UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF |
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013
or
o | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF |
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from ________________________________ to ________________________________
Commission File Number: 001-31458
Newcastle Investment Corp. |
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) |
Maryland | 81-0559116 | |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
or organization) |
1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY | 10105 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 798-6100
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (b) of the Act:
Title of each class: | Name of exchange on which registered: | |
Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | |
9.75% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred | ||
Stock, $0.01 par value per share | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | |
8.05% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred | ||
Stock, $0.01 par value per share | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | |
8.375% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred | ||
Stock, $0.01 par value per share | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
x Yes o No
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
o Yes x No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
x Yes o No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).
x Yes o No
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this form 10-K o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check One):
Large Accelerated Filer x | Accelerated Filer o | Non-accelerated Filer o | Smaller Reporting Company o |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). (Check One):
o Yes x No
The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2013 (computed based on the closing price on such date as reported on the NYSE) was: $1.5 billion.
The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock was 351,453,495 as of February 21, 2014.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
The information required by Part III (Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14) will be incorporated by reference from the registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement for its 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, the operating performance of our investments, the stability of our earnings, and our financing needs. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “potential,” “intend,” “expect,” “endeavor,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “overestimate,” “underestimate,” “believe,” “could,” “project,” “predict,” “continue” or other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, discuss future expectations, describe future plans and strategies, contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition or state other forward-looking information. Our ability to predict results or the actual outcome of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, our actual results and performance could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and future prospects include, but are not limited to:
• | changes in global, national and local economic conditions, including, but not limited to, a prolonged economic slowdown and a downturn in the real estate market; | |
• | reductions in cash flows received from our investments; | |
• | the availability and cost of capital for future investments, particularly in a rising interest rate environment, and our ability to deploy capital accretively; | |
• | our ability to profit from opportunistic investments, such as our investment in golf, and to mitigate the risks associated with managing operating businesses and asset classes with which we have limited experience; | |
• | the relationship between yields on assets which are paid off and yields on assets in which such monies can be reinvested; | |
• | changes in our asset portfolio and investment strategy as a result of a spin-off of our senior housing business or other factors; | |
• | adverse changes in the financing markets we access affecting our ability to finance our investments; | |
• | changing risk assessments by lenders that potentially lead to increased margin calls, not extending our repurchase agreements or other financings in accordance with their current terms or entering into new financings with us; | |
• | changes in interest rates and/or credit spreads, as well as the success of any hedging strategy we may undertake in relation to such changes; | |
• | the risks that default and recovery rates on our real estate securities and loan portfolios deteriorate compared to our underwriting estimates; | |
• | impairments in the value of the collateral underlying our investments and the relation of any such impairments to our judgments as to whether changes in the market value of our securities, loans or real estate are temporary or not and whether circumstances bearing on the value of such assets warrant changes in carrying values; | |
• | our dependence on our property managers and tenants in our senior housing business; | |
• | the ability of our property managers and tenants to comply with laws, rules and regulations in the operation of our properties, to deliver high quality services, to attract and retain qualified personnel and to attract residents; | |
• | increases in costs at our senior housing properties (including, but not limited to, the costs of labor, supplies, insurance and property taxes); | |
• | geographical concentrations with respect to the mortgage loans underlying and collateral securing certain of our debt investments, our senior housing properties and our golf courses; | |
• | legislative/regulatory changes, including but not limited to, any modification of the terms of loans or changes in the healthcare industry; | |
• | competition within the finance, real estate, senior housing industries, as well as other industries, such as the golf industry, in which we have and/or may pursue additional investments; | |
• | the impact of litigation or any financial, accounting, legal or regulatory issues that may affect us or our property managers and tenants; | |
• | our ability and willingness to maintain our qualification as a REIT; and | |
• | other risks detailed from time to time below, particularly under the heading “Risk Factors,” and in our other reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). |
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The factors noted above could cause our actual results to differ significantly from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements, which reflect our management’s views only as of the date of this report. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this report to conform these statements to actual results.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING EXHIBITS
In reviewing the agreements included as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, please remember they are included to provide you with information regarding their terms and are not intended to provide any other factual or disclosure information about Newcastle Investment Corp. (“the Company”) or the other parties to the agreements. The agreements contain representations and warranties by each of the parties to the applicable agreement. These representations and warranties have been made solely for the benefit of the other parties to the applicable agreement and:
• | should not in all instances be treated as categorical statements of fact, but rather as a way of allocating the risk to one of the parties if those statements prove to be inaccurate; | |
• | have been qualified by disclosures that were made to the other party in connection with the negotiation of the applicable agreement, which disclosures are not necessarily reflected in the agreement; | |
• | may apply standards of materiality in a way that is different from what may be viewed as material to you or other investors; and | |
• | were made only as of the date of the applicable agreement or such other date or dates as may be specified in the agreement and are subject to more recent developments. |
Accordingly, these representations and warranties may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date they were made or at any other time. Additional information about the Company may be found elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Company’s other public filings, which are available without charge through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. See “Business – Corporate Governance and Internet Address; Where Readers Can Find Additional Information.”
