COPT Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results

Raises Midpoint of Full Year Guidance Another 1-Cent, Implying 7.1% Growth in FFO per Share, as Adjusted for Comparability

Stronger 3Q Results Drive Higher Full-Year Expectations

Reported EPS of $0.24 in 3Q21;
3Q FFO per Share, as Adjusted for Comparability, of $0.57 was 1-Cent Above High-End of Guidance

Same-Property Cash NOI Increase of 4.8% in the Quarter;
Increasing Midpoint of Same-Property Cash NOI Guidance for the Year

Core Portfolio 93.5% Occupied & 94.8% Leased

1.8 Million SF of Active Developments are 94% Leased

Solid Leasing Activity

Total Leasing of 1.0 Million SF in the Quarter and 2.7 Million SF for First Nine Months of 2021
Included 215,000 SF and 420,000 SF of Vacancy Leasing, Respectively

Tenant Retention of 76% in the Quarter and 75% for the First Nine Months and Changes in Cash Rents In-Line with Expectations

1.2 Million SF of Development Leasing Accomplished To-Date Surpasses 2021 Goal

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corporate Office Properties Trust (“COPT” or the “Company”) (NYSE: OFC) announced results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Management Comments

Stephen E. Budorick, COPT’s President & Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our portfolio of office and data center properties that support priority missions at U.S. defense installations continues to produce strong results, and distinguishes us from other office companies. Demand for our Defense/IT Locations has driven 1.2 million square feet of development leasing to-date, which exceeds our 2021 goal. Vacancy leasing in the third quarter was a very strong 215,000 square feet--our best quarterly volume since the third quarter of 2019--and brought our total for the nine months to 420,000 square feet. Importantly, tenants are committing to lease term lengths that are at or above pre-pandemic levels. Our Development Leasing Pipeline and Activity Ratio remain robust, which leads us to expect customers to continue making long-term commitments to our Defense/IT Locations. Based on our outperformance this quarter, we are increasing the midpoint of full-year guidance for FFO per share, as adjusted for comparability, to $2.27, which is 8-cents above our original midpoint and represents 7.1% growth over 2020’s elevated results.”

Financial Highlights

3^rd Quarter Financial Results:

• Diluted earnings (loss) per share (“EPS”) was $0.24 for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 compared to ($0.29) for the third quarter of 2020.
• Diluted funds from operations per share (“FFOPS”), as calculated in accordance with Nareit’s definition, was $0.56 for the third quarter of 2021 compared to $0.04 for third quarter 2020.
• FFOPS, as adjusted for comparability, was $0.57 for the third quarter of 2021 compared to $0.54 for the third quarter of 2020.

Operating Performance Highlights

Operating Portfolio Summary:

• At September 30, 2021, the Company’s core portfolio of 184 operating office and data center shell properties was 93.5% occupied and 94.8% leased.
• During the quarter, the Company placed into service 466,000 square feet that were 100% leased.

Same-Property Performance:

• At September 30, 2021, COPT’s same-property portfolio of 159 buildings was 92.2% occupied and 93.7% leased.
• For the quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company’s same-property cash NOI increased 4.8% over the prior year’s comparable period.

Leasing:

• Total Square Feet Leased: For the quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company leased 1.0 million square feet, including 553,000 square feet of renewals, 274,000 square feet in development projects, and 215,000 square feet of new leases on vacant space. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company executed 2.7 million square feet of leasing, including 1.4 million square feet of renewals, 915,000 square feet in development projects, and 420,000 square feet of vacancy leasing.
• Renewal Rates: During the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company renewed 75.7% and 74.6%, respectively, of expiring square feet.
• Rent Spreads & Average Escalations on Renewing Leases: For the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2021, cash rents on renewed space decreased 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively. For the same time periods, annual escalations on renewing leases averaged 1.7% and 2.4%, respectively.
• Lease Terms: In the third quarter of 2021, lease terms averaged 3.1 years on renewing leases, 9.3 years on new leasing of vacant space, and 17.0 years on development leasing. For the first nine months, lease terms averaged 3.8 years on renewing leases, 8.6 years on vacancy leasing, and 14.1 years on development leasing.
• Post-Quarter Development Leasing: In October, the Company completed two build-to-suit leases totaling 263,000 square feet with a defense contractor at Redstone Gateway. Details of those leases can be found in a separate press release issued this same date.

Investment Activity Highlights

• Development Pipeline: The Company’s development pipeline consists of 13 properties totaling 1.8 million square feet that are 94% leased. These projects have a total estimated cost of $585.7 million, of which $188.2 million has been incurred.

