(Source: Business Wire)

Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY), an owner, developer, and operator of
shopping centers, announced today its financial results for the three
and nine months ended September 30, 2009.
Highlights
Reported third quarter FFO of $0.36 per share as compared to a loss of
$0.13 per share last year
Same property NOI decreased by 4.5%
Occupancy was 90.1%, down 60 basis points as compared to June 30, 2009
Acquired Westbury Plaza for $103.7 million
Increased and narrowed 2009 FFO guidance to $1.65 to $1.70 per share
Board adopted a new reduced dividend policy effective in the fourth
quarter 2009
"In a challenging environment, we're pleased with how we have performed,
delivering results that met our expectations," said Jeff Olson, Chief
Executive Officer of Equity One. "We're seeing signs of increased demand
in the leasing market, and it appears that the financial markets are
improving."
"I am also extremely pleased that we are executing on an exciting
investment in the New York City metropolitan area -- Westbury Plaza. This
site is in one of the premiere retail corridors in the country with
opportunities to create additional value."
Financial Highlights
In the third quarter 2009, Equity One generated Funds From Operations
(FFO) of $31.3 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, as compared to FFO
for the same period in 2008 in which a loss of $9.9 million, or $0.13
per diluted share, was recorded. The third quarter 2009 FFO results
include gains of $6.3 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, from the sale
of our investment in equity securities and $2.3 million, or $0.03 per
diluted share, of gains from the sale of two outparcels. The third
quarter 2008 results included a non-cash impairment charge related to
the Company's investment in DIM Vastgoed, N.V. ("DIM") amounting to
$32.7 million, or $0.45 per diluted share.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, Equity One reported FFO of
$118.4 million, or $1.43 per diluted share, which includes $0.40 per
diluted share of one-time items pertaining to the bargain purchase gain
from our acquisition of a controlling stake of DIM in the first quarter
and the gain from our investment in equity securities recorded in the
third quarter. FFO for the same nine-month period in 2008 was $46.0
million, or $0.63 per diluted share, including the DIM non-cash
impairment charge amounting to $0.44 per diluted share.
Net income attributable to Equity One was $15.3 million and earnings per
diluted share was $0.17 for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 as
compared to a net loss of $21.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, for
third quarter 2008. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, net
income attributable to Equity One was $74.5 million, or $0.89 per
diluted share. This compares to net income attributable to Equity One of
$28.9 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the nine months ended
September 30, 2008. The 2008 results for the nine months included $18.5
million of gains from the sale of seven properties to our joint venture
with Global Retail Investors, LLC and the DIM non-cash impairment charge
of $32.7 million.
Operating Highlights
As of September 30, 2009, occupancy for the company's core portfolio was
90.1%, down 60 basis points on a same property basis as compared to June
30, 2009 and down 200 basis points as compared to September 30, 2008.
For the third quarter of 2009, same-property net operating income
declined 4.5% compared to the same period in 2008, primarily due to
higher bad debt and an accrual adjustment booked in the third quarter of
2008 that had the effect of reducing our prior year expense. Excluding
these two factors, our same property NOI would have decreased by 1.8%.
During the third quarter of 2009, the company executed 43 new leases in
its core portfolio totaling 198,732 square feet at an average rental
rate of $13.18 per square foot, representing a 24.4% increase from prior
rents on a same-space cash basis. Also during the third quarter, the
company renewed 81 leases in its core portfolio for 224,348 square feet
for an average rental rate decline of 3.2% to $12.82 per square foot on
a cash basis. In addition, the company renewed seven leases in its core
portfolio for 141,142 square feet subject to tenant renewal options for
an average rental rate increase of 2.2% to $4.75 per square foot on a
cash basis.
Acquisition Activity
On October 29, 2009, Equity One closed on the acquisition of Westbury
Plaza for approximately $103.7 million. Westbury Plaza is a 400,000
square foot shopping center situated in the center of Nassau County,
Long Island. It is anchored by Walmart and Costco. The purchase price
reflects a capitalization rate of approximately 8%.
"The acquisition of Westbury Plaza clearly was a very important event
for Equity One," said Tom Caputo, President of Equity One. "We are
delighted we had the opportunity to purchase such a high quality asset
as we enter the New York market. The property is extremely well located
in arguably one of the best retail markets in the Northeast. The
productivity of the tenants at Westbury Plaza is higher than any center
I have seen in over 25 years in the acquisition business."
Development and Redevelopment Activities
At September 30, 2009, Equity One had approximately $35.6 million of
active development projects and approximately $8.8 million of
redevelopment projects underway. The estimated remaining cost to
complete these projects is approximately $3.1 million.
Balance Sheet Highlights
At September 30, 2009, Equity One's total market capitalization equaled
$2.4 billion, comprising 86.7 million shares of common stock (on a fully
diluted basis) valued at $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion of net debt
(excluding any debt premium/discount and net of cash), and our ratio of
net debt to total market capitalization was 43.8%.
As of September 30, 2009, Equity One had $20.0 million outstanding under
its $227 million unsecured line of credit.