The Company acknowledges that, notwithstanding the inclusion of the foregoing cautionary statements, it is responsible for considering whether additional specific disclosures of material information regarding material contractual provisions are required to make the statements in this report not misleading.
NEWCASTLE INVESTMENT CORP. |
FORM 10-K |
INDEX |
Overview
Newcastle Investment Corp. (“Newcastle”) is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) that focuses on opportunistically investing in, and actively managing, a variety of real estate related and other investments. Newcastle is externally managed and advised by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, or Fortress (the “Manager”). Newcastle’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NCT.”
We currently invest in (1) senior housing properties, (2) real estate debt and (3) other investments. Our investment guidelines are purposefully broad to enable us to make investments in a wide array of assets, and we actively explore new business opportunities and asset categories as part of our business strategy. Our objective is to leverage our longstanding investment expertise to drive attractive risk-adjusted returns. We target stable long-term cash flows and seek to employ conservative capital structures to generate returns throughout different interest rate environments. We take an active approach centered around identifying and executing on opportunities, responding to the changing market environment, and dynamically managing our investment portfolio to enhance returns.
In our senior housing business, we acquire and own senior housing properties. We either have our properties operated pursuant to property management agreements with third parties (“managed properties”) or lease our properties to third-party tenants (“triple net lease properties”). Currently, our managed properties are managed by affiliates or subsidiaries of either Holiday Acquisition Holdings LLC (“Holiday”) or FHC Property Management LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Blue Harbor”). Holiday is a portfolio company that is majority owned by private equity funds managed by an affiliate of our Manager, and Blue Harbor is an affiliate of our Manager. All of our triple net lease properties are currently leased to Holiday. As of December 31, 2013, we owned 33 managed properties and 51 triple net lease properties. For more information about our portfolio, see “—Developments in 2013—Senior Housing Acquisitions” and “—Investment Portfolio—Other Investments—Senior Housing Investments” below.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, we changed our financial reporting segments. In particular, we established media and golf segments in connection with the restructurings of certain debt investments, as further described below under “Developments in 2013—Restructuring and Spin-off of Media Investments” and “Developments in 2013—Restructuring of Golf Investment.”
