OUTFRONT Media Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results

NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE: OUT) today reported results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

"As expected, third quarter results saw continued strength in transit and a return to growth in billboards, and we are pleased to see an improving trend into the fourth quarter," said Jeremy Male, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OUTFRONT Media.  "In addition to digital and data initiatives, we are re-focusing the business even further through the recently announced sale of our Latin America business.  Together with other strategic initiatives, we expect 2016 to bring increased solutions for advertisers, value for transit franchise partners, and returns for OUTFRONT shareholders."

Third Quarter 2015 Results

Consolidated
Reported revenues of $386.7 million increased $50.2 million, or 14.9%, for the third quarter of 2015 as compared to the same prior-year period.  On an organic basis, revenues of $335.8 million for the third quarter of 2015 were up 2.5% compared to the same prior-year period. 

Reported billboard revenues of $278.3 million increased $38.6 million, or 16.1%, due to acquisitions and increased revenues from digital, partially offset by foreign currency exchange losses.  On an organic basis, billboard revenues were up 0.2% compared to the third quarter of 2014 due to higher U.S. billboard results offset by lower International results.

Reported transit and other revenues of $108.4 million increased $11.6 million, or 12.0%, due to stronger U.S. market conditions in local and national advertising, as well as acquisitions. On an organic basis, transit and other revenues increased 8.1% over the third quarter of 2014.

Total Operating expenses of $209.3 million grew $32.1 million, or 18.1%, primarily as a result of acquisitions and higher transit franchise expenses driven by higher transit revenues. Selling, General and Administrative expenses ("SG&A") of $67.2 million grew $12.1 million, or 22.0% over the three months ended September 30, 2014, primarily as a result of acquisitions, a $1.9 million increase in strategic business development expenses, $1.0 million of stand-alone costs, and $3.2 million in legal expenses.

Reported Adjusted OIBDA of $113.9 million increased $7.0 million, or 6.5%.

Segment Results

United States
Reported revenues of $353.9 million increased $57.6 million, or 19.4%, for the third quarter of 2015 as compared to the same prior-year period.  On an organic basis, revenues were $303.0 million for the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 2.8% from the same prior-year period, reflecting growth in digital revenues, and strong national and local advertising sales.  On an organic basis, billboard revenues were up 0.3% due to improved national advertising sales partially offset by proactive organizational changes in certain markets.  On an organic basis, transit and other revenues were up 8.5% compared to the third quarter of 2014 driven by increased local and national advertiser demand for transit displays.  Reported Adjusted OIBDA of $121.6 million increased $15.3 million, or 14.4%, primarily due to acquisitions and a $0.4 million reduction of stand-alone costs, partially offset by a $1.3 million increase in strategic business development expenses. 

International
Reported revenues of $32.8 million decreased $7.4 million, or 18.4%, in the third quarter of 2015 as compared to the same prior-year period due to the impact of foreign currency exchange.  Organic revenues decreased $0.1 million, or 0.3%, due to declines in Canada offset by slightly improved results in Latin America.  On an organic basis, billboard revenues were down 0.7% and transit and other revenues were up 2.1% compared to the third quarter of 2014.  Reported Adjusted OIBDA decreased $2.4 million to $3.9 million in the third quarter of 2015 as compared to the same prior-year period due to product and geographic mix and the impact of foreign currency exchange rates.

Corporate
Corporate costs, excluding stock-based compensation, increased $5.9 million to $11.6 million in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same prior-year period, including a $0.6 million increase in strategic development expenses, $1.4 million of incremental stand-alone costs, and $3.2 million of legal expenses, a majority of which are expected to be non-recurring.

Interest Expense
Net Interest expense in the third quarter of 2015 was $28.9 million, including amortization of deferred financing costs of $1.5 million, as a result of the incurrence of $1.6 billion of indebtedness on January 31, 2014, $600 million of indebtedness on October 1, 2014 related to acquisitions, and $100 million of indebtedness on March 30, 2015.  Net interest expense in the third quarter of 2014 included $7.6 million of commitment and other fees related to an unused lender commitment to provide a senior unsecured bridge term loan facility associated with the Acquisition (as defined below). The weighted average cost of debt at September 30, 2015, was 4.7%.

