Citycon H1/2023: Compounding operational growth

CITYCON OYJ    Half-Year Financial Report    18 July 2023 at 20:30 hrs

CITYCON Q1-Q2/2023 RESULTS SUMMARY:

FINANCIAL & KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Like-for-Like (‘LFL’) Net Rental Income
Excludes acquisitions, dispositions, development, and closed asset (Torvbyen)

• Q1-Q2/2023, increased 6.9% (comparable FX) vs. Q1-Q2/2022
  • Q2/2023, increased 4.5% (comparable FX) vs. Q2/2022

Q2/2022 was positively impacted by several one-time benefits resulting in difficult Q2/2023 comparisons. Excl. these one-time items:

• Q1-Q2/2023, increased 7.8% (comparable FX) vs. Q1-Q2/2022
  • Q2/2023, increased 7.5% (comparable FX) vs. Q2/2022
  • Q2/2023 compounding growth achieved versus last year as Q2/2022 LFL NRI growth was 9.1% vs. Q2/2021.

Standing Net Rental Income
Excl. four assets disposed in Norway in 2022

• Q1-Q2/2023, increased 5.5% (comparable FX) vs. Q1-Q2/2022
  • Q2/2023, increased 2.6% (comparable FX) vs. Q2/2022

In addition, Q1-Q2/2023 was further impacted by the closing of Torvbyen in Norway.  Excl. the adverse impact of these two combined items:

• Q1-Q2/2023, increased 7.9% (comparable FX) vs. Q1-Q2/2022
  • Q2/2023, increased 7.2% (comparable FX) vs. Q2/2022

All Net Rental Income

• FX-rate impact to total NRI was EUR -5.8 million in Q1-Q2/2023
• On a sequential basis, Q2/2023 NRI grew 2% over Q1/2023

KPI’s

• Q1-Q2/2023 LFL tenant sales +4.1%
  • +9.7% vs. Q1-Q2/2019 (pre-pandemic)
• Q1-Q2/2023 LFL footfall +3.1%
• Q2/2023 retail occupancy 95.5%
  • +10 bps vs. Q1/2023
  • +50 bps increase from Q2/2022
• Q2/2023 collections were 97%
  • Q1/2023 improved to 99% from 97%
• Q1-Q2/2023 average rent per sqm increased EUR 1.5 (+6.8%) to EUR 24.0 (comparable FX)
• Q2/2023 9.4% LFL occupancy cost ratio

BALANCE SHEET

Liability Management

• Replacement and extension of EUR 650 million credit facility in April 2023, incl. EUR 250 million term loan
• Q2/2023 Tendered EUR 138 million of 2024 senior bonds (notional)
• Q2/2023 Purchased additional EUR 15.7 million of notional bonds in open market
  • Q1-Q2/2023 total notional bond and hybrid repurchases of EUR 235 million for EUR 211 million cash

Fair Value

• Q1-Q2/2023 net fair value improved EUR 69.4 million
  • Q2/2023 net fair value improved EUR 24.7 million

SUSTAINABILITY

• 3^rd consecutive year as Financial Times European Climate Leader
  • Only Finnish real estate company included on the list; top third of all European companies regardless of sector.
• Recently updated sustainability strategy
  • Setting ambitious goals for 2030

CEO F. SCOTT BALL:

We continue to see strong performance in our business fundamentals in the first half of the year as like-for-like tenant sales were 4.1% above Q1-Q2/2022 and 9.7% above Q1-Q2/2019 pre-pandemic levels. We also are seeing more customers in our centres as like-for-like footfall increased 3.1% compared to the previous year.  Retail occupancy is now at 95.5%, up 50 bps versus the same quarter last year. At the same time, average rent per square meter, with comparable FX rates, increased by 1.5 EUR/s.qm. (6.8% to 24.0 EUR per sq.m.) during the first half the year. We continue to benefit from a low occupancy cost ratio of 9.4%, which together with increasing tenant sales and improving footfall, positions Citycon for continued compounding rent growth and service charge increases. Sales increases keeping pace with inflation were evident in our continued high collection rates of 97% in Q2/2023, with Q1/2023 collection improving to 99%. In the first half of the year, these metrics supported our underlying asset values where we recorded a net fair value gain of EUR 69.4 million for Q1-Q2/2023, reflecting the impact of compounding rent growth due to indexation linked leases (93% of our leases).

The net effect of these strong KPI’s is that like-for-like net rental income grew nearly 8%, when excluding one-time items. On a sequential basis, Q2/2023 net rental income grew 2% over Q1/2023 net rental income. In the first half of this year there has been adverse volatility of currencies (which is outside of our control), specifically the NOK and SEK are at twenty-year lows. Each quarter we translate these currencies back to the euro for reporting purposes. These currencies will likely rebound at some point, at which time we will benefit. More details on the impact of currency through H1/2023 are included within the report. 

