UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM | ||
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31 , 2022
or
For the transition period from _____ to _____
Commission file number 000-54691
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Yes ☐ No ☑
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| ☑ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||||||||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | |||||||||
| Emerging growth company | |||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☑
As of June 30, 2022, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $3.9 billion, based on a closing price of $33.41 as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
As of February 1, 2023, there were approximately 117.3 million outstanding shares of common stock of the registrant.
PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY, INC. FORM 10-K
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PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY DECEMBER 31, 2022 FORM 10-K | 1 | ||||||||||
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (“we,” the “Company,” “our,” or “us”) other than historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively with the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, the “Acts”). These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about the industry and markets in which we operate, and beliefs of, and assumptions made by, management of our company and involve uncertainties that could significantly affect our financial results. We intend for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the applicable safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Acts. Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “can,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “continue,” “possible,” “initiatives,” “focus,” “seek,” “objective,” “goal,” “strategy,” “plan,” “potential,” “potentially,” “preparing,” “projected,” “future,” “long-term,” “once,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “uncertainty,” or other similar words. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date this report is filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Such statements include, but are not limited to: (a) statements about our plans, strategies, initiatives, and prospects; (b) statements about the COVID-19 pandemic; (c) statements about our underwritten incremental yields; and (d) statements about our future results of operations, capital expenditures, and liquidity. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated, including, without limitation: (i) changes in national, regional, or local economic climates; (ii) local market conditions, including an oversupply of space in, or a reduction in demand for, properties similar to those in our portfolio; (iii) vacancies, changes in market rental rates, and the need to periodically repair, renovate, and re-let space; (iv) competition from other available shopping centers and the attractiveness of properties in our portfolio to our tenants; (v) the financial stability of our tenants, including, without limitation, their ability to pay rent; (vi) our ability to pay down, refinance, restructure, or extend our indebtedness as it becomes due; (vii) increases in our borrowing costs as a result of changes in interest rates and other factors; (viii) potential liability for environmental matters; (ix) damage to our properties from catastrophic weather and other natural events, and the physical effects of climate change; (x) our ability and willingness to maintain our qualification as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) in light of economic, market, legal, tax, and other considerations; (xi) changes in tax, real estate, environmental, and zoning laws; (xii) information technology security breaches; (xiii) our corporate responsibility initiatives; (xiv) loss of key executives; (xv) the concentration of our portfolio in a limited number of industries, geographies, or investments; (xvi) the economic, political, and social impact of, and uncertainty relating to, the COVID-19 pandemic; (xvii) our ability to re-lease our properties on the same or better terms, or at all, in the event of non-renewal or in the event we exercise our right to replace an existing tenant; (xviii) the loss or bankruptcy of our tenants; (xix) to the extent we are seeking to dispose of properties, our ability to do so at attractive prices or at all; (xx) the impact of inflation on us and on our tenants; and (xxi) any of the other risks included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including those set forth in “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors”. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of our performance in future periods.
Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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w PART I | ||
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
All references to “Notes” throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K refer to the footnotes to the consolidated financial statements in “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”.
OVERVIEW—Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (“we,” the “Company,” “PECO,” “our,” or “us”), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) founded in 1991, is one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of omni-channel grocery-anchored shopping centers. Additionally, we operate a third-party investment management business providing property management and advisory services to two unconsolidated institutional joint ventures, in which we have a partial ownership interest, and one private fund (collectively, the “Managed Funds”). The majority of our revenues are lease revenues derived from our real estate investments. Our portfolio primarily consists of neighborhood centers anchored by the #1 or #2 grocer tenants by sales within their respective formats by trade area. As of December 31, 2022, our portfolio was 97.4% leased. Our tenants, who we refer to as “Neighbors,” are a mix of national, regional, and local retailers that primarily provide necessity-based goods and services. We believe our locations are in fundamentally strong demographic markets throughout the United States. Our brick and mortar assets positively contribute to our Neighbors’ omni-channel strategies and act as the last mile delivery solution.
We were formed as a Maryland corporation in October 2009 and have elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Substantially all of our business is conducted through Phillips Edison Grocery Center Operating Partnership I, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”), a Delaware limited partnership formed in December 2009. We are a limited partner of the Operating Partnership, and our wholly-owned subsidiary, Phillips Edison Grocery Center OP GP I LLC, is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership.
As of December 31, 2022, we wholly-owned 271 shopping centers. Additionally, we owned a 14% interest in Grocery Retail Partners I LLC (“GRP I”), a joint venture with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, which owned 20 shopping centers, and a 20% equity interest in Necessity Retail Partners (“NRP”), a joint venture with an affiliate of TPG Real Estate. In May 2022, we sold the final property in our NRP joint venture. In total, our managed portfolio of wholly-owned shopping centers and those owned through our unconsolidated joint ventures comprised approximately 33.3 million square feet located in 31 states.
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES—Our business objective is to own, operate, and manage well-occupied grocery-anchored shopping centers in order to deliver long-term growth and value creation to all stakeholders while acting as a responsible corporate citizen. We seek to achieve this objective by generating cash flows, income growth, and capital appreciation for our stockholders through our differentiated and focused strategy, responsible balance sheet management, and integrated operating platform. Our goal is to create great grocery-anchored shopping experiences and improve our communities, one center at a time.
Differentiated and Focused Strategy—We believe our differentiated strategy drives strong financial and operational performance and future growth, including showing resiliency during economic down cycles.
•Omni-Channel Grocery-Anchored Neighborhood Shopping Centers—We focus on investing in omni-channel shopping centers anchored by the #1 or #2 grocer by sales within their respective trade area. As of December 31, 2022, for our wholly-owned shopping centers, 86% of our annualized base rent (“ABR”) was generated from shopping centers anchored by such grocers. Grocery-anchored shopping centers generally have strong foot traffic leading to high demand for leasing Neighbor spaces, which enhances our ability to increase lease revenue. We target investments with attractive going-in yields and growth potential in markets with demographic profiles that support necessity-based retail concepts.
•Neighbor-base—We believe our centers act as the last mile delivery solution for our omni-channel Neighbors. As of December 31, 2022, approximately 71% of our ABR, including the pro rata portion attributable to properties owned through our unconsolidated joint ventures, is generated from Neighbors providing necessity-based goods and services. We believe our focus on necessity-based goods and services retailers limits our exposure to distressed retailers and allows us to demonstrate resiliency during times of real estate and economic down cycles.
•Targeted Portfolio—We focus on owning centers in trade areas with favorable demographics that align with those of leading grocers. Further, we seek to invest in small format centers where leasing activity is concentrated in smaller tenant spaces and limits exposure to high-risk retailers. We believe that smaller centers provide higher growth potential because they enjoy a positive leasing dynamic as: (i) we believe retailer demand is strongest for inline space, which contains less than 10,000 square feet of gross leasable area; (ii) there is less exposure to big box retailers, which we believe have higher risk because they require larger capital expenditures and have fewer leasing opportunities; and (iii) smaller centers typically have lower capital expenditures. We intend to grow our portfolio through targeted acquisitions that align with our differentiated and focused strategy.
•Macroeconomic Trends—We continually monitor the macroeconomic environment to identify trends that are positive for the growth potential of our shopping centers. We believe recent trends such as: (i) population shifts from urban to suburban communities in certain geographic locations; (ii) the increase in work from home initiatives; (iii) the importance of last mile delivery; (iv) the increase in “shop local” trends; and (v) low supply and lack of new construction will create additional leasing demand and growth opportunities for our shopping centers.
Balance Sheet Management Positioned for External Growth—Our strategy is to grow our portfolio by pursuing acquisitions in a disciplined manner, while maintaining an attractive leverage profile and flexible balance sheet to preserve our investment grade rating. We believe this is a critical part of maintaining access to multiple forms of capital, including common stock, unsecured debt, bank debt, and mortgage debt, to maximize availability and minimize our overall cost of capital.
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•Funding External Growth—We believe our effective shelf registration statement and At-the-Market offering (“ATM”) program allow us to access equity and debt capital previously not available to us, further enhancing our financial flexibility and external growth potential. We believe our investment grade balance sheet and our available liquidity of $709.4 million under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility provide us with the financial capacity to pursue external growth initiatives in an accretive and prudently capitalized manner. Additionally, our investment management platform enables us to source and manage incremental sources of capital through unconsolidated joint ventures, which provide us incremental fee revenue opportunities.
•Debt Maturity Profile—We believe we have maintained an appropriately staggered debt maturity profile, which will position us for long-term growth. Our outstanding debt obligations are composed primarily of (i) unsecured debt, including term loans, senior notes, and a revolving credit facility, and (ii) secured mortgage debt.
Internal Growth Through Our Integrated Operating Platform—We believe our internally-staffed, vertically-integrated operating platform to lease and manage omni-channel grocery-anchored neighborhood shopping centers will continue to provide stability and generate growth in our existing portfolio, optimizing returns for our stockholders.
•Leasing—Our national footprint of experienced and locally-smart leasing professionals is dedicated to increasing net operating income (“NOI”) at our centers by: (i) maximizing rental rates while improving the credit profile of our rental revenue; (ii) attracting high-quality retailers while improving the merchandising mix; (iii) capitalizing on below-market rent opportunities by increasing rents as leases expire; (iv) executing leases with contractual rent increases; and (v) increasing occupancy.
•Property Management Services—We believe we add value by overseeing all aspects of operations at our properties. Our property managers maintain a local presence in order to effectively manage costs while maintaining a pleasant, clean, and safe environment where retailers can be successful and customers can enjoy a great shopping experience. Further, we provide our Neighbors with responsive customer service, marketing tools, as well as other sophisticated solutions, such as a centralized accounting, billing, and tax review platform to facilitate our daily operations.
•Development and Redevelopment—Our team of seasoned professionals identify opportunities to unlock additional value at our properties through investments in our outparcel and redevelopment program. Our strategies include outparcel development, footprint reconfiguration, anchor repositioning, and anchor expansion, among others. These projects create opportunities to increase the overall yield and value of our properties, which we believe will allow us to deliver long-term growth and value creation to all stakeholders while creating great grocery-anchored shopping center experiences.
COMPETITION—Our business is inherently competitive. We believe that the competition is highly fragmented. We are subject to considerable competition in both seeking shopping centers to acquire and attracting and retaining Neighbors in our existing shopping centers. We compete with institutional investors and other REITs, as well as local, regional, and national owner-operators for property acquisitions. We compete with other properties including malls, lifestyle centers, power centers, community centers, neighborhood centers, free-standing retail, and main street retail in attracting new Neighbors and retaining existing Neighbors when their leases expire. The competition for Neighbors varies depending on the characteristics of each property.
We believe that the principal competitive factors in attracting and retaining Neighbors are the quality of the grocery anchor, location, trade area demographics, tenant mix, physical condition of the shopping center, and occupancy cost. These factors combine to determine the level of occupancy and rental rates that we are able to achieve at our properties. We believe that the quality of our omni-channel grocery-anchored shopping centers enables us to compete effectively for Neighbors. We believe that we maintain a competitive position in the acquisition market due to our track record and positive reputation.
SEGMENT DATA—Our principal business is the ownership and operation of community and neighborhood shopping centers. We do not distinguish our principal business or group our operations by geography or size for purposes of measuring performance. Accordingly, we have presented our results as a single reportable segment.
COMPLIANCE WITH GOVERNMENT REGULATION—Compliance with various governmental regulations has an impact on our business, including our capital expenditures, earnings, and competitive position. The impact of these governmental regulations can be material to our business. We incur costs to monitor and take action to comply with governmental regulations that are applicable to our business, which include, among others: federal securities laws and regulations; REIT and other tax laws and regulations; environmental and health and safety laws and regulations; local zoning, usage and other regulations relating to real property; and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (“ADA”). See “Item 1A. Risk Factors” below for a discussion of material risks to us (including those, to the extent material to our competitive position, relating to governmental regulations) and see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this filing on Form 10-K, together with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes, for a discussion of material information relevant to an assessment of our financial condition and results of operations (including, to the extent material, the effects that compliance with governmental regulations may have upon our capital expenditures and earnings).
As of December 31, 2022, we are not aware of any environmental conditions or material costs of complying with environmental or other government regulations that would have a material adverse effect on our overall business. However, it is possible that we are not aware of, or may become subject to potential environmental liabilities or material costs of complying with government regulations due to changes in requirements or otherwise that could be material to our business.
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CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY—Being a responsible corporate citizen has always been integral to our corporate strategy and we operate under a clear mission statement of “creating great omni-channel grocery-anchored shopping center experiences and improving our communities, one shopping center at a time”. We strive to have a strong corporate culture based on our four core values - Do the Right Thing, Have Fun and Get it Done, Think Big Act Small, Always Keep Learning – which are designed to drive accountability in all aspects of our business with the overarching goal of achieving long-term growth and value creation for our stakeholders. We recognize that successful corporate responsibility is both internally and externally focused. Our General Counsel has overall responsibility for leading and managing our Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) Team and reporting on our corporate responsibility and ESG matters to our Board of Directors (the “Board”). The ESG Team, comprised of department heads from Portfolio Management, Construction, Property Management, Leasing, Investor Relations, Marketing, Human Resources, and Legal is tasked with conducting more detailed materiality and risk assessments and identifying opportunities with measurable key performance indicators and enhanced reporting, with the overall goal of driving long-term growth and value creation for all of our stakeholders.
HUMAN CAPITAL—As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately 290 associates located in 20 states across the country, with concentrations in our corporate offices in Cincinnati, Ohio; Park City, Utah; and Atlanta, Georgia. Approximately 52% of our workforce is female and 48% is male. Our senior leadership team is 18% female and 82% male, while manager roles and above are approximately 36% female and 64% male. For the year ended December 31, 2022, our overall turnover rate was 16%, with voluntary turnover being 13%, compared to our previous three year overall turnover average of 16% with a voluntary turnover rate of 11%.
We have a highly engaged team of dedicated associates, as reflected in our sixth consecutive recognition as a top place to work by the Cincinnati Enquirer in 2022. One way we keep a pulse on engagement is by regularly surveying our associates about a variety of company topics. In 2022, we had a 96% participation rate in our associate experience survey that was conducted utilizing a third-party tool. Results indicated a 90% engagement index score. Additionally, our Board, and specifically our Compensation Committee, is actively engaged and oversees our human capital management practices.
