Americold Realty Trust Announces Fourth Quarter 2020 Results

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD) (the “Company”), the world’s largest publicly traded REIT focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses, today announced financial and operating results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020.

Fred Boehler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Americold Realty Trust, stated, “Against the challenging backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are extremely proud of the consistency and the stability of our core business throughout 2020 and our ability to deliver results in line with our pre-COVID guidance. For the full year, we generated total company revenue growth and NOI growth of 11.4% and 15.3%, respectively, driven by our continued organic growth and acquisition activity. Within our global warehouse segment, we drove same store revenue and NOI growth of 2.3% and 5.6%, respectively, on a constant currency basis. We also delivered AFFO per share growth of 10.3%, while maintaining a low levered balance sheet. We attribute these strong results to our portfolio’s diversity and scale, as well as the effectiveness of the Americold Operating System and our commercialization efforts, which enabled us to overcome the supply chain disruption and financial impact of COVID-19.”

Mr. Boehler continued, “2020 was also a momentous year for external growth at Americold. In the fourth quarter, we completed the acquisitions of Agro Merchants Group, previously the fourth largest temperature controlled warehouse company globally, as well as New Jersey based Hall’s Warehouse Corporation. In total, we closed on $2.6 billion of acquisitions in 2020 and added 62 facilities totaling 342 million cubic feet to our global network. We entered key strategic markets in Europe and Canada through platform transactions and in Brazil through two joint ventures. We bolstered our presence in our legacy markets through deliberate and purposeful tuck-in acquisitions. At this point, our platform supports customers in 13 countries across four continents. We also grew our strategic development program, with seven projects totaling 62 million cubic feet under construction as of year end. We believe these projects materially enhance the value of our network at key logistics nodes. Finally, we executed on our stated ESG priorities, with over 95% of our facilities, excluding our 2020 acquisitions, receiving third-party gold or silver designations for energy excellence. Safety remains a top priority at Americold, and we had our sixth consecutive year with a reduction in our total recordable incident rate. We also continue to invest in training and advancement programs to further develop our employees.”

“As we look ahead to 2021 and beyond, we will continue to focus on driving internal growth, integrating our recent acquisitions and executing strategic growth initiatives. Above all, we will continue to support our customers as an integral part of the global food supply chain, and our success in doing so should result in lasting shareholder value creation.”

Fourth Quarter 2020 Highlights

• Total revenue increased 7.8% to $523.7 million.
• Total NOI increased 11% to $152.4 million.
• Core EBITDA increased 7.5% on an actual basis, and 7.0% on a constant currency basis, to $117.2 million.
• Net loss of $44.0 million, or $0.21 per diluted common share.
• Core FFO of $81.9 million, or $0.39 per diluted common share.
• AFFO of $76.9 million, or $0.37 per diluted common share.
• Global Warehouse segment revenue increased 6.3% to $407.8 million.
• Global Warehouse segment NOI increased 12% to $145.7 million.
• Global Warehouse segment same store revenue decreased 0.5%, or 1.4% on a constant currency basis, same store segment NOI increased by 4.0%, or increased by 3.3% on a constant currency basis.
• Completed the acquisitions of Hall’s for cash consideration of $481 million and Agro Merchants for total consideration of $1.7 billion.
• Completed a public offering, including the green shoe, for net proceeds of approximately $1.35 billion. This funded growth initiatives, including the Agro and Hall’s acquisitions.
• Closed an institutional private placement offering consisting of (i) €400 million senior unsecured notes with a coupon of 1.62% due January 7, 2031 (“Series D”) and (ii) €350 million senior unsecured notes with a coupon of 1.65% due January 7, 2033 (“Series E”).
• Announced and broke ground on the expansion of our Russellville, Arkansas facility with an expected cost of $84 million to create a highly-automated build for one of our top tier customers, Conagra, with expected completion by the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Announced and broke ground on the expansion of our Calgary, Canada facility with an expected cost of C$15 million for a conventional, multi-tenant use, with expected completion by the fourth quarter of 2021.
• Ended the year with 161 facilities certified either Gold or Silver by the Global Cold Chain Alliance as part of its Energy Excellence Recognition Program, with over 95% of legacy Global Warehouse segment portfolio (which excludes all 2020 acquisitions) being certified by this program.

