Apartment Investment and Management : Aimco Reports Third Quarter Results

Apartment Investment and Management Company (“Aimco”) (NYSE: AIV) announced today third quarter results for 2017.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Considine comments: “Business is good. Aimco had a solid third quarter, with strong results from disciplined execution of its business plan. We are on track to meet the FFO and AFFO guidance given at the start of the year. Focus on customer selection and satisfaction drove resident retention of 56%, fueling 4.5% year-over-year Same Store NOI growth which added $0.03 per share to bottom line. The successful lease-up of redevelopment and acquisition communities added another $0.02 per share to bottom line, net of capital costs. Reduced overhead costs also contributed to year-over-year results. Our balance sheet remains strong with abundant liquidity and limited exposure to capital markets. We are on track to close property sales sufficient to repay the borrowing made to fund the second quarter repurchase of our partner’s interest in the three Palazzo communities.”

Chief Financial Officer Paul Beldin adds: “Third quarter AFFO of $0.54 per share was up $0.09 from third quarter 2016 and $0.02 ahead of the midpoint of our guidance range with $0.01 due to a number of small positives across various line items and $0.01 due to the timing of capital replacement spending. Considering our solid year-to-date performance and what we see ahead, we narrowed Same Store, FFO and AFFO guidance ranges, while maintaining their respective midpoints. We project fourth quarter AFFO to be in a range from $0.54 to $0.58 per share.”

Financial Results: Year-to-Date Pro forma FFO Up 6%; AFFO Up 7%

Net Income (per diluted common share) - Year-over-year, third quarter net income increased primarily due to increased contribution from Property Net Operating Income, more fully described below, partially offset by higher depreciation expense.

Pro forma FFO (per diluted common share) - Aimco’s third quarter Pro forma FFO increased by $0.08 per share, or 15%, on a year-over-year basis. The primary driver of this increase was Property Net Operating Income growth of $0.05, consisting of:

• $0.03 from Same Store Property Net Operating Income growth of 4.5%, driven by a 2.8% increase in revenue and a 1.1% reduction in expenses;
• $0.04 from the lease-up over the last 12 months of 930 renovated homes at Redevelopment communities and completion of the lease-up of One Canal in Boston, Massachusetts and Indigo in Redwood City, California; less
• ($0.02) in Property Net Operating Income from apartment communities sold in 2016.

Lower general and administrative expenses, lower interest rates, higher tax benefits, and various other factors contributed an additional $0.03 to Pro forma FFO.

The amounts above exclude Property Net Operating Income from the second quarter reacquisition of the 47% limited partner interest in the Palazzo joint venture, which was largely offset by higher interest expense related to temporary borrowings used to fund the purchase.

Adjusted Funds from Operations (per diluted common share) - The $0.08 increase year-over-year in Pro forma FFO per share plus $0.01 in lower capital replacement spending increased AFFO per share by $0.09, or 20%.

Operating Results: Third Quarter Same Store NOI Up 4.5%

Same Store Rental Rates - Aimco measures changes in rental rates by comparing, on a lease-by-lease basis, the rate on a newly executed lease to the rate on the expiring lease for that same apartment. Newly executed leases are classified either as a new lease, where a vacant apartment is leased to a new customer, or as a renewal.

The table below details changes in new and renewal lease rates. For the year, Aimco expects to transact more than 24,000 leases. As of October 25, 2017, Aimco had completed about 20,000 leases for occupancy in January through September and another 3,000 leases for occupancy in the fourth quarter, leaving approximately 1,200 leases expected to be executed between now and year-end. The blended rent increase in the 23,000 leases completed to date is 2.7%, as indicated below.

*As of the date of this release, Aimco is projecting October Average Daily Occupancy to be 96.2%, raising year-to-date October Average Daily Occupancy to 96.0%.

Redevelopment and Development

Redevelopment and Development is Aimco’s second line of business. During the third quarter, Aimco invested $33 million and continued its strong leasing pace.

Aimco invests in the redevelopment of apartment communities when it believes the investment will yield risk-adjusted returns in excess of those expected from the apartment communities sold in paired trades to fund the redevelopment. Aimco favors redevelopment because it permits adjustment of the scope and timing of spending to align with changing market conditions.

During the third quarter, Aimco completed construction on the third tower of Park Towne Place in Center City, Philadelphia. At September 30, 2017, this tower was 74% leased at rates consistent with underwriting. Aimco expects this tower to be more than 90% leased by year-end, as are the first two towers redeveloped.

