The Howard Hughes Corporation® Reports Second Quarter 2020 Results

DALLAS, Aug. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Howard Hughes Corporation^® (NYSE: HHC) (the "Company," "HHC" or "we") announced today operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. The financial statements, exhibits and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures in the attached Appendix and the Supplemental Information, as available through the Investors section of our website, provide further detail of these results.

"The Howard Hughes Corporation remains unwavering in our commitment to the safety and security of our colleagues, tenants, customers and residents, and the long-term success of our communities," said Paul H. Layne, Chief Executive Officer.

"During the second quarter, we saw remarkable performance in our MPC segment, where both land sales and new home sales—a leading indicator for future land sales—remained strong. These results are comparable to our performance in 2019 and are in keeping with our projections pre-COVID. We believe that this continued strength is a testament to the exceptional quality of life that residents are seeking—now more than ever—including walkable communities in beautiful, natural settings with urban conveniences, outstanding amenities, low density, and expansive open green space with hiking and biking trails.

"As we continue to focus on making the best long-term value decisions for our communities and our shareholders, we have positioned ourselves to be prepared for all eventualities with our first-quarter equity raise and increased liquidity. We ended the second quarter with over $930 million of cash on our balance sheet and only $315 million of net remaining equity commitments to our existing development projects.

"Our operating asset segment performance was bifurcated between the continued strength in our office and, to a lesser extent, our multifamily assets and the COVID-related disruption experienced by our retail and hospitality assets, as well as baseball . Despite its quarter-over-quarter decline, we remain cautiously optimistic about the segment's recovery potential and we have seen reopenings in hospitality and a meaningful pick-up in our retail collections since April.

"At Ward Village in Hawai'i, we saw a continuation of the strong first-quarter results as we continued to execute on sales, most notably at Victoria Place where we are approximately 69.3% pre-sold as of July 28, 2020. Finally, in our Seaport District segment, while construction on the Tin Building resumed in May, our assets in the Seaport District remain closed and we anticipate a gradual reopening of a few, select businesses, including The Rooftop at Pier 17, over the course of the next few months.

"We made continued progress in the execution of our Transformation Plan by continuing to pursue non-core asset sales and by executing on additional reductions of our general and administrative expenses. Importantly, we have also restarted horizontal development in our MPCs to prepare lots for sale to keep pace with builder demand given the strong underlying home sales in our communities. Finally, we have commenced modest investments in pre-development work for the next potential vertical development opportunities in our core MPCs, for when demand returns. While we do not anticipate any new construction starts in the coming quarter, we want to be prepared to be able to move forward the moment that demand materializes.

"Despite recent positive macroeconomic data and the strength of home sales in our award-winning master planned communities, we still face much uncertainty in our economic recovery. I want to thank our employees across the country for their dedication during the most difficult of circumstances over the past several months. We are dedicated to leveraging our resources to help our local economies and our stakeholders recover from the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis."

Second Quarter 2020 Highlights

• Net income attributable to common stockholders decreased to a loss of $34.1 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2020, compared to income of $13.5 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2019, primarily due to no closings on condominium units in 2020 coupled with the temporary closure of hospitality properties and cancellation of the Las Vegas Aviators 2020 baseball season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We closed a portion of Ae'o in early 2019, with no new condominium towers delivered in 2020.
• MPC segment earnings before tax ("EBT") decreased by $6.5 million to $42.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020, compared to the three months ended June 30, 2019, primarily driven by lower Equity in (losses) earnings from real estate and other affiliates at The Summit. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in land sales in The Woodlands due to an increase in sales in a high-end, exclusive section of The Woodlands community that generates significantly higher value per acre. Bridgeland's land sales, while flat for the three months ended June 30, 2020 compared to the prior period, continued to display strong performance despite the effects of COVID-19.
• We continue to maintain a strong liquidity position with $930.6 million cash as of June 30, 2020.
• Extended the existing Downtown Summerlin loan and the bridge loan for The Woodlands Towers at the Waterway and The Woodlands Warehouse.
• For the three months ended June 30, 2020, we collected 95.4% of our office portfolio billings, 96.6% of our multi-family portfolio billings, 49.7% of our retail portfolio billings and 84.5% of our other portfolio billings.
• Total Net operating income ("NOI")(1) from the Operating Assets segment, including our share of NOI from equity investments, decreased by 32.4% to $40.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020, compared to $60.4 million for the prior year period. The decrease in NOI was primarily due to the temporary closure of hospitality and retail properties, partially offset by an increase in NOI from the recent acquisition of The Woodlands Towers at the Waterway.
• Progressed public pre-sales of our newest project at Ward Village^®, Victoria Place^®, where as of June 30, 2020, we have executed contracts for 236 condominium units, or 67.6% of total units. Across all of Ward Village^®, potential future revenue associated with total contracted units is $1.48 billion.
• Seaport District NOI remained relatively flat at a net operating loss of $3.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020, compared to the prior year period, primarily due to business closures and cancellation of events related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of which were mitigated by cost management initiatives.

COVID-19 Impact - For the month ended July 31, 2020

• The health and safety of our employees, tenants and customers remains our highest priority. Our Crisis Committee task force continues to prepare buildings for re-occupancy and has implemented a number of processes and communications to provide a safer environment at our properties.
• As of July 28, 2020, we collected 96.1% of our Office portfolio billings, 98.5% of our Multi-family portfolio billings, 64.1% of our Retail portfolio billings and 90.2% of our Other portfolio billings in July.
• Among our hospitality properties, The Woodlands Resort and Embassy Suites reopened during the quarter, and The Westin at The Woodlands reopened on July 1, 2020.
• Our assets in the Seaport District remain closed and we anticipate a gradual reopening of a few, select businesses, including The Rooftop at Pier 17, over the course of the next few months.
• At Ward Village, we contracted to sell six additional condominiums at Victoria Place in July 2020, bringing the total executed contracts to 242 condominium units, or 69.3% of total units, as of July 28, 2020.
• Through our HHCares program, we made additional contributions to local non-profit organizations that were most impacted by COVID-19 and expressed gratitude to those on the front line by participating in the national Light it Blue campaign as well as giving gifts of appreciation to those serving in the community. We continued to leverage our owned restaurants and partner with our grocery and restaurant tenants to provide food to local hospitals, first responders and displaced hospitality employees.

We are primarily focused on creating shareholder value by increasing our per share net asset value. Often, the nature of our business results in short-term volatility in our net income due to the timing of MPC land sales, recognition of condominium revenue and operating business pre-opening expenses, and, as such, we believe the following metrics summarized below are most useful in tracking our progress towards net asset value creation.

About The Howard Hughes Corporation^®

The Howard Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S. Its award-winning assets include the country's preeminent portfolio of master planned communities, as well as operating properties and development opportunities including: the Seaport District in New York; Columbia, Maryland; The Woodlands^®, The Woodlands Hills^®, and Bridgeland^® in the Greater Houston, Texas area; Summerlin^®, Las Vegas; and Ward Village^® in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The Howard Hughes Corporation's portfolio is strategically positioned to meet and accelerate development based on market demand, resulting in one of the strongest real estate platforms in the country. Dedicated to innovative place making, the Company is recognized for its ongoing commitment to design excellence and to the cultural life of its communities. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as HHC. For additional information visit www.howardhughes.com.

The Howard Hughes Corporation has partnered with Say, the fintech startup reimagining shareholder communications, to allow investors to submit and upvote questions they would like to see addressed on the Company's second quarter earnings call. Say verifies all shareholder positions and provides permission to participate on the August 4, 2020 call, during which the Company's leadership will be answering top questions. Utilizing the Say platform, The Howard Hughes Corporation elevates its capabilities for responding to Company shareholders, making its investor relations Q&A more transparent and engaging.

The Howard Hughes Corporation will host its investor conference call on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, at 9:00 a.m Central Standard Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) to discuss second quarter 2020 results. To participate, please dial 1-877-883-0383 within the U.S., 1-877-885-0477 within Canada, or 1-412-902-6506 when dialing internationally. All participants should dial in at least five minutes prior to the scheduled start time, using 1867353 as the passcode. In addition to dial-in options, institutional and retail shareholders can participate by going to app.saytechnologies.com/howardhughes. Shareholders can email [email protected] for any support inquiries.