Full Year 2020 Highlights

• Total revenue increased 11.4% to $1.99 billion.
• Total NOI increased 15.3% to $551.5 million.
• Core EBITDA increased 16.0% to $425.9 million, or 16.3% on a constant currency basis.
• Net income of $24.6 million, or $0.11 per diluted common share.
• Core FFO of $255.7 million, or $1.24 per diluted common share.
• AFFO of $267.9 million, or $1.29 per diluted common share.
• Global Warehouse segment revenue increased 12.5% to $1.55 billion.
• Global Warehouse segment NOI increased 16.3% to $520.3 million.
• Global Warehouse segment same store revenue increased 1.9%, or 2.3% on a constant currency basis, same store segment NOI increased 5.3%, or 5.6% on a constant currency basis.
• Completed $2.6 billion of acquisitions, including Nova Cold Logistics, Newport Cold, AM-C Warehouses, Caspers Cold Storage, Halls Warehouse Corporation, and Agro Merchants Group and acquired a 15% interest in SuperFrio for Brazil Reals of 118 million.
• Announced and broke ground on five development and expansion projects with an expected total cost of $461 million.

Subsequent Event Highlights

• On January 29, 2021, closed on an amendment to our existing unsecured credit facility, which increased the multicurrency line of credit from $800 million to $1 billion, and concurrently paid down Senior Unsecured Term Loan A Facility Tranche A-1 from $325 million to $125 million using cash on the balance sheet.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Total Company Financial Results

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020 was $523.7 million, a 7.8% increase from the same quarter of the prior year. This growth was primarily driven by the incremental revenue from acquisitions, recently completed development projects and revenue in our Managed segment driven by higher pass through of costs due to elevated retail volumes.

For the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company reported a net loss of $44.0 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to net income of $20.8 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the same quarter of the prior year.

Total NOI for the fourth quarter of 2020 was $152.4 million, an increase of 11% from the same quarter of the prior year.

Core EBITDA was $117.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to $109.1 million for the same quarter of the prior year. This reflects an 7.5% increase over prior year on an actual basis, and 7.0% on a constant currency basis, driven primarily from acquisition contribution, recently completed development projects, and organic growth in our core business. These increases were partially offset by the incremental costs incurred in response to COVID-19 and higher SG&A.

For the fourth quarter of 2020, Core FFO was $81.9 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, compared to $64.6 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, for same quarter of the prior year.

For the fourth quarter of 2020, AFFO was $76.9 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, compared to $59.7 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the same quarter of the prior year.

Please see the Company’s supplemental financial information for the definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Global Warehouse Segment Results

For the fourth quarter of 2020, Global Warehouse segment revenue was $407.8 million, an increase of $24.0 million, or 6%, compared to $383.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2019. This growth was driven by the recently completed acquisitions and development projects, paired with contractual rate escalations, partially offset by lower throughput associated with the protein and food service sectors.

Warehouse segment NOI was $145.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 12%. Global Warehouse segment margin was 35.7% for the fourth quarter of 2020, an 196 basis point increase compared to the same quarter of the prior year. The year-over-year growth in segment NOI was driven by the previously mentioned revenue trends. The Company continues to incur incremental expenses to address the risks and challenges of COVID-19. These incremental COVID-19 expenses primarily include higher sanitation costs of $1.0 million while personal protective equipment (“PPE”) costs were nominal. The Company has experienced certain inefficiencies due to social distancing, staggered schedules, and other changes to processes, all of which it expects to incur going forward. The Company expects to recover these costs through ongoing revenue as it signs new business and renews existing business. The Company’s results include the impact of these items. Additionally, the growth reflected favorable comparisons to costs incurred in the prior year, including both health insurance and Rochelle startup related costs, both incurred in the prior comparable period.

We had 135 same stores for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. The following table presents revenues, cost of operations, contribution (NOI) and margins for our same stores and non-same stores with a reconciliation to the total financial metrics of our warehouse segment for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019. Amounts related to the AM-C, Cloverleaf, Caspers, Hall’s, Lanier, MHW, Newport and Nova Cold acquisitions are reflected within non-same store results. The operational results from one day of ownership from the Agro acquisition is not material for the year ended December 31, 2020.

(1) The adjustments from our U.S. GAAP operating results to calculate our operating results on a constant currency basis are the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the comparable prior period.

(2) Total warehouse count of 229 includes 46 warehouses acquired through the Agro acquisition on December 30, 2020, eight warehouses acquired through the Hall’s acquisition on November 2, 2020, three warehouses acquired through the Casper’s and AM-C warehouse acquisitions on August 31, 2020, and five warehouses acquired through the Nova Cold and Newport acquisitions on January 2, 2020. The results of these acquisitions are reflected in the results above since date of ownership. The operational results from one day of ownership of the Agro warehouses is immaterial to the three months and year ended December 31, 2020.

