This Earnings Release and Supplemental Financial Information includes certain financial and operating measures used by NSA management that are not calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP. NSA's definitions and calculations of these non-GAAP financial and operating measures and other terms may differ from the definitions and methodologies used by other real estate companies and, accordingly, may not be comparable. These non-GAAP financial and operating measures should not be considered an alternative to GAAP net income or any other GAAP measurement of performance and should not be considered an alternative measure of liquidity.
2016 JOINT VENTURE: NSA's 2016 Joint Venture was formed in 2016 with a major state pension fund advised by Heitman Capital Management LLC. NSA's ownership in the 2016 Joint Venture is 25% and NSA earns customary fees for managing and operating the 2016 Joint Venture properties. In connection with the 2016 Joint Venture’s acquisition of an initial portfolio of self storage properties, NSA separately acquired the property management platform related to the initial portfolio, including a property management company, and related intellectual property, including the iStorage brand, under which NSA's management platform operates the 2016 Joint Venture.
2018 JOINT VENTURE: NSA's 2018 Joint Venture was formed in 2018 with an affiliate of Heitman America Real Estate REIT LLC to acquire a portfolio of over 100 self storage properties. NSA's ownership in the 2018 Joint Venture is 25% and NSA earns customary fees for managing and operating the 2018 Joint Venture properties. Substantially all of the 2018 Joint Venture properties are operated by NSA's management platform under NSA's iStorage brand.
AVERAGE ANNUALIZED RENTAL REVENUE PER OCCUPIED SQUARE FOOT: Average annualized rental revenue per occupied square foot is computed by dividing annualized rental revenue (including fees and net of any discounts and uncollectible customer amounts) by average occupied square feet.
AVERAGE OCCUPANCY: Average occupancy is calculated based on the average of the month-end occupancy immediately preceding the period presented and the month-end occupancies included in the respective period presented.
CAPITAL EXPENDITURES DEFINITIONS
ACQUISITIONS CAPITAL EXPENDITURES: Acquisitions capital expenditures represents the portion of capital expenditures capitalized during the current period that were identified and underwritten prior to a property's acquisition.
RECURRING CAPITAL EXPENDITURES: Recurring capital expenditures represents the portion of capital expenditures that are deemed to replace the consumed portion of acquired capital assets and extend their useful lives.
VALUE ENHANCING CAPITAL EXPENDITURES: Value enhancing capital expenditures represents the portion of capital expenditures that are made to enhance the revenue and value of an asset from its original purchase condition.
EBITDA: NSA defines EBITDA as net income (loss), as determined under GAAP, plus interest expense, loss on early extinguishment of debt, income taxes, depreciation and amortization expense and the Company's share of unconsolidated real estate venture depreciation and amortization. NSA defines ADJUSTED EBITDA as EBITDA plus acquisition costs, organizational and offering expenses, equity-based compensation expense, losses on sale of properties and impairment of long-lived assets, minus gains on sale of properties and debt forgiveness, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. These further adjustments eliminate the impact of items that the Company does not consider indicative of its core operating performance. In evaluating EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future the Company may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation. NSA's presentation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that its future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items.
NSA presents EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA because the Company believes they assist investors and analysts in comparing the Company's performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that the Company does not believe are indicative of its core operating performance. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as an analytical tool. Some of these limitations are:
- EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the Company's cash expenditures, or future requirements, for capital expenditures, contractual commitments or working capital needs;
- EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on the Company's debts;
- although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements;
- Adjusted EBITDA excludes equity-based compensation expense, which is and will remain a key element of the Company's overall long-term incentive compensation package, although the Company excludes it as an expense when evaluating its ongoing operating performance for a particular period;
- EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the impact of certain cash charges resulting from matters the Company considers not to be indicative of its ongoing operations; and
- other companies in NSA's industry may calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA differently than NSA does, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.
NSA compensates for these limitations by considering the economic effect of the excluded expense items independently as well as in connection with the Company's analysis of net income (loss). EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP, such as total revenues and net income (loss).
FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS: Funds from operations, or FFO, is a widely used performance measure for real estate companies and is provided here as a supplemental measure of the Company's operating performance. The December 2018 Nareit Funds From Operations White Paper - 2018 Restatement, which the Company refers to as the White Paper, defines FFO as net income (as determined under GAAP), excluding: real estate depreciation and amortization, gains and losses from the sale of certain real estate assets, gains and losses from change in control, mark-to-market changes in value recognized on equity securities, impairment write-downs of certain real estate assets and impairment of investments in entities when it is directly attributable to decreases in the value of depreciable real estate held by the entity and after items to record unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures on the same basis. Distributions declared on subordinated performance units and DownREIT subordinated performance units represent NSA's allocation of FFO to noncontrolling interests held by subordinated performance unitholders and DownREIT subordinated performance unitholders. For purposes of calculating FFO attributable to common shareholders, OP unitholders, and LTIP unitholders, NSA excludes distributions declared on subordinated performance units, DownREIT subordinated performance units, preferred shares and preferred units. NSA defines CORE FFO as FFO, as further adjusted to eliminate the impact of certain items that the Company does not consider indicative of its core operating performance. These further adjustments consist of acquisition costs, organizational and offering costs, gains on debt forgiveness, gains (losses) on early extinguishment of debt, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures.
Management uses FFO and Core FFO as key performance indicators in evaluating the operations of NSA's properties. Given the nature of NSA's business as a real estate owner and operator, the Company considers FFO and Core FFO as key supplemental measures of its operating performance that are not specifically defined by GAAP. NSA believes that FFO and Core FFO are useful to management and investors as a starting point in measuring the Company's operational performance because FFO and Core FFO exclude various items included in net income (loss) that do not relate to or are not indicative of the Company's operating performance such as gains (or losses) from sales of self storage properties and depreciation, which can make periodic and peer analyses of operating performance more difficult. NSA's computation of FFO and Core FFO may not be comparable to FFO reported by other REITs or real estate companies.
FFO and Core FFO should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP, such as total revenues, operating income and net income (loss). FFO and Core FFO do not represent cash generated from operating activities determined in accordance with GAAP and are not a measure of liquidity or an indicator of NSA's ability to make cash distributions. NSA believes that to further understand the Company's performance, FFO and Core FFO should be compared with the Company's reported net income (loss) and considered in addition to cash flows computed in accordance with GAAP, as presented in the Company's consolidated financial statements.
HYPOTHETICAL LIQUIDATION AT BOOK VALUE METHOD: In accordance with GAAP, the Company allocates income (loss) utilizing the hypothetical liquidation at book value ("HLBV") method, in which the Company allocates income or loss based on the change in each unitholders’ claim on the net assets of the Company's operating partnership at period end after adjusting for any distributions or contributions made during such period. The Company uses this method because of the difference between the distribution rights and priorities set forth in the operating partnership's Agreement of Limited Partnership and what is reflected by the underlying percentage ownership interests of the unitholders.
The HLBV method is a balance sheet-focused approach to income (loss) allocation. A calculation is prepared at each balance sheet date to determine the amount that unitholders would receive if the operating partnership were to liquidate all of its assets (at GAAP net book value) and distribute the resulting proceeds to its creditors and unitholders based on the contractually defined liquidation priorities. The difference between the calculated liquidation distribution amounts at the beginning and the end of the reporting period, after adjusting for capital contributions and distributions, is used to derive each unitholder's share of the income (loss) for the period. Due to the stated liquidation priorities and because the HLBV method incorporates non-cash items such as depreciation expense, in any given period, income or loss may be allocated disproportionately to unitholders as compared to their respective ownership percentage in the operating partnership, and net income (loss) attributable to National Storage Affiliates Trust could be more or less net income than actual cash distributions received and more or less income or loss than what may be received in the event of an actual liquidation. Additionally, the HLBV method could result in net income (or net loss) attributable to National Storage Affiliates Trust during a period when the Company reports consolidated net loss (or net income), or net income (or net loss) attributable to National Storage Affiliates Trust in excess of the Company's consolidated net income (or net loss). The computations of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share may be materially affected by these disproportionate income (loss) allocations, resulting in volatile fluctuations of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share. Readers and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on NSA's income (loss) allocations or earnings (loss) per share without considering the effects described above, including the effect that depreciation and amortization have on income (loss), net book value and the application of the HLBV method.
LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN UNITS: Long-term incentive plan units, or LTIP units, are a special class of partnership interest in NSA's operating partnership that allow the holder to participate in the ordinary and liquidating distributions received by holders of the operating partnership units (subject to the achievement of specified levels of profitability by our operating partnership or the achievement of certain events). Upon vesting, and after achieving parity with operating partnership units, vested LTIP units may be converted into an equal number of operating partnership units, and thereafter have all the rights of operating partnership units, including redemption rights.
NET DEBT TO ANNUALIZED CURRENT QUARTER ADJUSTED EBITDA: NSA calculates net debt to Adjusted EBITDA as total debt (inclusive of $5.9 million of fair value of debt adjustments and $10.7 million of debt issuance costs) less cash and cash equivalents, divided by annualized current quarter Adjusted EBITDA.
