Creative Media & Community Trust Corporation Reports 2023 Fourth Quarter Results

Creative Media & Community Trust Corporation (NASDAQ and TASE: CMCT) (“we”, “our”, “CMCT”, or the “Company”), today reported operating results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2023.

Fourth Quarter 2023 Highlights

Real Estate Portfolio

• Same-store office portfolio⁽²⁾ was 84.0% leased.
• Executed 38,280 square feet of leases with terms longer than 12 months.

Financial Results

• Net loss attributable to common stockholders of $16.3 million, or $0.72 per diluted share.
• Funds from operations attributable to common stockholders (“FFO”)⁽³⁾¹ was $(9.9) million, or $(0.44) per diluted share.
• Core FFO attributable to common stockholders⁽⁴⁾¹ was $(8.4) million, or $(0.37) per diluted share.

Management Commentary

“We made additional strides in early 2024 improving our multifamily occupancy,” said David Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Creative Media & Community Trust Corporation. “We believe there is a significant opportunity to improve our multifamily net operating income after we acquired two premier Class A multifamily residences in 2023 that are still in their lease-up phase following completion of construction.”

“We continue to make progress on our value-add and development pipeline,” said Shaul Kuba, Chief Investment Officer of Creative Media & Community Trust Corporation. “Our partial office to multifamily conversion at 4750 Wilshire Boulevard is expected to be complete later this year adding 68 luxury residences, and we recently commenced construction on a 36-unit residence in Echo Park, Los Angeles that is slated for completion in 2025.”

Fourth Quarter 2023 Results

Real Estate Portfolio

As of December 31, 2023, our real estate portfolio consisted of 27 assets, all of which were fee-simple properties and five of which we own through investments in unconsolidated joint ventures (the “Unconsolidated Joint Ventures”). The Unconsolidated Joint Ventures own two office properties (one of which is being partially converted into multifamily units), one multifamily site currently under development, one multifamily property and one commercial development site. The portfolio includes 13 office properties, totaling approximately 1.3 million rentable square feet, three multifamily properties totaling 696 units, nine development sites (three of which are being used as parking lots) and one 503-room hotel with an ancillary parking garage.

Financial Results

Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $16.3 million, or $0.72 per diluted share of common stock, for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $8.9 million, or $0.39 per diluted share of common stock, for the same period in 2022. The increase in net loss attributable to common stockholders was driven by the $6.3 million decrease in FFO discussed below as well as an increase in depreciation and amortization expense of $1.2 million.

FFO attributable to common stockholders⁽³⁾¹ was $(9.9) million, or $(0.44) per diluted share of common stock, for the three months ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $6.3 million compared to $(3.7) million, or $(0.16) per diluted share of common stock, for the same period in 2022. The decrease in FFO¹ was primarily attributable to an increase in interest expense not allocated to our operating segments of $6.8 million and an increase in redeemable preferred stock dividends of $5.6 million. These were partially offset by a decrease in the consolidated statement of operations impact of redeemable preferred stock redemptions of $7.6 million (due to the $7.9 million recognized in the prior comparable period in connection with the redemption of Series L Preferred stock during the three months ended December 31, 2022).

Core FFO attributable to common stockholders⁽⁴⁾² was $(8.4) million, or $(0.37) per diluted share of common stock, for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $4.4 million, or $0.11 per diluted share of common stock, for the same period in 2022. The decrease in Core FFO² is attributable to the aforementioned changes in FFO², while not impacted by the decrease in redeemable preferred stock redemptions as these are excluded from our Core FFO² calculation.

Segment Information

Our reportable segments during the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 consisted of three types of commercial real estate properties, namely, office, hotel and multifamily, as well as a segment for our lending business. Total segment net operating income (“NOI”)⁽⁵⁾ was $10.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $11.7 million for the same period in 2022.