Balance Sheet and Capital Transaction Highlights

• In August, the Company issued $400 million of 2.000% senior unsecured notes due 2029. The Company used net proceeds from this issuance to repay $100.0 million of its term loan facility due December 2022, retire the outstanding $89.0 million balance of a construction loan, and repay borrowings under its unsecured credit facility.
• At September 30, 2021, the Company’s net debt to adjusted book ratio was 39.4% and its net debt to in-place adjusted EBITDA ratio was 6.3x. As of the same date, net debt adjusted for fully-leased development to in-place adjusted EBITDA ratio was 5.9x. For the quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company’s adjusted EBITDA fixed charge coverage ratio was 4.8x.
• At September 30, 2021, and including the effect of interest rate swaps, the Company’s weighted average effective interest rate on its consolidated debt portfolio was 3.05% with a weighted average maturity of 5.7 years; additionally, 97.3% of the Company’s debt was subject to fixed interest rates.

Associated Supplemental Presentation

Prior to the call, the Company will post a slide presentation to accompany management’s prepared remarks for its third quarter 2021 conference call; the presentation can be viewed and downloaded from the ‘Latest Updates’ section of COPT’s Investors website: https://investors.copt.com/

2021 Guidance

Management is increasing its full-year guidance for EPS and FFOPS, per Nareit and as adjusted for comparability from the prior ranges of $0.72-$0.76, $1.73-$1.77, and $2.24-$2.28, respectively, to new ranges of $0.76-$0.78, $1.74-$1.76, and $2.26-$2.28, respectively. To account for the expected timing of repair and maintenance projects, management is lowering its prior guidance ranges for EPS and FFOPS (per Nareit and as adjusted for comparability) for the fourth quarter from $0.21-$0.23 and $0.56-$0.58, respectively, to $0.20-$0.22 and $0.55-$0.57, respectively. Reconciliations of projected EPS to projected FFOPS, in accordance with Nareit and as adjusted for comparability are as follows:

Conference Call Information

Management will discuss third quarter 2021 results on its conference call tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, details of which are listed below:

Conference Call Date: Friday, October 29, 2021
Time: 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Telephone Number: (within the U.S.) 855-463-9057
Telephone Number: (outside the U.S.) 661-378-9894
Passcode: 9759656

The conference call will also be available via live webcast in the ‘Latest Updates’ section of COPT’s Investors website: https://investors.copt.com/

Replay Information

A replay of the conference call will be immediately available via webcast on the Investors website. Additionally, a telephonic replay of this call will be available beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, October 29, through 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 12. To access the replay within the United States, please call 855-859-2056; to access it from outside the United States, please call 404-537-3406. In either case, use passcode 9759656.

Definitions

For definitions of certain terms used in this press release, please refer to the information furnished in the Company’s Supplemental Information Package furnished on a Form 8-K which can be found on its website (www.copt.com). Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the attached tables.

About COPT

COPT is a REIT that owns, manages, leases, develops and selectively acquires office and data center properties. The majority of its portfolio is in locations that support the United States Government and its contractors, most of whom are engaged in national security, defense and information technology (“IT”) related activities servicing what it believes are growing, durable, priority missions (“Defense/IT Locations”). The Company also owns a portfolio of office properties located in select urban/urban-like submarkets in the Greater Washington, DC/Baltimore region with durable Class-A office fundamentals and characteristics (“Regional Office Properties”). As of September 30, 2021, the Company derived 88% of its core portfolio annualized rental revenue from Defense/IT Locations and 12% from its Regional Office Properties. As of the same date and including 19 properties owned through unconsolidated joint ventures, COPT’s core portfolio of 184 office and data center shell properties encompassed 21.5 million square feet and was 94.8% leased; the Company also owned one wholesale data center with a capacity of 19.25 megawatts that was 86.7% leased.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release may contain “forward-looking” statements, as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that are based on the Company’s current expectations, estimates and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the Company. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “plan” or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate. Although the Company believes that the expectations, estimates and projections reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions at the time made, the Company can give no assurance that these expectations, estimates and projections will be achieved. Future events and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements.

The areas of risk that may affect these expectations, estimates and projections include, but are not limited to, those risks described in Item 1A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Category: Quarterly Results

Source: Corporate Office Properties Trust

1. Represents Defense/IT Locations and Regional Office properties.
2. Represents net debt plus the total liquidation preference of preferred equity as of period end divided by in-place adjusted EBITDA for the period, as annualized (i.e. three month periods are multiplied by four).
3. Represents net debt less costs incurred on properties under development that were 100% leased as of period end plus the total liquidation preference of preferred equity divided by in-place adjusted EBITDA for the period, as annualized (i.e. three month periods are multiplied by four).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211028006142/en/

IR Contacts:
Stephanie Krewson-Kelly
443-285-5453
stephanie.kelly@copt.com

Michelle Layne
443-285-5452
michelle.layne@copt.com

Source: Corporate Office Properties Trust

Released October 28, 2021