WEBCAST • WPC First Quarter 2006 Financial Results
NEW YORK, NY, May 9, 2006 – Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) today reported financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2006.
QUARTERLY RESULTS
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Total revenues for the three-month period increased 6% to $47.9 million, as compared to $45.3 million for the same period in 2005.
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Income from continuing operations for the three-month period increased 12% to $15.0 million, as compared to $13.3 million for the same period in 2005.
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Net income for the three-month period increased 89% to $11.1 million, as compared to $5.9 million for the same period in 2005. This higher net income was due in large part to a decrease in impairment charges from $9.7 million in 2005 to $3.4 million in 2006.
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Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the three-month period increased 93% to $0.29 as compared to $0.15 for the same period in 2005.
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Funds from Operations (FFO) for the three-month period, as per the attached schedule, which are calculated consistently with the Company’s prior FFO reporting, decreased 7% to $0.57 per diluted share, or $21.8 million, as compared to $0.61 per diluted share, or $23.9 million, for the comparable period in 2005. The change is largely due to an increase in the current tax liability as it relates to the timing of the payment of deferred acquisition fees.
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Cash flows from operating activities for the three-month period decreased 8% to $25.3 million, as compared to $27.5 million for the comparable period in 2005, as an increasing amount of our management income was received in shares of the Corporate Property Associates (CPA®) funds. Cash flow was also negatively affected because the Company absorbed unreimbursed marketing costs as a result of not raising funds on behalf of CPA®:16 – Global during the first quarter of 2006.
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The Board of Directors raised the quarterly cash distribution to $0.452 per share, which was paid on April 13, 2006 to shareholders of record on March 31, 2006. Upon payment of the quarterly cash distributions on April 13, 2006, W. P. Carey & Co. LLC and its CPA® funds paid more than $2 billion through 700 distributions to investors since the inception of the first CPA® fund in 1979.
INVESTMENT ACTIVITY
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For the three-month period ended March 31, 2006, the Company completed five investments in four industries totaling $255 million on behalf of its funds, CPA®:15 and CPA®:16 – Global, as compared to $367 million for the three-month period ended March 31, 2005.
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72% of investments in the first quarter of 2006 were made internationally, consisting of an acquisition of fifteen retail facilities and one office building located throughout Poland from OBI AG, the fourth largest ‘Do-It-Yourself’ retailer in the world headquartered in Germany, for a total purchase price of approximately $183 million. The lease is guaranteed by the German parent and is denominated in Euros.
GROWTH IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT
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The CPA® series of non-traded REITs had assets valued at approximately $6.6 billion on March 31, 2006, which represents a 15% increase as compared to March 31, 2005.
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Since 2000, the Company’s assets under management more than tripled, reflecting an annual compound growth rate of 29%.
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As of March 31, 2006, the occupancy rate of W. P. Carey’s 17 million square foot portfolio was approximately 95%. As of March 31, 2006, the occupancy rate of the
W. P. Carey Group’s 95 million square foot portfolio – which includes both the CPA® series of funds as well as W. P. Carey’s directly-owned assets – was approximately 99%.
CPA®:16 – GLOBAL PUBLIC OFFERING
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W. P. Carey & Co.’s affiliated non-traded income generating real estate fund, CPA®:16 - Global, resumed fundraising effective March 27, 2006 and raised over $50 million in its first month of sales. The fund is seeking to raise up to $550 million through its current offering, after having raised $553 million through its initial public offering which concluded in March 2005.
ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING
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The W. P. Carey & Co. LLC 2006 Annual Shareholder Meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 7th at 2:00 PM at The New York Hilton Hotel located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. All shareholders are invited to attend. In addition, a live webcast of the event will be available on the Company’s website and will be archived on the website following the meeting.
Gordon F. DuGan, President and Chief Executive Officer of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC, said, “Our results for the first quarter of this year demonstrate our continued focus on consistent growth. Our revenues and net income increased and continued to deliver healthy cash flow from operations. We continue to increase our assets under management and build upon our solid record of accomplishments for our CPA® fund investors. As we have said in the past, we operate in an increasingly competitive global environment and we are focused on remaining disciplined in pursuing investment opportunities.”
CONFERENCE CALL & WEBCAST
Please call at least 10 minutes prior to register for call.
Time: Tuesday, May 9, 2006 11:00 am (ET)
Call-in number: 1-800-481-9591 (International) 719-457-2731
Webcast: www.wpcarey.com/earnings
Podcast: www.wpcarey.com/podcast – Available after 2:00 PM (ET)
Replay: Call 1-888-203-1112 (International) 719-457-0820
Access code 9980480 Available after 2:00 PM
W. P. CAREY & CO. LLC
Founded in 1973, W. P. Carey & Co. LLC is a leading global real estate investment firm. The Company provides asset management services to its CPA® series of income generating real estate funds. With $4.5 billion in equity capital, the W. P. Carey Group is one of the largest providers of net lease financing for corporations worldwide. The Group owns more than 675 commercial and industrial properties in 13 countries, representing over 95 million square feet, valued at more than $7.7 billion. www.wpcarey.com
Individuals interested in receiving future updates on W. P. Carey via e-mail can register at www.wpcarey.com/alerts.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. A number of factors could cause the company’s actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from those anticipated. Among those risks, trends and uncertainties are the general economic climate; the supply of and demand for commercial properties; interest rate levels; the availability of financing; and other risks associated with the acquisition and ownership of properties, including risks that the tenants will not pay rent, or that costs may be greater than anticipated. For further information on factors that could impact the company, reference is made to the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
