Phillips Edison & Company Upgraded by S&P to ‘BBB’ with Stable Outlook
09 August 2024 - 3:15AM
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: PECO) (“PECO” or the
“Company”), one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of
grocery-anchored neighborhood shopping centers, today announced
that S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) upgraded its issuer credit
rating for PECO and the Company’s operating partnership, Phillips
Edison Grocery Center Operating Partnership I L.P., to ‘BBB’ from
‘BBB-’, with a stable outlook.
In its public announcement, S&P noted: “We
expect Phillips Edison's operating performance will remain solid
over the next two years supported by its grocery-anchored portfolio
and healthy retail fundamentals. Phillips Edison has demonstrated a
commitment to maintaining a conservative balance sheet. The Company
has significantly reduced its exposure to floating-rate debt
(approximately 9% of total debt as of June 30, 2024). In addition,
S&P Global economists expect the Fed will initiate a series of
interest-rate cuts later this year. As such, we expect the
Company's fixed-charge coverage ratio to improve over the coming
years.”
S&P added: “The Company's financial policy
is supported by its prudent investment strategy, with net
acquisitions of between $200 million and $300 million and
redevelopment spending of approximately $40 million to $50 million
annually. The Company has funded its investment activity in a
relatively leverage-neutral manner over the past few years using a
combination of free cash flow, proceeds from dispositions, equity
and debt. We expect Phillips Edison will continue to employ a
similar investment strategy over the near term.”
Jeff Edison, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of PECO stated: “The PECO team is pleased to see S&P
acknowledge our commitment to operational excellence and balance
sheet strength. The continued strength of our operating performance
is attributable to our differentiated and focused strategy of
owning right-sized, high-quality, grocery-anchored neighborhood
shopping centers, the PECO team’s ability to drive results at the
property level and the many advantages of the suburban markets
where we operate our centers. The PECO team is well positioned to
continue to deliver solid earnings growth, market-leading operating
metrics and long-term value creation.”
Connect with PECOFor additional
information, please visit https://www.phillipsedison.com/
Follow PECO on:Twitter at
https://twitter.com/PhillipsEdison Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/phillipsedison.co Instagram at
https://www.instagram.com/phillips.edison/; andFind PECO on
LinkedIn at
https://www.linkedin.com/company/phillipsedison&company
About Phillips Edison &
CompanyPhillips Edison & Company, Inc. (“PECO”) is one
of the nation’s largest owners and operators of grocery-anchored
neighborhood shopping centers. Founded in 1991, PECO has generated
strong results through its vertically-integrated operating platform
and national footprint of well-occupied shopping centers. PECO’s
centers feature a mix of national and regional retailers providing
necessity-based goods and services in fundamentally strong markets
throughout the United States. PECO’s top grocery anchors include
Kroger, Publix, Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize. As of June 30, 2024,
PECO managed 306 shopping centers, including 286 wholly-owned
centers comprising 32.6 million square feet across 31 states and
shopping centers owned in two institutional joint ventures. PECO is
focused on creating great omni-channel, grocery-anchored shopping
experiences and improving communities, one neighborhood shopping
center at a time.
PECO uses, and intends to continue to use, its
Investors website, which can be found at
https://investors.phillipsedison.com, as a means of disclosing
material nonpublic information and for complying with its
disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified
by the Company’s use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,”
“will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,”
“continue,” “seek,” “objective,” “goal,” “strategy,” “plan,”
“focus,” “priority,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” “possible,”
“look forward,” “optimistic,” or other similar words. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected or anticipated, including the risk
factors and other risks and uncertainties described in the
Company’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on
February 12, 2024, as updated from time to time in the Company’s
periodic and/or current reports filed with the SEC, which are
accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as required
by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.
InvestorsKimberly Green, Head
of Investor Relations(513) 692-3399, kgreen@phillipsedison.com
Phillips Edison (NASDAQ:PECO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Phillips Edison (NASDAQ:PECO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024