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Text: This information is available on our Investor Relations website, investors.
We direct you to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties.
During the call, we will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G, including funds from operations or FFO, core FFO, same-center net operating income, adjusted EBITDA and net debt.
As such, it is important to note that management's comments include time-sensitive information that may only be accurate as of today's date, November 2, 2021.
At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode.
We request that everyone ask only one question and one follow-up to allow as many of you as possible to ask questions.
If time permits, we are happy for you to requeue for additional questions.
On the call today will be Steven Tanger, our Executive Chair; Stephen Yalof, Chief Executive Officer; and Jim Williams, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
We had a great quarter as a result of improvements in occupancy, rent spreads and sales.
These all contributed to earnings, which exceeded our expectations, and an increase in our guidance for the remainder of the year.
Our proactive capital market success has also positioned us well with low leverage, ample liquidity and exciting potential growth opportunities.
I'm proud of the tireless efforts of the entire Tanger team who are successfully delivering our strategic objectives.
We delivered strong performance in the third quarter and the continued momentum we are demonstrating across our portfolio supports our decision to increase our guidance for the year.
The successful execution of our strategic plan is evident across all of our key metrics, including occupancy, rent spreads, tenant sales and our focus on driving non-rental revenues, all of which continue to contribute to core FFO growth.
Our portfolio occupancy has returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite having recaptured over 1 million square feet due to bankruptcies and brandwide restructurings since the beginning of 2020.
This includes 55,000 square feet recaptured in the third quarter as anticipated.
As of September 30, occupancy was 94.3%, up 140 basis points year-over-year and up 130 basis points since the end of the second quarter.
With regard to rent spreads, we continue to see positive momentum for leases that commenced in the 12 months ended September 30.
Blended average rates improved by 240 basis points on a cash basis compared to the 12 months ended June 30.
Spreads have improved each quarter this year and we believe that the continued improvement we are seeing in traffic and sales will help sustain this trend.
We also benefited from significant percentage rental growth this quarter, which was more than 2.5 times the comparable 2019 period.
During the height of the pandemic, we renegotiated select leases with an aim to trade value for value, in some cases, trading base rent for a larger variable rent component.
In many cases, reducing break points and increasing variable rent pay rates are now producing total rents that exceed the prior contractual fixed rents.
Our rent spreads don't capture percentage rent contributions as spreads measure the change in base rent and common area charges only, but the strong variable rent component has contributed to our core FFO growth.
Additionally, as we continue to negotiate renewals on these leases, we are focused on converting some of the variable upside into base rents, which provide longer term certainty.
In light of the improving trends, we are being strategic in our renewal and permanent leasing activity.
Renewals executed or in process represented 68% of the space scheduled to expire during the year compared to 72% at this time last year.
Traffic for the quarter was approximately 99% of the same period in 2019.
We saw a slight downturn in August, in part, due to concerns over the Delta variant and the timing of Labor Day, but September traffic returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Tenant sales accelerated in the quarter, reaching an all-time high of $448 per square foot for the consolidated portfolio for the 12 months ended September 30, representing an increase of more than 13% over the comparable 2019 period.
The key objective underlying our leasing strategy is to maximize NOI.
While shorter-term leasing will continue to be a strategy, our goal is to convert this space to permanent deals over time as conditions improve, retaining the current tenant with higher rent or repopulating the space.
We also continue to focus on growing our non-apparel and footwear tenant base and have added multiple new brands and categories to our portfolio this quarter.
Key categories include furniture and home goods and wellness and beauty.
We have also focused on growing our food offerings, adding numerous sit-down, quick serve and grab-and-go concepts across our portfolio and we are growing the presence of entertainment stores, kiosks and amenities aimed to driving shopper visits, frequency, dwell time and ultimately larger spend.
These new uses are presenting both on-center and in our outparcel and peripheral real estate.
We are seeing traction with non-rental revenues.
This is an area with growth opportunity as it is still in the early stages as a focus for Tanger.
Marketing partnerships in the form of sponsored onsite events, activations and advertising provide an opportunity for retailers to interact and communicate with the tens of millions of customers that shop at our centers annually.
And our Labor Day Block Party activations, for example, was sponsored by international brands such as Unilever, Tesla and Heineken, and we are planning similar events in the fourth quarter around holiday themes and tree lightings.
Events like these not only improve traffic and dwell time, but also generate revenue.