The following table summarizes our segment results at December 31, 2013:
Debt Investments (A) | Inter-segment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior Housing (A) | CDOs | Other Debt (B) | Media (C) | Golf | Corporate | Elimination (D) | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
GAAP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Investments | $ | 1,463,758 | $ | 925,690 | $ | 1,279,549 | $ | 542,275 | $ | 358,439 | $ | — | $ | (87,529 | ) | $ | 4,482,182 | ||||||||
Cash and restricted cash | 31,263 | 2,377 | — | 38,288 | 22,890 | 23,492 | — | 118,310 | |||||||||||||||||
Other assets | 55,430 | 47,285 | 3,442 | 110,183 | 34,898 | 987 | (154 | ) | 252,071 | ||||||||||||||||
Total assets | 1,550,451 | 975,352 | 1,282,991 | 690,746 | 416,227 | 24,479 | (87,683 | ) | 4,852,563 | ||||||||||||||||
Debt | (1,076,828 | ) | (645,938 | ) | (1,149,547 | ) | (182,016 | ) | (181,910 | ) | (51,237 | ) | 87,529 | (3,199,947 | ) | ||||||||||
Other liabilities | (61,886 | ) | (19,194 | ) | (2,235 | ) | (113,251 | ) | (185,552 | ) | (44,528 | ) | 154 | (426,492 | ) | ||||||||||
Total liabilities | (1,138,714 | ) | (665,132 | ) | (1,151,782 | ) | (295,267 | ) | (367,462 | ) | (95,765 | ) | 87,683 | (3,626,439 | ) | ||||||||||
Preferred stock | — | — | — | — | — | (61,583 | ) | — | (61,583 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Noncontrolling interests | — | — | — | (60,913 | ) | (366 | ) | — | — | (61,279 | ) | ||||||||||||||
GAAP book value | $ | 411,737 | $ | 310,220 | $ | 131,209 | $ | 334,566 | $ | 48,399 | $ | (132,869 | ) | $ | — | $ | 1,103,262 |
(A) | The collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) segment represents debt investments financed with CDOs. Assets held within non-recourse structures, including all of the assets in the senior housing and CDO segments, are not available to satisfy obligations outside of such financings, except to the extent net cash flow distributions are received from such structures. Creditors or beneficial interest holders of these structures generally have no recourse to the general credit of Newcastle. Therefore, our exposure to the economic losses from such structures generally is limited to our invested equity in them, and economically their book value cannot be less than zero. Therefore, impairment recorded in excess of our investment, which results in negative GAAP book value for a given non-recourse financing structure, cannot economically be incurred and will eventually be reversed through amortization, sales at gains, or as gains at the deconsolidation or termination of such non-recourse financing structure. |
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(B) | The Other Debt segment represents debt investments other than our CDO investments. The following table summarizes the investments in this segment: |
December 31, 2013 | |||||||||||||
Investments | Debt | ||||||||||||
Non-Recourse | Outstanding Face Amount |
Carrying Value |
Outstanding Face Amount* |
Carrying Value* |
|||||||||
Manufactured housing loan portfolio I | $ | 102,681 | $ | 91,924 | $ | 74,248 | $ | 66,446 | |||||
Manufactured housing loan portfolio II | 128,975 | 128,117 | 93,863 | 93,536 | |||||||||
Subprime mortgage loans subject to call options | 406,217 | 406,217 | 406,217 | 406,217 | |||||||||
Real estate securities | 56,466 | 50,961 | 39,665 | 36,095 | |||||||||
Operating real estate | N/A | 6,597 | 6,000 | 6,000 | |||||||||
Subtotal | $ | 694,339 | $ | 683,816 | $ | 619,993 | $ | 608,294 | |||||
Other | |||||||||||||
Unlevered real estate securities | 129,563 | 4,296 | — | — | |||||||||
Levered real estate securities | 514,994 | 551,270 | 516,134 | 516,134 | |||||||||
Other investments | N/A | 6,160 | — | — | |||||||||
Residential mortgage loans | 45,323 | 34,007 | 25,119 | 25,119 | |||||||||
$ | 1,384,219 | $ | 1,279,549 | $ | 1,161,246 | $ | 1,149,547 |
* An aggregate face amount of $133.9 million (carrying value of $87.5 million) of debt represents inter-segment financing, which is eliminated upon consolidation.
(C) | In February 2014, the media segment was spun off from Newcastle and will not be reported as a segment in future filings. |
(D) | Represents the elimination of investments and financings and their related income and expenses between the CDO segment, the other debt segment and the golf segment as the corresponding inter-segment investments and financings are presented on a gross basis within each of these segments. |
Further details regarding the revenues, net income (loss) and total assets of each of our segments for each of the last three fiscal years are presented in Note 5 to Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Developments in 2013
Spin-off of Residential Assets
On May 15, 2013, we spun off our wholly owned subsidiary New Residential Investment Corp. (“New Residential”). Prior to the spin-off, we contributed to New Residential all of our investments in excess mortgage servicing rights (“Excess MSRs”), the non-Agency residential mortgage backed securities (“RMBS”) we had acquired since the second quarter of 2012, certain Agency Adjustable Rate Mortgage (“ARM”) RMBS, the residential mortgage loans we had acquired since the beginning of 2013, our interest in a portfolio of consumer loans, and cash and cash equivalents of $181.6 million. The spin-off was effected as a taxable pro rata distribution by Newcastle of all of the outstanding shares of common stock of New Residential to our common stockholders of record at the close of business on May 6, 2013. The distribution ratio was one share of New Residential common stock for each share of Newcastle common stock. For additional information about the New Residential spin-off, see Note 4 to Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Senior Housing Acquisitions
During 2013, we invested a total of $364.9 million of cash to acquire senior housing properties, including the Holiday Portfolio (defined below) and various other properties, as described below.
