AIR Communities Reports Strong Start to 2023, First Quarter Same Store:

• Rental Rates Up 8.6%
• Revenue Up 10.1%
• Controllable Operating Expenses Down 0.2%
• Year-Over-Year NOI Up 12.7%

Apartment Income REIT Corp. (“AIR”) (NYSE: AIRC) announced today results for first quarter 2023.

Terry Considine, Chief Executive Officer, comments: “AIR’s first quarter results were on plan.

“In our Same Store portfolio, revenue was up 10.1%; expenses were up 3.3%; and Net Operating Income was up 12.7%. Profitability leads all peers: margin widened to 73.9%; conversion of revenue to Free Cash Flow improved to 66.2%; and controllable operating expenses were down 20-basis points. Rental rate increases in Signed New Leases, a key forward indicator, remain strong.

“In our Acquisition portfolio, results improved at a still faster clip.

Considine added: “These remarkable results have many causes. Some are:

• Customers stay with us longer, reducing turnover and related costs
• Our long-tenured service teams are highly and increasingly productive
• Process improvements, including enhanced technology and digital transformation
• The cumulative effect of a relentless focus on root causes
• Customers have high incomes and are willing to pay higher rents for further improvements to their apartment homes

“Notwithstanding a turbulent economy and competitive markets, our forecast for the balance of the year is for more of the same”.

Paul Beldin, Chief Financial Officer, comments further: “AIR’s balance sheet is well positioned for today’s unpredictable capital markets. AIR has $1.8 billion of liquidity, with sufficient committed credit to repay all debt that comes due during the next six years. Interest rate risk during the next two years is limited to our floating rate debt: 4% of net leverage. A change of 100-basis points impacts bottom line by less than a penny per share.

“Net Leverage to Adjusted EBITDAre is elevated by borrowings to fund the acquisition of Southgate Towers and by seasonal fluctuations in property operating expenses and offsite costs. Proceeds from planned property sales will be used to reduce outstanding debt. The earn-in of current rental rates will lead to increased property income. The ratio of leverage to income is expected to decline over the balance of the year to 5.9x.

“First quarter 2023 Pro forma FFO of $0.55 per share was equal to the midpoint of our guidance due to outperformance in Same Store operations, offset by higher than anticipated casualty losses.

“Rent growth remains strong, although lower than the prior year due to slowing of the rate of inflation.

“Looking forward we are narrowing the range of our expectations for 2023 Pro forma FFO per share by $0.02 per share, while maintaining the $2.41 midpoint”.

Financial Results: First Quarter Pro Forma FFO Per Share

Operating Results: Same Store NOI Up 12.7% Year-Over-Year

The table below includes the operating results of the 63 AIR properties that meet our definition of Same Store. Same Store properties generated approximately 85% of AIR’s first quarter 2023 rental revenue.

*Amounts are presented on a rounded basis and the sum of the individual amounts may not foot; please refer to Supplemental Schedule 6.

First quarter 2023 Same Store NOI margin was 73.9%, up 170-basis points from the first quarter of 2022, benefiting from a 10.0% increase in residential rents due to: fewer apartments available to rent as a result of increased retention; the increased income of our customer base; the effectiveness of our leasing teams; and dynamic capital allocation, including the fast-growing Southeast Florida market and durable property upgrades that command substantial rent premiums.

Components of Same Store Revenue Growth – The table below summarizes the change in the components of our Same Store Revenue growth.

Same Store Rental Rates – Changes in rental rates are measured by comparing, on a lease-by-lease basis, the effective rate on a newly executed lease to the effective rate on the expiring lease for the same apartment. A newly executed lease is classified as a “new lease,” where an apartment is leased to a new customer, or as a “renewal”.

The table below shows changes in lease rates, as well as the weighted-average blended lease rates for leases executed in the respective period. Transacted leases are those that became effective during a reporting period and are therefore the best measure of immediate effect on current revenues. Signed leases are those executed during a reporting period and are therefore the best measure of current pricing and an important driver of future results.

*Amounts are based on our current Same Store population and may differ from those previously reported.

**April leasing results are preliminary and as of April 30, 2023. The 90-basis point sequential decline in Average Daily Occupancy (“ADO”) from March to April was consistent with expectations, as we plan for higher frictional vacancy during the six month leasing season.