Income Taxes
The provision for income taxes was $3.9 million in the third quarter of 2015 compared to a benefit of $226.4 million in the third quarter of 2014.  On July 17, 2014, we began operating as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") for U.S. federal income tax purposes.  Cash paid for income taxes in the third quarter of 2015 was $3.0 million as compared to $3.1 million in the same prior-year period.

Net Income per Common Share
Net income attributable to common shareholders was $21.2 million in the third quarter of 2015 as compared to $248.3 million in the same prior-year period.  Net income for the third quarter of 2015 was impacted by higher depreciation and amortization expense from acquisitions, the incurrence of interest expense, incremental stand-alone costs, increased strategic business development expenses and restructuring charges and increased legal expenses, partially offset by contributions from acquisitions and lower taxes due to our conversion to a REIT.  Net income for the third quarter of 2014 was impacted by a one-time reversal of deferred taxes due to our conversion to a REIT.  Diluted weighted average shares outstanding were 137.9 million for the third quarter of 2015.  Net income per diluted weighted average share was $0.15 for the third quarter of 2015 as compared to $2.06 in the same prior-year period. Net income per diluted adjusted weighted average share on a REIT-comparable basis was $0.15 for the third quarter of 2015 as compared to $0.24 in the same prior-year period.

FFO & AFFO
FFO was $70.8 million in the third quarter of 2015, an decrease of $221.8 million from the same prior-year period, driven primarily by a reversal of deferred taxes in the prior year, higher interest expense and incremental stand-alone costs, net of tax, partially offset by restructuring charges in 2014 and acquisitions. FFO on a REIT-comparable basis was $70.8 million in the third quarter of 2015 and $77.5 million in the third quarter of 2014.  AFFO was $69.2 million in the third quarter of 2015, an increase of $1.0 million over the same prior-year period due to acquisitions and lower income taxes due to our conversion to a REIT.  AFFO on a REIT-comparable basis was $69.2 million in the third quarter of 2015 and $74.6 million in the third quarter of 2014.  AFFO on a REIT-comparable basis, per diluted adjusted weighted average share, was $0.50 in the third quarter of 2015 and $0.54 in the third quarter of 2014.

Cash Flow & Capital Expenditures
Net cash flow provided by operating activities of $176.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 decreased $8.1 million compared to $184.5 million during the same prior-year period, primarily due to higher use of working capital partially offset by lower cash paid for income taxes and the impact of acquisitions. Total capital expenditures decreased $0.6 million to $43.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Dividends
In the nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Company paid regular cash dividends of $140.5 million and a special cash dividend on March 31, 2015 of $8.2 million comprised of a "top-up" of the 2014 annual dividend for REIT distributable income.

The Company announced on October 28, 2015 that its board of directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend on the Company's common stock of $0.34 per share payable on December 31, 2015, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 10, 2015.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity
As of September 30, 2015, the Company's liquidity position included cash of $106.4 million and $393.9 million of availability under its $425.0 million revolving credit facility, net of $31.1 million of issued letters of credit against the revolving credit facility.  Total debt outstanding at September 30, 2015 was $2.3 billion, primarily consisting of a $798.5 million term loan and $1.5 billion of senior unsecured notes, net of discounts and premiums.  On October 30, 2015, the Company made a payment of $50.0 million on the term loan.

Conference Call 
The Company will host a conference call to discuss the results on November 5, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The conference call numbers are 800-967-7141 (U.S. callers) and 719-457-2604 (International callers) and the passcode for both is 3074979.  Live and replay versions of the conference call will be webcast in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.OUTFRONTmedia.com.

Supplemental Materials
In addition to this press release, the Company has provided a supplemental investor presentation which can be viewed on the Company's website, www.OUTFRONTmedia.com.