(3) Non-same store warehouse count of 94 includes 46 warehouses acquired through the Agro acquisition on December 30, 2020, eight warehouses acquired through the Hall’s acquisition on November 2, 2020, three warehouses acquired through the Casper’s and AM-C warehouse acquisitions on August 31, 2020, and five warehouses acquired through the Nova Cold and Newport acquisitions on January 2, 2020. The results of these acquisitions are reflected in the results above since date of ownership. The operational results from one day of ownership of the Agro warehouses is immaterial to the three months and year ended December 31, 2020.

(n/a = not applicable)

Fixed Commitment Rent and Storage Revenue

As of December 31, 2020, $283.6 million of the Company’s annualized rent and storage revenue were derived from customers with fixed commitment storage contracts. This compares to $279.7 million at the end of the third quarter of 2020 and $251.1 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019. The Company’s recent acquisitions had a lower percentage of fixed committed contracts as a percentage of rent and storage revenue. On a combined pro forma basis, assuming a full twelve months of acquisitions revenue, 40.7% of rent and storage revenue were generated from fixed commitment storage contracts, which is a 140 basis point decrease over the third quarter of 2020. The Agro acquisition is excluded from the fixed commitment rent and storage revenue metrics.

Economic and Physical Occupancy

Contracts that contain fixed commitments are designed to ensure the Company’s customers have space available when needed. For the fourth quarter of 2020, economic occupancy for the total warehouse segment was 79.2% and warehouse segment same store pool was 82.7%, representing a 688 basis point and 874 basis point increase above physical occupancy, respectively. For the fourth quarter of 2020, physical occupancy for the total warehouse segment was 72.3% and warehouse segment same store pool was 73.9%.

Real Estate Portfolio

As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s portfolio consists of 238 facilities. The Company ended the fourth quarter of 2020 with 229 facilities in its Global Warehouse segment portfolio and nine facilities in its Third-party managed segment. During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company added eight facilities through the acquisition of Hall’s and 46 facilities in connection with the Agro acquisition. Additionally, the Company exited the operations of one Third-party managed facility in Canada. The same store population consists of 135 facilities for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. The remaining 94 non-same store population includes the 88 facilities that were acquired since the beginning of 2019 and six legacy facilities.

Balance Sheet Activity and Liquidity

As of December 31, 2020, the Company had total liquidity of approximately $1.7 billion, including cash and capacity on its revolving credit facility and $392 million of net proceeds available from equity forward contracts. Total debt outstanding was $3.0 billion (inclusive of $311.0 million of financing leases/sale lease-backs and exclusive of unamortized deferred financing fees), of which 80% was in an unsecured structure. The Company has no material debt maturities until 2023. At quarter end, its net debt to pro forma Core EBITDA was approximately 4.4x. Of the Company’s total debt outstanding, $2.7 billion relates to real estate debt, which excludes sale-leaseback and capitalized lease obligations. The Company’s real estate debt has a remaining weighted average term of 7.6 years and carries a weighted average contractual interest rate of 3.00%. As of December 31, 2020, 82% of the Company’s total debt outstanding was at a fixed rate.

The Company’s equity forwards, the respective contractual latest settlement dates, and net proceeds are detailed in the table below:

Dividend

On December 8, 2020, the Company’s Board of Trustees declared a dividend of $0.21 per share for the fourth quarter of 2020, which was paid on January 15, 2021 to common shareholders of record as of December 31, 2020.

2021 Outlook

The Company announced guidance as follows:

• Global warehouse segment same store revenue growth to range between 2% and 4% on a constant currency basis and same store NOI growth to be 100 to 200 basis points higher than the associated revenue growth on a constant currency basis.
• Managed and Transportation NOI is expected in the range of $46-$54 million.
• Selling, general and administrative expense is expected in the range of $190-$196 million, inclusive of non-cash share-based compensation expense of $21-$23 million.
• Current income tax expense of $9-$13 million.
• Deferred income tax benefit from a range of $1-$2 million.
• Non-real estate depreciation and amortization of $85-$92 million.
• Total maintenance capital expenditures is expected in the range of $90-$100 million.
• Development starts of $175-$300 million.
• Anticipated AFFO per share of $1.36 to $1.46.
• Please refer to our supplemental for currency translation rates embedded in this guidance.

The Company’s guidance is provided for informational purposes based on current plans and assumptions and is subject to change. The ranges for these metrics do not include the impact of acquisitions, dispositions, or capital markets activity beyond that which has been previously announced.

Investor Webcast and Conference Call

The Company will hold a webcast and conference call on Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss fourth quarter 2020 results. A live webcast of the call will be available via the Investors section of Americold Realty Trust’s website at www.americold.com. To listen to the live webcast, please go to the site at least five minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. Shortly after the call, a replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days on the Company’s website.