First quarter lease rates were consistent with the assumptions of our annual plan, and reflect a slowing pace of growth due to lower inflation. ADO declined 40 basis points year-over-year and while demand was lower than 2022’s record breaking levels it was consistent with our expectations and in-line with historical norms. AIR’s signed new leases and renewals were up 8.7% and 8.4%, respectively. Blended rates were up 8.6%, inclusive of a 20-basis point benefit from the class of 2021, a 90-basis point benefit from revenue enhancing investments in capital improvements, and a 110-basis point benefit due to our allocation to the Southeast Florida market.

Inflation – In recent years, apartment investors benefited from declining cap rates, low cost of leverage, and inflation. As inflation eases and interest and cap rates normalize, investment results may be expected to be more influenced by such operational metrics as resident retention and cost control.

Recent Acquisitions – Recent acquisitions include ten properties acquired in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In aggregate, these acquisitions represent approximately 17% of AIR GAV. Operating results are improving significantly due to the AIR Edge. The changes made by AIR to improve the resident profile, optimize the rent roll, reduce costs, and make other income generating improvements. These changes are typically iterative with results lagging until earned in as leases expire and new leases made. The impacts of the AIR Edge are generally most significant between the second and fourth year of ownership, during which time profitability increases much faster than in Same Store. This outperformance contributes substantially to our ability to meet our investment targets of unlevered internal rates of return (“IRR”) above 10%, and more than 200-basis points above AIR’s cost of capital.

The five properties acquired in 2021 represent 8% of GAV and are now included in the Same Store portfolio. In the first quarter, revenues increased 16.3% and expenses declined by 2.3%, providing 27.3% NOI growth. These results contributed an incremental 60-basis points to Same Store revenue growth, a negative 80-basis points to Same Store expense growth, and 130-basis points to Same Store NOI growth.

The four properties acquired in 2022 represent 6% of GAV and are part of our Acquisition portfolio. In the first quarter, ADO increased by 100-basis points and revenue grew by 5.5% sequentially. The three Florida properties continue to perform in line with underwriting. The fourth property, Willard Towers, is located in Chevy Chase, MD. We have concluded that the strength of the submarket supports a more transformational capital program than originally planned. We expect this will generate an unlevered IRR higher than previously underwritten.

Southgate Towers, acquired earlier this year, represents 3% of GAV and is also part of our Acquisition portfolio. In the first 90 days of AIR ownership, ADO increased by 120-basis points above underwriting, reflecting the continuing strong demand in South Beach.

Rent Collection and Bad Debt

We measure residential rent collection as the dollar value of payments received and as a percent of all amounts billed for residential uses. We establish a reserve for amounts not collected during or immediately after the period when due unless such amounts are otherwise secured by, for example, a security deposit or credit worthy guarantee. Our experience has been that we collect essentially all past due rent that is not reserved and we are optimistic that we will also be successful in collecting a portion of amounts currently reserved, as we have in the past.

During the first quarter, we recognized 98.3% of all residential revenue billed in the quarter as paid currently or adequately secured. The remaining 1.7% of revenue was reserved as gross bad debt. Payments received during the first quarter with respect to revenue treated as bad debt in previous periods, including payments from residents, previous residents, guarantors, and government programs, totaled 40-basis points of first quarter residential revenue. Receipt of these monies reduced reserves previously established and was recognized as a contra entry to bad debt. Bad debt for the first quarter, net of the contra entry, was 1.3% of residential revenue.

Of the 1.3% net bad debt, 62% (or 80-basis points) related to rents due (i) with respect to properties in the City or County of Los Angeles where local government afforded residents relief from what was owed, or (ii) in other jurisdictions where courts were operating with a backlog from the government shutdown in response to the pandemic. 38% (or 50-basis points) reflected normal credit issues. Los Angeles’ restrictions on landlord access to typical creditor remedies have since been repealed, and courts across the nation are working through existing backlogs. We expect bad debt to normalize by year end at about 50-basis points.

As of March 31, 2023, our proportionate share of residential accounts receivable was $6.7 million, a 10% reduction from the start of the year. After consideration of security deposits and reserves for uncollectible amounts, our net exposure was less than $0.1 million. The number of residents delinquent by two or more months was 160, a 36% reduction from approximately 250 at the start of the year. During April, the number of residents delinquent by two or more months declined further to 130; all of which are now in the collection process.

