WP Glimcher posts first quarter net loss

Staff report

BOARDMAN

Southern Park Mall’s management company, WP Glimcher, posted first-quarter 2015 net loss of $12.3 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with first-quarter 2014 net income of $34.4 million, or 22 cents per share.

Funds from operations were $77 million, or 36 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2015, compared with $88.4 million, or 47 cents per share, in the prior-year period. Results for the first quarter of 2015 include $24.9 million of costs related to the merger with Glimcher.

In January, Washington Prime Group Inc., a spinoff company of Simon Property Group, acquired Glimcher.

When adjusted for costs, WP Glimcher’s funds from operations were $102 million, or 47 cents per share, for the quarter ending March 31.

Results for the first quarter this year also included about $9.7 million of general and administrative expenses for the company operating as a separate, publicly traded company after its May 2014 separation from Simon. No such costs were incurred in the first quarter of 2014.

Property net operating income for the first quarter of 2015 increased 0.9 percent from the first quarter of 2014.

Company leaders explained on a Thursday conference call how bankruptcies of several tenants affected business, but the company’s leasing team is working to end the year strong.

During the quarter, there were 63 new stores that opened across the company’s portfolio of 121 enclosed regional malls and open-air lifestyle community centers. Noted during the conference call was the April 30 opening of the nearly 19,000-square-foot H&M store in Southern Park Mall.

The company also has executed many small redevelopments.

In other activities, WP Glimcher has entered into a definitive agreement for a join venture with O’Connor Capital Partners, a private real-estate company based in New York City, for five of WP Glimcher’s properties; The Mall at Johnson City in Johnson City, Tenn.; Pearlridge Center in Aiea, Hawaii; Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus; Scottsdale Quarter in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Town Center Plaza (which consists of Town Center Plaza and the adjacent Town Center Crossing) in Leawood, Kan.

O’Connor will have a 49 percent ownership interest in the joint venture, and WP Glimcher will retain a 51 percent ownership interest.

WP Glimcher will continue to lease and manage the properties.

The company expects adjusted funding from operations for the year to be in the range of $1.77 to $1.85 per share.