Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. Reports Record Second Quarter 2019 Results

- Establishes 2019 Third Quarter Guidance and Updates Full Year Guidance -

WYOMISSING, Pa., Aug. 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLPI) (“GLPI” or the “Company”), North America's first gaming-focused real estate investment trust (“REIT”), today announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. Second quarter total revenue grew 13.7%, net income grew by 1.1%, Adjusted EBITDA increased 15.9% and FFO and AFFO rose 35.7% and 9.3%, respectively.  The year-over-year financial growth primarily reflects GLPI’s October 2018 acquisitions of real property assets operated by Boyd Gaming Corporation (“BYD”), Eldorado Resorts, Inc. (“ERI”) and Penn National Gaming, Inc. (“PENN”).

Chief Executive Officer, Peter M. Carlino, commented “Our solid second quarter results reflect the stability and durability of GLPI’s diversified rental stream as the leading owner of regional gaming real estate. As the M&A and transaction environment remains active across the gaming industry, we continue to invest in existing and new tenant relationships with a dedication to sourcing portfolio enhancing accretive growth opportunities. The GLPI team remains deeply focused on delivering results, prudently managing the balance sheet, and positioning the Company to extend its long track record of value creation for shareholders.”

The second quarter operating results include the acceleration of depreciation and land rights amortization of $16.6 million due to the previously announced closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property by our tenant, which does not alter the amount of rent due from the tenant under its master lease. During the 2019 second quarter, shareholders received a quarterly cash dividend of $0.68 per share, which marks a 7.9% increase over the comparable period in 2018. This $2.72 annualized dividend amount represents a 5.24% increase on a compound annual basis since the Company's formation.

Financial Highlights

⁽¹⁾ Funds from operations (“FFO”) is net income, excluding (gains) or losses from sales of property and real estate depreciation as defined by NAREIT.

⁽²⁾ Adjusted funds from operations (“AFFO”) is FFO, excluding stock based compensation expense, the amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts, other depreciation, the amortization of land rights, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs and goodwill and loan impairment charges, reduced by capital maintenance expenditures.

⁽³⁾ Adjusted EBITDA is net income, excluding interest, taxes on income, depreciation, (gains) or losses from sales of property, stock based compensation expense, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, the amortization of land rights, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs and goodwill and loan impairment charges.

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, 2019, GLPI's portfolio consisted of interests in 46 gaming and related facilities, including Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and Hollywood Casino Perryville, which are referred to as the "TRS Properties", the real property associated with 33 gaming and related facilities operated by PENN, the real property associated with 6 gaming and related facilities operated by ERI (including one mortgaged facility), the real property associated with 4 gaming and related facilities operated by BYD (including one mortgaged facility) and the real property associated with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois. These facilities are geographically diversified across 16 states and contain approximately 23.5 million square feet.

Guidance

The table below sets forth current guidance targets for financial results for the 2019 third quarter and full year, based on the following assumptions:

• Includes the full year impact of the transaction closed on October 1, 2018, with ERI and the impact of the transactions closed on October 15, 2018 with PENN, Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (“PNK”) and BYD;
• Reported range of revenue from real estate of approximately $1,024.0 to $1,024.9 million for the year and $256.3 million for the third quarter consisting of:

• Cash rent from PENN excludes the 2019 escalation related to the PNK master lease, as PENN has reported coverage on this lease of 1.75 times for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2019, the calculation as of the anniversary date of this lease is currently under review by GLPI;
• Adjusted EBITDA from the TRS Properties of approximately $29.0 million for the year and $6.7 million for the third quarter and reflects the impact of the Maryland state budget process which revoked the previously approved tax relief granted by the Maryland Lottery Commission;
• Blended income tax rate at the TRS Properties of 33%;
• LIBOR is based on the forward yield curve; and
• The basic share count is approximately 214.6 million shares for the year and the third quarter and the fully diluted share count is approximately 215.5 million shares for the year and for the third quarter.

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

⁽²⁾ AFFO is FFO, excluding stock based compensation expense, amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts, other depreciation, amortization of land rights, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs, goodwill impairment charges and loan impairment charges, reduced by capital maintenance expenditures.

⁽³⁾ Adjusted EBITDA is net income, excluding interest, taxes on income, depreciation, (gains) or losses from sales of property, stock based compensation expense, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, the amortization of land rights, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs, goodwill impairment charges and loan impairment charges.

Conference Call Details

The Company will hold a conference call on August 8, 2019 at 9:00 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: 13692174
The playback can be accessed through August 15, 2019.

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.

GAMING AND LEISURE PROPERTIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share data) (unaudited)

GAMING AND LEISURE PROPERTIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Operations
(in thousands) (unaudited)

GAMING AND LEISURE PROPERTIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Current Year Revenue Detail
(in thousands) (unaudited)

GAMING AND LEISURE PROPERTIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
General and Administrative Expense
(in thousands) (unaudited)

⁽¹⁾  General and administrative expenses include payroll related expenses, insurance, utilities, professional fees and other administrative costs.

