in the United States. But, I hope you can understand for all kinds of competitive purposes, we don’t disclose any of that until we’re ready to break ground and have leases executed and ready to go.

Your next question comes from the line of Todd Thomas from KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Just a quick follow up on the Westgate development project in Glendale, my understanding was that this deal would be a joint venture or some sort of with the landowners, is this wholly owned or do you own the land?

It will be a joint venture.

Okay. Any detail on the arrangements?

At this point, no, and I appreciate all your questions, but there are other people on the queue. So if you don’t mind, I’ll get to them please.

And we have no further questions at this time. I turn the call back to our presenters. I’m sorry. We do have a question on line from Michael Odell from AIG Asset Management.

Now that you’ve executed your first transaction with RioCan, could you give any further color on whether you’re guaranteeing the debt at the JV level?

We are not guaranteeing the debt at the JV level. You’re talking about specifically Cookstown’s debt.

Right.

Yes, there is no guarantee from Tanger on that.

And there are no further questions at this time. I turn the call back to our presenters.

Thank you all for participating today and for your interest in our Company. Tanger is the only public REIT with a pure outlet portfolio. We have a conservatively structured balance sheet, high brand recognition, and a tenured management team with a disciplined development approach. Our strong portfolio of geographically diversified operating properties provides significant returns for our shareholders and our pipeline of growth opportunities is enviable. All of you are invited to our ground-breaking facilities in Glendale, Arizona on March 14. We hope to see you there. As always, we are available to answer any of your questions. Thank you again and have a great day.

This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect.