Simon Property's (SPG) Q4 FFO Increases Y/Y, Dividend Raised

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) , a retail real estate investment trust (REIT), reported fourth-quarter 2017 funds from operations (FFO) of $3.12 per share, which came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The FFO per share figure also came in higher than the year-ago tally of $2.53.

Results highlight high level of occupancy, increase in base minimum rent per square foot and leasing spread per square foot at its U.S. malls and Premium Outlets. The company also announced a hike in quarterly dividend.

During the quarter, the company posted revenues of $1.43 billion, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues also inched up 0.1% from the year-ago tally.

For full-year 2017, FFO per share came in at $11.21, up 6.9% from the prior-year tally of $10.49. This was backed by 1.9% year-over-year growth in total revenues to $5.5 billion.

Inside the Headline Numbers

For the U.S. Malls and Premium Outlets portfolio, occupancy was 95.6% as of Dec 31, 2017. Base minimum rent per square feet rose 2.9% year over year to $53.11 as of Dec 31, 2017. Further, leasing spread per square foot for the trailing 12-month period ended Dec 31, 2017 increased 11.4% to $7.42.

Total portfolio net operating income (NOI) growth for the 12-month period was 4.5%. Moreover, comparable property NOI growth for the same period came in at 3.2%.

At the end of the reported quarter, Simon Property had redevelopment and expansion projects, including the addition of new anchors, in progress at 25 properties across the United States, Canada and Asia.

The company exited 2017 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.5 billion compared with $560.1 million recorded at the prior-year end.

Additionally, as of Dec 31, 2017, Simon had around $8.0 billion of liquidity. This comprised cash on hand, including its share of joint-venture cash, and available capacity under the company’s revolving credit facilities.

Outlook

Simon Property provided its FFO per share outlook for full-year 2018. The company projects FFO per share in the range of $11.90-$12.02. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is currently pegged at $12.13.

Dividend Hike

Simon Property announced a quarterly dividend of $1.95 per share, denoting an increase of 11.4% year over year. The new dividend will be paid on Feb 28 to stockholders of record on Feb 14, 2018.

Our Viewpoint

Simon Property’s diversified exposure to retail assets in the United States and abroad, efforts to support omni-channel retailing, portfolio-restructuring initiatives and healthy balance sheet augur well. Also, the dividend hike is encouraging for shareholders. Nevertheless, stiff competition from online sales and rise in interest rate pose challenges.

Currently, Simon Property carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

We now look forward to the earnings releases of other retail REITs like The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) , GGP Inc. (NYSE:GGP) and Regency Centers Corporation (NYSE:REG) . Macerich and GGP Inc. are expected to report their figures on Feb 5 and 7 respectively, while Regency Centers is slated to release its numbers on Feb 8.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represent funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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