We believe that the following components of human capital management are important:
Culture and Inclusion—We believe our team of highly engaged associates plays a key role in achieving long-term success for our stakeholders. We are committed to a company culture that is collaborative, inclusive, and that provides significant opportunities for professional and personal development. Our culture is shaped by our core values (Do The Right Thing, Have Fun and Get it Done, Think Big Act Small, and Always Keep Learning) that empower and encourage our associates to “think and operate like owners.” Our strong culture enables us to attract, develop and retain high performing and talented individuals who we believe help us to drive our business strategies and objectives, including attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders. We provide associates with competitive salaries, bonuses, incentives, and opportunities for equity ownership. One unique aspect of our compensation philosophy is that each associate in the Company, regardless of level or tenure, has the opportunity for equity grants on an annual basis. During the year ended December 31, 2022, 100% of eligible associates received grants of service-based restricted stock units in the Company. Upon vesting, associates will receive shares of common stock, which encourages our associates to “think and operate like owners” of the Company.
Our commitment to an inclusive work environment is reinforced by two associate-led business resource groups: PECO Multicultural Opportunities, Resources & Education (“PECO MORE”), and PECO Networking Opportunities for Women (“PECO NOW”). PECO MORE is dedicated to furthering diversity and inclusion within the Company, the communities that we serve, and the commercial real estate industry. PECO MORE’s programming has focused on providing education, raising awareness, and hosting events around Veterans Day, the Chinese New Year, Black History Month, Pride Month, and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). PECO NOW was recognized for excellence by the Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (“ICSC”) in 2016. PECO NOW’s mission statement focuses on fostering a community where every woman at PECO understands her value, is inspired to share her perspectives, and has courage to make decisions. PECO NOW has focused on increasing leadership opportunities for numerous female associates and sponsoring collaborative networking events.
As part of our external community efforts in 2022, we continued our partnership with ICSC and their Launch Academy, which was designed to recruit and prepare racially or ethnically diverse undergraduate students for a career in the commercial real estate industry. Our support included hosting two Launch Academy interns and sponsoring a professional development session for all program participants. PECO was proud to fund a $5,000 ICSC Foundation scholarship to an underrepresented student with interest in pursuing a career in real estate and the shopping center industry. In addition to our support of ICSC’s early career development efforts, we hosted interns in our Cincinnati and Atlanta offices. Of the 32 students we hired in 2022 for an internship position, 50% either worked for PECO for multiple semesters or were converted to full-time hires. Almost 30% of the 2022 PECO internship class identified as racially or ethnically diverse. The PECO internship program has been a key element in our early career talent pipeline.
Learning and Development—“Always Keep Learning” is one of our core values. We are committed to continuous learning and both personal and professional development of our associates as part of what we call PECO XP, or the PECO Experience. During 2022, our associates took part in over 4,700 hours of internal training hours across the Company. Trainings ranged from business oriented sessions such as finance for non-finance associates and cybersecurity awareness to department specific soft-skill training utilizing the DiSC© model for increased communication, empathy, and team building among associates. A cohort style frontline leadership program was launched and completed during the year. This program focused on developing managerial skills and providing support for first-level managers promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, two female focused development programs were introduced at PECO in 2022. One was an internally created program sponsored by PECO NOW with the primary goal of developing future female leaders in the organization by creating opportunities for collaboration, networking, personal development, and innovation. The other was a cohort style program for females currently in mid-level leadership roles designed to create community, share knowledge, enhance leadership skills, and provide additional access to senior leadership team members.
PECO has continued our commitment to continuous learning and development in 2022 with our annual Company-wide talent management process, where all associates are expected to set development goals for the upcoming year. Managers are expected to hold coaching conversations designed to focus on career progression and put action items in place to keep each
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associate moving forward as part of this process as well. To help facilitate this process in 2022, associates were offered an interactive workshop specifically focused on creating and enhancing their development goal plans. We also completed our first round of PECO Mentor Match, a formal mentoring program focused on career development, with over 240 recorded hours of mentorship activities.
Employee Health and Wellness—Our “Beyond Benefits” wellness program is an essential element of our culture and focuses on our associates’ emotional, physical, and financial well-being. Together with an external partner, we offer a full wellness platform providing Health Savings Account incentive contributions for biometric screening results, preventive care, and activity-based items such as step counts, nutrition tracking, and workout activity minutes. To keep associates engaged in wellness activities during 2022, we held four wellness challenges where individuals and teams could earn incentive dollars for winning competitions that tracked steps, workout activity, and nutrition. In May 2022, we also invested in a month-long focus on mental health providing a broad range of activities such as a “It’s Okay to Not be Okay” webinar, bring your dog to work day, our third annual Mental Health May 5k, and frequent communications with resources, articles, and support to raise awareness and acceptance of mental health issues. In October 2022, prior to the associate open enrollment period, we hosted a Wellness Week with a variety of fitness activities and a stress management seminar, nutrition workshop, and wellness fair. We believe all of these efforts have facilitated a continued dedication to wellness and preventive care among our associates, and as a result, we were recognized for the third year in a row by Healthiest Employers LLC as one of the "Healthiest Employers of Ohio" in 2022.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP—We believe that sustainable business practices fit with our core value of “Do The Right Thing” while at the same time acting in the best interests of all our stakeholders by having a positive impact on our properties and the communities in which they are located. We participate in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark ("GRESB") Real Estate Assessment, and our Corporate Social Responsibility Report is designed to align with a number of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our sustainability initiatives include energy efficiency, alternative power sources, water conservation, sustainable design and waste management, among others. Through these initiatives, we continue to make progress towards mitigating the environmental impact of our shopping centers.
In our ongoing commitment to sustainability, we can highlight the following achievements:
•Completion of the retrofit of 92% of our portfolio to LED, which puts us well ahead of our goal to retrofit 100% of our portfolio by 2025.
•17 solar array systems in our shopping centers producing over 4.5MW of solar energy.
•Over 55 million gallons of water conserved through the implementation of xeriscaping and our “Smart Water Control Program,” which in turn has generated cost savings of $0.9 million.
•Establishment of a new waste diversion program aimed at achieving a 25% total diversion rate at eligible properties by 2030.
•Installations of EV amenities at 22% of our properties in route to achieving our target of installing EV amenities at 50% of our eligible properties by 2030.
•WELL Health-Safety recertification for our company headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, a certification that less than 1% of buildings in the state of Ohio have received.
Our team of seasoned professionals identify opportunities in our redevelopment program, which includes outparcel development, footprint reconfiguration, anchor repositioning, and anchor expansions, among others. These projects create attractive sustainability opportunities to increase the overall value of our properties, while improving the environmental impact on our communities. Our ESG Team has been and will continue to be focused on strategic sustainability initiatives to enhance resource efficiencies as part of that program.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE—We have a steadfast commitment to operating our business with the utmost integrity and the highest ethical standards as stewards of our investors’ capital. We believe our corporate governance structure closely aligns our interests with those of our stockholders. Notable features include: (i) each of our directors is subject to election annually, and our charter prevents us from classifying our Board unless we receive prior stockholder approval; (ii) we have opted out of the business combination and control share acquisition statutes in the Maryland General Corporation Law; (iii) we do not have a stockholder rights plan; (iv) we have a Stock Ownership Policy that requires each non-associate director, our CEO and each other named executive officer to own a certain amount of our equity; and (v) our bylaws provide that our stockholders may alter or replace our bylaws upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes entitled to be cast.
We operate under the direction of our Board, which is comprised of eight directors, seven of whom are independent per applicable Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules. Our Audit, Nominating and Governance (“N&G”), and Compensation Committees are comprised solely of independent directors who complete annual self-assessments. Our Board has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines that, among other things, establish criteria and expectations for our directors, and our N&G Committee has responsibility for evaluating our Board. We are cognizant of “overboarding” and none of our directors serve on more than two other public company boards. We are compliant with the diverse director requirements under Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule, and our upcoming 2023 proxy statement will include a Board diversity matrix.
Our full Board oversees each of our corporate social responsibility, ESG and enterprise risk management programs, and our Audit Committee oversees our ethics and compliance program. Management provides periodic updates on each such program to the directors.
All of our associates are required to complete regular training on our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and our Insider Trading Policy, and provide annual Code of Conduct Compliance Certifications to our Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. Furthermore, PECO has conducted extensive cybersecurity training initiatives and campaigns, including ongoing tabletop cybersecurity exercises and cybersecurity training for all associates. Our cybersecurity initiatives also included an interview
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conducted with a Regional Cybersecurity Advisor from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security, weekly security series training, and monthly simulated phishing campaigns. We encourage our associates to speak up when our ethics standards are not being met, including by maintaining a 24-hour ethics hotline for reporting concerns and keeping our Audit Committee apprised of all reported concerns.
More information about our corporate responsibility strategy, goals and reporting is available on our website, which is not incorporated by reference and should not be considered part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS—The following table details information for our executive officers as of December 31, 2022:
| Name | Age | Title | Joined PECO | ||||||||
| Jeffrey S. Edison | 62 | Chairman & Chief Executive Officer | Co-Founder | ||||||||
| Devin I. Murphy | 62 | President | 2013 | ||||||||
| Robert F. Myers | 50 | Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President | 2003 | ||||||||
| John P. Caulfield | 42 | Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President & Treasurer | 2014 | ||||||||
| Tanya E. Brady | 55 | General Counsel, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Executive Vice President & Secretary | 2013 | ||||||||
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS—Our corporate headquarters, located at 11501 Northlake Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45249, is where we conduct a majority of our management, leasing, construction, and investment activities, as well as administrative functions such as accounting and finance. Additionally, we maintain two regional offices located in Atlanta, Georgia and Park City, Utah.
ACCESS TO COMPANY INFORMATION—We electronically file our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy and Information statements, and all amendments to those reports with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site at www.sec.gov that contains the reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including ours that are filed electronically.
We make available, free of charge, the Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports on our website, www.phillipsedison.com. These reports are available as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Also available on our website are (i) our Corporate Governance Guidelines, (ii) our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and (iii) our Whistleblower Policy. In the event of any changes to these documents, revised copies will be made available on our website. We intend to disclose on our website under “Investors - Governance - Governance Overview” any amendment to, or waiver of, any provisions of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to the directors and/or officers of the Company that would otherwise be required to be disclosed under the rules of the SEC or Nasdaq. We also disclose, and intend to disclose, on our website under “Investors” material nonpublic information to comply with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should specifically consider the following material risks in addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The occurrence of any of the following risks might have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock involves risks. You should carefully consider the risks summarized here and described more fully below.
Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
•Our revenues and cash flows will be affected by the success and economic viability of our anchor Neighbors.
•A significant percentage of our revenues is derived from non-anchor Neighbors, and our net income and ability to make distributions to stockholders may be adversely affected if these Neighbors are not successful.
•We may be unable to sell shopping centers when desired, at an attractive price, or at all, and the sale of a property could cause significant tax payments.
•We face competition and other risks in pursuing acquisition opportunities that could increase the cost of such acquisitions and/or limit our ability to grow, and we may not be able to generate expected returns or successfully integrate completed acquisitions into our existing operations.
•We share ownership of our unconsolidated joint ventures and do not have exclusive decision-making power, and as such, we are unable to ensure that our objectives will be pursued.
•Our real estate assets may decline in value and be subject to significant impairment losses, which may reduce our net income.
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•We actively reinvest in our portfolio in the form of development and redevelopment projects, which have inherent risks that could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
•The continued shift in retail sales towards e-commerce may adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
•Actual incremental unlevered yields for our development and redevelopment projects may vary from our underwritten incremental unlevered yield range.
•Pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, had, and may continue to have, a negative effect on our and our Neighbors’ businesses, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and liquidity.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness and Liquidity
•We have substantial indebtedness, and we may need to incur additional indebtedness, including recourse debt, in the future, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and Organization
•We and our consolidated subsidiary, the Operating Partnership, entered into tax protection agreements with certain protected partners, which may limit the Operating Partnership’s ability to sell or otherwise dispose of certain shopping centers and may require the Operating Partnership to maintain certain debt levels that otherwise would not be required to operate its business.
Risks Related to Our REIT Status and Other Tax Risks
•Failure to qualify as a REIT would cause us to be taxed as a regular C corporation, which would substantially reduce funds available for distributions to stockholders.
•If the Operating Partnership fails to qualify as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would fail to qualify as a REIT and would suffer adverse consequences.
•Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities or liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
Risks Related to Business Continuity
•We and our Neighbors face risks relating to cybersecurity attacks, which could cause loss of confidential information and other disruptions to business operations, and compliance with new laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity and privacy may result in substantial costs and may decrease cash available for distributions.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
•The market price and trading volume of shares of our common stock may be volatile.
•The number of shares of our common stock available for future issuance or sale could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
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Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
Our revenues and cash flows will be affected by the success and economic viability of our anchor Neighbors.
Anchor Neighbors (a Neighbor occupying 10,000 or more square feet) occupy large stores in our shopping centers, pay a significant portion of the total rent at a property, and contribute to the success of other Neighbors by attracting shoppers to the property. Our revenues and cash flows may be adversely affected by the loss of revenues and additional costs in the event a significant anchor Neighbor: (i) becomes bankrupt or insolvent; (ii) experiences a downturn in its business; (iii) defaults on its lease; (iv) decides not to renew its lease as it expires; (v) renews its lease at lower rental rates and/or requires tenant improvements; or (vi) renews its lease but reduces its store size, which results in down-time and additional tenant improvement costs to us to re-lease the space. Some anchors have the right to vacate their space and may prevent us from re-tenanting by continuing to comply and pay rent in accordance with their lease agreement. Vacated anchor space, including space owned by the anchor, can reduce rental revenues generated by the shopping center in other spaces because of the loss of the departed anchor's customer drawing power. In the event that we are unable to re-lease the vacated space to a new anchor Neighbor in such situations, we may incur additional expenses in order to re-model the space to be able to re-lease the space to more than one Neighbor.
If a significant Neighbor vacates a property, co-tenancy clauses in select lease contracts may allow other Neighbors to modify or terminate their rent or lease obligations. Co-tenancy clauses have several variants: (i) they may allow a Neighbor to postpone a store opening if certain other Neighbors fail to open their stores; (ii) they may allow a Neighbor to close its store prior to lease expiration if another Neighbor closes its store prior to lease expiration; or (iii) they may allow a Neighbor to pay reduced levels of rent until a certain number of Neighbors open their stores within the same shopping center.
The leases of some anchor Neighbors may permit the anchor Neighbor to transfer its lease to another retailer. The transfer to a new anchor Neighbor could cause customer traffic in the shopping center to decrease and thereby reduce the potential income generated by that shopping center. A lease transfer to a new anchor Neighbor could also allow other Neighbors to make reduced rental payments or to terminate their leases.
