Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Announces Third Quarter Results

EDISON, N.J., Oct. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI) today reported its results for the third quarter 2015.

Recent highlights include:

• Funds from operations (FFO) per diluted share of $0.51 for the quarter and $1.41 for the nine months 2015;
• Reported 85.8 percent leased at quarter end, an increase of 3.5 percent over second quarter;
• Reported net loss of $1.42 per diluted share due to impairment charge for contemplated sales;
• Topped off URL® Harborside Tower 1, a 763-unit apartment building, with expected lease up by year end 2016;
• Commenced the disposition activities of $700 to $800 million of asset sales;
• Signed definitive agreements to acquire two properties in New Jersey a 196,000 square-foot office building located in Edison and a 147,000 square-foot office building located in Parsippany:
• Raised full year 2015 guidance range to $1.83 to $1.87 per diluted share;
• Introduced preliminary 2016 guidance of $2.00 - $2.10 per diluted share;
• Declared $0.15 per share quarterly common stock dividend; and
• Engaged Eastdil Secured to explore raising common equity for the to be formed Roseland Residential Trust.

"We continue to make progress on our ongoing repositioning efforts as we work to transform Mack-Cali. In our third quarter we put in place our plans to divest between $700 to $800 million of non-core assets, while selectively adding complimentary assets that we expect will contribute to earnings as we move ahead. The Company is reenergized by the numerous opportunities to enhance our office portfolio and to profitably expand our multi-family platform. While this will take time we are excited that process is underway and that our team's efforts should result in the creation of sustained cash-flow and earnings in the coming years as we look to build additional value for our shareholders," said Michael J. DeMarco, president.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

* All per share amounts presented below are on a diluted basis.

Funds from operations (FFO) for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 totaled $51.5 million, or $0.51 per share, as compared to $48.0 million, or $0.48 per share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. For the nine months ended September 30, 2015, FFO equaled $141.1 million, or $1.41 per share, as compared to $128.5 million, or $1.29 per share, for the same period last year.

For the current quarter compared to the prior year, the increase in FFO per share resulted primarily from $0.03 of equity in earnings from refinancing proceeds received from a joint venture; increased net real estate tax appeal proceeds of $0.02; partially offset by $0.02 in increased general and administrative expense due to separation costs in the current quarter. This results in Core FFO per diluted share for the current quarter of $0.48 versus $0.48 for the prior year period.

Net income (loss) available to common shareholders for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 amounted to $(126.9) million, or $(1.42) per share, as compared to $2.0 million, or $0.02 per share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2015, net income (loss) available to common shareholders equaled $(94.0) million, or $(1.05) per share, as compared to $37.8 million, or $0.43 per share, for the same period last year.  Included in net loss for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2015 was $164.2 million of impairment charges taken during the third quarter on properties the Company intends to sell as part of its recently-announced strategic initiative. 

Total revenues for the third quarter 2015 were $146.2 million, as compared to $155.5 million for the third quarter 2014. For the nine months ended September 30, 2015, total revenues amounted to $448.4 million, as compared to $485.4 million for the same period last year.

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS

Mack-Cali's consolidated commercial in-service portfolio was 85.8 percent leased at September 30, 2015, as compared to 82.3 percent leased at June 30, 2015.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2015, the Company executed 94 leases at its consolidated in-service commercial portfolio totaling 955,570 square feet.  Of these totals, 361,000 square feet were for new leases and 594,570 square feet were for lease renewals and other tenant retention transactions.  Lease transactions included 345,905 square feet in Core properties, 222,824 square feet in Waterfront properties, 177,820 square feet in Flex properties and 209,021 square feet in Non-Core properties. 

Mitchell E. Rudin, chief executive officer, commented, "Operationally, we had an excellent quarter and have launched a number of value-creating initiatives. This quarter marks the beginning of a long-term effort to deliver enhanced and sustained returns for our shareholders."

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

In September, the Company announced the topping out of URL® Harborside 1 at 713 feet, making the new multi-family tower on the Jersey City waterfront the tallest residential building in New Jersey. URL® Harborside 1 is a uniquely-designed, 69-story residential tower that will add 763 contemporary rental residences to Mack-Cali's Harborside on the Jersey City waterfront.

On October 23, 2015, the Company signed an agreement to acquire a 196,000 square-foot office property located in Edison, New Jersey, for approximately $53.1 million, subject to certain conditions. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The Company is also in discussions to acquire a 147,000 square-foot office building located in Parsippany, New Jersey, as well its partner's interest in a 371-unit multi-family residential property located in Malden, Massachusetts.

DISPOSITIONS

In September 2015, the Company announced a comprehensive three-year strategic initiative to transform the Company into dual-platform owner of waterfront and transit-oriented office properties and a regional owner of luxury multi-family properties. As part of its increased focus on "Gold Coast" waterfront properties in Jersey City Weehawken, Hoboken, and West New York, the Company identified approximately $700 million to $800 million of non-core assets that it intends to sell to help fund its capital plan and transformation.