About OUTFRONT Media Inc. 
OUTFRONT Media (NYSE: OUT), formerly CBS Outdoor, is one of the largest out-of-home media companies in the Americas and has a major presence in top markets throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America. With traditional billboard and transit outdoor advertising properties, and a network of digital displays, OUTFRONT Media gives advertisers both breadth and depth of audience across key geographies, as well as immersive ways to connect with increasingly mobile consumers.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to the results prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") provided throughout this document, this document and the accompanying tables include non-GAAP financial measures as described below.   We calculate revenues on a constant dollar basis as reported revenues excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rates between periods. We provide constant dollar revenues to understand the underlying growth rate of revenue excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates between periods, which are not under management's direct control. Our management believes constant dollar revenues are useful to users of our financial data because it enables them to better understand the level of growth of our business period to period.  We calculate organic revenues as reported revenues excluding revenues associated with significant acquisitions and divestitures, revenues associated with business lines we no longer operate, and the impact of foreign currency exchange rates ("non-organic revenues"). We provide organic revenues to understand the underlying growth rate of revenue excluding the impact of non-organic revenue items. Our management believes organic revenues are useful to users of our financial data because it enables them to better understand the level of growth of our business period to period.  We calculate and define "Adjusted OIBDA" as operating income before depreciation, amortization, net (gains) losses on dispositions, stock-based compensation, restructuring charges and costs related to our acquisition of certain outdoor advertising businesses of Van Wagner Communications, LLC (the "Acquisition"). We calculate Adjusted OIBDA margin by dividing Adjusted OIBDA by total revenues. Adjusted OIBDA and Adjusted OIBDA margin are among the primary measures we use for managing our business, evaluating our operating performance and planning and forecasting future periods, as each is an important indicator of our operational strength and business performance. Our management believes users of our financial data are best served if the information that is made available to them allows them to align their analysis and evaluation of our operating results along the same lines that our management uses in managing, planning and executing our business strategy. Our management also believes that the presentations of Adjusted OIBDA and Adjusted OIBDA margin, as supplemental measures, are useful in evaluating our business because eliminating certain non-comparable items highlight operational trends in our business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on GAAP financial measures.  It is management's opinion that these supplemental measures provide users of our financial data with an important perspective on our operating performance and also make it easier for users of our financial data to compare our results with other companies that have different financing and capital structures or tax rates. We calculate Funds From Operations ("FFO") in accordance with the definition established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT"). FFO reflects net income adjusted to exclude gains and losses from the sale of real estate assets, depreciation and amortization of real estate assets and amortization of direct lease acquisition costs, as well as the same adjustments for our equity based investments, as applicable. We calculate Adjusted AFFO ("AFFO") as FFO adjusted to include cash paid for direct lease acquisition costs as such costs are generally amortized over a period ranging from four weeks to one year and therefore are incurred on a regular basis. AFFO also includes cash paid for maintenance capital expenditures since these are routine uses of cash that are necessary for our operations. In addition, AFFO excludes costs related to the Acquisition and restructuring charges, as well as certain non-cash items, including non-real estate depreciation and amortization, deferred income taxes, stock-based compensation expense, accretion expense, the non-cash effect of straight-line rent and amortization of deferred financing costs. We use FFO and AFFO measures for managing our business and for planning and forecasting future periods, and each is an important indicator of our operational strength and business performance, especially compared to other REITs. Our management believes users of our financial data are best served if the information that is made available to them allows them to align their analysis and evaluation of our operating results along the same lines that our management uses in managing, planning and executing our business strategy. Our management also believes that the presentations of FFO, AFFO, and related per weighted average share and per adjusted weighted average share amounts, as supplemental measures, are useful in evaluating our business because adjusting results to reflect items that have more bearing on the operating performance of REITs highlight trends in our business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on GAAP financial measures. It is management's opinion that these supplemental measures provide users of our financial data with an important perspective on our operating performance and also make it easier to compare our results to other companies in our industry, as well as to REITs.  We present weighted average shares on an adjusted basis for basic earnings per share ("EPS") to give effect to the 23,000,000 shares issued on April 2, 2014, in connection with the initial public offering ("IPO"), the 97,000,000 shares outstanding after our stock split and 16,536,001 shares issued in connection with the distribution of accumulated earnings and profits as of July 17, 2014, the date we began operating as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes (the "E&P Purge"), and on an adjusted basis for diluted EPS to also give effect to dilutive potential shares from grants of restricted share units ("RSUs"), performance-based RSUs ("PRSUs") and stock options. Our management believes that these presentations are useful in evaluating our business because they allow users of our financial data to evaluate our basic and diluted per share results after giving effect to the issuance of shares of our common stock in connection with our IPO and the E&P Purge, which increased our outstanding shares of common stock. We calculate Adjusted OIBDA and Adjusted OIBDA margin, on a REIT-comparable basis, for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, by adjusting the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, to include incremental costs associated with operating as a stand-alone public company of $1.0 million, which were incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2015, and $6.0 million, which were incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2015. We calculate operating income, net income, FFO, AFFO and related per weighted average share and per adjusted weighted average share amounts, on a REIT-comparable basis, for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, by adjusting (1) the nine months ended September 30, 2015, to exclude restructuring charges of $2.6 million ($2.0 million, net of tax) incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2015, except with respect to AFFO and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts, which by definition includes this adjustment, (2) the three and nine months ended September 30,  2014 and the nine months ended September 30, 2015, to exclude net gain (loss) on dispositions incurred in the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and in the nine months ended September 30, 2015, except with respect to FFO, AFFO and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts, which by definition include this adjustment, (3) the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, to include incremental costs associated with operating as a stand-alone public company of $1.0 million ($0.9 million, net of tax) incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2015, and $6.0 million ($5.4 million, net of tax) incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2015, and with respect to the nine months ended September 30, 2014 only, one month of interest expense of $6.2 million ($6.2 million, net of tax) incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2015, relating to our entry into our term loan and the issuance of $800.0 million of our senior notes on January 31, 2014, and to exclude interest expense of $7.6 million incurred in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, related to an unused lender commitment to provide a senior unsecured bridge term loan facility associated with the Acquisition, restructuring charges of $6.2 ($5.6 million, net of tax) incurred in the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2014, and Acquisition costs of $1.4 ($1.3 million, net of tax) incurred in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, (4) the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, with respect to AFFO and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts only, to include one month of amortization of deferred financing costs incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2015, relating to our entry into our term loan, our revolving credit facility and the issuance of $800.0 million of our senior notes on January 31, 2014, and amortization of deferred financing costs incurred in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, related to an unused lender commitment to provide a senior unsecured bridge term loan facility associated with the Acquisition and (5) the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, with respect to net income, FFO, AFFO, and related per weighted average share and per adjusted weighted average share amounts only, to exclude income taxes that would not have been incurred had we been operating as a REIT in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, and, with respect to net income, FFO and related per weighted average share and per adjusted weighted average share amounts only, exclude an income tax benefit from the reversal of deferred tax liabilities due to our REIT conversion of $232.3 million. Our management believes these adjusted presentations are useful in evaluating our business because they allow users of our financial data to compare our operating performance for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015, against the operating performance for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2014, taking into account certain significant costs arising as a result of our separation from CBS Corporation and the Acquisition, as well as the REIT tax treatment that would have applied had we been operating as a REIT for the periods presented. Since constant dollar revenues, organic revenues, Adjusted OIBDA, Adjusted OIBDA margin, FFO, AFFO and adjusted weighted average shares for basic and diluted EPS and, on a REIT-comparable basis, operating income, net income, Adjusted OIBDA, Adjusted OIBDA margin, FFO and AFFO, and, in each case, as applicable, related per weighted average share and per adjusted weighted average share amounts, are not measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, revenues, operating income, net income, weighted average shares outstanding for basic and diluted EPS, and net income per common share for basic and diluted EPS, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, as indicators of operating performance. These measures, as we calculate them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies. In addition, these measures do not necessarily represent funds available for discretionary use and are not necessarily a measure of our ability to fund our cash needs.

