COPT Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results

10/30/20

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) announced financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020.

Management Comments

Stephen E. Budorick, COPT’s President & Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Third quarter FFO per share exceeded the high-end of our guidance, marking the third consecutive quarter of outperformance. Solid demand throughout our Defense/IT Locations continued to support strong development leasing volumes, and tenant retention remains on-track to set a 20-year record. We are in the process of selling interests in data center shell properties to a joint venture with an institutional partner. We anticipate completing two transactions that are expected to raise approximately $165 million of equity proceeds, which would reduce our year-end debt-to-EBITDA ratio to between 6.2x and 6.4x.” He continued, “The Company continues to meet or exceed its 2020 plan objectives largely unimpeded by restrictions, shutdowns, or tenant credit issues related to the pandemic, and is raising the mid-point of 2020 guidance for FFO per share, as adjusted for comparability, by 2-cents, to $2.09. The nearly 1.8 million square feet of fully leased development projects we have or will place in service this year position the Company to generate FFO growth of 3-to-6 percent in 2021.”

Financial Highlights

3rd Quarter Financial Results:

  • Diluted earnings (loss) per share (“EPS”) was ($0.29) for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared to $0.19 for the third quarter of 2019.
  • Diluted funds from operations per share (“FFOPS”), as calculated in accordance with Nareit’s definition, was $0.04 for the third quarter of 2020 as compared to $0.51 for third quarter 2019 results.
  • FFOPS as adjusted for comparability of $0.54 in the third quarter of 2020 was 5.9% higher than the $0.51 reported for the third quarter of 2019.

Operating Performance Highlights

Operating Portfolio Summary:

  • At September 30, 2020, the Company’s core portfolio of 174 operating office and data center shell properties was 94.0% occupied and 94.6% leased.
  • During the quarter, the Company placed into service 599,000 square feet that were 100% leased, bringing the total for the year to 1.2 million square feet placed in service that were 99% leased.

Same-Property Performance:

  • At September 30, 2020, COPT’s same-property portfolio of 152 buildings was 92.5% occupied and 93.2% leased.
  • For the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company’s same-property cash NOI decreased 0.2% and increased 2.1%, respectively, over the prior year’s comparable periods.

Leasing:

  • Total Square Feet Leased: For the quarter ended September 30, 2020, the Company leased 1.1 million total square feet, including 841,000 square feet of renewals, 244,000 square feet in development projects, and 61,000 square feet of new leases on vacant space.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company executed 2.7 million square feet of total leasing, including 1.9 million square feet of renewals, 520,000 square feet of development leasing, and 274,000 square feet of vacancy leasing.

  • Renewal Rates: During the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company respectively renewed 89.0% and 84.3% of total expiring square feet and is on-track to set a 20-year record for tenant retention.
  • Cash Rent Spreads & Average Escalations on Renewing Leases: For the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2020, cash rents on renewed space decreased 2.0%. For the same time periods, annual escalations on renewing leases averaged 2.4%.
  • Lease Terms: In the third quarter, lease terms averaged 3.2 years on renewing leases, 11.8 years on development leasing, and 6.6 years on new leasing of vacant space. For the nine months, lease terms averaged 4.2 years on renewing leases, 14.2 years on development leasing, and 6.6 years on vacancy leasing.

Investment Activity Highlights

  • Development Pipeline: As of October 7, 2020, the Company’s development pipeline consisted of 11 properties and expansion of one fully operational property totaling 1.6 million square feet that were 84% leased. These projects have a total estimated cost of $650.9 million, of which $410.1 million had been incurred as of September 30, 2020.

Balance Sheet and Capital Transaction Highlights

  • As of September 30, 2020, the Company’s net debt plus preferred equity to adjusted book ratio was 41.1% and its net debt plus preferred equity to in-place adjusted EBITDA ratio was 6.8x. For the quarter ended September 30, 2020, the Company’s adjusted EBITDA fixed charge coverage ratio was 3.9x.
  • As of September 30, 2020, and including the effect of interest rate swaps, the Company’s weighted average effective interest rate on its consolidated debt portfolio was 3.55% with a weighted average maturity of 3.3 years; additionally, 94.0% of the Company’s debt was subject to fixed interest rates.
  • During the quarter the Company issued $400 million of 2.25% senior unsecured notes, the proceeds from which were used to complete the tender offer for and subsequent redemption of all of its remaining $300 million of 3.7% senior unsecured notes due in 2021. The redemption was completed on October 19, 2020.

2020 Guidance

Management is increasing its prior full-year guidance ranges from $0.48-$0.52 for EPS to a new range of $0.77-$0.79. Management is also increasing its full-year guidance ranges for FFOPS per Nareit and FFOPS, as adjusted for comparability, to $1.44-$1.46 and $2.08-$2.10, respectively.

For the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2020, management is increasing its guidance for EPS from $0.43-$0.45 to a new range of $0.63-$0.65, lowering its existing guidance for FFOPS, per Nareit, to $0.48-$0.50, and affirming its existing guidance range of $0.52-$0.54 for FFOPS, as adjusted for comparability.

About COPT

COPT is a REIT that owns, manages, leases, develops and selectively acquires office and data center properties. The majority of its portfolio is in locations that support the United States Government and its contractors, most of whom are engaged in national security, defense and information technology (“IT”) related activities servicing what it believes are growing, durable, priority missions (“Defense/IT Locations”). The Company also owns a portfolio of office properties located in select urban/urban-like submarkets in the Greater Washington, DC/Baltimore region with durable Class-A office fundamentals and characteristics (“Regional Office Properties”). As of September 30, 2020, the Company derived 88% of its core portfolio annualized rental revenue from Defense/IT Locations and 12% from its Regional Office Properties. As of the same date and including 15 properties owned through unconsolidated joint ventures, COPT’s core portfolio of 174 office and data center shell properties encompassed 20.2 million square feet and was 94.6% leased; the Company also owned one wholesale data center with a critical load of 19.25 megawatts that was 86.7% leased.