On December 23, 2013, we completed the acquisition of a 51-property portfolio of independent living senior housing properties (the “Holiday Portfolio”) from certain affiliates of Holiday for approximately $1.0 billion. We funded the purchase price with $719.4 million of non-recourse debt financing and $281.1 million of cash. The Holiday Portfolio includes properties located across 24 states with 5,842 units in aggregate. Concurrently with the closing of the Holiday acquisition, we leased these properties to certain affiliates of Holiday (collectively, the “Master Tenants”) pursuant to two triple net master leases on nearly identical terms. Each master lease has a 17-year term and first-year rent equal to 6.5% of the purchase price with annual increases during the following three years of 4.5% and up to 3.75% thereafter. Under each master lease, the respective Master Tenant is responsible for (i) operating its portion of the Holiday Portfolio and bearing the related costs, including repairs, maintenance, capital expenditures, utilities, taxes, insurance and the payroll expense of property level employees, and (ii) complying with the terms of the mortgage financing documents. The Master Tenants’ obligations to us under the master leases are guaranteed by a subsidiary of Holiday (the “Guarantor”). The Guarantor is required to maintain a minimum net worth (book value plus accumulated depreciation and certain other adjustments as defined in the guaranty) of
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$150 million, a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio (earnings before interest expense, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent (“EBITDAR”) divided by rent and interest) of 1.10 and a maximum leverage ratio (debt plus 10 times cash rent divided by EBITDAR) of 10 to 1. While we believe that the financial covenants contained in the master leases and the guaranty of lease agreements enhance the security of payments that will be owed to us under the master leases, these security features may not ensure timely payment in full of all amounts due to us under the master leases or the guaranty of lease agreements. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—The Master Tenants may be unable to cover their lease obligations to us, and there can be no assurance that the Guarantor will be able to cover any shortfall.” For details about the financing, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Debt Obligations.” Holiday is one of the largest private owners and operators of senior housing properties in North America.
During 2013, we also completed acquisitions of 21 other senior housing properties for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $302.8 million, financed with $219.0 million of mortgage loans and $83.8 million of cash. These properties are located across 5 states and have more than 3,000 beds in aggregate. These properties are managed by Holiday or Blue Harbor.
For additional information about these investments, see Note 3 to Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
As of February 23, 2014, we have signed either a purchase and sale agreement or a letter of intent (granting us exclusive right to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement) with respect to 11 properties with an aggregate estimated purchase price of $266.0 million (including assumed debt and other transaction costs). There can be no assurance that we will complete any particular investment, including those that are under contract, which are subject to material closing conditions, including, in certain transactions, financing conditions. Moreover, any senior housing property that we do acquire in the future may have different characteristics and expected returns than those in our existing portfolio and may expose us to additional regulatory and operational risks. See “—Government Regulation of Our Senior Housing Business.”
As part of our continuing efforts to provide value to our stockholders, we are currently considering a spin-off of our senior housing business from the remainder of our investment portfolio. If the transaction resulted in our senior housing business being held in a stand-alone entity, we expect that such entity would elect and qualify to be taxed as a REIT. Our board has not formally evaluated any such transaction, and there can be no assurance as to the timing, terms, structure or completion of any such transaction. Any such transaction would be subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, could have tax implications for the holders of shares of our common stock, and could adversely affect the price of shares of our common stock.
Restructuring and Spin-Off of Media Investments
During 2013, we completed a restructuring of our debt investment in GateHouse Media, Inc. (“GateHouse”), and we acquired Dow Jones Local Media Group (renamed Local Media Group Holdings LLC, or “Local Media”) from News Corp.