In the past three years, Aimco has leased more than 1,100 redeveloped apartment homes in Center City, Philadelphia. This success led us to proceed with a $40 million redevelopment of the fourth and final tower at Park Towne Place. De-leasing is underway and construction is scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter.

Aimco also undertakes ground-up construction when warranted by risk-adjusted investment returns. In 2014, Aimco acquired Eastpointe, a “C” property located in Boulder, Colorado. The site is two miles from the new Google campus and is across the street from Ball Aerospace’s Technology Campus and Foothills Hospital. Building in Boulder is highly regulated and new supply is limited, notwithstanding higher enrollment at the University of Colorado and increased employment generally. Over the past two years, Aimco has planned and entitled a new $117 million, 226 apartment home community to be known as Parc Mosaic. De-leasing of Eastpointe is now underway and construction of Parc Mosaic is scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter.

Inclusive of these two new projects, Aimco’s total estimated net investment in redevelopment and development communities is $710 million, with a projected weighted average net operating income yield on investments of 6.1% assuming untrended rents. Of this total, $481 million has been funded.

During the third quarter, Aimco leased 278 apartment homes at its redevelopment and acquisition communities. At quarter end, Aimco’s lease-up exposure at active redevelopment projects included approximately 360 apartment homes, 300 of which were at Park Towne Place.

Portfolio Management: Revenue Per Apartment Home Up 6% to $2,075

Aimco portfolio strategy seeks predictable rent growth from a portfolio of apartment communities that is diversified across “A,” “B” and “C+” price points, averaging “B/B+” in quality, and that is also diversified across the largest markets in the U.S. Please refer to the Glossary for a description of Aimco Portfolio Quality Ratings.

As part of its portfolio strategy, Aimco seeks to sell each year up to 10% of the apartment communities in its portfolio and to reinvest the proceeds from such sales in uses such as property upgrades, redevelopment of communities in its current portfolio, occasional development of new communities, and selective acquisitions of apartment communities with higher projected free cash flow returns than expected from the communities sold to fund the activity. Through this disciplined approach to capital recycling, Aimco has significantly increased the quality and expected growth rate of its portfolio.

Third Quarter Real Estate Portfolio - Aimco’s Real Estate portfolio average monthly revenue per apartment home was $2,075 for third quarter 2017, a 6% increase compared to third quarter 2016. This increase is due to year-over-year growth in Same Store revenue as well as Aimco’s second quarter reacquisition of the 47% interest in the Palazzo joint venture, lease-up of redevelopment and acquisition properties, and the sale of apartment communities with average monthly revenues per apartment home lower than those of the retained portfolio.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Aimco Leverage

Aimco targets net leverage of $3.8 billion. Aimco’s leverage is currently above this target as the second quarter reacquisition of the 47% limited partner interest in the Palazzo joint venture was temporarily funded with debt. Aimco is on track with plans to sell apartment communities in Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey to reduce leverage to its $3.8 billion target.

Non-recourse Property Debt - During the third quarter, Aimco closed or rate locked five non-recourse, fixed-rate property loans totaling $297 million. On a weighted average basis, these loans have a 9.6 year term and an interest rate of 3.43%, 125 basis points more than the corresponding treasury rates at the time of pricing.

The net effect of year-to-date property debt refinancing activities has been to lower Aimco’s weighted average fixed interest rates by about 10 basis points to 4.75%, generating prospective annual interest savings of approximately $3 million.

Aimco leverage includes Aimco’s share of long-term, non-recourse property debt secured by apartment communities in the Real Estate portfolio, a one-year term loan, outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility, and outstanding preferred equity. Aimco leverage excludes non-recourse property debt obligations of consolidated partnerships served by its Asset Management business (described further in the Glossary). Please refer to Supplemental Schedule 5(a) for the presentation of Aimco leverage and a reconciliation of Aimco proportionate leverage to Aimco’s consolidated leverage.

Leverage Ratios

Aimco target leverage ratios are Proportionate Debt and Preferred Equity to Adjusted EBITDA below 7.0x and Adjusted EBITDA to Interest Expense and Preferred Dividends greater than 2.5x. Aimco also focuses on the ratios of Proportionate Debt to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to Adjusted Interest Expense. Please see the Glossary for definitions of these non-GAAP measures and, where appropriate, reconciliations to the nearest GAAP measure.