Insurance Update

Insurance costs included within AIR property results include hazard, together with health, general liability, and workers compensation costs. Year-over-year expenses vary with experience as AIR’s health, general liability and workers compensation coverages are largely self-insured with caps for out of the ordinary claims. In 2022, AIR benefited from lower than typical health care, general liability, and workers compensation costs. As a result, our 2023 budget included an approximately 20% increase assuming that claims revert to their longer-term trends.

Separately, we also budgeted for a significant increase in property hazard insurance. The current market is challenging, inflation has increased replacement costs, and insurers have experienced substantial losses. On the other hand, AIR is valued as a customer for the quality of our portfolio, the high credit characteristics of our residents, our loss control including the systematic mitigation and elimination of root causes of losses, plus our retention of losses at routine levels, and our use of insurance primarily for out of the ordinary claims. These qualities make AIR a highly profitable customer; carriers received from AIR $53 million in premiums during the past seven years…and paid only $13.8 million in losses.

In AIR’s March 1, 2023, renewal, we continued our insurance, broadly with the same coverages and same highly rated insurers as in the past several years. Importantly, we maintained coverages for full replacement costs, without material margin limits or substantial co-insurance. We lowered our self-insured retention to $5 million, a level $3 million above typical losses, increased total insurable value by approximately 11%, and purchased coverage, including Windstorm and California Quake, with limits that are consistent with, or greater than, the 250-year probable maximum loss. The sufficiency of this insurance is evidenced by its acceptance by our property lenders whose repayment is entirely dependent on the value of the property insured.

For our Same Store population, the cost of the renewal is up 40% year-over-year and approximately $1 million, greater than anticipated in January. This increase to budgeted expenses is expected to be offset by lower than budgeted controllable operating expenses and real estate taxes.

Portfolio Management

Our portfolio of apartment communities is diversified across eight core markets in the United States and is also diversified by price points, primarily “A” and “B”, averaging “A-” in quality. Since the Separation at year-end 2020, AIR has sold properties for $4.1 billion, approximately 41% of AIR’s gross asset value, and used $2.2 billion to reduce leverage and $1.9 billion to acquire properties that improve the quality and expected profitability of our real estate portfolio. The $1.9 billion of acquisitions since 2021 represents 17% of AIR GAV and their incomes are growing faster than Same Store income. (Please see “Recent Acquisitions” above.) We expect to make further acquisitions and to increase our allocation to higher growth properties.

AIR uses “paired trades” to fund acquisitions, basing our cost of capital on the anticipated unlevered IRR of the communities or joint venture interests sold. We require a spread, or accretion, also measured by an unlevered IRR, higher by 200-basis points or more from the communities acquired. This excess return is driven in part by what we call the AIR Edge, the cumulative result of our focus on resident selection, satisfaction, and retention, continuing property upgrades, and relentless innovation in delivering best-in-class property management.

The chart below shows changes in portfolio quality based on customer incomes and apartment rents.

Over the same period, we have improved AIR’s portfolio by reducing our exposure to regulatory risk. We have achieved this through property sales in the New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and California markets, as well as through a strategic joint venture in California. This has allowed AIR to reallocate capital into states such as Florida, with a more predictable rule of law, and into submarkets such as Miami-Dade and Broward counties with higher growth.

As a paired trade investor, AIR is agnostic to market changes insofar as we buy and sell properties in the same market conditions, with focus on gaining an accretive “spread”. As market conditions change, AIR adjusts target returns and spreads to reflect our changed cost of capital. Our paired trade approach is intended to ensure that new acquisitions are accretive to earnings in the near-term and will generate attractive spreads to unlevered IRRs in the long-term.

Transactions

Acquisitions

As previously announced, in January, 2023 AIR acquired for $298 million, Southgate Towers, a 495-unit luxury apartment community with 29,000 square feet of commercial space located in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach. AIR’s presence in South Beach, a submarket with limited competitive supply, now comprises 1,630 apartment homes between Flamingo Towers and Southgate Towers. This transaction demonstrates AIR’s use of distinctive acquisition currencies including the cash proceeds from the fourth quarter 2022 sale of our New England portfolio, the assumption of $101.2 million of property debt maturing in 2036 with interest at 4.15%, and the issuance of $22.4 million of Operating Partnership Units (“OP Units”). The acquisition is expected to provide an unlevered IRR 200-basis points or higher than our cost of capital, driven by the implementation of the AIR Edge.