We completed the purchase of Local Media on September 3, 2013. The purchase price for Local Media was approximately $86.9 million, including capitalized transaction costs of approximately $4.3 million. We funded the purchase price with $53.9 million of cash and financed the remainder. As described in more detail below, as part of the restructuring of GateHouse, we contributed Local Media to GateHouse’s successor, New Media Investment Group Inc. (“New Media” or the “Media business”).
GateHouse’s restructuring was completed on November 26, 2013. We sponsored a prepackaged plan of reorganization (as amended or supplemented, the “Plan”) for GateHouse. On September 27, 2013, GateHouse commenced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, and the court confirmed the Plan on November 6, 2013.
Pursuant to the Plan, (i) we formed New Media as a wholly owned subsidiary of Newcastle, (ii) GateHouse and Local Media became wholly owned subsidiaries of New Media, (iii) we offered to either purchase in cash the claims of other GateHouse debt holders at 40% of the face amount of their claims or issue to other debt holders a pro rata share of the common stock of New Media and the net cash proceeds, if any, from a new financing (the “GateHouse Credit Facilities”), and (iv) we exchanged our debt claims for equity of New Media and net cash proceeds from the GateHouse Credit Facilities and, in accordance with the elections made by other debt holders, purchased approximately $441.5 million of claims and issued
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approximately 15.4% of New Media’s common stock to certain third parties. As a result, and taking into account the value assigned to our contribution of Local Media to New Media, we became the owner of approximately 84.6% of New Media.
We spun off New Media on February 13, 2014. The spin-off was effected as a taxable pro rata distribution by Newcastle of all of the outstanding shares of common stock we held of New Media to our common stockholders of record at the close of business on February 6, 2014. The distribution ratio was 0.0722 shares of New Media common stock for each share of Newcastle common stock. For more information about the acquisition and spin-off of the Media business, see Notes 3 and 20 to Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Restructuring of Golf Investment
In December 2013, we restructured an investment in mezzanine debt issued by NGP Mezzanine, LLC (“NGP”), the indirect parent of NGP Realty Sub, L.P. (“National Golf”). National Golf owns 27 golf courses across 8 states, and leases these courses to American Golf Corporation (“American Golf”), an affiliated operating company. American Golf also leases an additional 54 golf courses and manages 11 courses, all owned by third parties. As part of the transaction, we acquired the equity of NGP and American Golf’s indirect parent, AGC Mezzanine Pledge LLC (“AGC”), and therefore consolidated these entities as of December 31, 2013.
In the original investment in 2006, we invested approximately $110 million in mezzanine debt issued by NGP. At the time of the transaction, the mezzanine debt had an outstanding face amount of approximately $68 million, which we valued at approximately $29 million.
On December 30, 2013, pursuant to an agreement with the other senior creditors of National Golf, we and National Golf’s senior lender entered into a new senior debt facility with a principal amount of $109 million, of which we committed to fund $54.5 million (and have funded $47 million to date). We also acquired the equity of NGP and AGC for $2.0 million and acquired the ground lease for an 18-hole golf course, clubhouse and other related facilities and improvements (the “Vineyard Property”) for an additional $0.5 million (collectively, the “Golf business”). As a result of our consolidation of these entities, our debt investments in these entities are eliminated in consolidation.
