Gaming and Leisure Properties Reports Record Second Quarter 2024 Results and Increases 2024 Full Year Guidance

Globe Newswire 25-Jul-2024 4:34 PM

WYOMISSING, Pa., July 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) ("GLPI" or the "Company") today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

Financial Highlights

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⁽¹⁾  Funds from Operations ("FFO") is net income, excluding (gains) or losses from dispositions of property, net of tax and real estate depreciation as defined by NAREIT.

⁽²⁾ Adjusted Funds From Operations ("AFFO") is FFO, excluding, as applicable to the particular period, stock based compensation expense; the amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts; other depreciation; amortization of land rights; accretion on investment in leases, financing receivables; non-cash adjustments to financing lease liabilities; property transfer tax recoveries and impairment charges; straight-line rent adjustments; losses on debt extinguishment; and provision (benefit) for credit losses, net, reduced by capital maintenance expenditures.

⁽³⁾  Adjusted EBITDA is net income, excluding, as applicable to the particular period, interest, net; income tax expense; real estate depreciation; other depreciation; (gains) or losses from dispositions of property, net of tax; stock based compensation expense, straight-line rent adjustments, amortization of land rights, accretion on investment in leases, financing receivables; non-cash adjustments to financing lease liabilities; property transfer tax recoveries and impairment charges; losses on debt extinguishment and provision (benefit) for credit losses, net.

⁽⁴⁾  Metrics are presented assuming full conversion of limited partnership units to common shares and therefore before the income statement impact of non-controlling interests.

Peter Carlino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GLPI, commented, "GLPI again delivered record financial results in the 2024 second quarter as we continued to leverage our consistent cash flow generation and benefit from our unmatched roster of the gaming industry's leading operators. Second quarter total revenue rose 6.7% year over year to $380.6 million and AFFO grew 5.6% as we benefited from the growth of our property portfolio and rent escalations along with our discipline around liquidity and our capital structure. Furthermore, our consistent successes in building our tenant base clearly demonstrate our opportunistic approach to portfolio expansion as well as our ability to work with existing tenants to find exciting new ways to expand our close relationships. As we look to the balance of 2024, we expect to continue to deliver on our promise to shareholders to be a strong steward of their investment capital.

"During the quarter and more recently, we again demonstrated our ability to pursue innovative avenues to create value for shareholders. First, we agreed to fund and oversee a landside development project and hotel renovation of the Belle of Baton Rouge for our tenant Casino Queen which follows on the success of our earlier agreement to fund their landside move of The Queen Baton Rouge.

"Earlier this month, we announced a $1.585 billion transaction with Bally's that we believe is a clear win-win for both the Company and for Bally's. Despite the volatile interest rate environment and challenging transaction environment which have combined to limit larger deals, our team structured an innovative, multi-faceted series of transactions that is expected to deliver an 8.3% blended initial cash yield to GLPI with conservative rent coverage. We would add two very attractive assets to our existing portfolio of 65 assets across 20 jurisdictions with the addition of Bally's Kansas City and Bally's Shreveport while participating in the very exciting greenfield development of Bally's Chicago located in the heart of one of the country's three largest cities. Furthermore, we've favorably amended the terms of our option to acquire Bally's Lincoln by the end of 2026. We value our ongoing partnership with the team at Bally's and are delighted to continue working with them to support the development and construction of a flagship asset on a very attractive site on the North Branch of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago.

"Our 2024 announced transactions bring GLPI's total year-to-date investment activity up to $1.98 billion at an attractive blended yield of 8.4%. GLPI's disciplined capital investment approach, combined with our focus on stable and resilient regional gaming markets, supports our confidence that the Company is well positioned to further grow our cash dividend and drive long-term shareholder value. We remain confident on the long-term health of the casino gaming industry and believe our unmatched gaming industry and real estate expertise and strong balance sheet position GLPI as a development funding and real estate partner of choice for operators of all sizes."

Recent Developments

• Subsequent to June 30, 2024, the Company sold 2.9 million shares of its common stock under the Company's 2022 at the market program which raised net proceeds of $139.4 million.
  