Reconciliation of Net income (GAAP) to FFO, FFO to AFFO, and AFFO to Adjusted EBITDA
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
CONSOLIDATED
(in thousands) (unaudited)

⁽¹⁾ Other depreciation includes both real estate and equipment depreciation from the Company's taxable REIT subsidiaries, as well as equipment depreciation from the REIT subsidiaries.

⁽²⁾ Capital maintenance expenditures are expenditures to replace existing fixed assets with a useful life greater than one year that are obsolete, worn out or no longer cost effective to repair.

Reconciliation of Net income (GAAP) to FFO, FFO to AFFO, AFFO to Adjusted EBITDA and
Adjusted EBITDA to Cash Net Operating Income
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
REAL ESTATE and CORPORATE (REIT)
(in thousands) (unaudited)

⁽¹⁾ Other depreciation includes both real estate and equipment depreciation from the Company's taxable REIT subsidiaries, as well as equipment depreciation from the REIT subsidiaries.

⁽²⁾ Capital maintenance expenditures are expenditures to replace existing fixed assets with a useful life greater than one year that are obsolete, worn out or no longer cost effective to repair.

⁽³⁾ Interest expense, net is net of intercompany interest eliminations of $2.6 million and $5.2 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

⁽⁴⁾ Cash net operating income (“Cash NOI”) is rental and other property income less cash property level expenses.

Reconciliation of Net income (GAAP) to FFO, FFO to AFFO, and AFFO to Adjusted EBITDA
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
GLP HOLDINGS, LLC (TRS)
(in thousands) (unaudited)

⁽¹⁾ Other depreciation includes both real estate and equipment depreciation from the Company's taxable REIT subsidiaries, as well as equipment depreciation from the REIT subsidiaries.

⁽²⁾ Capital maintenance expenditures are expenditures to replace existing fixed assets with a useful life greater than one year that are obsolete, worn out or no longer cost effective to repair.

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(amounts in thousands, except share and per share data) (unaudited)

Debt Capitalization

The Company had $24.7 million of unrestricted cash and $5.8 billion in total debt at June 30, 2019.  The Company’s debt structure as of June 30, 2019 was as follows:

⁽¹⁾ The rate on the term loan facility and revolver is LIBOR plus 1.50%.

Rating Agency Update - Issue Rating

Dividends

On May 28, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors declared the second quarter 2019 dividend.  Shareholders of record on June 14, 2019 received $0.68 per common share, which was paid on June 28, 2019.  The Company anticipates the following schedule regarding dividends to be paid in 2019:

Properties

Lease and Mortgage Information

⁽¹⁾ Boyd assumed Pinnacle's legacy lease initial term, which will end on April 30, 2026.
⁽²⁾ Meadows yearly escalator is 5% until a breakpoint when it resets to 2%.
⁽³⁾ Not a public reporting entity, number certified by tenant as of March 31, 2019.
⁽⁴⁾ Eldorado escalator governor is 1.2x for the initial 5 years and then 1.8x in subsequent years.
⁽⁵⁾ The Belterra Park mortgage is supported by the BYD Master Lease subsidiaries and its terms are consistent with the BYD Master Lease.

Disclosure Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Funds From Operations (“FFO”), Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”), Adjusted EBITDA and 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. The Company believes FFO, AFFO, 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. In addition, in order for the Company to qualify as a REIT, it must distribute 90% of its REIT taxable income annually.  The Company adjusts AFFO accordingly to provide our investors an estimate of taxable income for this distribution requirement. Direct financing lease adjustments represent the portion of cash rent we received from tenants that was applied against our lease receivable and thus not recorded as revenue and the amortization of land rights represents the non-cash amortization of the value assigned to the Company's assumed ground leases. 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 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, AFFO, 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 generally accepted accounting principles), excluding (gains) or losses from sales of property and real estate depreciation.  We have defined AFFO as FFO excluding stock based compensation expense, the amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts, other depreciation, the amortization of land rights, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs and goodwill and loan impairment charges, reduced by capital maintenance expenditures. We have defined Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding interest, taxes on income, depreciation, (gains) or losses from sales of property, stock based compensation expense, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, the amortization of land rights, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs, and goodwill and loan impairment charges. Finally, we have defined Cash NOI as Adjusted EBITDA for the REIT excluding real estate general and administrative expenses and including stock based compensation expense and (gains) or losses from sales of property.

FFO, AFFO, 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 share, AFFO, AFFO per share, 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. GLPI expects to grow its portfolio by pursuing opportunities to acquire additional gaming facilities to lease to gaming operators. GLPI also intends to diversify its portfolio over time, including by acquiring properties outside the gaming industry to lease to third parties. GLPI elected to be taxed as a REIT for United States federal income tax purposes commencing with the 2014 taxable year and is the first gaming-focused REIT in North America.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding our financial outlook for the third quarter of 2019 and the full 2019 fiscal year; our expectations regarding future acquisitions and expected 2019 dividend payments. 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: 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, 2018, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, each as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward looking events discussed in this press release may not occur. 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.

Tenant Information

Information with respect to our tenants' rent coverage is derived from the public statements and filings of PENN, BYD and ERI and from certifications provided by Casino Queen, Inc. GLPI has not independently verified the accuracy of this information and therefore makes no representation as to the accuracy of such information.

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