We believe that the financial results of the Golf business can be improved significantly utilizing the operational expertise of our Manager. For more information about this investment, see Note 3 to Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
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Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis (1) |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value |
Number of Investments |
Credit (2) | Weighted Average Life (years) (3) |
||||||||||||||||
Debt Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Commercial Assets | ||||||||||||||||||||||
CMBS | $ | 333 | $ | 228 | 5.7 | % | $ | 284 | 50 | BB- | 2.6 | |||||||||||
Mezzanine Loans | 172 | 140 | 3.5 | % | 140 | 9 | 85 | % | 1.3 | |||||||||||||
B-Notes | 109 | 101 | 2.6 | % | 101 | 4 | 75 | % | 1.5 | |||||||||||||
Whole Loans | 30 | 30 | 0.7 | % | 30 | 2 | 49 | % | 0.0 | |||||||||||||
CDO Securities (4) | 74 | 57 | 1.4 | % | 60 | 2 | BB+ | 3.1 | ||||||||||||||
Other Investments (5) | 69 | 69 | 1.7 | % | 69 | 2 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
Total Commercial Assets | 787 | 625 | 15.5 | % | 684 | 2.1 | ||||||||||||||||
Residential Assets | ||||||||||||||||||||||
MH and Residential Loans | 281 | 253 | 6.3 | % | 253 | 7,756 | 706 | 5.5 | ||||||||||||||
Non-Agency RMBS | 97 | 41 | 1.0 | % | 58 | 34 | CCC+ | 4.4 | ||||||||||||||
Real Estate ABS | 8 | — | 0.0 | % | — | 1 | C | — | ||||||||||||||
386 | 294 | 7.3 | % | 311 | 5.1 | |||||||||||||||||
FNMA/FHLMC securities | 515 | 543 | 13.5 | % | 546 | 64 | AAA | 3.6 | ||||||||||||||
Total Residential Assets | 901 | 837 | 20.8 | % | 857 | 4.2 | ||||||||||||||||
Corporate Assets | ||||||||||||||||||||||
REIT Debt | 29 | 29 | 0.7 | % | 31 | 5 | BB+ | 1.8 | ||||||||||||||
Corporate Bank Loans | 257 | 167 | 4.2 | % | 167 | 5 | C | 0.9 | ||||||||||||||
Total Corporate Assets | 286 | 196 | 4.9 | % | 198 | 1.0 | ||||||||||||||||
Total Debt Investments | 1,974 | 1,658 | 41.2 | % | 1,739 | 3.0 | ||||||||||||||||
Other Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior Housing Investments(6) | 1,496 | 1,464 | 36.4 | % | 1,464 | |||||||||||||||||
Media Investments (6) | 546 | 542 | 13.5 | % | 542 | |||||||||||||||||
Golf Investment (6) | 358 | 358 | 8.9 | % | 358 | |||||||||||||||||
Total Portfolio / WA | $ | 4,374 | $ | 4,022 | 100.0 | % | $ | 4,103 | ||||||||||||||
Reconciliation to GAAP total assets: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subprime mortgage loans subject to call option (7) | 406 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other commercial real estate | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Cash and restricted cash | 118 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other | 219 | |||||||||||||||||||||
GAAP total assets | $ | 4,853 |
WA – Weighted average, in all tables.
(1) | Net of impairment. |
(2) | Credit represents the weighted average of minimum ratings for rated assets, the loan-to-value ratio (based on the appraised value at the time of purchase or refinancing) for non-rated commercial assets, or the FICO score for non-rated residential assets and an implied AAA rating for FNMA/FHLMC securities. Ratings provided above were determined by third party rating agencies, represent the most recent credit ratings available as of the reporting date and may not be current. |
(3) | Weighted average life is based on the timing of expected principal reduction on the asset. |
(4) | Represents non-consolidated CDO securities, excluding nine securities with a zero value, which had an aggregate face amount of $114.5 million. |
(5) | Represents $25.0 million of equity investment in a real estate owned property and $44.0 million in a linked transaction. |
(6) | Face amount of senior housing, media and golf investments represents the gross carrying amount, including intangibles and, for media, goodwill, and excludes accumulated depreciation and amortization. |