This revenue is captured in the other revenues line, which for the third quarter has doubled the contribution from 2020 and increased 38% over 2019.
This has proven to be a profitable initiative with plenty of additional opportunity and we plan to grow this program across our portfolio.
Our digital channels, including our website app and social channels, complement our on-center experience and help to attract new customers, particularly in young demographics.
Activations and shopper amenities such as Virtual Shopper and our web-hosted flash sales continue to engage and draw a younger consumer, while providing an omnichannel experience for our core shopper base and important Tanger Club members.
Our Tanger Fashion Director is leading these programs and will continue to do so for us through the holiday season.
As we look ahead to holiday shopping, we are encouraged.
In partnership with our retailers, we are starting early.
Holidays began at Tanger on November 1 and we are underway running campaigns, programs and events to encourage early shopping.
Many retailers across the country are facing potential logistics and staffing issues but are proactively navigating the situation.
Although the impact of labor and supply chain is unknown, we are optimistic with regard to our ability to deliver an exciting and fulfilling holiday experience to our customers and guests.
In summary, we continue to execute on our strategic plan, focus on our core business, and create value by unlocking new revenue opportunities across our portfolio.
We are enthusiastic with our positive leasing momentum and are encouraged by the new brands and categories we are adding to our centers.
We are innovating and reaching our shoppers where they want to be, offering additional ways to engage and interact with new products and to shop.
We continue to see traffic, sales, leasing and business development results improve.
We're on a clear path to sustained same-center NOI growth and, along with our new long-term growth initiatives and operational efficiencies, we believe we have a compelling opportunity to create value over time.
We delivered strong third quarter results showing continued positive momentum.
Third quarter core FFO available to common shareholders was $0.47 per share compared to $0.44 per share in the third quarter of 2020.
Core FFO for the third quarter of 2021 excludes a charge of $34 million or $0.31 per share for the early extinguishment of debt related to the redemption of our 2023 and 2024 bonds.
Same-center NOI for the consolidated portfolio increased 11.5% for the quarter to $73.8 million, driven by better than expected rebound in variable rents and other revenues.
We remain on track with rent collections and, through October 29, had collected approximately 98% of 2020 deferred rents due by the end of the third quarter.
The strategy we employed during the pandemic of deferring rent has proven to be effective.
With regard to our ATM program, we did not sell any additional equity during the third quarter.
Year-to-date, we have sold 10 million shares generating proceeds of approximately $187 million and $60 million remains available under our current authorization.
As previously announced, in July, we amended our unsecured lines of credit and extended the maturity date to July 2026, including extension options.
The lines have a borrowing capacity of $520 million with an accordion feature to increase borrowing capacity to $1.2 billion.
Additionally, in August, we completed a public offering of $400 million of senior notes at a rate of 2.75%, the lowest coupon in Tanger history.
We used the proceeds from the sale to redeem the $100 million that was outstanding on our 3.875% notes due in 2023 and the $250 million that was outstanding on our 3.75% notes due in 2024.
We also incurred a $31.9 million make-whole premium in September related to these redemptions.
As of quarter end, we had no significant debt maturities until April 2024.
Our leverage position has continued to improve in conjunction with our capital markets activity and earnings growth.
As of September 30, our net debt to adjusted EBITDA improved to 5.3 times for the trailing 12 months compared to 7.2 times for the comparable 12-month period of the prior year.
We have always prioritized maintaining a strong financial position and a disciplined and prudent approach to capital allocation.
Our Board will continue to evaluate dividend distributions alongside earnings growth and taxable income distribution requirements.
Our priority uses of capital are investing in our portfolio to grow in a way and evaluating selective external growth opportunities.
Turning to guidance for the remainder of the year.
We are increasing our core FFO to a range of $1.67 to $1.71 per share from the prior range of $1.52 and $1.59, an increase of 9% at the midpoint.
This guidance reflects continued sequential improvement in our business, particularly higher variable rents achieved in the third quarter.
Our guidance also includes up to 50,000 [Phonetic] square feet related to the potential additional bankruptcies and brandwide restructurings that could occur for the remainder of the year.
For additional details on our key assumptions, please see our release issued last night.
Operator, can we take our first question?

user
qtrly core ffo per share $0.47.
sees fy 2021 diluted core ffo per share to be $1.67 to $1.71.

assistant