A significant percentage of our revenues is derived from non-anchor Neighbors, and our net income and ability to make distributions to stockholders may be adversely affected if these Neighbors are not successful.
A significant percentage of our revenues is derived from non-anchor Neighbors, some of which may be more vulnerable to negative economic conditions as they typically have more limited resources than anchor Neighbors. Significant Neighbor distress across our portfolio could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, and our ability to service our debt and make distributions to our stockholders. A property may incur vacancies either by the expiration of a Neighbor lease, the continued default of a Neighbor under its lease, or the early termination of a lease by a Neighbor. In order to maintain occupancy, we may have to offer inducements, such as free rent and tenant improvements, to compete for the right type or mix of non-anchor Neighbors in our shopping centers. In addition, if we are unable to attract additional or replacement Neighbors, the resale value of the property could be diminished, even below our acquisition costs, because the market value of a particular property depends principally upon the value of the cash flows generated by the leases associated with that property.
We face considerable competition in the leasing market and may be unable to renew leases or re-lease space as leases expire. Consequently, we may be required to make rent or other concessions and/or incur significant capital expenditures to retain and attract Neighbors, which could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
There are numerous shopping venues, including other shopping centers and e-commerce, that compete with our portfolio in attracting and retaining retailers. This competition may hinder our ability to attract and retain Neighbors, leading to increased vacancy rates, reduced rents, and/or increased capital investments. For leases that renew, rental rates upon renewal may be lower than current rates. For those leases that do not renew, we may not be able to promptly re-lease the space on favorable terms or with reasonable capital investments, or at all. In these situations, our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We may be unable to collect balances due from Neighbors in bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy or insolvency of a significant Neighbor or a number of smaller Neighbors may adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows and results of operations, and our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders. Generally, under bankruptcy law, a debtor Neighbor has the legal right to reject any or all of their leases and close related stores. If the Neighbor rejects the lease, we will have a claim against the Neighbor’s bankruptcy estate. Although rent owing for the period between filing for bankruptcy and rejection of the lease may be afforded administrative expense priority and paid in full, pre-bankruptcy arrears and amounts owing under the remaining term of the lease will be afforded general unsecured claim status (absent collateral securing the claim). General unsecured claims are the last claims paid in a bankruptcy, and, therefore, funds may not be available to pay such claims in full. Moreover, amounts owing under the remaining term of the lease will be capped. As a result, it is likely that we would recover substantially less than the full value of any unsecured claims we hold. Additionally, we may incur significant expense to recover our claim and to re-lease the vacated space. In the event that a Neighbor with a significant number of leases in our shopping centers files bankruptcy and rejects its leases, we may experience a significant reduction in our revenues and may not be able to collect all pre-petition amounts owed by the bankrupt Neighbor.
We may be restricted from leasing space to certain retailers.
Some of our leases contain provisions that give a specific retailer the exclusive right to sell particular types of goods or services within that shopping center. These provisions may limit the number and types of prospective retailers to which we are able to lease space in a particular shopping center, which may result in increased costs to find a permissible retailer and decreased revenues if one or more spaces sit vacant or we have to accept lower rental rates or a less qualified retailer to fill the space.
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We may be unable to sell shopping centers when desired, at an attractive price, or at all, and the sale of a property could cause significant tax payments.
Our shopping centers, including related tangible and intangible assets, represent the majority of our total consolidated assets, and they may not be readily convertible to cash. As a result, our ability to sell one or more of our shopping centers, including shopping centers held in unconsolidated joint ventures, in response to changes in economic, industry, or other conditions, may be limited. The real estate market is affected by many factors that are beyond our control, including, but not limited to general economic conditions, availability and terms of financing, interest rates, supply and demand for space, and other factors. There may be less demand for lower quality shopping centers that we have identified for ultimate disposition in markets with uncertain economic or retail environments, and where buyers are more reliant on the availability of third-party mortgage financing. If we want to sell a property, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to dispose of it in the desired time period or at all, or that the sale price of a property will be attractive at the relevant time or even exceed the carrying value of our investment. Moreover, if a property is mortgaged, we may not be able to obtain a release of the lien on that property without the payment of a substantial prepayment penalty, which may restrict our ability to dispose of the property, even though the sale might otherwise be desirable.
Some of our shopping centers have a low tax basis, which may result in a taxable gain on sale. We intend to utilize tax-deferred exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, (the “IRC”), to mitigate taxable income (“Section 1031 Exchanges”); however, there can be no assurance that we will identify exchange shopping centers that meet our investment objectives for acquisitions. In the event that we do not utilize Section 1031 Exchanges, we may be required to distribute the gain proceeds to stockholders or pay income tax, which may reduce our cash flows available to fund our commitments and distributions to stockholders. Moreover, it is possible that future legislation could be enacted that could modify or repeal the laws with respect to Section 1031 Exchanges, which could make it more difficult or impossible for us to dispose of shopping centers on a tax-deferred basis.
We face competition and other risks in pursuing acquisition opportunities that could increase the cost of such acquisitions and/or limit our ability to grow, and we may not be able to generate expected returns or successfully integrate completed acquisitions into our existing operations.
We continue to evaluate the market for acquisition opportunities, and we may acquire shopping centers when we believe strategic opportunities exist. Our ability to acquire shopping centers on favorable terms and successfully integrate, operate, reposition, or redevelop them is subject to several risks. We may be unable to acquire a desired property because of competition from other real estate investors, including from other well-capitalized REITs and institutional investment funds. Even if we are able to acquire a desired property, competition from such investors may significantly increase the purchase price. We may also abandon acquisition activities after expending resources to pursue such opportunities. Once we acquire new shopping centers, these shopping centers may not yield expected returns for several reasons, including: (i) failure to achieve expected occupancy and/or rent levels within the projected time frame, if at all; (ii) inability to successfully integrate new shopping centers into existing operations; and (iii) exposure to fluctuations in the general economy, including due to the time lag between signing definitive documentation to acquire a new property and the closing of the acquisition. If any of these events occur, the cost of the acquisition may exceed initial estimates or the expected returns may not achieve those originally contemplated, which could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
We share ownership of our unconsolidated joint ventures and do not have exclusive decision-making power, and as such, we are unable to ensure that our objectives will be pursued.
We have invested capital, and may invest additional capital, in unconsolidated joint ventures (instead of directly acquiring wholly-owned assets), for which we do not have exclusive decision-making power over the development, financing, leasing, management, and other aspects of these investments. As a result, the institutional joint venture partners might have interests or goals that are inconsistent with ours, take action contrary to our interests, or otherwise impede our objectives. Conflicts arising between us and our partners may be difficult to manage and/or resolve and it could be difficult to manage or otherwise monitor the existing business arrangements.
In addition, unconsolidated joint venture arrangements may decrease our ability to manage risk and implicate additional risks, such as: (i) potentially inferior financial capacity, diverging business goals and strategies and the need for our venture partners’ continued cooperation; (ii) the joint venture partners might become bankrupt, suffer a deterioration in their creditworthiness, or fail to fund their share of required capital contributions; (iii) our inability to take actions with respect to the unconsolidated joint ventures’ activities that we believe are favorable to us if our institutional joint venture partners do not agree; (iv) our inability to control the legal entities that have title to the real estate associated with the joint ventures; (v) our lenders may not be easily able to sell our joint venture assets and investments or may view them less favorably as collateral, which could negatively affect our liquidity and capital resources; (vi) our institutional joint venture partners can take actions that we may not be able to anticipate or prevent, which could result in negative impacts on our debt and equity; and (vii) our institutional joint venture partners’ business decisions or other actions or omissions may result in harm to our reputation or adversely affect the value of our investments.
Our real estate assets may decline in value and be subject to significant impairment losses, which may reduce our net income.
Our real estate properties are carried at cost less depreciation unless circumstances indicate that the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable. We routinely evaluate whether there are any impairment indicators, including property operating performance, property occupancy trends, and actual marketing or listing price of properties being targeted for disposition, such that the value of the real estate properties (including any related tangible or intangible assets or liabilities) may not be recoverable. If, through our evaluation, we determine that a given asset exhibits one or more such indicators, we then compare the current carrying value of the asset to the estimated undiscounted cash flows that are directly associated with the use and ultimate disposition of the asset. Our estimated cash flows are based on several key assumptions, including rental rates, costs of Neighbor improvements, leasing commissions, anticipated holding periods, and assumptions regarding the residual value upon disposition, including the estimated exit capitalization rate. These key assumptions are subjective in nature and may differ materially from actual results. Changes in our disposition strategy or changes in the marketplace may
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alter the holding period of an asset or asset group, which may result in an impairment loss and such loss may be material to our financial condition or operating performance. To the extent that the carrying value of the asset exceeds the estimated undiscounted cash flows, an impairment loss is recognized equal to the excess of carrying value over fair value.
The fair value of real estate assets is subjective and is determined through the use of comparable sales information and other market data if available. These subjective assessments have a direct effect on our net income because recording an impairment charge results in an immediate negative adjustment to net income, which may be material. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we incurred impairment charges of $0.3 million and $6.8 million, respectively, related to real estate assets that were under contract or actively being marketed for sale at a disposition price that was less than the carrying value. We recorded such impairment charges as we sold assets with greater risk to improve the quality of our portfolio. We will continue to evaluate the risk profile of each asset and may potentially recognize impairments in future quarters. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will not record additional impairment charges in the future related to our assets.
We actively reinvest in our portfolio in the form of development and redevelopment projects, which have inherent risks that could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
We actively pursue opportunities for outparcel development and existing property redevelopment. Development and redevelopment activities require various government and other approvals for entitlements and any delay in or failure to receive such approvals may significantly delay this process or prevent us from recovering our investment. We are subject to other risks associated with these activities, including the following:
•we may be unable to lease developments and redevelopments to full occupancy on a timely basis;
•the occupancy rates and rents of a completed project may not be sufficient to make the project profitable;
•actual costs of a project may exceed original estimates, possibly making the project unprofitable;
•delays in the development or construction process may increase our costs;
•construction cost increases may reduce investment returns on development and redevelopment opportunities;
•we may abandon redevelopment opportunities and lose our investment due to adverse market conditions;
•the size of our development and redevelopment pipeline may strain our labor or capital capacity to complete projects within targeted timelines and may reduce our investment returns;
•a reduction in the demand for new retail space may reduce our future development and redevelopment activities, which in turn may reduce our net operating income; and/or
•changes in the level of future development activity may adversely impact our results from operations by reducing the amount of internal general overhead costs that may be capitalized.
Inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages may exacerbate certain of these risks. If we fail to reinvest in our portfolio or maintain its attractiveness to retailers and consumers, if our capital improvements are not successful, or if retailers or consumers perceive that shopping at other venues (including e-commerce) is more convenient, cost-effective, or otherwise more compelling, our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Adverse economic, regulatory, market, and real estate conditions may adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
Our portfolio is predominantly comprised of omni-channel neighborhood grocery-anchored shopping centers, and during the year ended December 31, 2022, our holdings in Florida and California accounted for 12.0% and 10.9%, respectively, of our ABR (including our wholly-owned portfolio as well as the prorated portion of shopping centers owned through our joint ventures). Therefore, our performance is subject to risks associated with owning and operating neighborhood omni-channel grocery-anchored shopping centers, and may be further subject to additional risk as a result of the geographic concentration noted above. Such risks include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in national, regional, and local economic climates or demographics; (ii) competition from other available shopping centers and e-commerce, and the attractiveness of our shopping centers to our Neighbors; (iii) increased competition for real estate assets targeted by our investment strategies; (iv) adverse local conditions, such as oversupply or reduction in demand for similar shopping centers in an area and changes in real estate zoning laws that may reduce the desirability of real estate in an area; (v) vacancies, changes in market rental rates, and the need to periodically repair, renovate, and re-lease space; (vi) ongoing disruption and/or consolidation in the retail sector; (vii) increases in operating costs, due to inflation or otherwise, including common area expenses, utilities, insurance, and real estate taxes, which are relatively inflexible and generally do not decrease if revenue or occupancy decreases; (viii) increases in the costs to repair, renovate, and re-lease space; (ix) changes in interest rates and the availability of financing, which may render the sale or refinance of a property or loan difficult or unattractive; (x) earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, or other weather and climate-related events and natural disasters, civil unrest, terrorist acts, or acts of war, which may result in uninsured or underinsured losses; (xi) epidemics, pandemics, or other widespread outbreaks or resulting public fear that disrupt the businesses of our Neighbors causing them to fail to pay rent on time or at all; and (xii) changes in laws and governmental regulations, including those governing usage, zoning, the environment, and taxes. Such risks also include, but are not limited to, those that could impact the financial stability of our Neighbors, including their ability to pay rent and expense reimbursements, such as supply chain disruptions and constraints, inflationary pressures throughout the supply chain, labor shortages and inflationary pressures on wages, increases in retail theft, and other risks and uncertainties described elsewhere in this "Risk Factors" section. These and other factors could adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
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The continued shift in retail sales towards e-commerce may adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
Retailers are increasingly affected by e-commerce and changes in customer buying habits, which have been further accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the delivery or curbside pick-up of items ordered online. Retailers are considering these e-commerce trends when making decisions regarding their brick and mortar stores and how they will compete and innovate in a rapidly changing e-commerce environment. Many retailers in our shopping centers provide services or sell goods that are unable to be performed online (such as haircuts, massages, and fitness centers) or that have historically been less likely to be purchased online (such as grocery stores, restaurants, and coffee shops); however, the continuing increase in e-commerce sales in all retail categories (including online orders for immediate delivery or pickup in store) may cause retailers to adjust the size or number of retail locations in the future or close stores. Our grocer Neighbors are incorporating e-commerce concepts through home delivery or curbside pickup, which could reduce foot traffic at our centers and adversely affect our occupancy and rental rates. Changes in shopping trends as a result of the growth in e-commerce may also affect the profitability of retailers that do not adapt to changes in market conditions. While we devote considerable effort and resources to analyze and respond to Neighbor trends, Neighbor and consumer preferences, and consumer spending patterns, we cannot predict with certainty what future Neighbors will want, what future retail spaces will look like, or how much revenue will be generated at traditional brick and mortar locations. If we are unable to anticipate and respond promptly to trends in the market (such as space for a drive through or curbside pickup), our occupancy levels and rental rates may decline, and our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations may be adversely impacted.
Actual incremental unlevered yields for our development and redevelopment projects may vary from our underwritten incremental unlevered yield range.