FFO and Earnings Guidance
Based on its activities and the results recognized through the third
quarter, Equity One is revising its 2009 guidance of FFO from the
previous range of $1.55 to $1.63, to a new range of $1.65 to $1.70 per
diluted share. Previous guidance for net income per diluted share of
$0.92 to $0.98 is being revised to $0.98 to $1.01. These estimates take
into account the impact of the company's April 2009 equity offering,
gains on the extinguishment of debt, gains on the sale of equity
securities, and land sale gains recognized during the nine months ended
September 30, 2009. In addition, this guidance assumes additional gains
on outparcels of approximately $0.02 per diluted share during the fourth
quarter of 2009 and includes the projected impact of the acquisition of
Westbury. Management expects that annual same-property NOI growth will
be between -3% to -4% for 2009.
The following table provides the reconciliation of the range of
estimated net income per diluted share to estimated FFO per diluted
share for the full year 2009:
Low High
Estimated net income attributable to Equity One $0.98 $1.01
Adjustments:
Rental property depreciation and amortization including pro rata share of joint ventures 0.65 0.67
Loss on sale of income-producing properties 0.02 0.02
Estimated Funds from Operations (FFO) attributable to Equity One $1.65 $1.70
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Board Adopts New Dividend Policy
Effective Fourth Quarter 2009
The board of directors of Equity One voted today to revise the company's
dividend policy and declared a cash dividend of $0.22 per share of its
common stock for the quarter ending December 31, 2009, payable on that
date to stockholders of record on December 15, 2009. The $0.22 per share
dividend represents an annualized rate of $0.88 per share compared to
the previous annual dividend of $1.20 per share.
"We believe our new dividend policy better aligns our capital allocation
with our strategic growth objectives while still maintaining an
attractive dividend yield," said Mr. Olson.
ACCOUNTING AND OTHER DISCLOSURES
We believe Funds from Operations ("FFO") (combined with the primary GAAP
presentations) is a useful, supplemental measure of our operating
performance that is a recognized metric used extensively by the real
estate industry, particularly REITs. The National Association of Real
Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT") stated in its April 2002 White Paper
on Funds from Operations, "Historical cost accounting for real estate
assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets
diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have
historically risen or fallen with market conditions, many industry
investors have considered presentations of operating results for real
estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient
by themselves."
FFO, as defined by NAREIT, is "net income (computed in accordance with
GAAP), excluding gains (or losses) from sales of depreciable property,
plus depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for
unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures." NAREIT states further
that "adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures
will be calculated to reflect funds from operations on the same basis."
We believe that financial analysts, investors and stockholders are
better served by the presentation of comparable period operating results
generated from our FFO measure. Our method of calculating FFO may be
different from methods used by other REITs and, accordingly, may not be
comparable to such other REITs.
FFO is presented to assist investors in analyzing our operating
performance. FFO (i) does not represent cash flow from operations as
defined by GAAP, (ii) is not indicative of cash available to fund all
cash flow needs, including the ability to make distributions, (iii) is
not an alternative to cash flow as a measure of liquidity, and (iv)
should not be considered as an alternative to net income (which is
determined in accordance with GAAP) for purposes of evaluating our
operating performance. We believe net income is the most directly
comparable GAAP measure to FFO.
CONFERENCE CALL/WEB CAST INFORMATION
We will host a conference call on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 9:00
a.m. EST to review the 2009 third quarter earnings and operating
results. Stockholders, analysts and other interested parties can access
the earnings call by dialing (866) 700-7101 (U.S./Canada) or (617)
213-8837 (international) using pass code 14189553. The call will also be
web cast and can be accessed in a listen-only mode on Equity One's web
site at www.equityone.net.
If you are unable to participate during the call, a replay will be
available on Equity One's web site for future review. You may also
access the telephone replay by dialing (888) 286-8010 (U.S./Canada) or
(617) 801-6888 (international) using pass code 82523080 through November
12, 2009.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For a copy of our third quarter supplemental information package, please
access the "Investors" section of our web site at www.equityone.net.
To be included in our e-mail distributions for press releases and other
company notices, please send your e-mail address to Michele Villano at mvillano@equityone.net.
ABOUT EQUITY ONE, INC.
As of September 30, 2009, Equity One owned or had interests in 180
properties, consisting of 166 shopping centers comprising approximately
18.9 million square feet, four projects in development/redevelopment,
six non-retail properties, and four parcels of land. Additionally,
Equity One had joint venture interests in twelve shopping centers and
one office building totaling approximately 1.9 million square feet.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain matters discussed by Equity One in this press release
constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal
securities laws. Although Equity One believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements is based upon
reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that these expectations
will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from current expectations include changes in macro-economic
conditions and the demand for retail space in the states in which Equity
One owns properties; the continuing financial success of Equity One's
current and prospective tenants; continuing supply constraints in its
geographic markets; the availability of properties for acquisition; the
success of its efforts to lease up vacant space; the effects of natural
and other disasters; the ability of Equity One successfully to integrate
the operations and systems of acquired companies and properties; and
other risks, which are described in Equity One's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
EQUITY ONE, INC.