• On July 12, 2024, the Company announced that it entered into a binding term sheet with Bally's Corporation (NYSE:BALY) ("Bally's") pursuant to which the Company intends to acquire the real property assets of Bally's Kansas City Casino and Bally's Shreveport Casino & Hotel as well as the land under Bally's planned permanent Chicago casino site, and fund the construction of certain real property improvements of the Bally's Chicago Casino Resort, for aggregate consideration of approximately $1.585 billion. In addition to the development funding of hard costs, the Company also intends to acquire the Chicago land for approximately $250 million before development begins. The transaction would represent a blended 8.3% initial cash yield. Further, GLPI secured adjustments to the purchase price and related cap rate related to the existing, previously announced, contingent purchase option for Bally's Lincoln gaming facility, as well as the addition of a right for GLPI to call the asset beginning in October 2026. The updated purchase price for Bally's Lincoln is $735 million at an 8.0% cap rate.
  
• On June 3, 2024, the Company announced an agreement to fund and oversee a landside move and hotel renovation of the Belle of Baton Rouge ("The Belle") in Baton Rouge, LA for its tenant The Queen Casino and Entertainment Inc. ("Casino Queen"). GLPI has committed to provide up to approximately $111 million of funding for the project, which is expected to be completed by September 2025. The casino will continue to operate for the construction period except while gaming equipment is being moved to the new facility. GLPI will own the new facility and Casino Queen will pay an incremental rental yield of 9.0% on the development funding beginning a year from the initial disbursement of funds, which occurred on May 30, 2024.
  
• On May 16, 2024, the Company acquired the real estate assets of the Silverado Franklin Hotel & Gaming Complex, the Deadwood Mountain Grand casino, and Baldini's Casino, for $105.0 million. Simultaneous with the acquisition, GLPI and affiliates of Strategic Gaming Management, LLC ("Strategic") entered into two cross-defaulted triple-net lease agreements, each for an initial 25-year term with two ten-year renewal periods. GLPI also provided $5 million in capital improvement proceeds at the closing of the transactions for capital improvements for a total investment of $110 million. The initial aggregate annual cash rent for the new leases is $9.2 million, inclusive of capital improvement funding, and rent is subject to a fixed 2.0% annual escalation beginning in year three of the lease and a CPI based annual escalation beginning in year 11 of the lease, of the greater of 2.0% or CPI capped at 2.5%.
  
• During the first half of 2024, the Company funded an additional $53 million on the $150 million commitment for a development project in Rockford, Illinois that is expected to be completed in late August 2024. As of June 30, 2024, $93 million of the $150 million commitment has been funded which accrues interest at 10%.
  
• On February 6, 2024, the Company acquired the real estate assets of Tioga Downs Casino Resort ("Tioga Downs") in Nichols, NY from American Racing & Entertainment, LLC ("American Racing") for $175.0 million. Simultaneous with the acquisition, an affiliate of GLPI and American Racing entered into a triple-net lease agreement for an initial 30-year term. The initial rent is $14.5 million and is subject to annual fixed escalations of 1.75% beginning with the first anniversary which increases to 2% beginning in year fifteen of the lease through the remainder of the initial term.
  

Dividends

On May 20, 2024, the Company announced that its Board of Directors declared a second quarter dividend of $0.76 per share on the Company's common stock that was paid on June 21, 2024, to shareholders of record on June 7, 2024.

2024 Guidance

Reflecting recent acquisition activity, the Company is increasing its AFFO guidance for the full year 2024 based on the following assumptions and other factors:

• The guidance does not include the impact on operating results from any possible future acquisitions or dispositions, future capital markets activity, or other future non-recurring transactions.
• The guidance assumes there will be no material changes in applicable legislation, regulatory environment, world events, including weather, public health, recent consumer trends, economic conditions, oil prices, competitive landscape or other circumstances beyond our control that may adversely affect the Company's results of operations.

The Company estimates AFFO for the year ending December 31, 2024 will be between $1.054 billion and $1.059 billion, or between $3.74 and $3.76 per diluted share and OP units. GLPI's prior guidance contemplated AFFO for the year ending December 31, 2024 of between $1.042 billion and $1.051 billion, or between $3.71 and $3.74 per diluted share and OP units.