As part of our standard development and redevelopment underwriting process, we analyze the yield for each project and establish a range of target yields (“underwritten incremental unlevered yields”). Underwritten incremental unlevered yields reflect the yield we target to generate from each project upon expected stabilization and are calculated as the estimated incremental NOI for a project at stabilization divided by its estimated net project investment. The estimated incremental NOI is the difference between the estimated annualized NOI we target to generate from a project upon stabilization and the estimated annualized NOI without the planned improvements. Underwritten incremental unlevered yield does not include peripheral impacts, such as lease rollover risk or the impact on the long term value of the property upon sale or disposition.
Underwritten incremental unlevered yields are based solely on our estimates, using data available to us in our development and redevelopment underwriting processes. The actual total cost to complete a development or redevelopment project may differ substantially from our estimates due to various factors, including unanticipated expenses, delays in the estimated start and/or completion date of planned development projects, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other contingencies. In addition, the actual incremental NOI from our planned development and redevelopment activities may differ substantially from our estimates based on numerous other factors, including delays and/or difficulties in leasing and stabilizing a development or redevelopment project, failure to obtain estimated occupancy and rental rates, inability to collect anticipated rental revenues, Neighbor bankruptcies, and unanticipated expenses that we cannot pass on to our Neighbors. Actual incremental unlevered yields may vary from our underwritten incremental unlevered yield range based on the actual total cost to complete a project and its incremental NOI at stabilization.
Pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, had, and may continue to have, a negative effect on our and our Neighbors’ businesses, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and liquidity.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic caused, and may continue to cause, significant disruptions to the United States and global economy and has contributed to significant volatility and negative pressure in financial markets. Many countries, including the United States, as well as certain states and cities, including where our shopping centers are located, initially reacted by instituting quarantines, restrictions on travel, and/or mandatory closures of businesses, as well as other restrictions.
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted our historical business and financial performance. While we believe our collections have returned to levels consistent with those prior to the onset of the pandemic, there are no assurances that the COVID-19 pandemic, or another pandemic, will not have a further negative impact on our business and financial performance in the future, especially if there is a negative impact to customers’ willingness or ability to frequent our Neighbors’ businesses.
We believe substantially all our Neighbors are contractually obligated to continue with their rent payments as documented in our lease agreements with them. There is no guarantee that we will ultimately be able to collect on current and past due amounts, particularly if there are additional pandemics or tightening of restrictions in the future. Moreover, in the event of any default by a Neighbor under its lease agreement or relief agreement, we may not be able to fully recover, and/or may experience delays in recovering and additional costs in enforcing our rights as landlord to recover, amounts due to us under the terms of the lease agreement and/ or relief agreement.
Moreover, a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic or another pandemic, and/or renewed restrictions intended to prevent and mitigate the spread of the disease, and resulting consumer behavior and economic slowdown or recession could have additional adverse effects on our business in the future, including but not limited to the heightening of many of the other risks and uncertainties described in this “Risk Factors” section.
While the unpredictable nature of pandemics precludes any prediction as to one’s ultimate adverse impact, a worsening of the economic, political, and social environment as a result presents material risks and uncertainties with respect to our and our Neighbors’ business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, and ability to satisfy debt service obligations.
An increased focus on metrics and reporting related to ESG factors may impose additional costs and expose us to new risks.
Investors and other stakeholders have become more focused on understanding how companies address a variety of ESG factors. When evaluating investment decisions, many investors and shareholders look not only at company ESG disclosures,
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but also to ESG rating systems that have been developed by third-party groups to allow comparisons between companies. Although we participate in a number of these ratings systems, and generally score relatively well in those in which we do participate, we do not participate in, and would not necessarily score as well in, all of the available rating systems. Further, the criteria used in these ratings systems may change frequently, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to score well as criteria change. We supplement our participation in ratings systems with corporate disclosure of our ESG activities, but many investors and other stakeholders may look for disclosures that we do not provide. In addition, the SEC is currently evaluating rulemaking that is likely to impose additional ESG disclosure and other requirements on us. Failure to participate in certain of the third-party ratings systems, failure to score well in those ratings systems, or failure to provide certain ESG disclosures could result in reputational harm when investors or others compare us against similar companies in our industry, could result in investor engagement on our ESG initiatives and disclosures or increased costs relating to ESG initiatives, and could cause certain investors to be unwilling to invest in our stock, which could adversely impact our ability to raise capital.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness and Liquidity
We have substantial indebtedness, and we may need to incur additional indebtedness, including recourse debt, in the future, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We have obtained, and may continue to obtain, lines of credit, and other long-term financing that are secured by our shopping centers and other assets. On December 31, 2022, we had indebtedness of $1.9 billion comprised of $1.4 billion in unsecured debt, $0.4 billion in outstanding secured loan facilities, and $0.1 billion in mortgage loans and finance lease obligations. In connection with executing our business strategies, we expect to evaluate additional acquisitions and strategic investments, and we may elect to finance these endeavors by incurring additional indebtedness. We may also incur mortgage debt on shopping centers that we already own in order to obtain funds to acquire additional shopping centers or make other capital investments. In addition, we may borrow as necessary or advisable to ensure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, including borrowings to satisfy the REIT requirement that we distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income to our stockholders (computed without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding net capital gain). However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain any such borrowings on satisfactory terms. Additionally, if we have insufficient income to service any recourse debt obligations, our lenders could institute proceedings against us to foreclose upon our assets.
If we mortgage a property and there is a shortfall between the cash flows from that property and the cash flows needed to service mortgage debt on that property, then the amount of cash available for distributions to stockholders may be reduced. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss of a property because defaults on indebtedness secured by a property may result in lenders initiating foreclosure actions. If any mortgages contain cross-collateralization or cross-default provisions, a default on a single property could affect multiple shopping centers. Additionally, we may give full or partial guarantees to lenders of mortgage debt on behalf of the entities that own our shopping centers. When we give a guaranty on behalf of an entity that owns one of our shopping centers, we will be responsible to the lender for satisfaction of the debt if it is not paid by such entity. Currently, we are a limited guarantor on a mortgage loan for our unconsolidated joint venture. Our guarantee is limited to being the non-recourse carveout guarantor and the environmental indemnitor.
High debt levels could have material adverse consequences for the Company, including hindering our ability to adjust to changing market, industry, or economic conditions; limiting our ability to access the capital markets to refinance maturing debt or to fund acquisitions or emerging businesses; requiring the use of a substantial portion of our cash flows for the payment of principal and interest on our debt, thereby limiting the amount of free cash flow available for future operations, acquisitions, distributions, stock repurchases, or other uses; making us more vulnerable to economic or industry downturns, including interest rate increases; and placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to less leveraged competitors.
We may not be able to access financing on favorable terms, or at all.
We may finance our assets over the long-term through a variety of means, including unsecured bonds, credit facilities, secured pools, issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities, and other structured financings. Our ability to execute this strategy will depend on various market conditions that are beyond our control, including lack of capital availability and greater credit spreads. We cannot be certain that these markets will remain an efficient source of long-term financing for our assets. If our strategy is not viable, we will have to find alternative forms of long-term financing for our assets. This could subject us to more recourse indebtedness and the risk that debt service on less efficient forms of financing would require a larger portion of our cash flows, thereby reducing cash available for distribution to our stockholders and funds available for operations as well as for future business opportunities.
Covenants in our loan agreements may restrict our operations and adversely affect our financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
When providing financing, a lender may impose restrictions on us that affect our distribution and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Our loan agreements may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage a property or discontinue insurance coverage. In addition, loan agreements may limit our ability to enter into or terminate certain operating or lease agreements related to a property. Mortgage debt and other property-level debt that we may incur may also limit our ability to transfer properties from one subsidiary to another. These or other limitations would decrease our operating flexibility and our ability to achieve our operating objectives, which may adversely affect our financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Covenants in certain of our loan agreements specify that certain named individuals must remain a member of management and/or the Board or require certain level of management or Board continuity in connection with a fundamental transaction.
Certain of our loan agreements contain covenants that require certain named individuals, including Mr. Edison, to continue serving as a member of management and/or the Board or require certain levels of senior management and/or Board continuity following a change of control or other fundamental transaction. If such individuals were to depart from the Company within a
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specified time prior to such transaction or within such specified time after such a transaction, we may be required to negotiate waivers of such covenants or obtain replacement financing, which we may not be able to do on satisfactory terms or at all.
Higher market capitalization rates and lower NOI for our shopping centers may adversely impact our ability to sell shopping centers and fund developments and acquisitions, and may dilute earnings.
As part of our capital recycling strategy, we sell shopping centers that no longer meet our growth and investment objectives due to stabilization or perceived future risk. Sales proceeds are then used to fund the construction of developments, redevelopments, expansions, and acquisitions, and to repay debt. An increase in market capitalization rates or a decline in NOI may cause a reduction in the value of shopping centers identified for sale, which would have an adverse effect on the amount of cash generated. Additionally, the sale of shopping centers resulting in significant tax gains may require higher distributions to our stockholders in order to maintain our REIT status or payment of additional income taxes. We intend to utilize Section 1031 Exchanges to mitigate taxable income. However, there can be no assurance that we will identify exchange shopping centers that meet our investment objectives for acquisitions.
Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our interest payments and adversely affect our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
Although a significant amount of our outstanding debt has fixed interest rates, we borrow funds at variable interest rates under our credit facilities and term loans. As of December 31, 2022, 14.6% of our outstanding debt was variable rate debt. Increases in interest rates would increase our interest expense on any variable rate debt to the extent we have not hedged our exposure to changes in interest rates. In addition, increases in interest rates will affect the terms under which we refinance our existing debt as it matures, to the extent we have not hedged our exposure to changes in interest rates, resulting in higher interest rates and increased interest expense. Either of these events would reduce our future earnings and cash flows, which may adversely affect our ability to service our debt and meet our other obligations and also may reduce the amount we are able to distribute to stockholders.
Hedging activity may expose us to risks, including the risks that a counterparty will not perform and that the hedge will not yield the economic benefits we anticipate, which may adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
From time to time, we manage our exposure to interest rate volatility by using interest rate hedging arrangements that involve risk, including but not limited to, the risk that counterparties may fail to honor their obligations under these arrangements, that these arrangements may not be effective in reducing our exposure to interest rate changes, and that we may be required to pay the counterparty if interest rates decrease in the future below the hedged amount. There can be no assurance that our hedging arrangements will qualify for hedge accounting or that our hedging activities will have the desired beneficial impact on our results of operations. Should we desire to terminate a hedging agreement, there may be significant costs and cash requirements involved to fulfill our obligations under the hedging agreement. Failure to hedge effectively against interest rate changes may adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and Organization
The Operating Partnership’s limited partnership agreement grants certain rights and protections to the limited partners, which allows them to vote in connection with a change of control transaction that might involve a premium price for shares of our common stock.
The Operating Partnership’s limited partnership agreement grants certain rights and protections to the limited partners, including granting them the right to vote in connection with a change of control transaction. Any such change of control transaction is required to be approved by holders of ownership units of the Operating Partnership (“OP units”) (including our Company and its subsidiaries) at the same level of approval as required for approval by holders of shares of our common stock. For purposes of any such vote, we will be deemed to vote the OP units held by us and our subsidiaries in proportion to the manner in which all of our outstanding shares of common stock were voted at a stockholders meeting relating to such transaction. As of January 31, 2023, we would have directly or indirectly controlled approximately 89.2% of the OP units. Furthermore, as of January 31, 2023, Mr. Edison had voting control over approximately 6.6% of the OP units (considering OP units owned by us), and therefore could have influence over votes on change of control transactions.
We and our consolidated subsidiary, the Operating Partnership, entered into tax protection agreements with certain protected partners, which may limit the Operating Partnership’s ability to sell or otherwise dispose of certain shopping centers and may require the Operating Partnership to maintain certain debt levels that otherwise would not be required to operate its business.
We and the Operating Partnership entered into a tax protection agreement on October 4, 2017 (the “2017 TPA”) with, among others, Mr. Edison, and certain entities controlled by him at the closing of a transaction in May 2017 pursuant to which we internalized our management structure through the acquisition of certain real estate assets and the third-party investment management business of Phillips Edison Limited Partnership (“PELP”) in exchange for OP units and cash. Pursuant to the 2017 TPA, if the Operating Partnership: (i) sells, exchanges, transfers or otherwise disposes of certain shopping centers in a taxable transaction, or undertakes any taxable merger, combination, consolidation or similar transaction (including a transfer of all or substantially all assets), for a period of ten years commencing on October 4, 2017; or (ii) fails, prior to the expiration of such period, to maintain certain minimum levels of indebtedness that would be allocable to each protected partner for tax purposes or, under certain circumstances, fails to offer such protected partners the opportunity to guarantee certain types of the Operating Partnership’s indebtedness, then the Operating Partnership will indemnify each affected protected partner, including Mr. Edison, against certain resulting tax liabilities. Our tax indemnification obligations include a tax gross-up. As of December 31, 2022, 28 of our 271 wholly-owned shopping centers, four outparcels, and the land under which one of our properties is located, comprising approximately 10.9% of our ABR, are subject to the protection described in clause (i) above, and the potential “make-whole amount” on the estimated aggregate amount of built-in gain subject to such protection is approximately $149.0 million.
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We and the Operating Partnership entered into an additional tax protection agreement (the “2021 TPA”) on July 19, 2021 with Mr. Edison, Mr. Murphy, and Mr. Myers, which will become effective upon the expiration of the 2017 TPA. The 2021 TPA generally has the following terms: (i) the 2021 TPA will severally provide to Mr. Edison, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Myers the same protection provided under the 2017 TPA until 2031, so long as (a) Mr. Edison, Mr. Murphy or Mr. Myers (or their permitted transferees), as applicable, individually owns at least 65% of the OP units owned by him as of the date of the execution of the 2021 TPA and (b) in the case of Mr. Murphy or Mr. Myers, Mr. Edison individually owns at least 65% of the OP units owned by him as of the date of the execution of the 2021 TPA; and (ii) the 2021 TPA will provide that following the expiration of the four-year tax protection period under the 2021 TPA, for so long as Mr. Edison holds at least $5.0 million in value of OP units, (a) Mr. Edison will have the opportunity to guarantee debt of the Operating Partnership or enter into a “deficit restoration” obligation, and (b) the Operating Partnership will provide reasonable notice to Mr. Edison before effecting a significant transaction reasonably likely to result in the recognition of more than one-third of the built-in gain allocated to Mr. Edison that is protected under the 2017 TPA as of the date that the 2021 TPA is executed, and will consider in good faith any proposal made by Mr. Edison relating to structuring such transaction in a manner to avoid or mitigate adverse tax consequences to him.