Aimco calculates its leverage ratios based on current quarter amounts, annualized.

Aimco expects improvement in leverage metrics from earnings growth and reduction in debt balances due to regularly scheduled debt amortization and apartment community sales. Aimco expects that these activities will reduce its ratios for Proportionate Debt to Adjusted EBITDA and Proportionate Debt and Preferred Equity to Adjusted EBITDA to approximately 6.2x and 6.6x by year-end.

Liquidity

At September 30, 2017, Aimco held cash and restricted cash of $86 million and had available capacity to borrow $232 million under its revolving credit facility, after consideration of outstanding borrowings of $356 million and $12 million of letters of credit backed by the facility. Aimco uses its credit facility primarily for working capital and other short-term purposes and to secure letters of credit.

Aimco also held unencumbered apartment communities with an estimated fair market value of approximately $1.8 billion at September 30, 2017, an increase of approximately 12% from the beginning of the year.

Dividend - As previously announced, the Aimco Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.36 per share of Class A Common Stock for the quarter ended September 30, 2017. On an annualized basis, this represents an increase of 9% compared to the dividends paid during 2016. This dividend is payable on November 30, 2017, to stockholders of record on November 17, 2017.

2017 Outlook

Earnings Conference Call Information

Supplemental Information

The full text of this Earnings Release and the Supplemental Information referenced in this release are available on Aimco’s website at www.aimco.com/investors.

Glossary & Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial and Operating Measures

Financial and operating measures found in this Earnings Release and the Supplemental Information include certain financial measures used by Aimco management that are measures not defined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). These measures are defined in the Glossary in the Supplemental Information and reconciled to the most comparable GAAP measures.

About Aimco

Aimco is a real estate investment trust focused on the ownership and management of quality apartment communities located in select markets in the United States. Aimco is one of the country’s largest owners and operators of apartments, with ownership interests in 187 communities in 22 states and the District of Columbia. Aimco common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AIV, and are included in the S&P 500. For more information about Aimco, please visit our website at www.aimco.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This Earnings Release and Supplemental Information contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements regarding projected results and specifically forecasts of fourth quarter and full year results, including but not limited to: FFO, Pro forma FFO and selected components thereof; AFFO; Aimco redevelopment and development investments and projected yield on such investments, timelines and Net Operating Income contribution; expectations regarding sales of Aimco apartment communities and the use of proceeds thereof; and Aimco liquidity and leverage metrics.

These forward-looking statements are based on management’s judgment as of this date, which is subject to risks and uncertainties. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: Aimco’s ability to maintain current or meet projected occupancy, rental rate and property operating results; the effect of acquisitions, dispositions, redevelopments and developments; Aimco’s ability to meet budgeted costs and timelines, and achieve budgeted rental rates related to Aimco redevelopments and developments; and Aimco’s ability to comply with debt covenants, including financial coverage ratios.

Actual results may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements and, in addition, will be affected by a variety of risks and factors, some of which are beyond Aimco’s control, including, without limitation:

• Real estate and operating risks, including fluctuations in real estate values and the general economic climate in the markets in which Aimco operates and competition for residents in such markets; national and local economic conditions, including the pace of job growth and the level of unemployment; the amount, location and quality of competitive new housing supply; the timing of acquisitions, dispositions, redevelopments and developments; and changes in operating costs, including energy costs;
• Financing risks, including the availability and cost of capital markets’ financing; the risk that cash flows from operations may be insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest; and the risk that earnings may not be sufficient to maintain compliance with debt covenants;
• Insurance risks, including the cost of insurance, and natural disasters and severe weather such as hurricanes; and
• Legal and regulatory risks, including costs associated with prosecuting or defending claims and any adverse outcomes; the terms of governmental regulations that affect Aimco and interpretations of those regulations; and possible environmental liabilities, including costs, fines or penalties that may be incurred due to necessary remediation of contamination of apartment communities presently or previously owned by Aimco.

In addition, Aimco’s current and continuing qualification as a real estate investment trust involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and depends on Aimco’s ability to meet the various requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code, through actual operating results, distribution levels and diversity of stock ownership.

Readers should carefully review Aimco’s financial statements and the notes thereto, as well as the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Aimco’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, and the other documents Aimco files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

These forward-looking statements reflect management’s judgment as of this date, and Aimco assumes no obligation to revise or update them to reflect future events or circumstances. This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale.

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