(7) | Our subprime mortgage loans subject to call option are excluded from the statistics because they result from an option, not an obligation, to repurchase such loans, are noneconomic until such option is exercised, and are offset by an equal liability on the consolidated balance sheet. |
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Debt Investments
The following table reflects the spread between the yield and the cost of financing our portfolio of debt investments at December 31, 2013:
Weighted average asset yield | 8.13 | % | ||
Weighted average funding cost | 1.71 | % | ||
Net interest spread | 6.42 | % |
CMBS
Deal Vintage (A) | Average Minimum Rating (B) |
Number | Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value | Delinquency 60+/FC/REO (C) |
Principal Subordination (D) |
Weighted Average Life (years) (E) |
|||||||||||||||||||
Pre 2004 | CCC | 6 | $ | 12,442 | $ | 10,673 | 4.7 | % | $ | 11,652 | 27.3 | % | 44.0 | % | 1.6 | |||||||||||||
2004 | BB+ | 9 | 33,435 | 26,285 | 11.5 | % | 31,809 | 3.0 | % | 7.8 | % | 1.4 | ||||||||||||||||
2005 | B+ | 9 | 80,133 | 33,672 | 14.8 | % | 60,814 | 4.0 | % | 6.8 | % | 1.7 | ||||||||||||||||
2006 | BB- | 15 | 108,544 | 74,451 | 32.7 | % | 87,805 | 2.7 | % | 12.0 | % | 1.8 | ||||||||||||||||
2007 | CCC+ | 3 | 13,237 | 2,599 | 1.1 | % | 3,274 | 5.5 | % | 7.2 | % | 0.8 | ||||||||||||||||
2010 | BB | 3 | 35,000 | 33,184 | 14.6 | % | 36,608 | 0.0 | % | 2.0 | % | 6.7 | ||||||||||||||||
2011 | BB+ | 5 | 50,330 | 47,014 | 20.6 | % | 52,507 | 0.0 | % | 4.2 | % | 4.4 | ||||||||||||||||
Total / WA | BB- | 50 | $ | 333,121 | $ | 227,878 | 100.0 | % | $ | 284,469 | 3.4 | % | 9.1 | % | 2.6 |
(A) | The year in which the securities were issued. |
(B) | Ratings provided above were determined by third party rating agencies, represent the most recent credit ratings available as of the reporting date and may not be current. We had no CMBS assets that were on negative watch for possible downgrade by at least one rating agency as of December 31, 2013. |
(C) | The percentage of underlying loans that are 60+ days delinquent, in foreclosure or considered real estate owned (“REO”). |
(D) | The percentage of the outstanding face amount of securities that is subordinate to our investments. |
(E) | Weighted average life is based on the timing of expected principal reduction on the asset. |
Mezzanine Loans, B-Notes and Whole Loans
Asset Type | Number | Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value | Weighted Average First Dollar Loan to Value (A) |
Weighted Average Last Dollar to Loan Value (A) |
Delinquency (B) |
|||||||||||||||||
Mezzanine Loans | 9 | $ | 172,197 | $ | 139,720 | 51.6 | % | $ | 139,720 | 70.9 | % | 85.0 | % | 7.0 | % | ||||||||||
B-Notes | 4 | 109,323 | 101,383 | 37.4 | % | 101,383 | 63.8 | % | 75.1 | % | 0.0 | % | |||||||||||||
Whole Loans | 2 | 29,715 | 29,715 | 11.0 | % | 29,715 | 0.0 | % | 48.6 | % | 0.0 | % | |||||||||||||
Total/WA | 15 | $ | 311,235 | $ | 270,818 | 100.0 | % | $ | 270,818 | 61.7 | % | 78.0 | % | 3.9 | % |
(A) | Loan to value is based on the appraised value at the time of purchase or refinancing. |
(B) | The percentage of underlying loans that are non-performing, in foreclosure, under bankruptcy filing or considered real estate owned. |
CDO Securities (A)
Collateral Manager |
Primary Collateral Type |
Number | Average Minimum Rating (B) |
Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value | Principal Subordination (C) |
|||||||||||||||||
Newcastle | CMBS | 1 | CCC | $ | 9,898 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 2,002 | 11.4 | % | ||||||||||||
Sorin | CMBS | 1 | BBB | 63,995 | 56,996 | 100.0 | % | 57,755 | 55.2 | % | |||||||||||||||
TOTAL/WA | 2 | BB+ | $ | 73,893 | $ | 56,996 | 100.0 | % | $ | 59,757 | 49.3 | % |
(A) | Represents non-consolidated CDO securities, excluding nine securities with a zero carrying value, which had an aggregate face amount of $114.5 million. |