The Company does not provide a reconciliation for non-GAAP estimates on a forward-looking basis, including the information above, where it is unable to provide a meaningful or accurate calculation or estimation of reconciling items and the information is not available without unreasonable effort.   This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing and/or amounts of various items that would impact net income, which is the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measure. This includes, for example, provision for credit losses, net, and other non-core items that have not yet occurred, are out of the Company's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted.   For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information.   In particular, the Company is unable to predict with reasonable certainty the amount of the change in the provision for credit losses, net, under ASU No. 2016-13 - Financial Instruments - Credit Losses ("ASC 326") in future periods. The non-cash change in the provision for credit losses under ASC 326 with respect to future periods is dependent upon future events that are entirely outside of the Company's control and may not be reliably predicted, including the performance and future outlook of our tenant's operations for our leases that are accounted for as investment in leases, financing receivables, as well as broader macroeconomic factors and future predictions of such factors. As a result, forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

Portfolio Update

GLPI's primary business consists of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. As of June 30, 2024, GLPI's portfolio consisted of interests in 65 gaming and related facilities, including, the real property associated with 34 gaming and related facilities operated by PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) ("PENN"), the real property associated with 6 gaming and related facilities operated by Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) ("Caesars"), the real property associated with 4 gaming and related facilities operated by Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) ("Boyd"), the real property associated with 9 gaming and related facilities operated by Bally's Corporation (NYSE:BALY) ("Bally's"), the real property associated with 3 gaming and related facilities operated by The Cordish Companies, the real property associated with 4 gaming and related facilities operated by Casino Queen, 1 gaming and related facility operated by American Racing, 3 gaming and related facilities operated by Strategic and 1 facility under development that is intended to be managed by a subsidiary of Hard Rock International ("Hard Rock"). These facilities are geographically diversified across 20 states and contain approximately 29.3 million square feet of improvements.

Conference Call Details

The Company will hold a conference call on July 26, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss its financial results, current business trends and market conditions.

To Participate in the Telephone Conference Call:
Dial in at least five minutes prior to start time.
Domestic: 1-877/407-0784
International: 1-201/689-8560

Conference Call Playback:
Domestic: 1-844/512-2921
International: 1-412/317-6671
Passcode: 13747503
The playback can be accessed through Friday, August 2, 2024.

Webcast
The conference call will be available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.glpropinc.com. To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary software. A replay of the call will also be available for 90 days thereafter on the Company's website.                

⁽¹⁾ Includes $0.1 million of tenant improvement allowance amortization for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024.                  

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⁽¹⁾ Cash net operating income is cash rental income and interest on real estate loans less cash property level expenses.

⁽¹⁾ Represents zero coupon treasury bill that at maturity in August 2024 will total $350 million.

Debt Capitalization

The Company's debt structure as of June 30, 2024 was as follows:

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Lease Information

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Disclosure Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures

FFO, FFO per diluted common share and OP units, AFFO, AFFO per diluted common share and OP units, Adjusted EBITDA and Cash Net Operating Income ("Cash NOI"), which are detailed in the reconciliation tables that accompany this release, are used by the Company as performance measures for benchmarking against the Company's peers and as internal measures of business operating performance, which is used for a bonus metric. These metrics are presented assuming full conversion of limited partnership units to common shares and therefore before the income statement impact of non-controlling interests. The Company believes FFO, FFO per diluted common share and OP units, AFFO, AFFO per diluted common share and OP units, Adjusted EBITDA and Cash NOI provide a meaningful perspective of the underlying operating performance of the Company's current business.  This is especially true since these measures exclude real estate depreciation and we believe that real estate values fluctuate based on market conditions rather than depreciating in value ratably on a straight-line basis over time. Cash NOI is rental and other property income, less cash property level expenses. Cash NOI excludes depreciation, the amortization of land rights, real estate general and administrative expenses, other non-routine costs and the impact of certain generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") adjustments to rental revenue, such as straight-line rent adjustments and non-cash ground lease income and expense. It is management's view that Cash NOI is a performance measure used to evaluate the operating performance of the Company's real estate operations and provides investors relevant and useful information because it reflects only income and operating expense items that are incurred at the property level and presents them on an unleveraged basis.