During the three months ended September 30, 2015, the Company transferred the deeds for two of its office properties to the lender in satisfaction of its mortgage loan obligations. In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Company recorded gains on the disposal of office properties of $18.7 million and $28.4 million, respectively.

As a result of identifying the non-core assets for sale, the Company evaluated the recoverability of the carrying values of these properties, and determined that due to the shortening of the expected periods of ownership, it was necessary to reduce the carrying values of 22 rental properties to their estimated fair values. Accordingly, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $158.6 million at September 30, 2015.

In addition, the Company estimated that the carrying value of three mortgaged properties, aggregating 479,877 square feet and located in Roseland and Parsippany, New Jersey, may not be recoverable over their anticipated holding periods and recorded impairment charges of $5.6 million at September 30, 2015.

BALANCE SHEET/CAPITAL MARKETS

As of September 30, 2015, the Company had total indebtedness of approximately $2.0 billion, with a weighted average annual interest rate of approximately 5.4 percent and a debt-to-undepreciated assets ratio of 37.6 percent. The Company had an interest coverage ratio of 3.1 times and 2.8 times for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively.

DIVIDENDS

In September, the Company's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.15 per common share (indicating an annual rate of $0.60 per common share) for the third quarter 2015, which was paid on October 15, 2015 to shareholders of records as of October 5, 2015.

GUIDANCE/OUTLOOK

Based on recent results and recently announced strategic initiatives, the Company is revising its guidance on net income and FFO per diluted share for the full year 2015 and providing preliminary 2016 guidance, as follows:

These estimates reflect management's view of current market conditions and certain assumptions with regard to rental rates, occupancy levels and other assumptions/projections. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

CONFERENCE CALL/SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

An earnings conference call with management is scheduled for October 29, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, which will be broadcast live via the Internet at:
http://phoenix.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=96021&eventID=5207843

The live conference call is also accessible by calling (719) 325-2362 and requesting the Mack-Cali conference call.  The conference call will be rebroadcast on Mack-Cali's website at https://www.mack-cali.com/investors/events beginning at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 29, 2015 through November 5, 2015.

A replay of the call will also be accessible during the same time period by calling (719) 457-0820 and using the pass code 1196434.

Copies of Mack-Cali's Form 10-Q and Supplemental Operating and Financial Data are available on Mack‑Cali's website, as follows:

Third Quarter 2015 Form 10-Q:
https://www.mack-cali.com/media/799385/3rdquarter10q15.pdf

Third Quarter 2015 Supplemental Operating and Financial Data:
https://www.mack-cali.com/media/799388/3rdquartersp15.pdf

Third Quarter 2015 Supplemental Operating and Financial Data for Roseland Residential Platform:
https://www.mack-cali.com/media/799391/3rdquartersp15Roseland.pdf

In addition, these items are available upon request from:
Mack-Cali Investor Relations Department - Deidre Crockett
343 Thornall Street, Edison, New Jersey 08837-2206
(732) 590-1025

INFORMATION ABOUT FFO

Funds from operations ("FFO") is defined as net income (loss) before noncontrolling interest of unitholders, computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), excluding gains (or losses) from extraordinary items, sales of depreciable rental property, and impairments related to depreciable rental property, plus real estate-related depreciation and amortization. The Company believes that FFO per share is helpful to investors as one of several measures of the performance of an equity REIT. The Company further believes that as FFO per share excludes the effect of depreciation, gains (or losses) from sales of properties and impairments related to depreciable rental property (all of which are based on historical costs which may be of limited relevance in evaluating current performance), FFO per share can facilitate comparison of operating performance between equity REITs.

FFO per share should not be considered as an alternative to net income available to common shareholders per share as an indication of the Company's performance or to cash flows as a measure of liquidity.  FFO per share presented herein is not necessarily comparable to FFO per share presented by other real estate companies due to the fact that not all real estate companies use the same definition. However, the Company's FFO per share is comparable to the FFO per share of real estate companies that use the current definition of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT"). A reconciliation of net income per share to FFO per share is included in the financial tables accompanying this press release.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is a fully integrated, self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) providing management, leasing, development, construction and other tenant-related services for its two-platform operations of waterfront and transit-based office and luxury multi-family. Mack-Cali owns or has interests in 274 properties, consisting of 146 office and 109 flex properties totaling approximately 29.7 million square feet and 19 multi-family rental properties containing approximately 5,700 residential units and a pipeline of approximately 11,000 units, all located in the Northeast. The properties enable the Company to provide a full complement of real estate opportunities to its diverse base of commercial and residential tenants.

Additional information on Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and the commercial real estate properties and multi-family residential communities available for lease can be found on the Company's website at www.mack‑cali.com.

The information in this press release must be read in conjunction with, and is modified in its entirety by, the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (the "10-Q") filed by the Company for the same period with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and all of the Company's other public filings with the SEC (the "Public Filings"). In particular, the financial information contained herein is subject to and qualified by reference to the financial statements contained in the 10-Q, the footnotes thereto and the limitations set forth therein. Investors may not rely on the press release without reference to the 10-Q and the Public Filings.

Statements made in this press release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "potential," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate, and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading "Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.

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SOURCE Mack-Cali Realty Corporation