Therefore, although it may be in our stockholders’ best interest for us to cause the Operating Partnership to sell, exchange, transfer or otherwise dispose of one or more of these shopping centers, it may be economically prohibitive for us to do so until the expiration of the applicable protection period because of these indemnity obligations. Moreover, these obligations may require us to cause the Operating Partnership to maintain more or different indebtedness than we would otherwise require for our business. As a result, the tax protection agreements could, during their term, restrict our ability to take actions or make decisions that otherwise would be in our best interests.
Our stockholders have limited control over changes in our policies and operations, which increases the uncertainty and risks our stockholders face.
Our Board determines our major policies, including our policies regarding financing, growth, debt capitalization, REIT qualification and distributions. Our Board may amend or revise these and other policies without the vote of our stockholders. Under the MGCL and our charter, our stockholders have a right to vote only on limited matters. Our Board’s broad discretion in setting policies and our stockholders’ inability to exert control over those policies increases the uncertainty and risks our stockholders face.
Our charter, bylaws and Maryland law contain terms that may discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that could result in a premium price to our stockholders.
Our charter, bylaws and Maryland law contain provisions that may delay, defer, or prevent a transaction or a change of control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or that our stockholders otherwise believe to be in their best interest. Our charter authorizes our Board to, without stockholder approval, amend our charter to increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of stock, to authorize us to issue additional shares of our common stock or preferred stock and to classify or reclassify unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock and thereafter to authorize us to issue such classified or reclassified shares of stock. We believe these charter provisions will provide us with increased flexibility in structuring possible future financings and acquisitions and in meeting other needs that might arise. The additional classes or series, as well as the additional authorized shares of our common stock, will be available for issuance without further action by our stockholders, unless such action is required by applicable law or the rules of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which our securities may be listed or traded, and our Board could authorize the issuance of preferred stock with priority as to distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our common stock.
Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our Board to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. To help us comply with the REIT ownership requirements under the IRC, among other purposes, our charter prohibits any person from directly or constructively owning more than 9.8% in value of our aggregate outstanding stock or more than 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of our aggregate outstanding common stock, unless exempted by our Board.
In addition, the MGCL permits our Board to implement certain takeover defenses without stockholder approval.
These and other provisions of our charter, bylaws and Maryland law could have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change in control, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price to holders of our common stock.
Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to recover claims against our officers and directors are limited, which could reduce our stockholders’ and our recovery against them if they cause us to incur losses.
Maryland law provides that a director has no liability in that capacity if he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the corporation’s best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. Our charter, in the case of our directors and officers, requires us to indemnify our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Additionally, our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers for monetary damages to the maximum extent permitted under Maryland law. As a result, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors, officers, associates, and agents than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce our stockholders’ and our recovery against them. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our directors, officers, associates, and agents in some cases, which would decrease the cash otherwise available for distribution to stockholders.
Risks Related to Our REIT Status and Other Tax Risks
Failure to qualify as a REIT would cause us to be taxed as a regular C corporation, which would substantially reduce funds available for distributions to stockholders.
We elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2010. We believe that our organization and method of operation has enabled and will continue to enable us to meet the
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requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, we cannot assure you that we will qualify as such. This is because qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the IRC as to which there are only limited judicial and administrative interpretations and involves the determination of facts and circumstances not entirely within our control. Future legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations, or court decisions may significantly change the tax laws or the application of the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes or the federal income tax consequences of such qualification.
If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, and are unable to obtain relief under certain statutory provisions, we will face serious tax consequences that will substantially reduce the funds available for distributions to our stockholders because:
•we would not be allowed a deduction for dividends paid to stockholders in computing our taxable income and would be subject to federal and state income tax at regular corporate rates; and
•we could not elect to be taxed as a REIT for four taxable years following the year during which we were disqualified.
As a result of all these factors, our failure to qualify as a REIT could impair our ability to expand our business and raise capital, and it could adversely affect the value of our common stock. If we fail to qualify as a REIT, we would no longer be required to make distributions to our stockholders.
Even if we qualify as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flows.
Even if we qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may be subject to certain U.S. federal, state, and local taxes on our income and assets, including taxes on any undistributed income, tax on income from some activities conducted as a result of a foreclosure, and state or local income, property, and transfer taxes. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distributions to stockholders.
If the Operating Partnership fails to qualify as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would fail to qualify as a REIT and would suffer adverse consequences.
We believe that the Operating Partnership is organized and will be operated in a manner so as to be treated as a partnership, and not an association or publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, the Operating Partnership will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its income. Instead, each of its partners, including us, will be allocated that partner’s share of the Operating Partnership’s income. No assurance can be provided, however, that the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) will not challenge the Operating Partnership’s status as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were successful in treating the Operating Partnership as an association or publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would fail to meet the gross income tests and certain of the asset tests applicable to REITs and, accordingly, would cease to qualify as a REIT. Also, the failure of the Operating Partnership to qualify as a partnership would cause it to become subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax, which would reduce significantly the amount of its cash available for debt service and for distribution to its partners, including us.
The Operating Partnership has a carryover tax basis on certain of its assets as a result of our acquisition of PELP, and our merger with Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, Inc. (“REIT II”), and the amount that we have to distribute to stockholders therefore may be higher.
As a result of each of the acquisition of PELP and our merger with REIT II, certain of the Operating Partnership’s shopping centers have carryover tax bases that are lower than the fair market values of these shopping centers at the time of the acquisition. As a result of this lower aggregate tax basis, the Operating Partnership will recognize higher taxable gain upon the sale of these assets, and the Operating Partnership will be entitled to lower depreciation deductions on these assets than if it had purchased these shopping centers in taxable transactions at the time of the acquisition. Such lower depreciation deductions and increased gains on sales allocated to us generally will increase the amount of our required distribution under the REIT rules, and will decrease the portion of any distribution that otherwise would have been treated as a “return of capital” distribution.
Our property taxes could increase due to property tax rate changes or reassessment, which could impact our cash flow.
Even if we qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we are required to pay state and local property taxes on our shopping centers. The property taxes on our shopping centers may increase as property tax rates change or as our shopping centers are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. Therefore, the amount of property taxes we pay in the future may increase substantially from what we have paid in the past and such increases may not be covered by Neighbors pursuant to our lease agreements. If the property taxes we pay increase, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, per share trading price of our common stock, and ability to satisfy our principal and interest obligations and to make distributions to our stockholders could be adversely affected.
We use taxable REIT subsidiaries, which may cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT.
To qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we hold, and plan to continue to hold, substantially all of our non-qualifying REIT assets and conduct certain of our non-qualifying REIT income activities in or through one or more taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”) entities. A TRS is a corporation other than a REIT in which a REIT directly or indirectly holds stock, and that has made a joint election with such REIT to be treated as a TRS. A TRS also includes any corporation other than a REIT with respect to which a TRS owns securities possessing more than 35% of the total voting power or value of the outstanding securities of such corporation. Other than some activities relating to lodging and health care facilities, a TRS may generally engage in any business, including the provision of customary or non-customary services to tenants of its parent REIT. A TRS is subject to U.S. federal income tax as a regular C-corporation at a current rate of 21%.
The net income of our TRS entities is not required to be distributed to us, and income that is not distributed to us will generally not be subject to the REIT income distribution requirement. However, our TRS entities may pay dividends. Such dividend income should qualify under the 95%, but not the 75%, gross income test. We will monitor the amount of the
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dividend and other income from our TRS entities and will take actions intended to keep this income, and any other non-qualifying income, within the limitations of the REIT income tests. While we expect these actions will prevent a violation of the REIT income tests, we cannot guarantee that such actions will in all cases prevent such a violation.
Our ownership of TRS entities is subject to limitations that could prevent us from growing our management business, and our transactions with our TRS entities could cause us to be subject to a 100% penalty tax on certain income or deductions if those transactions are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis.
No more than 20% of the value of a REIT’s gross assets may consist of interests in TRS entities. Compliance with this limitation could limit our ability to grow our management business. The IRC also imposes a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis. We will monitor the value of investments in our TRS entities in order to ensure compliance with TRS ownership limitations and will structure our transactions with our TRS entities on terms that we believe are arm’s-length to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with the TRS ownership limitation or be able to avoid application of the 100% excise tax.
REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plans, including because we may be required to borrow funds to make distributions to stockholders or otherwise depend on external sources of capital to fund such distributions.
We generally must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which is determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction or net capital gain for this purpose) in order to continue to qualify as a REIT. To the extent that we satisfy the distribution requirement but distribute less than 100% of our taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income. In addition, we may elect to retain and pay income tax on our net long-term capital gain. In that case, if we so elect, a stockholder would be taxed on its proportionate share of our undistributed long-term gain and would receive a credit or refund for its proportionate share of the tax we paid. A stockholder, including a tax-exempt or foreign stockholder, would have to file a U.S. federal income tax return to claim that credit or refund. Furthermore, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we distribute to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under federal tax laws.
We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the IRC and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax. We may be required to make distributions to our stockholders at times when it would be more advantageous to reinvest cash in the business or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits.
If we do not have other funds available, we could be required to borrow funds on unfavorable terms, sell investments at disadvantageous prices, distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions or capital expenditures or used for the repayment of debt, pay dividends in the form of "taxable stock dividends,” or find another alternative source of funds to make distributions sufficient to enable us to distribute enough of our taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity.
Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities or liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
To continue to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to stockholders, and the ownership of our stock. As discussed above, we may be required to make distributions to shareholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Additionally, we may be unable to pursue investments that would be otherwise attractive to us in order to satisfy the requirements for qualifying as a REIT.
We must also ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, U.S. government securities, and qualified real estate assets, including certain mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than U.S. government securities and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets can consist of the securities of any one issuer (other than U.S. government securities and qualified real estate assets) and no more than 20% of the value of our gross assets may be represented by securities of one or more TRS entities. Finally, no more than 25% of our assets may consist of debt investments that are issued by “publicly offered REITs” and would not otherwise be treated as qualifying real estate assets. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct such failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter to avoid losing our REIT status and being subject to adverse tax consequences, unless certain relief provisions apply. As a result, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of profit maximization and may require us to liquidate investments from our portfolio, or refrain from making otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to stockholders.
The prohibited transactions tax may limit our ability to engage in transactions, including disposition of assets, which would be treated as sales for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of dealer property, other than foreclosure property. We may be subject to the prohibited transaction tax upon a disposition of real property. Although a safe-harbor exception to prohibited transaction treatment is available, we cannot assure you that we can comply with such safe harbor or that we will avoid owning property that may be characterized as held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our trade or business. Consequently, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of real property or may conduct such sales through a TRS.
It may be possible to reduce the impact of the prohibited transaction tax by conducting certain activities through a TRS. However, to the extent that we engage in such activities through a TRS, the income associated with such activities will be
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subject to a corporate income tax. In addition, the IRS may attempt to ignore or otherwise recast such activities in order to impose a prohibited transaction tax on us, and there can be no assurance that such recast will not be successful.
We may recognize substantial amounts of REIT taxable income, which we would be required to distribute to our stockholders, in a year in which we are not profitable under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) or other economic measures.
We may recognize substantial amounts of REIT taxable income in years in which we are not profitable under GAAP or other economic measures as a result of the differences between GAAP and tax accounting methods. For instance, certain of our assets will be marked-to-market for GAAP purposes but not for tax purposes, which could result in losses for GAAP purposes that are not recognized in computing our REIT taxable income. Additionally, we may deduct our capital losses only to the extent of our capital gains in computing our REIT taxable income for a given taxable year. Consequently, we could recognize substantial amounts of REIT taxable income and would be required to distribute such income to shareholders in a year in which we are not profitable under GAAP or other economic measures.
Our qualification as a REIT could be jeopardized as a result of an interest in joint ventures or investment funds.
We may hold certain limited partner or non-managing member interests in partnerships or limited liability companies that are joint ventures or investment funds. If a partnership or limited liability company in which we own an interest takes or expects to take actions that could jeopardize our qualification as a REIT or require us to pay tax, we may be forced to dispose of our interest in such entity. In addition, it is possible that a partnership or limited liability company could take an action which could cause us to fail a REIT gross income or asset test, and that we would not become aware of such action in time to dispose of our interest in the partnership or limited liability company or take other corrective action on a timely basis. In that case, we could fail to continue to qualify as a REIT unless we are able to qualify for a statutory REIT “savings” provision, which may require us to pay a significant penalty tax to maintain our REIT qualification.
Distributions paid by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates that apply to other corporate distributions.
The maximum tax rate for “qualified dividends” paid by corporations to non-corporate stockholders generally is 20%. Distributions paid by REITs to non-corporate stockholders generally are taxed at rates lower than ordinary income rates, but those rates are higher than the 20% tax rate on qualified dividend income paid by corporations. Although this does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, to the extent that the preferential rates continue to apply to regular corporate qualified dividends, the more favorable rates for corporate dividends may cause non-corporate investors to perceive that an investment in a REIT is less attractive than an investment in a non-REIT entity that pays dividends, thereby reducing the demand and market price of shares of our common stock.
Legislative or regulatory tax changes could adversely affect us or our stockholders.
At any time, the U.S. federal income tax laws or regulations governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws or regulations may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation or interpretation may take effect retroactively. Any such change could result in an increase in our, or our stockholders’, tax liability or require changes in the manner in which we operate in order to minimize increases in our tax liability. A shortfall in tax revenues for states and municipalities in which we operate may lead to an increase in the frequency and size of such changes. If such changes occur, we may be required to pay additional taxes on our assets or income or be subject to additional restrictions. These increased tax costs could, among other things, adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, and the amount of cash available for the payment of dividends. We and our stockholders could be adversely affected by any such change in, or any new, U.S. federal income tax law, regulation, or administrative interpretation.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has left many state and local governments with reduced tax revenue, which may lead such governments to increase taxes or otherwise make significant changes to their state and local tax laws. If such changes occur, we may be required to pay additional taxes on our assets or income.
If our assets are deemed to be plan assets, we may be exposed to liabilities under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and the IRC.