Please see Exhibits 4-7 of this release for a reconciliation of the above non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
We have made statements in this document that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "could," "would," "may," "might," "will," "should," "seeks," "likely," "intends," "plans," "projects," "predicts," "estimates," "forecast" or "anticipates"  or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases that are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and that do not relate solely to historical matters. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions related to our capital resources, portfolio performance and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and you should not rely on them as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise and may not be able to be realized. We do not guarantee that the transactions and events described will happen as described (or that they will happen at all). The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those set forth or contemplated in the forward-looking statements: declines in advertising and general economic conditions; competition; government regulation; our inability to increase the number of digital advertising displays in our portfolio; taxes, fees and registration requirements; our ability to obtain and renew key municipal concessions on favorable terms; decreased government compensation for the removal of lawful billboards; content-based restrictions on outdoor advertising; environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; seasonal variations; acquisitions and other strategic transactions that we may pursue could have a negative effect on our results of operations; the sale of all of our equity interests in certain of our subsidiaries, which hold all of the assets of our Latin America business, could be delayed, modified or terminated due to, among other things, the failure to satisfy closing conditions, including regulatory approval; dependence on our management team and advertising executives; the ability of our board of directors to cause us to issue additional shares of stock without stockholder approval; certain provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us; our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited; our substantial indebtedness; restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness; incurrence of additional debt; interest rate risk exposure from our variable-rate indebtedness; our ability to generate cash to service our indebtedness; hedging transactions; establishing an operating partnership; asset impairment charges for goodwill; diverse risks in our international business; a breach of our security measures; failure to comply with regulations regarding privacy and data protection; failing to establish in a timely manner "OUTFRONT" as an independently recognized brand name with a strong reputation; the financial information included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") may not be a reliable indicator of our future results; cash available for distributions; legislative, administrative, regulatory or other actions affecting REITs, including positions taken by the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS"); our failure to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT; REIT ownership limits; REIT distribution requirements; availability of external sources of capital; we may face other tax liabilities even if we remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT; complying with REIT requirements may cause us to liquidate investments or forgo otherwise attractive opportunities; our ability to contribute certain contracts to a taxable REIT subsidiary ("TRS"); our planned use of TRSs may cause us to fail to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT; complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively; failure to meet the REIT income tests as a result of receiving non-qualifying income; even if we remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT, and we sell assets, we could be subject to tax on any unrealized net built-in gains in the assets held before electing to be treated as a REIT; the IRS may deem the gains from sales of our outdoor advertising assets to be subject to a 100% prohibited transaction tax; our lack of an operating history as a REIT; we may not be able to engage in desirable strategic or capital-raising transactions as a result of our separation from CBS Corporation, and we could be liable for adverse tax consequences resulting from engaging in significant strategic or capital-raising transactions; and other factors described in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, filed with the SEC on March 6, 2015. All forward-looking statements in this document apply as of the date of this document or as of the date they were made and, except as required by applicable law, we disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors of new information, data or methods, future events or other changes.

