- Invested More Than $200 Million in Convenience and Automotive Retail Assets -
- Introduces 2025 Earnings Guidance -
NEW YORK, Jan. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE: GTY) (“Getty” or the “Company”), a net lease REIT focused on convenience and automotive retail real estate, today provided an update on the Company’s fourth quarter and full year 2024 investment and capital markets activities. The Company also provided its initial full year 2025 earnings guidance.
2024 Highlights
Invested approximately $209 million in convenience and automotive retail assets at an 8.3% initial cash yield, including approximately $76 million at an 8.9% initial cash yield in the fourth quarter.
Raised approximately $289 million of new equity and debt capital, including approximately $32 million of forward equity through the Company’s at-the-market ("ATM") equity program and $125 million of previously announced unsecured notes in the fourth quarter.
“I’m very pleased with our performance in 2024 as we grew our portfolio at attractive returns while navigating the unique challenges posed by the transaction and capital markets throughout the year,” stated Christopher J. Constant, Getty’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We were able to materially increase the initial cash yields we generated from our investments, while still closing a significant volume of transactions that met our stringent underwriting criteria. We begin 2025 with positive momentum, including almost $30 million of assets under contract, a substantial set of investment opportunities under executed letters of intent, and nearly $240 million of committed equity and debt capital to fund this transaction activity.”
Portfolio Activities
Investments
In 2024, the Company invested approximately $209 million in convenience and automotive retail assets at an 8.3% initial cash yield, including the acquisition of fee simple interests in 31 express tunnel car washes, 19 auto service centers, 17 convenience stores, and four drive-thru quick service restaurants.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the Company invested approximately $76 million in convenience and automotive retail assets at an 8.9% initial cash yield, including the acquisition of fee simple interests in 14 convenience stores, two express tunnel car washes, two auto service centers, and one drive-thru quick service restaurant.
Investment Pipeline
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had a committed investment pipeline of more than $29 million for the development and acquisition of 15 convenience and automotive retail assets. The Company expects to fund the majority of this investment activity, which includes multiple transactions with six different tenants, over approximately the next 9-12 months. While the Company has fully executed agreements for each transaction, the timing and amount of each investment is ultimately dependent on its counterparties and the schedules under which they are able to construct new-to-industry developments.
Redevelopments
In 2024, rent commenced on one redevelopment property and, as of December 31, 2024, the Company had four properties under active redevelopment with others in various stages of feasibility planning for potential recapture from our net lease portfolio.
Dispositions
In 2024, the Company sold 31 properties for gross proceeds of approximately $13 million, including seven properties for gross proceeds of approximately $8 million in the fourth quarter.
Capital Markets Activities
Common Equity
In 2024, the Company raised approximately $164 million of gross equity proceeds through the sale of 5.4 million common shares subject to forward sales agreements, including 4.0 million shares ($121 million of gross proceeds) in a follow-on public offering and 1.4 million shares through its ATM equity program ($43 million of gross proceeds), of which 1.0 million shares were sold in the fourth quarter ($32 million of gross proceeds).
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had a total of 5.4 million shares subject to outstanding forward equity agreements, which upon settlement are anticipated to raise gross proceeds of approximately $164 million.
Unsecured Notes
As previously announced, in November 2024, the Company closed the private placement of $125 million of senior unsecured notes, including (i) $50 million of notes priced at a fixed rate of 5.52% and maturing September 12, 2029 and (ii) $75 million of notes priced at a fixed rate of 5.70% and maturing February 22, 2032.
The senior unsecured notes will fund on February 25, 2025 and proceeds will be used to repay in full the Company’s $50 million 4.75% Series C senior unsecured notes due February 25, 2025 and for general corporate purposes, including to fund investment activity.
2025 Guidance
The Company has established its initial 2025 AFFO guidance at a range of $2.40 to $2.42 per diluted share. The Company’s outlook includes completed transaction activity as of December 31, 2024, as well as the issuance and simultaneous repayment of the senior notes referenced above, but does not include assumptions for any prospective acquisitions, dispositions, or capital markets activities (including the settlement of outstanding forward sale agreements).
The guidance is based on current assumptions and is subject to risks and uncertainties more fully described in this press release and the Company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Getty Realty Corp.
Getty Realty Corp. is a publicly traded, net lease REIT specializing in the acquisition, financing and development of convenience, automotive and other single tenant retail real estate. As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s portfolio included 1,118 freestanding properties located in 42 states across the United States and Washington, D.C.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to measurements defined by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), the Company also focuses on Funds From Operations (“FFO”) and Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”) to measure its performance.
FFO and AFFO are generally considered by analysts and investors to be appropriate supplemental non-GAAP measures of the performance of REITs. FFO and AFFO are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, FFO and AFFO are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Neither FFO nor AFFO represent cash generated from operating activities calculated in accordance with GAAP and therefore these measures should not be considered an alternative for GAAP net earnings or as a measure of liquidity. These measures should only be used to evaluate the Company’s performance in conjunction with corresponding GAAP measures.
FFO is defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) as GAAP net earnings before (i) depreciation and amortization of real estate assets, (ii) gains or losses on dispositions of real estate assets, (iii) impairment charges, and (iv) the cumulative effect of accounting changes.
The Company defines AFFO as FFO excluding (i) certain revenue recognition adjustments (defined below), (ii) certain environmental adjustments (defined below), (iii) stock-based compensation, (iv) amortization of debt issuance costs and (v) other non-cash and/or unusual items that are not reflective of the Company’s core operating performance.
Other REITs may use definitions of FFO and/or AFFO that are different than the Company’s and, accordingly, may not be comparable.
The Company believes that FFO and AFFO are helpful to analysts and investors in measuring the Company’s performance because both FFO and AFFO exclude various items included in GAAP net earnings that do not relate to, or are not indicative of, the core operating performance of the Company’s portfolio. Specifically, FFO excludes items such as depreciation and amortization of real estate assets, gains or losses on dispositions of real estate assets, and impairment charges. With respect to AFFO, the Company further excludes the impact of (i) deferred rental revenue (straight-line rent), the net amortization of above-market and below-market leases, adjustments recorded for the recognition of rental income from direct financing leases, and the amortization of deferred lease incentives (collectively, “Revenue Recognition Adjustments”), (ii) environmental accretion expenses, environmental litigation accruals, insurance reimbursements, legal settlements and judgments, and changes in environmental remediation estimates (collectively, “Environmental Adjustments”), (iii) stock-based compensation expense, (iv) amortization of debt issuance costs and (v) other items, which may include allowances for credit losses on notes and mortgages receivable and direct financing leases, losses on extinguishment of debt, retirement and severance costs, and other items that do not impact the Company’s recurring cash flow and which are not indicative of its core operating performance.
The Company pays particular attention to AFFO which it believes provides the most useful depiction of the core operating performance of its portfolio. By providing AFFO, the Company believes it is presenting information that assists analysts and investors in their assessment of the Company’s core operating performance, as well as the sustainability of its core operating performance with the sustainability of the core operating performance of other real estate companies.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. When the words “believes,” “expects,” “plans,” “projects,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “predicts,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used, they identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current beliefs and assumptions and information currently available to management and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those regarding the company’s 2025 AFFO per share guidance, those made by Mr. Constant, and statements regarding AFFO as a measure best representing core operating performance and its utility in comparing the sustainability of the company’s core operating performance with the sustainability of the core operating performance of other REITs.
Information concerning factors that could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements can be found elsewhere from this press release, including, without limitation, those statements in the company’s periodic reports filed with the securities and exchange commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances or reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