In some circumstances where an ERISA plan holds an interest in an entity, the assets of the entity are deemed to be ERISA plan assets unless an exception applies. This is known as the “look-through rule.” Under those circumstances, the obligations and other responsibilities of plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries and plan administrators, and of parties in interest and disqualified persons, under Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the IRC, may be applicable, and there may be liability under these and other provisions of ERISA and the IRC. We believe that our assets should not be treated as plan assets because the shares of our common stock should qualify as “publicly-offered securities” that are exempt from the look-through rules under applicable Treasury Regulations. We note, however, that because certain limitations are imposed upon the transferability of shares of our common stock so that we may qualify as a REIT, and perhaps for other reasons, it is possible that this exemption may not apply. If that is the case, and if we are exposed to liability under ERISA or the IRC, our performance and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Business Continuity
Uninsured losses relating to real property or excessively expensive premiums for insurance coverage could adversely affect our cash flows and stockholder returns.
We maintain insurance coverage with third-party carriers who provide a portion of the coverage of potential losses, including commercial general liability, fire, flood, extended coverage and rental loss insurance on all of our shopping centers. We currently self-insure a portion of our commercial insurance deductible risk through our captive insurance company. To the extent that our captive insurance company is unable to bear that risk, we may be required to fund additional capital to our captive insurance company or we may be required to bear that loss. As a result, our operating results may be adversely affected.
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There are some types of losses, generally catastrophic in nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters, that are uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations, such as large deductibles or sublimits. Terrorist activities or violence occurring at our properties also may directly affect their value through damage, destruction, or loss. Insurance for such acts may be unavailable or cost more, which could result in an increase to our operating expenses and adversely affect our results of operations. To the extent that our Neighbors are affected by such attacks or threats of attacks, their businesses may be adversely affected, including their ability to continue to meet obligations under their existing leases. If any of our shopping centers incur a casualty or other loss that is not fully or adequately insured, the value of our assets will be reduced by any such uninsured loss, which may reduce the value of our stockholders’ investment. In addition, other than any working capital reserve or other reserves we may establish, we have no source of funding to repair or reconstruct any uninsured property. Also, to the extent we must pay unexpectedly large amounts for insurance, such payments could adversely impact our cash flows and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Climate change may adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations.
Climate change, including the impact of global warming, creates physical and financial risks. Physical risks from climate change include an increase in sea level and changes in weather conditions, such as an increase in storm intensity and severity of weather (e.g. floods, droughts, tornadoes, or hurricanes) and extreme temperatures. The occurrence of sea level rise or one or more natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, tornados, hurricanes, tropical storms, wildfires, and earthquakes (whether or not caused by climate change), could cause considerable damage to our shopping centers, disrupt our operations and negatively affect our financial performance. To the extent any of these events results in significant damage to or closure of one or more of our shopping centers, our operations and financial performance could be adversely affected through lost Neighbors and an inability to lease or re‑lease the space. In addition, these events could result in significant expenses to restore or remediate a property, increases in fuel or other energy costs or a fuel shortage, and increases in the costs of (or making unavailable) insurance on favorable terms if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage. In addition, transition risks associated with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretations of existing laws may require material expenditures by us. Among other things, “green” building codes may seek to reduce emissions through the imposition of standards for design, construction materials, water and energy usage and efficiency, and waste management. Such codes could require us to make improvements to our existing shopping centers, increase the costs of maintaining or improving our existing shopping centers or developing new shopping centers, or increase taxes and fees assessed on us or our shopping centers.
As an owner and/or operator of real estate, we could become subject to liability for environmental violations, regardless of whether we caused such violations, and our efforts to identify environmental liabilities may not be successful.
We could become subject to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance with environmental laws and regulations. U.S. federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment may require us, as a current or previous owner or operator of real property, to investigate and clean up hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum product releases at, on, under, from, or in a property or at impacted neighboring properties, which in our case most typically arise from current or former dry cleaners, gas stations, asbestos usage and historic land use practices. These costs could be substantial and liability under these laws may attach whether or not the owner or manager knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such contamination. Even if more than one person may have been responsible for the contamination, each liable party may be held entirely responsible for all of the clean-up costs incurred. We may be subject to regulatory action and may also be held liable to third parties for personal injury or property damage incurred by such parties in connection with exposure to or offsite contamination caused by hazardous or toxic substances. The costs of investigation, removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances, and related liabilities, may be substantial and could materially and adversely affect us. The presence of hazardous or toxic substances, or the failure to remediate the related contamination, may also adversely affect our ability to sell, lease or redevelop a property or to borrow money using a property as collateral.
Although we believe that our portfolio is in substantial compliance with U.S. federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations regarding hazardous or toxic substances, and that there is no material contamination that we would be responsible for addressing, this belief is based on limited evaluation and testing. Nearly all of our shopping centers have been subjected to Phase I or similar environmental audits. These environmental audits (which do not include subsurface testing) have not revealed, nor are we aware of, any environmental liability that we believe is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on us. However, we cannot assure you that: (i) previous environmental studies with respect to the portfolio revealed all potential environmental liabilities; (ii) any previous owner, occupant or Neighbor of a property did not create any material environmental condition not known to us; (iii) the current environmental condition of the portfolio will not be affected by Neighbors and occupants, by the condition of nearby properties, or by other unrelated third parties; or (iv) future uses or conditions (including, without limitation, changes in applicable environmental laws and regulations or the interpretation thereof) will not result in environmental liabilities.
We and our Neighbors face risks relating to cybersecurity attacks, which could cause loss of confidential information and other disruptions to business operations, and compliance with new laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity and privacy may result in substantial costs and may decrease cash available for distributions.
Cybersecurity attacks include attempts to gain unauthorized access to our data and/or computer systems to disrupt operations, corrupt data, or steal confidential information. We may face such cybersecurity attacks through malware, computer viruses, attachments to e-mails, persons inside our organization or persons with access to systems inside our organization, and other significant disruptions of our information technology (IT) systems. The risk of a cybersecurity attack, including by computer hackers (individual or hacking organizations), foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity, and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. The techniques and sophistication used to conduct cyber attacks and breaches of IT systems, as well as the sources and targets of these attacks, change frequently and are often not recognized until such attacks are launched or have been in place for a period of time.
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Our IT networks and related systems are essential to the operation of our business and our ability to perform day-to-day operations and, in some cases, may be critical to the operations of certain of our Neighbors. In addition to our own IT systems, we also depend on third parties to provide IT services relating to several key business functions, such as administration, accounting, communications, document management and storage, human resources, payroll, tax, investor relations, and certain finance functions. Our IT systems and those provided by third parties may contain personal, financial, or other information that is entrusted to us by our Neighbors and associates, as well as proprietary PECO information and other confidential information related to our business. We and such third parties employ a number of measures to prevent, detect, and mitigate these threats, including password protection, firewalls, backup servers, malware detection, intrusion sensors, threat monitoring, user training, and periodic penetration testing; however, there is no guarantee that such efforts will be successful in preventing a cybersecurity attack.
As our reliance on technology has increased, so have the risks posed to our systems, both internal and those we have outsourced. The primary risks that could directly result from the occurrence of a cyber incident include operational interruption, damage to our relationship with our Neighbors, and private data exposure. Our financial results and business operations may be negatively affected by such an incident or the resulting negative media attention. A cybersecurity attack could: (i) disrupt the proper functioning of our networks and systems and therefore our operations and/or those of certain of our Neighbors; (ii) compromise the confidential or proprietary information of our Neighbors, associates, and vendors, which others could use to compete against us or for disruptive, destructive, or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes; (iii) result in our inability to maintain the building systems relied upon by our Neighbors for the efficient use of their leased space; (iv) require significant management attention and resources to remedy the damages that result; (v) result in misstated financial reports, violations of loan covenants and/or missed reporting deadlines; (vi) result in our inability to properly monitor our compliance with the rules and regulations regarding our qualification as a REIT; (vii) subject us to claims for breach of contract, damages, credits, penalties, or termination of leases or other agreements or relationships; (viii) cause reputational damage that adversely affects Neighbor, investor, and associate confidence in us, which could negatively affect our ability to attract and retain Neighbors, investors, and associates; (ix) result in significant remediation costs, some or all of which may not be recoverable from our insurance carriers; and (x) result in increases in the cost of obtaining insurance on favorable terms, or at all, if the attack results in significant insured losses. Such security breaches also could result in a violation of applicable federal and state privacy and other laws, and subject us to private consumer, business partner, or securities litigation and governmental investigations and proceedings, any of which could result in our exposure to material civil or criminal liability, and we may not be able to recover these expenses from our service providers, responsible parties, or insurance carriers. Similarly, our Neighbors rely extensively on IT systems to process transactions and manage their businesses and thus are also at risk from and may be adversely affected by cybersecurity attacks. An interruption in the business operations of our Neighbors or a deterioration in their reputation resulting from a cybersecurity attack, including unauthorized access to customers’ credit card data and other confidential information, could indirectly negatively affect our business and cause lost revenues. As of December 31, 2022, we have not had any material incidents involving cybersecurity attacks.
Regulatory and Legal Risks
Compliance or failure to comply with the ADA, and fire, safety, and other regulations could result in substantial costs and may decrease cash available for stockholder distributions.
Our shopping centers are or may become subject to the ADA which generally requires that all places of public accommodation comply with federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. Compliance with the ADA’s requirements could require the removal of access barriers and noncompliance may result in the imposition of injunctive relief, monetary penalties, or in some cases, an award of damages. While we attempt to acquire shopping centers that are already in compliance with the ADA or place the burden of compliance on the seller or other third party, such as a Neighbor, we cannot assure stockholders that we will be able to acquire shopping centers or allocate responsibilities in this manner. In addition, we are required to operate the shopping centers in compliance with fire and safety regulations, building codes, and other land use regulations, as they may be adopted by governmental entities and become applicable to the shopping centers. We may be required to make substantial capital expenditures to comply with these requirements, and these expenditures may reduce our net income and may have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet our financial obligations and make distributions to our stockholders.
We could be subject to legal or regulatory proceedings that may adversely affect our cash flows and results of operations.
As an owner and operator of public shopping centers, from time to time, we are party to legal and regulatory proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation and regulatory proceedings, we cannot accurately predict the ultimate outcome of any such litigation or proceedings. We could experience an adverse effect to our cash flows, financial condition, and results of operations due to an unfavorable outcome.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
The market price and trading volume of shares of our common stock may be volatile.
The U.S. stock markets, including Nasdaq, on which our common stock trades, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. As a result, the market price of shares of our common stock may be similarly volatile, and investors in shares of our common stock may experience a decrease in the value of their shares, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. We cannot assure you that the market price of shares of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future.
In addition to the risks listed in this “Risk Factors” section, a number of factors could negatively affect the share price of our common stock or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of shares of our common stock, including:
•the annual yield from distributions on shares of our common stock as compared to yields on other financial instruments;
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•equity issuances by us, or future sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock by our existing or future stockholders, or the perception that such issuances or future sales may occur;
•increases in market interest rates or a decrease in our distributions to stockholders that lead purchasers of shares of our common stock to demand a higher yield;
•changes in market valuations of similar companies;
•fluctuations in stock market prices and volumes;
•additions or departures of key management personnel;
•our operating performance and the performance of other similar companies;
•actual or anticipated differences in our quarterly operating results;
•changes in expectations of future financial performance or changes in estimates of securities analysts;
•publication of research reports about us or our industry by securities analysts;
•failure to qualify as a REIT;
•adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we incur in the future;
•strategic decisions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions, divestments, spin offs, joint ventures, strategic investments, or changes in business strategy;
•the passage of legislation or other regulatory developments that adversely affect us or our industry;
•speculation in the press or investment community;
•changes in our earnings;
•failure to satisfy the listing requirements of Nasdaq;
•failure to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
•actions by institutional stockholders;
•changes in accounting principles; and
•general market conditions, including factors unrelated to our performance.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the price of their common stock. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows, our ability to execute our business strategy and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The number of shares of our common stock available for future issuance or sale could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We cannot predict whether future issuances or sales of shares of our common stock or the availability of shares of our common stock for resale in the open market will decrease the market price of our common stock. The issuance of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or upon exchange of common units of limited partnership interest in our OP units, or the perception that such issuances might occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
The exchange of OP units for common stock, including OP units granted to certain directors, executive officers and other employees under our equity incentive plan, or the issuance of our common stock or OP units in connection with future property, portfolio or business acquisitions could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the existence of OP units and shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under our equity incentive plan may adversely affect the terms upon which we may be able to obtain additional capital through the sale of equity securities. Future issuances of shares of our common stock may also be dilutive to existing stockholders.
Future offerings of debt securities, which would be senior to our common stock upon liquidation, and/or preferred equity securities, which may be senior to our common stock for purposes of dividend distributions or upon liquidation, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
In October 2021, we issued $350 million aggregate principal amount of 2.625% senior notes, and in the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by offering additional debt or equity securities (or causing our operating partnership to issue debt or equity securities), including medium term notes, senior or subordinated notes, and additional classes of preferred or common stock. Holders of debt securities or shares of preferred stock, as well as lenders with respect to other borrowings, will generally be entitled to receive interest payments or distributions, both current and in connection with any liquidation or sale, prior to the holders of our common stock. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock and may result in dilution to owners of our common stock. We are not required to offer any such additional debt or equity securities to existing common stockholders on a preemptive basis. Therefore, offerings of common stock or other equity securities may dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders. Future offerings of debt or equity securities, or the perception that such offerings may occur, may reduce the market price of our common stock and/or the distributions that we pay with respect to our common stock. Because we may generally issue any such debt or equity securities in the future without obtaining the consent of our stockholders, you will bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting your proportionate ownership.
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If we pay distributions from sources other than our cash flows from operations, we may not be able to sustain our distribution rate, we may have fewer funds available for investment in shopping centers and other assets, and our stockholders’ overall returns may be reduced.
Our organizational documents permit us to pay distributions from any source without limit (other than those limits set forth under Maryland law). To the extent we fund distributions from borrowings, we will have fewer funds available for investment in real estate shopping centers and other real estate-related assets, and our stockholders’ overall returns may be reduced. At times, we may need to borrow funds to pay distributions, which could increase the costs to operate our business. Furthermore, if we cannot cover our distributions with cash flows from operations, we may be unable to sustain our distribution rate.
Our distributions to stockholders may change, which could adversely affect the market price of shares of our common stock.