FFO, FFO per diluted common share and OP units, AFFO, AFFO per diluted common share and OP units, Adjusted EBITDA and Cash NOI are non-GAAP financial measures that are considered supplemental measures for the real estate industry and a supplement to GAAP measures. NAREIT defines FFO as net income (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding (gains) or losses from dispositions of property, net of tax and real estate depreciation.  We have defined AFFO as FFO excluding, as applicable to the particular period, stock based compensation expense, the amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts, other depreciation, the amortization of land rights, accretion on investment in leases, financing receivables, non-cash adjustments to financing lease liabilities, property transfer tax recoveries and impairment charges, straight-line rent adjustments, losses on debt extinguishment, and provision (benefit) for credit losses, net, reduced by capital maintenance expenditures. We have defined Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding, as applicable to the particular period, interest, net, income tax expense, real estate depreciation, other depreciation, (gains) or losses from dispositions of property, net of tax, stock based compensation expense, straight-line rent adjustments, the amortization of land rights, accretion on investment in leases, financing receivables, non-cash adjustments to financing lease liabilities, property transfer tax recoveries and impairment charges, losses on debt extinguishment, and provision (benefit) for credit losses, net. Finally, we have defined Cash NOI as Adjusted EBITDA excluding general and administrative expenses and including, as applicable to the particular period, stock based compensation expense and (gains) or losses from dispositions of property.

FFO, FFO per diluted common share and OP units, AFFO, AFFO per diluted common share and OP units, Adjusted EBITDA and Cash NOI are not recognized terms under GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures: (i) do not represent cash flow from operations as defined by GAAP; (ii) should not be considered as an alternative to net income as a measure of operating performance or to cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities; and (iii) are not alternatives to cash flow as a measure of liquidity. In addition, these measures should not be viewed as an indication of our ability to fund all of our cash needs, including to make cash distributions to our shareholders, to fund capital improvements, or to make interest payments on our indebtedness. Investors are also cautioned that FFO, FFO per diluted common share and OP units, AFFO, AFFO per diluted common share and OP units, Adjusted EBITDA and Cash NOI, as presented, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other real estate companies, including REITs, due to the fact that not all real estate companies use the same definitions. Our presentation of these measures does not replace the presentation of our financial results in accordance with GAAP.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including our expectations regarding our 2024 AFFO guidance and the Company benefiting from recently announced transactions, including the cash and rental yields. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects," "believes," "estimates," "intends," "may," "will," "should" or "anticipates" or the negative or other variation of these or similar words, or by discussions of future events, strategies or risks and uncertainties. Such forward looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about GLPI and its subsidiaries, including risks related to the following: GLPI's expectations regarding continued growth and dividend increases, GLPI's expectation that it will continue to be a strong steward of its shareholders' investment capital, the effect of pandemics, such as COVID-19, on GLPI as a result of the impact such pandemics may have on the business operations of GLPI's tenants and their continued ability to pay rent in a timely manner or at all; the potential negative impact of ongoing high levels of inflation (which have been exacerbated by the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and may be further impacted by events in the Middle East) on our tenants' operations, the availability of and the ability to identify suitable and attractive acquisition and development opportunities and the ability to acquire and lease those properties on favorable terms; the ability to receive, or delays in obtaining, the regulatory approvals required to own and/or operate its properties, or other delays or impediments to completing acquisitions or projects; GLPI's ability to maintain its status as a REIT; our ability to access capital through debt and equity markets in amounts and at rates and costs acceptable to GLPI; the impact of our substantial indebtedness on our future operations; changes in the U.S. tax law and other state, federal or local laws, whether or not specific to REITs or to the gaming or lodging industries; and other factors described in GLPI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, each as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to GLPI or persons acting on GLPI's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this press release. GLPI undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur as presented or at all.