Office

Same-Store

Same-store⁽²⁾ office segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ decreased to $5.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $6.9 million in the same period in 2022, while same-store⁽¹⁾ office Cash NOI⁽⁶⁾² decreased to $6.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $7.1 million in the same period in 2022. The decrease in same-store⁽²⁾ office Cash NOI⁽⁶⁾² was primarily attributable to a loss from an unconsolidated office entity in Los Angeles, California due to an increase in interest expense and a decline in value of the entity’s investments in real estate, partially offset by an increase in rental revenue at an office property in Beverly Hills, California due to increased occupancy and rental rates and an increase in rental revenue at an office property in Los Angeles, California due to increased occupancy. The decrease in same-store⁽²⁾ office segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ was primarily due to the aforementioned loss from an unconsolidated office entity as well as a decrease in rental revenues at an office property in Oakland, California due to the impact of an early lease termination, partially offset by the aforementioned increase in rental revenues at an office property in Beverly Hills, California.

At December 31, 2023, the Company’s same-store⁽²⁾ office portfolio was 83.4% occupied, an increase of 210 basis points year-over-year on a same-store⁽²⁾ basis, and 84.0% leased, a decrease of 20 basis points year-over-year on a same-store⁽²⁾ basis. The annualized rent per occupied square foot⁽⁷⁾ on a same-store⁽²⁾ basis was $57.28 at December 31, 2023 compared to $54.83 at December 31, 2022. During the three months ended December 31, 2023, the Company executed 38,280 square feet of leases with terms longer than 12 months at our same-store⁽²⁾ office portfolio.

Total

Office Segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ decreased to $5.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, from $6.9 million for the same period in 2022. The decrease is due to the increase in same-store⁽²⁾ office segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ discussed above, partially offset by an increase in non-same-store⁽²⁾ office Segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ of $354,000, which was driven by income from an unconsolidated office entity in Los Angeles, California during the three months ended December 31, 2023.

Hotel

Hotel Segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ decreased to $2.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, from $3.1 million for the same period in 2022, primarily due to an increase in operating expenses, partially offset by an increase in room revenues. Additionally, hotel occupancy decreased slightly while average daily rate increased.

Multifamily

Our Multifamily Segment consists of two multifamily buildings located in Oakland, California as well as an investment in a multifamily building in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California through one of the Unconsolidated Joint Ventures, all of which were acquired during the first quarter of 2023. Our Multifamily Segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ was $1.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, our Multifamily Segment was 79.3% occupied and the monthly rent per occupied unit⁽⁸⁾ was $2,805.

Lending

Our lending segment primarily consists of our SBA 7(a) lending platform, which is a national lender that primarily originates loans to small businesses in the hospitality industry. Lending Segment NOI⁽⁵⁾ was $1.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $1.8 million for the same period in 2022. The decrease was primarily due to an increase in interest expense related to the issuance of new SBA 7(a) loan-backed notes in connection with the securitization that closed in March 2023, partially offset by an increase in revenues driven by an increase in interest income as a result of the continuing higher interest rate environment and an increase in premium income.

Debt and Equity

During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we issued 1,184,884 shares of Series A1 Preferred Stock for aggregate net proceeds of $26.8 million. Net proceeds represent gross proceeds offset by costs specifically identifiable to the offering, such as commissions, dealer manager fees and other offering fees and expenses. Additionally, during the three months ended December 31, 2023, we had net incremental paydowns of $20.0 million on our revolving credit facility and refinanced a mortgage loan at a multifamily property in Oakland, California, making a repayment of $13.0 million and converting it to a fixed rate of 6.25% per annum.

Dividends

On December 20, 2023, we declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0850 per share of our common stock, which was paid on January 2, 2024.

On January 2, 2024, we declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.34375 per share of our Series A Preferred Stock for the first quarter of 2024. The dividend will be payable monthly as follows: $0.114583 per share to be paid on February 15, 2024 to Series A Preferred Stockholders of record on February 5, 2024; $0.114583 per share to be paid on March 15, 2024 to Series A Preferred Stockholders of record on March 5, 2024; and $0.114583 per share to be paid on April 15, 2024 to Series A Preferred Stockholders of record on April 5, 2024.