There are several factors which explain these results: our terrific assets, our strong local teams, the strength of our markets throughout the Nordics and continued strength of consumers, as evidenced by the high level of foot traffic in our assets and the corresponding sales being reported by our tenants. This is due, in part, to our business model, which focuses on necessity-based retail and essential services addressing the every-day-needs of our communities. This type of retail promotes daily traffic to our properties, which is only enhanced by locations in central urban areas adjacent to public rail/bus transportation hubs. Another driver of the consumer strength phenomenon is the average wage growth (5.5%) that has occurred in our markets due to inflation. As is typical in an inflationary environment, price increases work though the entire chain: wages, cost of goods/services, higher sales, and ultimately, for Citycon, higher rents.

As noted in our Q1/2023 Interim Report, we refinanced and expanded our credit facility in April from EUR 500 million to EUR 650 million, consisting of a EUR 400 million revolver and EUR 250 million term loan. Following this refinancing, our team continued their disciplined capital allocation by using the proceeds to execute a EUR 138 million tender for our bonds maturing in 2024, taking advantage of large discounts and dislocation in secondary trading. In addition to the tender, we continued repurchasing bonds (EUR 15.7 million) in the open market at a significant discount during the second quarter and will continue to act opportunistically to repurchase debt. Through these actions, we continue to mitigate the earnings impact of higher current market interest rates, while also improving our overall balance sheet. In addition to the new credit facility and term loan, we have disposed of EUR 266 million of non-core assets at approx. book value over the past 20 months, including EUR 120 million in December 2022, which is part of our planned EUR 500 million asset sale target.  With the additional flexibility of the new credit facility, we can be patient as Nordic transaction markets stabilize and we continue our asset management initiations to maximize values for further sales transactions.  Given the reports of significant amounts of investment capital waiting to be invested, we remain confident that we will meet our previously disclosed divestment target by the end of 2024.

As mentioned, the tenant mix of Citycon’s assets, which consists of municipal and grocery tenants, anchored by public transportation with indexation linked leases, sets us apart from our peer group.  This long-stated strategy has already demonstrated its strength and resilience throughout a variety of market conditions, which we continue to improve upon. The most recent example of our active asset management is Myyrmanni centre in Finland, where we have further improved the tenant mix to increase the share of necessity-based tenants by signing several new leases including a new Lidl grocer and a 7,300 sq.m. Prisma hypermarket resulting in groceries representing over 50% of the total GLA when reopening this fall. This is consistent with what we have achieved in many of our properties including Columbus (which we sold in 2021) and will continue to accomplish across the portfolio. These actions not only provide stability to revenue growth, it has the added benefit of improving the average credit profile of our tenant base. These asset management decisions remain aligned with, but separate from, the zoning work we are doing to achieve substantial additional building rights across the portfolio.

Our business is really not that complicated. We own quality real estate, provide the consumer the goods and services they require, and provide an environment that is convenient to access. When you layer in the dramatic impact of compounding rent growth, you have the recipe for success. The bottom line is that our business fundamentals are strong, and our assets continue to perform very well. There is a scarcity of the type of high-quality retail assets we own, we have a proven business model and all of the important metrics (sales, footfall, rents, occupancy, collections) continue to show sustained growth. For all these reasons we remain bullish on the prospects of the business moving forward.

FX impact on LTV, NRV and IFRS equity
 

OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR 2023 – reaffirmed with additional FX details
 

The outlook assumes that there are no major changes in macroeconomic factors and that there will not be another wave of COVID-19 with restrictions resulting in significant store closures and no major disruptions from the war in Ukraine. These estimates are based on the existing property portfolio as well as year-end 2022 estimates of inflation, EUR–SEK and EUR–NOK exchange rates, and interest rates.

Given exchange rates have recently been subject to extraordinary volatility, estimated FX impact for the full year 2023 is provided as an additional information for further transparency and clarification. Potential negative FX impact for FY2023 is based on the assumption that EUR–SEK and EUR–NOK exchange rates stay at the level of 14 July 2023.

AUDIOCAST

Citycon's investor, analyst and press conference call and live audiocasting will be held on Wednesday, 19 July 2023 at 10 am EEST. The audiocast can be participated by calling in and following live at this  website: https://citycon.videosync.fi/q2-2023

Questions for the management can be presented by phone. To ask questions, join the teleconference by registering on the following link: http://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=10010528 

After the registration you will be provided with phone numbers and a conference ID to access the conference. To ask a question, press *5 on your telephone keypad to enter the queue.

The audiocast will be recorded and it will be available afterwards on Citycon’s website.


CITYCON OYJ

For further information, please contact:
Bret McLeod
Chief Financial Officer
Tel. +46 73 326 8455
bret.mcleod@citycon.com

Sakari Järvelä
VP, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations
Telephone +358 50 387 8180
sakari.jarvela@citycon.com


Citycon is a leading owner, manager and developer of mixed-use real estate featuring modern, necessity-based retail with residential, office and municipal service spaces that enhance the communities in which they operate. Citycon is committed to sustainable property management in the Nordic region with assets that total approximately EUR 4.2 billion. Our centres are located in urban hubs in the heart of vibrant communities with direct connections to public transport and anchored by grocery, healthcare and other services that cater to the everyday needs of customers.

Citycon has investment-grade credit rating from Standard & Poor's (BBB-). Citycon’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.

www.citycon.com