NET OPERATING INCOME: Net operating income, or NOI, represents rental revenue plus other property-related revenue less property operating expenses. NOI is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP.
NSA believes NOI is useful to investors in evaluating the Company's operating performance because:
- NOI is one of the primary measures used by NSA's management and the Company's PROs to evaluate the economic productivity of the Company's properties, including the Company's ability to lease its properties, increase pricing and occupancy and control the Company's property operating expenses;
- NOI is widely used in the real estate industry and the self storage industry to measure the performance and value of real estate assets without regard to various items included in net income that do not relate to or are not indicative of operating performance, such as depreciation and amortization, which can vary depending upon accounting methods, the book value of assets, and the impact of NSA's capital structure; and
- NSA believes NOI helps the Company's investors to meaningfully compare the results of its operating performance from period to period by removing the impact of the Company's capital structure (primarily interest expense on the Company's outstanding indebtedness) and depreciation of the cost basis of NSA's assets from its operating results.
There are material limitations to using a non-GAAP measure such as NOI, including the difficulty associated with comparing results among more than one company and the inability to analyze certain significant items, including depreciation and interest expense, that directly affect the Company's net income (loss). NSA compensates for these limitations by considering the economic effect of the excluded expense items independently as well as in connection with the Company's analysis of net income (loss). NOI should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP, such as total revenues and net loss.
NET OPERATING INCOME MARGIN: The ratio of NOI divided by total rental and other property-related revenue.
NON-SAME STORE PORTFOLIO: Non-same store portfolio comprises those properties that do not meet the Same Store portfolio property definition.
OCCUPANCY AT PERIOD END: Represents total occupied rentable square feet divided by total rentable square feet at period end.
OPERATING PARTNERSHIP UNITS: Operating partnership units, or OP Units, are Class A common units of limited partner interest in the Company's operating partnership which are economically equivalent to NSA's common shares. NSA also owns certain of the Company's self storage properties through other consolidated limited partnership subsidiaries of the Company's operating partnership, which the Company refers to as "DownREIT partnerships." The DownREIT partnerships issue certain units of limited partner or limited liability company interest that are intended to be economically equivalent to the Company's OP units, which the Company defines as DOWNREIT OPERATING PARTNERSHIP UNIT EQUIVALENTS, or DownREIT OP units.
PROs: Participating regional operators, or "PROs", are NSA's experienced regional self storage operators with local operational focus and expertise. As of June 30, 2020, the Company had nine PROs: Northwest Self Storage, Optivest Properties, Guardian Storage Centers, Move It Self Storage, Storage Solutions, Hide-Away, Personal Mini, Southern Self Storage and Moove In Self Storage. On March 31, 2020, NSA closed on the merger and internalization of the management platform of SecurCare Self Storage, which prior to the merger and internalization was the Company’s largest PRO.
RENTABLE SQUARE FEET: Rentable square feet includes all enclosed self storage units but excludes commercial, residential, and covered parking space.
RESTRICTED COMMON SHARES: Restricted common shares are common shares that are subject to restrictions on transferability subject to vesting and such other restrictions. Generally, a participant granted restricted common shares has all of the rights of a shareholder, including, without limitation, the right to vote and the right to receive dividends on the restricted common shares. Holders of restricted common shares are prohibited from selling such shares until they vest.
SAME STORE PORTFOLIO: NSA's same store portfolio is defined as those properties owned and operated since the first day of the earliest year presented, excluding any properties sold, expected to be sold or subject to significant changes such as expansions or casualty events which cause the portfolio's year-over-year operating results to no longer be comparable.
SUBORDINATED PERFORMANCE UNITS: Subordinated performance units, or SP Units, are Class B common units of limited partner interest in the Company's operating partnership. SP units, which are linked to the performance of specific contributed portfolios, are intended to incentivize the Company's PROs to drive operating performance and support the sustainability of the operating cash flow generated by the contributed self storage properties that the PROs continue to manage on NSA's behalf. Because subordinated performance unit holders receive distributions only after portfolio-specific minimum performance thresholds are satisfied, the Company believes SP units play a key role in aligning the interests of the Company's PROs with NSA and the Company's shareholders. The DownREIT partnerships also issue units of limited partner interest that are intended to be economically equivalent to the Company's SP units, which the Company defines as DOWNREIT SUBORDINATED PERFORMANCE UNIT EQUIVALENTS, or DownREIT SP units.
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Baird Equity Research |
BMO Capital Markets |
Capital One Securities, Inc. |
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Citi Investment Research |
Jefferies LLC |
KeyBanc Capital Markets |
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Stifel |
Truist Securities |
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Wells Fargo Securities, LLC |
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