On January 2, 2024, we declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.489375 per share of our Series A1 Preferred Stock for the first quarter of 2024. The quarterly cash dividend of $0.489375 per share represents an annualized dividend rate of 7.83% (2.5% plus the federal funds rate of 5.33% on the applicable determination date). The dividend will be payable monthly as follows: $0.163125 per share to be paid on February 15, 2024 to Series A1 Preferred Stockholders of record on February 5, 2024; $0.163125 per share to be paid on March 15, 2024 to Series A1 Preferred Stockholders of record on March 5, 2024; and $0.163125 per share to be paid on April 15, 2024 to Series A1 Preferred Stockholders of record on April 5, 2024. For shares of Series A1 Preferred Stock issued in the first quarter of 2024, the dividend will be prorated from the date of issuance, and the monthly dividend payments will reflect such proration.

On January 2, 2024, we declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.353125 per share of our Series D Preferred Stock for the first quarter of 2024. The dividend will be payable monthly as follows: $0.117708 per share to be paid on February 15, 2024 to Series D Preferred Stockholders of record on February 5, 2024; $0.117708 per share to be paid on March 15, 2024 to Series D Preferred Stockholders of record on March 5, 2024; and $0.117708 per share to be paid on April 15, 2024 to Series D Preferred Stockholders of record on April 5, 2024.

Acquisitions

The following table details our acquisition activity during the year ended December 31, 2023:

About the Data

Descriptions of certain performance measures, including Segment NOI, Cash NOI, FFO attributable to common stockholders, and Core FFO attributable to common stockholders are provided below. Certain of these performance measures—Cash NOI, FFO attributable to common stockholders and Core FFO attributable to common stockholders—are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the subsequent tables for reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. These statements include the plans and objectives of management for future operations, including plans and objectives relating to future growth of CMCT’s business and availability of funds. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “project,” “target,” “expect,” “intend,” “might,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “could,” “would,” “continue,” “pursue,” “potential,” “forecast,” “seek,” “plan,” or “should,” or “goal” or the negative thereof or other variations or similar words or phrases. Such forward-looking statements also include, among others, statements about CMCT’s plans and objectives relating to future growth and outlook. Such forward-looking statements are based on particular assumptions that management of CMCT has made in light of its experience, as well as its perception of expected future developments and other factors that it believes are appropriate under the circumstances. Forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the judgment of CMCT’s management and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those associated with (i) the timing, form, and operational effects of CMCT’s development activities, (ii) the ability of CMCT to raise in place rents to existing market rents and to maintain or increase occupancy levels, (iii) fluctuations in market rents, (iv) the effects of inflation and continuing higher interest rates on the operations and profitability of CMCT and (v) general economic, market and other conditions. Additional important factors that could cause CMCT’s actual results to differ materially from CMCT’s expectations are discussed in “Item 1A—Risk Factors” in CMCT’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. The forward-looking statements included herein are based on current expectations and there can be no assurance that these expectations will be attained. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond CMCT’s control. Although we believe that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate and, therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements expressed or implied will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements expressed or implied herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by CMCT or any other person that CMCT’s objectives and plans will be achieved. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. CMCT does not undertake to update them to reflect changes that occur after the date they are made, except as may be required by applicable laws.

CREATIVE MEDIA & COMMUNITY TRUST CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

Funds from Operations Attributable to Common Stockholders

(Unaudited and in thousands, except per share amounts)

We believe that FFO is a widely recognized and appropriate measure of the performance of a REIT and that it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of REITs, many of which present FFO when reporting their results. FFO represents net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders, computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), which reflects the deduction of redeemable preferred stock dividends accumulated, excluding gains (or losses) from sales of real estate, impairment of real estate, and real estate depreciation and amortization. We calculate FFO in accordance with the standards established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (the "NAREIT").