The conference call can also be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-3982 or 1-201-493-6780. The telephone replay can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921 or 1-412-317-6671 and providing the conference ID# 13714728. The telephone replay will be available starting shortly after the call until March 4, 2021.

The Company’s supplemental package will be available prior to the conference call in the Investors section of the Company’s website at http://ir.americold.com.

About the Company

Americold is the world’s largest publicly traded REIT focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Americold owns and operates 238 temperature-controlled warehouses, with over 1.4 billion refrigerated cubic feet of storage, in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America. Americold’s facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors and retailers to consumers.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures, including FFO, core FFO, AFFO, EBITDAre, Core EBITDA and same store segment revenue and contribution. A reconciliation from U.S. GAAP net (loss) income available to common shareholders to FFO, a reconciliation from FFO to core FFO and AFFO, and definitions of FFO, and core FFO are included within the supplemental. A reconciliation from U.S. GAAP net (loss) income available to common shareholders to EBITDAre and Core EBITDA, a definition of Core EBITDA and definitions of net debt to Core EBITDA are included within the supplemental.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains statements about future events and expectations that constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future financial and operating performance and growth plans, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations of future results we express or imply in any forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include the following: uncertainties and risks related to public health crises, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; adverse economic or real estate developments in our geographic markets or the temperature-controlled warehouse industry; general economic conditions; risks associated with the ownership of real estate and temperature-controlled warehouses in particular; acquisition risks, including the failure to identify or complete attractive acquisitions or the failure of acquisitions to perform in accordance with projections and to realize anticipated cost savings and revenue improvements; our failure to realize the intended benefits from our recent acquisitions, including the Agro acquisition, and including synergies, or disruptions to our plans and operations or unknown or contingent liabilities related to our recent acquisitions; risks related to expansions of existing properties and developments of new properties, including failure to meet budgeted or stabilized returns within expected time frames, or at all, in respect thereof; a failure of our information technology systems, cybersecurity attacks or a breach of our information security systems, networks or processes could cause business disruptions or loss of confidential information; risks related to privacy and data security concerns, and data collection and transfer restrictions and related foreign regulations; defaults or non-renewals of significant customer contracts, including as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; uncertainty of revenues, given the nature of our customer contracts; increased interest rates and operating costs, including as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; our failure to obtain necessary outside financing; risks related to, or restrictions contained in, our debt financings; decreased storage rates or increased vacancy rates; risks related to current and potential international operations and properties; difficulties in expanding our operations into new markets, including international markets; risks related to the partial ownership of properties, including as a result of our lack of control over such investments and the failure of such entities to perform in accordance with projections; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; possible environmental liabilities, including costs, fines or penalties that may be incurred due to necessary remediation of contamination of properties presently or previously owned by us; financial market fluctuations; actions by our competitors and their increasing ability to compete with us; labor and power costs; changes in applicable governmental regulations and tax legislation, including in the international markets; additional risks with respect to the addition of European operations and properties; changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates; the competitive environment in which we operate; our relationship with our employees, including the occurrence of any work stoppages or any disputes under our collective bargaining agreements and employment related litigation; liabilities as a result of our participation in multi-employer pension plans; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; the potential liabilities, costs and regulatory impacts associated with our in-house trucking services and the potential disruptions associated with the use of third-party trucking service providers to provide transportation services to our customers; the cost and time requirements as a result of our operation as a publicly traded REIT; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; the impact of anti-takeover provisions in our constituent documents and under Maryland law, which could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our shareholders to replace our trustees and affect the price of our common shares of beneficial interest, $0.01 par value per share, of our common shares; the potential dilutive effect of our common share offerings; and risks related to any forward sale agreement, including the 2018 forward sale agreement, the 2020 ATM forward sale agreements and the 2020 forward sale agreements, or collectively, our forward sale agreements, including substantial dilution to our earnings per share or substantial cash payment obligations.

Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “continues,” “estimates,” “expects,” “goal,” “objectives,” “intends,” “may,” “opportunity,” “plans,” “potential,” “near-term,” “long-term,” “projections,” “assumptions,” “projects,” “guidance,” “forecasts,” “outlook,” “target,” “trends,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements included in this document include, among others, statements about our expected acquisition and expected expansion and development pipeline and our targeted return on invested capital on expansion and development opportunities. We qualify any forward-looking statements entirely by these cautionary factors. Other risks, uncertainties and factors, including those discussed under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, in our Quarterly Report for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, in our Form 8-K filed April 16, 2020 and in our Form 8-K filed on October 13, 2020, could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements we make. We assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.