Dispositions

There were no dispositions in the first quarter of 2023.

Balance Sheet

We seek to increase financial returns by using leverage with appropriate caution. We limit risk through our balance sheet structure, employing low leverage and primarily long-dated debt. We target a Net Leverage to Adjusted EBITDAre ratio between 5.0x and 6.0x but anticipate the actual ratio will vary based on the timing of transactions. We maintain financial flexibility through ample unused and available credit, holding properties with substantial value unencumbered by property debt, maintaining an investment grade rating, and using partners’ capital when it enhances financial returns or reduces investment risk. We seek to minimize refunding and repricing risk.

Components of Leverage

Our leverage includes AIR’s share of long-term, non-recourse property debt secured by our apartment communities, together with outstanding borrowings under our revolving credit facility, term loans, unsecured notes payable, and preferred equity.

* Amounts are presented on a rounded basis and the sum of the individual amounts may not foot; please refer to Supplemental Schedule 5.

** AIR’s Preferred equity is perpetual in nature; however, for illustrative purposes, we have computed the weighted-average maturity of our preferred OP Units assuming a 10-year maturity, and of our preferred stock assuming it is called at the expiration of its no-call period.

*** AIR plans to reduce leverage to its target of < 6x by completion of pending sales and property NOI growth.

During the three months ended March 31, 2023, and on a leverage neutral basis, AIR borrowed $320 million using 10-year fixed rate financing, bearing interest at 4.9%. We used the proceeds to refinance a floating-rate loan and to reduce by $230 million borrowings on our revolving credit facility. This transaction reduced floating-rate debt not subject to interest rate caps or swaps to $120 million, 4% of outstanding leverage, net of cash on-hand, and increased our weighted-average maturity by nine months. As a result of these transactions, AIR has no debt maturing before the second quarter of 2025. As a result of the Fannie Mae facility described below, AIR has established funding sources that could be used to repay all debt maturing before 2030.

Liquidity

We use our revolving credit facility for working capital and other short-term purposes, and to secure letters of credit. At March 31, 2023, our share of cash and restricted cash, excluding amounts related to tenant security deposits, was $97 million (invested in interests in federal government obligations) and we had the capacity to borrow up to $751 million on our $1 billion revolving credit facility.

In April, we established a secured credit facility with Fannie Mae that provides for up to $1 billion of committed property level financing, on an as needed basis. This facility has minimal upfront costs, a 10-year duration, allows for the removal and substitution of properties, and is priced based on the Fannie Mae grid, which usually and today is lower than public and private bond pricing. After consideration of the secured facility, total liquidity is approximately $1.8 billion.

We manage our financial flexibility by maintaining investment grade ratings that enhance access to debt capital markets, and holding communities unencumbered by property debt that provide access to secured lenders and, in particular, the attractive availability and pricing of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. As of March 31, 2023, we held apartment communities unencumbered by debt with an estimated fair market value of approximately $7.1 billion.

Dividend and Equity Capital Markets

On April 25, 2023, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.45 per share of Common Stock. This amount is payable on May 30, 2023, to shareholders of record on May 19, 2023. In setting AIR’s 2023 dividend, our Board of Directors targeted a dividend level of approximately 75% of full year FFO per share (83% of expected AFFO).

We expect that the after-tax dividend will benefit from AIR's refreshed tax basis. In 2022, approximately 86% of our dividend was taxable at capital gain rates, with the remainder taxable at ordinary income rates. We believe the tax characteristics of our dividend makes our stock more attractive to taxable investors, such as foreign investors, taxable individuals, and corporations, than dividends paid by peer REITs whose dividends are taxed at higher rates. For example, AIR’s dividend characteristics in 2022 compare favorably to a peer average of approximately 19% at capital gains rates (vs. AIR at 86%), 71% at ordinary income rates (vs. AIR at 14%), and 10% treated as return of capital. As a result, an investor in AIR common shares would retain after tax approximately 39% more of its dividend than would be retained after tax by an investor in the average of peer shares.