Like any metric, FFO should not be used as the only measure of our performance because it excludes depreciation and amortization and captures neither the changes in the value of our real estate properties that result from use or market conditions nor the level of capital expenditures and leasing commissions necessary to maintain the operating performance of our properties, all of which have real economic effect and could materially impact our operating results. Other REITs may not calculate FFO in accordance with the standards established by the NAREIT; accordingly, our FFO may not be comparable to the FFO of other REITs. Therefore, FFO should be considered only as a supplement to net income (loss) as a measure of our performance and should not be used as a supplement to or substitute measure for cash flows from operating activities computed in accordance with GAAP. FFO should not be used as a measure of our liquidity, nor is it indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to pay dividends. The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders to FFO attributable to common stockholders for the three months and the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

CREATIVE MEDIA & COMMUNITY TRUST CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

Core Funds from Operations Attributable to Common Stockholders

(Unaudited and in thousands, except per share amounts)

In addition to calculating FFO in accordance with the standards established by NAREIT, we also calculate a supplemental FFO metric we call Core FFO attributable to common stockholders. Core FFO attributable to common stockholders represents FFO attributable to common stockholders, computed in accordance with NAREIT's standards, excluding losses (or gains) on early extinguishment of debt, redeemable preferred stock redemptions, gains (or losses) on termination of interest rate swaps, and transaction costs. We believe that Core FFO is a useful metric for securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of our Company as it excludes from FFO the effect of certain amounts that we believe are non-recurring, are non-operating in nature as they relate to the manner in which we finance our operations, or transactions outside of the ordinary course of business.

Like any metric, Core FFO should not be used as the only measure of our performance because, in addition to excluding those items prescribed by NAREIT when calculating FFO, it excludes amounts incurred in connection with non-recurring special projects, prepaying or defeasing our debt and repurchasing our preferred stock, all of which have real economic effect and could materially impact our operating results. Other REITs may not calculate Core FFO in the same manner as we do, or at all; accordingly, our Core FFO may not be comparable to the Core FFO of other REITs who calculate such a metric. Therefore, Core FFO should be considered only as a supplement to net income (loss) as a measure of our performance and should not be used as a supplement to or substitute measure for cash flows from operating activities computed in accordance with GAAP. Core FFO should not be used as a measure of our liquidity, nor is it indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to pay dividends. The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders to Core FFO attributable to common stockholders for the three months and the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

CREATIVE MEDIA & COMMUNITY TRUST CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

Reconciliation of Net Operating Income

(Unaudited and in thousands)

We internally evaluate the operating performance and financial results of our real estate segments based on segment NOI, which is defined as rental and other property income and expense reimbursements less property related expenses and excludes non-property income and expenses, interest expense, depreciation and amortization, corporate related general and administrative expenses, gain (loss) on sale of real estate, gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt, impairment of real estate, transaction costs, and provision for income taxes. For our lending segment, we define segment NOI as interest income net of interest expense and general overhead expenses. We also evaluate the operating performance and financial results of our operating segments using cash basis NOI, or "cash NOI". For our real estate segments, we define cash NOI as segment NOI adjusted to exclude the effect of the straight lining of rents, acquired above/below market lease amortization and other adjustments required by GAAP.

Cash NOI is not a measure of operating results or cash flows from operating activities as measured by GAAP and should not be considered an alternative to income from continuing operations, or to cash flows as a measure of liquidity, or as an indication of our performance or of our ability to pay dividends. Companies may not calculate cash NOI in the same manner. We consider cash NOI to be a useful performance measure to investors and management because, when compared across periods, it reflects the revenues and expenses directly associated with owning and operating our properties and the impact to operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental rates and operating costs, providing a perspective not immediately apparent from income from continuing operations. Additionally, we believe that cash NOI is helpful to investors because it eliminates straight line rent and other non-cash adjustments to revenue and expenses.

Below is a reconciliation of cash NOI to segment NOI and net income (loss) attributable to the Company for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

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