NOTES TO COVER TABLE

1. Organic revenues exclude revenues associated with significant acquisitions and divestitures, revenues associated with business lines we no longer operate, and the impact of foreign currency exchange rates ("non-organic revenues").
2. Presents Adjusted OIBDA, on a REIT-comparable basis, by adjusting the three months ended September 30, 2014, to include incremental costs associated with operating as a stand-alone public company of $1.0 million, which were incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2015. Presents operating income, net income, FFO, AFFO and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts, on a REIT-comparable basis, for the three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, by adjusting (1) the three months ended September 30, 2014, to exclude net gain (loss) on dispositions incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2014, except with respect to FFO, AFFO and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts, which by definition include this adjustment, (2) the three months ended September 30, 2014, to include incremental costs associated with operating as a stand-alone public company of $1.0 million ($0.9 million, net of tax) incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2015, and to exclude interest expense of $7.6 million incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2014, related to an unused lender commitment to provide a senior unsecured bridge term loan facility associated with the Acquisition, restructuring charges of $6.2 ($5.6 million, net of tax) incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2014, and Acquisition costs of $1.4 ($1.3 million, net of tax) incurred in the three months ended September 30, 2014, (3) the three months ended September 30, 2014, with respect to AFFO and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts only, to include amortization of deferred financing costs incurred the three months ended September 30, 2014, related to an unused lender commitment to provide a senior unsecured bridge term loan facility associated with the Acquisition, and (4) the three months ended September 30, 2014, with respect to net income, FFO, AFFO, and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts only, to exclude income taxes that would not have been incurred had we been operating as a REIT in the three months ended September 30, 2014, and, with respect to net income, FFO and related per adjusted weighted average share amounts only, exclude an income tax benefit from the reversal of deferred tax liabilities due to our REIT conversion of $232.3 million.

See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for an explanation of these non-GAAP financial measures, and see Exhibits 4-7 in this document for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

EXHIBITS