All distributions will be at the sole discretion of our Board and will depend on our actual and projected financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, maintenance of our REIT qualification, and such other matters as our Board may deem relevant from time to time. We intend to evaluate distributions throughout 2023, and it is possible that stockholders may not receive distributions equivalent to those previously paid by us for various reasons, including: (i) we may not have enough cash to pay such distributions due to changes in our cash requirements, indebtedness, capital spending plans, operating cash flows, or financial position; (ii) decisions on whether, when, and in what amounts to make any future distributions will remain at all times entirely at the discretion of the Board, which reserves the right to change our distribution practices at any time and for any reason; (iii) our Board may elect to retain cash for investment purposes, working capital reserves, or other purposes, or to maintain or improve our credit ratings; and (iv) the amount of distributions that our subsidiaries may distribute to us may be subject to restrictions imposed by state law, state regulators, and/or the terms of any current or future indebtedness that these subsidiaries may incur.
Stockholders have no contractual or other legal right to distributions that have not been authorized by the Board and declared by the Company. We may not be able to make distributions in the future or may need to fund such distributions from external sources, as to which no assurances can be given. In addition, as noted above, we may choose to retain operating cash flow, and those retained funds, although increasing the value of our underlying assets, may not correspondingly increase the market price of shares of our common stock. Our failure to meet the market's expectations with regard to future cash distributions likely would adversely affect the market price of shares of our common stock.
Increases in market interest rates may result in a decrease in the value of shares of our common stock.
One of the factors that may influence the price of shares of our common stock is the dividend distribution rate on our common stock (as a percentage of the price of shares of our common stock) relative to market interest rates. If market interest rates rise, as has recently been experienced, prospective purchasers of shares of our common stock may expect a higher distribution rate. Higher interest rates would not, however, result in more funds being available for distribution and, in fact, would likely increase our borrowing costs and might decrease our funds available for distribution. We therefore may not be able, or we may not choose, to provide a higher distribution rate. As a result, prospective purchasers may decide to purchase other securities rather than shares of our common stock, which would reduce the demand for, and result in a decline in the market price of, shares of our common stock.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls, we may not be able to accurately and timely report our financial results.
Effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, effectively prevent fraud, and to operate successfully as a public company. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our reputation and operating results would be harmed. We are currently required to perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, and as of December 31, 2022, we are required to have our independent registered public accounting firm attest to the same, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. If a material weakness or significant deficiency was to be identified in our internal control over financial reporting, we may also identify deficiencies in some of our disclosure controls and procedures that we believe require remediation. If we or our independent registered public accounting firm discover weaknesses, we will make efforts to improve our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls. However, there is no assurance that we will be successful. Any failure to maintain effective controls or timely effect any necessary improvement of our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls could harm operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, which could affect the listing of our common stock on Nasdaq. Ineffective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the per share trading price of our common stock.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.
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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS—The following table details information for our wholly-owned properties and those owned through our unconsolidated joint venture as of December 31, 2022, which is the basis for determining the prorated information included in the subsequent tables (dollars and square feet in thousands):
| Ownership Percentage | Number of Properties | ABR | GLA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wholly-owned properties | 100% | 271 | $ | 435,712 | 31,093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| GRP I | 14% | 20 | 30,542 | 2,209 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In May 2022, we sold the final property in our NRP joint venture.
The following table presents information regarding the geographic location of our properties, including wholly-owned and the prorated portion of those owned through our unconsolidated joint venture, by ABR as of December 31, 2022. For additional portfolio information, refer to “Schedule III - Real Estate Assets and Accumulated Depreciation” (dollars and square feet in thousands):
| State | ABR(1) | % ABR | ABR/Leased Square Foot | GLA(2) | % GLA | % Leased | Number of Properties | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | $ | 52,878 | 12.0 | % | $ | 14.12 | 3,899 | 12.4 | % | 96.0 | % | 49 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 48,079 | 10.9 | % | 20.55 | 2,412 | 7.7 | % | 97.0 | % | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 37,499 | 8.5 | % | 13.20 | 2,862 | 9.1 | % | 99.2 | % | 29 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas | 35,283 | 8.0 | % | 17.03 | 2,108 | 6.7 | % | 98.3 | % | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 25,488 | 5.8 | % | 10.81 | 2,408 | 7.7 | % | 97.9 | % | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 24,563 | 5.6 | % | 17.80 | 1,408 | 4.5 | % | 98.0 | % | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 24,208 | 5.5 | % | 15.52 | 1,637 | 5.2 | % | 95.3 | % | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 21,980 | 5.0 | % | 16.80 | 1,363 | 4.3 | % | 96.0 | % | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 17,971 | 4.1 | % | 14.65 | 1,265 | 4.0 | % | 96.9 | % | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Massachusetts | 16,259 | 3.7 | % | 14.72 | 1,146 | 3.7 | % | 96.4 | % | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 13,124 | 3.0 | % | 21.93 | 623 | 2.0 | % | 96.0 | % | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | 12,068 | 2.7 | % | 12.27 | 1,001 | 3.2 | % | 98.3 | % | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 11,966 | 2.7 | % | 11.40 | 1,061 | 3.4 | % | 99.0 | % | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 10,376 | 2.4 | % | 14.39 | 736 | 2.3 | % | 98.0 | % | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 9,459 | 2.2 | % | 20.70 | 467 | 1.5 | % | 97.7 | % | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 9,329 | 2.1 | % | 11.19 | 867 | 2.8 | % | 96.2 | % | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 8,184 | 1.9 | % | 12.49 | 659 | 2.1 | % | 99.5 | % | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 6,981 | 1.6 | % | 8.71 | 832 | 2.7 | % | 96.2 | % | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 6,903 | 1.6 | % | 9.58 | 723 | 2.3 | % | 99.7 | % | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 6,511 | 1.5 | % | 10.67 | 616 | 2.0 | % | 99.1 | % | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 5,896 | 1.3 | % | 8.61 | 692 | 2.2 | % | 99.0 | % | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | 5,825 | 1.3 | % | 14.12 | 421 | 1.3 | % | 98.0 | % | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 5,591 | 1.3 | % | 14.52 | 404 | 1.3 | % | 95.3 | % | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 4,724 | 1.1 | % | 15.48 | 314 | 1.0 | % | 97.2 | % | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas | 4,503 | 1.0 | % | 12.21 | 376 | 1.2 | % | 98.0 | % | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Jersey | 4,152 | 0.9 | % | 24.50 | 169 | 0.5 | % | 100.0 | % | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 2,741 | 0.6 | % | 16.16 | 173 | 0.6 | % | 98.1 | % | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 2,623 | 0.6 | % | 7.67 | 360 | 1.1 | % | 95.2 | % | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Missouri | 2,577 | 0.6 | % | 11.91 | 222 | 0.7 | % | 97.6 | % | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | 1,796 | 0.4 | % | 11.29 | 163 | 0.5 | % | 97.3 | % | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah | 450 | 0.1 | % | 30.90 | 15 | — | % | 100.0 | % | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 439,987 | 100.0 | % | $ | 14.38 | 31,402 | 100.0 | % | 97.4 | % | 291 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)We calculate ABR as monthly contractual base rent as of December 31, 2022, multiplied by twelve months.
(2)Gross leasable area (“GLA”) is defined as the total occupied and unoccupied square footage of a building that is available for Neighbors to lease.
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LEASE EXPIRATIONS—The following chart shows the aggregate scheduled lease expirations, excluding our Neighbors who are occupying space on a temporary basis, after December 31, 2022 for each of the next ten years and thereafter for our wholly-owned properties and the prorated portion of those owned through our unconsolidated joint venture:
Our ability to create rental rate growth generally depends on our leverage during new and renewal lease negotiations with prospective and existing Neighbors, which typically occurs when occupancy at our centers is high or during periods of economic growth and recovery. Conversely, we may experience rental rate decline when occupancy at our centers is low or during periods of economic recession, as the leverage during new and renewal lease negotiations may shift to prospective and existing Neighbors.
For our wholly-owned properties and those owned through our unconsolidated joint venture, during the 2023 fiscal year, we have a total of 595 leases expiring, representing 2.3 million square feet of GLA. For our wholly-owned properties, during the 2023 fiscal year, we have 547 leases expiring, representing 2.2 million square feet of GLA. For our wholly-owned properties, the expiring leases have an ABR of $16.38 per square foot. While we cannot predict what rental rates we will achieve in 2023 as we renew or replace these expiring leases, the comparable rent spread of new leases signed during 2022 was 32.2%, and the comparable rent spread for lease renewals executed in 2022 was 14.6%. Further, during the fiscal year 2022, our occupancy improved 1.1% to 97.4%, indicating continued demand for leasing spaces at our centers.
See “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Overview - Leasing Activity” of this filing on Form 10-K for further discussion of leasing activity.
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PORTFOLIO TENANCY—We define national Neighbors as those Neighbors that operate in at least three states. Regional Neighbors are defined as those Neighbors that have at least three locations in fewer than three states. The following charts present the composition of our portfolio, including our wholly-owned properties and the prorated portion of those owned through our unconsolidated joint venture, by Neighbor type as of December 31, 2022:
The following charts present the composition of our portfolio by Neighbor industry as of December 31, 2022:
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NECESSITY-BASED GOODS AND SERVICES—We define “necessity-based goods and services” as goods and services that are indispensable, necessary, or common for day-to-day living, or that tend to be inelastic (i.e., those for which the demand does not change based on a consumer’s income level). We estimate that approximately 71% of our ABR, including the pro rata portion attributable to properties owned through our unconsolidated joint venture, is generated from Neighbors providing necessity-based goods and services.
TOP TWENTY NEIGHBORS—The following table presents our top 20 Neighbors by ABR, including our wholly-owned properties and the prorated portion of those owned through our unconsolidated joint venture, as of December 31, 2022 (dollars and square feet in thousands):
Neighbor(1) | ABR | % of ABR | Leased Square Feet | % of Leased Square Feet | Number of Locations(2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kroger | $ | 27,830 | 6.3 | % | 3,411 | 11.2 | % | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publix | 24,125 | 5.5 | % | 2,321 | 7.6 | % | 57 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albertsons | 18,232 | 4.1 | % | 1,709 | 5.6 | % | 31 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ahold Delhaize | 17,738 | 4.0 | % | 1,249 | 4.1 | % | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walmart | 8,971 | 2.0 | % | 1,770 | 5.8 | % | 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Giant Eagle | 7,362 | 1.7 | % | 759 | 2.5 | % | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sprouts Farmers Market | 6,494 | 1.5 | % | 421 | 1.4 | % | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TJX Companies | 6,030 | 1.4 | % | 516 | 1.7 | % | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raley's | 4,592 | 1.1 | % | 289 | 0.9 | % | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dollar Tree | 3,621 | 0.8 | % | 343 | 1.1 | % | 36 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SUPERVALU | 3,244 | 0.7 | % | 336 | 1.1 | % | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowe's | 2,470 | 0.6 | % | 369 | 1.2 | % | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subway Group | 2,415 | 0.5 | % | 93 | 0.3 | % | 65 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Starbucks Corporation | 2,369 | 0.5 | % | 53 | 0.2 | % | 32 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anytime Fitness, Inc. | 2,308 | 0.5 | % | 140 | 0.5 | % | 29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Food 4 Less (PAQ) | 2,305 | 0.5 | % | 118 | 0.4 | % | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kohl's Corporation | 2,241 | 0.5 | % | 365 | 1.2 | % | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Office Depot | 2,237 | 0.5 | % | 179 | 0.6 | % | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Parcel Service | 2,211 | 0.5 | % | 83 | 0.3 | % | 65 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Save Mart | 2,174 | 0.5 | % | 258 | 0.8 | % | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 148,969 | 33.7 | % | 14,782 | 48.5 | % | 488 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Neighbors are grouped by parent company and may represent multiple subsidiaries and banners.
(2)Number of locations excludes auxiliary leases with grocery anchors such as fuel stations, pharmacies, and liquor stores. Additionally, if a parent company has multiple subsidiaries or banners in a single shopping center, those subsidiaries are included as one location.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
From time to time, we are party to legal proceedings, which arise in the ordinary course of our business. We are not currently involved in any legal proceedings for which we are not covered by our liability insurance or the outcome is reasonably likely to have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition, nor are we aware of any such legal proceedings contemplated by governmental authorities.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY DECEMBER 31, 2022 FORM 10-K | 26 | ||||||||||
w PART II | ||
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
MARKET INFORMATION—Pursuant to our underwritten initial public offering (“underwritten IPO”) on July 19, 2021, our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the ticker symbol “PECO.” As of February 1, 2023, we had approximately 117.3 million shares of common stock outstanding, held by a total of 9,872 stockholders of record. This figure does not represent the actual number of beneficial owners of the Company’s common shares because common shares are frequently held in “street name” by securities dealers and others for the beneficial owners who may vote the shares.
DISTRIBUTIONS—We elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2010. As a REIT, we have made, and intend to continue to make, distributions each taxable year equal to at least 90% of our taxable income (excluding capital gains and computed without regard to the dividends paid deduction).
We declared and paid 2022 monthly distributions of $0.09 per share, or $1.08 annualized, for each month beginning January 2022 through August 2022. We declared and paid 2022 monthly distributions of $0.0933 per share, or $1.12 annualized, an increase of 3.7%, for each month beginning September 2022 through December 2022.
The December 2022 and January 2023 distributions of $0.0933 per share were paid on January 3, 2023 and February 1, 2023, respectively. On February 8, 2023, our board of directors (the “Board”) authorized 2023 distributions for February, March, and April of $0.0933 per share to the stockholders of record at the close of business on February 21, 2023, March 15, 2023, and April 17, 2023, respectively. Holders of ownership units of Phillips Edison Grocery Center Operating Partnership I, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership") ("OP units") will receive distributions at the same rate as common stockholders, subject to certain withholdings. The timing and amount of distributions is determined by our Board and is influenced in part by our intention to comply with REIT requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “IRC”).
We declared and paid 2021 monthly distributions of $0.085 per share, or $1.02 annualized, for each month beginning January 2021 through September 2021. We declared and paid 2021 monthly distributions of $0.09 per share, or $1.08 annualized, for October 2021 through December 2021.
The tax characterization of our distributions declared for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was as follows:
| 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||||
| Common stock: | |||||||||||
| Ordinary dividends | 77.4 | % | 62.8 | % | |||||||
| Non-dividend distributions | 22.6 | % | 18.1 | % | |||||||
Capital gain distributions(1) | — | % | 19.1 | % | |||||||
| Total distributions per share of common stock | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | |||||||
(1)Pursuant to U.S. Treasury Regulation §1.1061-6(c) and §1061 of the IRC, the One Year Amounts and Three Year Amounts disclosures are both zero with respect to direct and indirect holders of “applicable partnership interests” for us and our subsidiary REIT, Phillips Edison Institutional REIT, LLC.