Corporate Responsibility Update

During the first quarter, AIR was named a Kingsley Excellence Elite Five multifamily company and a winner of the 2023 Kingsley Excellence Awards for customer service. Of the winners, AIR ranked second among all operators, and first among publicly traded REITs. AIR is committed to world-class customer service, which we deliver through listening to, learning from, and responding to our residents every day. We also benefit from the support of great leadership, contributions from exceptional teammates, and a strong culture. These strengths are confirmed by such awards as AIR's 2023 Top Workplaces USA Award (the second consecutive year), a 10 time winner of Top Workplace in Colorado (by the Denver Post), Top Workplace in Philadelphia (by The Philadelphia Inquirer), as well as Built in 2023 Best Places to Work in Colorado, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington, DC. We take seriously our responsibility to care for our customers, our neighbors, and each other as teammates. We are grateful for these recognitions and consider them confirmation of our success.

2023 Outlook

AIR reaffirms its full year Same Store Operations guidance and has narrowed its 2023 Pro Forma FFO per share expectations by $0.02 per share, while maintaining the $2.41 midpoint:

In the second quarter of 2023, AIR anticipates Pro forma FFO between $0.55 and $0.59 per share.

Earnings Conference Call Information

Supplemental Information

The full text of this Earnings Release and the Supplemental Information referenced in this release is available on AIR’s website at investors.aircommunities.com.

Glossary & Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial and Operating Measures

Financial and operating measures found in this Earnings Release and the Supplemental Information include certain financial measures used by AIR management that are measures not defined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). Certain AIR terms and Non-GAAP measures are defined in the Glossary in the Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP measures reconciled to the most comparable GAAP measures.

About AIR

Apartment Income REIT Corp (“AIR Communities”) (NYSE: AIRC) is a publicly traded, self-administered real estate investment trust (“REIT”). AIR’s portfolio comprises 75 communities totaling 25,797 apartment homes located in 10 states and the District of Columbia. AIR offers a simple, predictable business model with focus on what we call the AIR Edge, the cumulative result of our focus on resident selection, satisfaction, and retention, as well as relentless innovation in delivering best-in-class property management. The AIR Edge is a durable operating advantage in driving organic growth, as well as making possible the opportunity for excess returns for properties new to AIR’s platform. For additional information, please visit aircommunities.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This Earnings Release and Supplemental Information contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements regarding projected results and specifically forecasts of 2023 results, including but not limited to: NAREIT FFO, Pro forma FFO and selected components thereof; expectations regarding consumer demand, growth in revenue and strength of other performance metrics and models; expectations regarding acquisitions, as well as sales, and joint ventures and the use of proceeds thereof; and AIR liquidity and leverage metrics. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, estimates and assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: real estate and operating risks, including fluctuations in real estate values and the general economic climate in the markets in which we operate and competition for residents in such markets; national and local economic conditions, including inflation, the pace of job growth, and the level of unemployment; the amount, location, and quality of competitive new housing supply, which may be impacted by global supply chain disruptions; the timing and effects of acquisitions and dispositions; changes in operating costs, including energy costs; negative economic conditions in our geographies of operation; loss of key personnel; AIR’s ability to maintain current or meet projected occupancy, rental rate, and property operating results; expectations regarding sales of apartment communities and the use of proceeds thereof; insurance risks, including the cost of insurance, and natural disasters and severe weather such as hurricanes; financing risks, including interest rate changes and the availability and cost of financing; the risk that cash flows from operations may be insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest; the risk that earnings may not be sufficient to maintain compliance with debt covenants, including financial coverage ratios; legal and regulatory risks, including costs associated with prosecuting or defending claims and any adverse outcomes; the terms of laws and governmental regulations that affect us and interpretations of those laws and regulations; and possible environmental liabilities, including costs, fines, or penalties that may be incurred due to necessary remediation of contamination of apartment communities presently or previously owned by AIR. Other risks and uncertainties are described in filings by AIR with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of AIR’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and subsequent filings with the SEC.

In addition, our current and continuing qualification as a real estate investment trust involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and depends on our ability to meet the various requirements imposed by the Code, through actual operating results, distribution levels and diversity of stock ownership.

These forward-looking statements reflect management’s judgment as of this date, and we assume no obligation to revise or update them to reflect future events or circumstances. This earnings release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale.

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