 Safe Harbor Statement

We may make forward-looking statements in this press release and in other reports and presentations that we file or furnish with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, our management may make forward-looking statements orally to analysts, investors, creditors, the media and others. Forward-looking statements include:

• the impact of COVID-19, including the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in regions where we operate, on our business and numerous governmental restrictions and other orders instituted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on our business;
• announcement of certain changes, which we refer to as our "Transformation Plan", including new executive leadership, reduction in our overhead expenses, the proposed sale of our non-core assets and accelerated growth in our core MPC assets;
• expected performance of our stabilized, income-producing properties and the performance and stabilization timing of properties that we have recently placed into service or are under construction;
• capital required for our operations and development opportunities for the properties in our Operating Assets, Seaport District and Strategic Developments segments;
• expected commencement and completion for property developments and timing of sales or rentals of certain properties;
• the impact of technology on our operations and business;
• expected performance of our MPC segment;
• forecasts of our future economic performance; and
• future liquidity, finance opportunities, development opportunities, development spending and management plans.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may have a material impact on any future results, performance and achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risk factors are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 27, 2020, the Final Prospectus Supplement which has been filed with the SEC on March 30, 2020 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q which has been filed with the SEC on May 11, 2020. Any factor could, by itself, or together with one or more other factors, adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. There may be other factors currently unknown to us that we have not described in our Annual Report that could cause results to differ from our expectations. These forward-looking statements present our estimates and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Except as may be required by law, we undertake no obligation to modify or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.

Our Financial Presentation

As discussed throughout this release, we use certain non-GAAP performance measures, in addition to the required GAAP presentations, as we believe these measures improve the understanding of our operational results and make comparisons of operating results among peer companies more meaningful. We continually evaluate the usefulness, relevance, limitations and calculation of our reported non-GAAP performance measures to determine how best to provide relevant information to the public, and thus such reported measures could change. A non-GAAP financial measure used throughout this release is Net operating income ("NOI"). We provide a more detailed discussion about this non-GAAP measure in our reconciliation of non-GAAP measures provided in the appendix in this earnings release.

Appendix - Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

For the Six and Three Months Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019

Below are GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations of certain financial measures, as required under Regulation G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Non-GAAP information should be considered by the reader in addition to, but not instead of, the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. The non-GAAP financial information presented may be determined or calculated differently by other companies and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures.

As a result of our four segments, Operating Assets, Master Planned Communities ("MPC"), Seaport District and Strategic Developments, being managed separately, we use different operating measures to assess operating results and allocate resources among these four segments. The one common operating measure used to assess operating results for our business segments is earnings before tax ("EBT"). EBT, as it relates to each business segment, represents the revenues less expenses of each segment, including interest income, interest expense and equity in earnings of real estate and other affiliates. EBT excludes corporate expenses and other items that are not allocable to the segments. We present EBT because we use this measure, among others, internally to assess the core operating performance of our assets. However, segment EBT should not be considered as an alternative to GAAP net income.

NOI

We believe that NOI is a useful supplemental measure of the performance of our Operating Assets and Seaport District portfolio because it provides a performance measure that, when compared year over year, reflects the revenues and expenses directly associated with owning and operating real estate properties and the impact on operations from trends in rental and occupancy rates and operating costs. We define NOI as operating revenues (rental income, tenant recoveries and other revenue) less operating expenses (real estate taxes, repairs and maintenance, marketing and other property expenses, including our share of NOI from equity investees). NOI excludes straight-line rents and amortization of tenant incentives, net; interest expense, net; ground rent amortization; demolition costs; other (loss) income; amortization; depreciation; development-related marketing cost; gain on sale or disposal of real estate and other assets, net; provision for impairment and equity in earnings from real estate and other affiliates. All management fees have been eliminated for all internally-managed properties. We use NOI to evaluate our operating performance on a property-by-property basis because NOI allows us to evaluate the impact that property-specific factors such as lease structure, lease rates and tenant base have on our operating results, gross margins and investment returns. Variances between years in NOI typically result from changes in rental rates, occupancy, tenant mix and operating expenses. Although we believe that NOI provides useful information to investors about the performance of our Operating Assets and Seaport District assets, due to the exclusions noted above, NOI should only be used as an additional measure of the financial performance of the assets of this segment of our business and not as an alternative to GAAP Net income (loss). For reference, and as an aid in understanding our computation of NOI, a reconciliation of segment EBT to NOI for Operating Assets and Seaport District has been presented in the tables below.

Contact Information:    
David R. O'Reilly
President and Chief Financial Officer
(214) 741-7744
David.O'[email protected]

SOURCE The Howard Hughes Corporation

Related Links

http://www.howardhughes.com