UNREGISTERED SALE OF SECURITIES—During the year ended December 31, 2022, we issued an aggregate of approximately 1,169,000 shares of common stock in redemption of approximately 1,169,000 OP units. These shares of common stock were issued in reliance on an exemption from registration under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. We relied on the exemption under Section 4(a)(2) based upon factual representations received from the limited partners who received the shares of common stock.
DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN (“DRIP”) AND SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAMS—On August 4, 2021, as a result of our underwritten IPO, our Board approved the termination of the DRIP and the original share repurchase program.
On August 3, 2022, our Board approved a new share repurchase program of up to $250 million of common stock. The program may be suspended or discontinued at any time, and does not obligate us to repurchase any dollar amount or particular number of shares. No share repurchases have been made to date under this program.
PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY DECEMBER 31, 2022 FORM 10-K | 27 | ||||||||||
The table below summarizes repurchases of our common stock made during the three months ended December 31, 2022:
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of a Publicly Announced Plan or Program | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares That May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plan or Program (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||
| October 1, 2022 - October 31, 2022 | — | $— | — | $250,000 | |||||||||||||||||||
| November 1, 2022 - November 30, 2022 | — | — | — | 250,000 | |||||||||||||||||||
December 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022(1) | 3,596 | 31.84 | — | 250,000 | |||||||||||||||||||
(1)Represents common shares surrendered to us to satisfy statutory minimum tax withholding obligations associated with the vesting of restricted stock awards under our equity-based compensation plan.
PERFORMANCE GRAPH—The following graph is a comparison of the cumulative total return of shares of our common stock, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Composite Index (“S&P 500”), the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs index (“FNER”), and the FTSE Nareit Equity Shopping Centers index (“FNSC”). The graph assumes that $100 was invested on July 15, 2021 and assumes the reinvestment of any dividends. The shareholder return shown on the graph below is not indicative of future performance. The information in this paragraph and the following performance graph are deemed “furnished”, not “filed”, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and is not to be incorporated by reference into any of our filings, whether made before or after the date hereof and irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
| Ticker / Index | 7/15/2021 | 12/31/2021 | 6/30/2022 | 12/31/2022 | |||||||||||||||||||
| PECO | $ | 100 | $ | 120 | $ | 124 | $ | 120 | |||||||||||||||
| S&P 500 | 100 | 110 | 88 | 90 | |||||||||||||||||||
| FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs | 100 | 113 | 90 | 85 | |||||||||||||||||||
| FTSE Nareit Equity Shopping Centers | 100 | 114 | 93 | 100 | |||||||||||||||||||
ITEM 6.
Reserved.
PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY DECEMBER 31, 2022 FORM 10-K | 28 | ||||||||||
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes thereto. See also “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” preceding Part I.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND DEFINED TERMS | ||
We use certain key performance indicators (“KPIs”), which include both financial and nonfinancial metrics, to measure the performance of our operations. We believe these KPIs, as well as the core concepts and terms defined below, allow our Board, management, and investors to analyze trends around our business strategy, financial condition, and results of operations in a manner that is focused on items unique to the retail real estate industry.
We do not consider our non-GAAP measures to be alternatives to measures required in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). Certain non-GAAP measures should not be viewed as an alternative measure of our financial performance as they may not reflect the operations of our entire portfolio, and they may not reflect the impact of general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest expense, other income (expense), or the level of capital expenditures and leasing costs necessary to maintain the operating performance of our shopping centers that could materially impact our results from operations. Additionally, certain non-GAAP measures should not be considered as an indication of our liquidity, nor as an indication of funds available to cover our cash needs, including our ability to fund distributions, and may not be a useful measure of the impact of long-term operating performance on value if we do not continue to operate our business in the manner currently contemplated. Accordingly, non-GAAP measures should be reviewed in connection with other GAAP measurements and should not be viewed as more prominent measures of performance than net income (loss) or cash flows from operations prepared in accordance with GAAP. Other REITs may use different methodologies for calculating similar non-GAAP measures, and accordingly, our non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to other REITs.
Our KPIs and terminology can be grouped into three key areas:
PORTFOLIO—Portfolio metrics help management to gauge the health of our centers overall and individually.
•Anchor space—We define an anchor space as a space greater than or equal to 10,000 square feet of gross leasable area (“GLA”).
•Annualized Base Rent (“ABR”)—We use ABR to refer to the monthly contractual base rent at the end of the period multiplied by twelve months.
•ABR Per Square Foot (“PSF”)—This metric is calculated by dividing ABR by leased GLA. Increases in ABR PSF can be an indication of our ability to create rental rate growth in our centers, as well as an indication of demand for our spaces, which generally provides us with greater leverage during lease negotiations.
•GLA—We use GLA to refer to the total occupied and unoccupied square footage of a building that is available for tenants (whom we refer to as a “Neighbor” or our “Neighbors”) or other retailers to lease.
•Inline space—We define an inline space as a space containing less than 10,000 square feet of GLA.
•Leased Occupancy—This metric is calculated as the percentage of total GLA for which a lease has been signed regardless of whether the lease has commenced or the Neighbor has taken possession. High occupancy is an indicator of demand for our spaces, which generally provides us with greater leverage during lease negotiations.
•Underwritten incremental unlevered yield—This reflects the yield we target to generate from a project upon expected stabilization and is calculated as the estimated incremental net operating income (“NOI”) for a project at stabilization divided by its estimated net project investment. The estimated incremental NOI is the difference between the estimated annualized NOI we target to generate by a project upon stabilization and the estimated annualized NOI without the planned improvements. Underwritten incremental unlevered yield does not include peripheral impacts, such as lease rollover risk or the impact on the long term value of the property upon sale or disposition. Actual incremental unlevered yields may vary from our underwritten incremental unlevered yield range based on the actual total cost to complete a project and its actual incremental NOI at stabilization.
LEASING—Leasing is a key driver of growth for our company.
•Comparable lease—We use this term to refer to a lease with consistent terms that is executed for substantially the same space that has been vacant less than twelve months.
•Comparable rent spread—This metric is calculated as the percentage increase or decrease in first-year ABR (excluding any free rent or escalations) on new or renewal leases (excluding options) where the lease was considered a comparable lease. This metric provides an indication of our ability to generate revenue growth through leasing activity.
•Cost of executing new leases—We use this term to refer to certain costs associated with new leasing, namely, leasing commissions, tenant improvement costs, and tenant concessions.
•Portfolio retention rate—This metric is calculated by dividing (i) the total square feet of retained Neighbors with current period lease expirations by (ii) the total square feet of leases expiring during the period. The portfolio retention rate provides insight into our ability to retain Neighbors at our shopping centers as their leases approach expiration. Generally, the costs to retain an existing Neighbor are lower than costs to replace with a new Neighbor.
PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY DECEMBER 31, 2022 FORM 10-K | 29 | ||||||||||
•Recovery rate—This metric is calculated by dividing (i) total recovery income by (ii) total recoverable expenses during the period. A high recovery rate is an indicator of our ability to recover certain property operating expenses and capital costs from our Neighbors.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE—In addition to financial metrics calculated in accordance with GAAP, such as net income or cash flows from operations, we utilize non-GAAP metrics to measure our operational and financial performance. See “Non-GAAP Measures” below for further discussion on the following metrics.
•Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization for Real Estate (“Adjusted EBITDAre”)—To arrive at Adjusted EBITDAre, we adjust EBITDAre, as defined below, to exclude certain recurring and non-recurring items including, but not limited to: (i) changes in the fair value of the earn-out liability; (ii) other impairment charges; (iii) amortization of basis differences in our investments in our unconsolidated joint ventures; (iv) transaction and acquisition expenses; and (v) realized performance income. We use EBITDAre and Adjusted EBITDAre as additional measures of operating performance which allow us to compare earnings independent of capital structure and evaluate debt leverage and fixed cost coverage.
•Core Funds From Operations (“FFO”)—To arrive at Core FFO, we adjust Nareit FFO Attributable to Stockholders and OP Unit Holders, as defined below, to exclude certain recurring and non-recurring items including, but not limited to: (i) depreciation and amortization of corporate assets; (ii) changes in the fair value of the earn-out liability; (iii) amortization of unconsolidated joint venture basis differences; (iv) gains or losses on the extinguishment or modification of debt and other; (v) other impairment charges; (vi) transaction and acquisition expenses; and (vii) realized performance income. We believe Nareit FFO provides insight into our operating performance as it excludes certain items that are not indicative of such performance. Core FFO provides further insight into the sustainability of our operating performance and provides an additional measure to compare our performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that may cause short-term fluctuations in net income (loss).
•EBITDAre—The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“Nareit”) defines EBITDAre as net income (loss) computed in accordance with GAAP before: (i) interest expense; (ii) income tax expense; (iii) depreciation and amortization; (iv) gains or losses from disposition of depreciable property; and (v) impairment write-downs of depreciable property. Adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures are calculated to reflect EBITDAre on the same basis.
•Equity Market Capitalization—We calculate equity market capitalization as the total dollar value of all outstanding shares using the closing price for the applicable date.
•Nareit FFO—Nareit defines FFO as net income (loss) computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding: (i) gains (or losses) from sales of property and gains (or losses) from change in control; (ii) depreciation and amortization related to real estate; (iii) impairment losses on real estate and impairments of in-substance real estate investments in investees that are driven by measurable decreases in the fair value of the depreciable real estate held by the unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures; and (iv) adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures, calculated to reflect FFO on the same basis. We calculate Nareit FFO in a manner consistent with the Nareit definition.
•Net Debt—We calculate net debt as total debt, excluding discounts, market adjustments, and deferred financing expenses, less cash and cash equivalents.
•Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDAre—This ratio is calculated by dividing net debt by Adjusted EBITDAre (included on an annualized basis within the calculation). It provides insight into our leverage rate based on earnings and is not impacted by fluctuations in our equity price.
•Net Debt to Total Enterprise Value—This ratio is calculated by dividing net debt by total enterprise value, as defined below. It provides insight into our capital structure and usage of debt.
•NOI—We calculate NOI as total operating revenues, adjusted to exclude non-cash revenue items, less property operating expenses and real estate taxes. NOI provides insight about our financial and operating performance because it provides a performance measure of the revenues and expenses directly involved in owning and operating real estate assets and provides a perspective not immediately apparent from net income (loss).
•Same-Center—We use this term to refer to a property, or portfolio of properties, that have been owned and operational for the entirety of the last two reporting periods (i.e., since January 1, 2021).
•Total Enterprise Value—We calculate total enterprise value as our net debt plus our equity market capitalization on a fully diluted basis.
| OVERVIEW | ||
We are a REIT and one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of omni-channel grocery-anchored shopping centers. Our portfolio primarily consists of neighborhood centers anchored by the #1 or #2 grocer tenants by sales within their respective formats by trade area. Our Neighbors are a mix of national, regional, and local retailers that primarily provide necessity-based goods and services.
As of December 31, 2022, we owned equity interests in 291 shopping centers, including 271 wholly-owned shopping centers and 20 shopping centers owned through one unconsolidated joint venture, which comprised approximately 33.3 million square feet in 31 states. In addition to managing our shopping centers, our third-party investment management business provides comprehensive real estate management services to our unconsolidated joint ventures and one private fund (collectively, the “Managed Funds”).
PHILLIPS EDISON & COMPANY DECEMBER 31, 2022 FORM 10-K | 30 | ||||||||||
In May 2022, we sold the final property in our joint venture with Necessity Retail Partners (“NRP”), in which we own a 20% interest. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recognized income of $2.7 million and $0.7 million, respectively, related to NRP’s achievement of certain performance targets, which is included in Fees and Management Income in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) (“consolidated statements of operations”).
UNDERWRITTEN INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING—On July 19, 2021, we closed our underwritten IPO, through which we issued 19.6 million shares, including the underwriters’ overallotment election, of a new class of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, at an initial price to the public of $28.00 per share. As a result of the underwritten IPO, we received gross proceeds of $547.4 million.
Basis of Presentation—The basis of presentation of our shares of common stock is described as follows:
•Reverse Stock Split—On July 2, 2021, our Board approved an amendment to our charter to effect a one-for-three reverse stock split. Concurrent with the reverse split, the Operating Partnership enacted a one-for-three reverse split of its outstanding OP units. Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this Form 10-K gives effect to the reverse stock and OP unit splits (see Note 12).
•Recapitalization—On June 18, 2021, our stockholders approved an amendment to our charter (the “Articles of Amendment”) that effected a change of each share of our common stock outstanding at the time the amendment became effective into one share of a newly created class of Class B common stock (the “Recapitalization”). The Articles of Amendment became effective upon filing with, and acceptance by, the State Department of Assessments and Taxation of Maryland on July 2, 2021. Unless otherwise indicated, all information in this Form 10-K gives effect to the Recapitalization and references to “shares” and per share metrics refer to our common stock and Class B common stock, collectively. Our Class B common stock automatically converted into our publicly traded common stock on January 18, 2022 (see Note 12). Prior to the conversion, we have presented common stock and Class B common stock as separate classes within our consolidated balance sheets and consolidated statements of equity. On May 5, 2022, we filed Articles Supplementary to our charter with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation in order to reclassify and designate all of the 350 million authorized shares of our Class B common stock, $0.01 par value per share, all of which were unissued at such time, as shares of our common stock, $0.01 par value per share. We no longer have Class B common stock authorized for issue.
2021 BOND OFFERING—In October 2021, the Operating Partnership completed the registered offering of $350 million aggregate principal amount of 2.625% senior notes (“2021 Bond Offering”) priced at 98.692% of the principal amount and maturing in November 2031. The 2021 Bond Offering resulted in gross proceeds of $345.4 million. The notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by us.
AT-THE-MARKET OFFERING (“ATM”)—On February 10, 2022, we and the Operating Partnership entered into a sales agreement relating to the potential sale of shares of common stock pursuant to a continuous offering program. In accordance with the terms of the sales agreement, we may offer and sell shares of our common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $250 million from time to time through our sales agents, or, if applicable, as forward sellers. No shares were issued under the ATM program during the fourth quarter of 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we issued 2.6 million shares of our common stock under the ATM program for net proceeds of $89.2 million, after approximately $0.9 million in commissions. As of December 31, 2022, $159.9 million of common stock remained available for issuance under the ATM program.
PORTFOLIO AND LEASING STATISTICS—Below are statistical highlights of our wholly-owned portfolio as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 (dollars and square feet in thousands):
| 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||||
| Number of properties | 271 | 268 | |||||||||
| Number of states | |||||||||||