(B) | Ratings provided above were determined by third party rating agencies, represent the most recent credit ratings available as of the reporting date and may not be current. We had no CDO assets that were on negative watch for possible downgrade by at least one rating agency as of December 31, 2013. |
(C) | The percentage of the outstanding face amount of securities that is subordinate to our investments. |
6 |
Manufactured Housing and Residential Loans
Deal | Average FICO Score (A) |
Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value |
Average Loan Age (years) |
Original Balance |
Delinquency 90+/FC/REO (B) |
Cumulative Loss to Date |
|||||||||||||||||||
Manufactured Housing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loans Portfolio I | 703 | $ | 103,182 | $ | 90,378 | 35.7 | % | $ | 90,378 | 12.1 | $ | 327,855 | 0.9 | % | 9.5 | % | ||||||||||||
Manufactured Housing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loans Portfolio II | 706 | 131,603 | 127,569 | 50.4 | % | 127,569 | 14.5 | 434,739 | 1.4 | % | 7.8 | % | ||||||||||||||||
Residential Loans Portfolio I | 710 | 42,194 | 31,726 | 12.5 | % | 31,726 | 10.7 | 646,357 | 11.4 | % | 0.5 | % | ||||||||||||||||
Residential Loans Portfolio II | 737 | 3,774 | 3,582 | 1.4 | % | 3,582 | 9.1 | 83,950 | 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % | ||||||||||||||||
Total / WA | 706 | $ | 280,753 | $ | 253,255 | 100.0 | % | $ | 253,255 | 13.0 | $ | 1,492,901 | 2.7 | % | 7.2 | % |
(A) | Based on updated FICO scores provided by the loan servicer of the manufactured housing loan portfolios and original FICO scores for the residential loan portfolios as the loan servicers of the residential loan portfolios do not provide updated FICO scores. |
(B) | The percentage of loans that are 90+ days delinquent or in foreclosure or considered real estate owned REO. |
Non-Agency RMBS (A)
Security Characteristics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vintage (B) | Average Minimum Rating (C) |
Number of Securities |
Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value |
Principal Subordination (D) |
Excess Spread (E) |
|||||||||||||||||
Pre 2004 | D | 3 | $ | 1,247 | $ | 252 | 0.6 | % | $ | 687 | 4.5 | % | 3.9 | % | |||||||||||
2004 | CCC | 5 | 5,940 | 1,179 | 2.9 | % | 2,726 | 4.4 | % | 2.4 | % | ||||||||||||||
2005 | CCC- | 17 | 44,172 | 7,991 | 19.6 | % | 15,758 | 17.7 | % | 4.2 | % | ||||||||||||||
2006 | B+ | 5 | 33,953 | 23,208 | 57.1 | % | 28,739 | 41.8 | % | 4.0 | % | ||||||||||||||
2007 | CCC+ | 4 | 11,450 | 8,045 | 19.8 | % | 9,671 | 24.3 | % | 4.1 | % | ||||||||||||||
Total / WA | CCC+ | 34 | $ | 96,762 | $ | 40,675 | 100.0 | % | $ | 57,581 | 25.9 | % | 4.0 | % |
Collateral Characteristics | ||||||||||||||||
Vintage (B) | Average Loan Age (years) |
Collateral Factor (F) |
3 Month CPR (G) |
Delinquency (H) | Cumulative Losses to Date |
|||||||||||
Pre 2004 | 10.7 | 0.06 | 9.0 | % | 18.6 | % | 2.6 | % | ||||||||
2004 | 9.5 | 0.13 | 13.1 | % | 12.4 | % | 3.2 | % | ||||||||
2005 | 8.8 | 0.17 | 9.1 | % | 25.0 | % | 12.0 | % | ||||||||
2006 | 7.8 | 0.24 | 9.1 | % | 23.2 | % | 23.1 | % | ||||||||
2007 | 7.0 | 0.36 | 9.0 | % | 26.8 | % | 28.3 | % | ||||||||
Total / WA | 8.3 | 0.21 | 9.3 | % | 23.7 | % | 17.1 | % |
(A) | This includes subprime retained securities in the securitizations of Subprime Portfolios I. For further information on this securitization, see Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements included in this report. |
(B) | The year in which the securities were issued. |
(C) | Ratings provided above were determined by third party rating agencies, represent the most recent credit ratings available as of the reporting date and may not be current. We had no ABS assets that were on negative watch for possible downgrade by at least one rating agency as of December 31, 2013. |
(D) | The percentage of the outstanding face amount of securities and residual interests that is subordinate to our investments. |
(E) | The annualized amount of interest received on the underlying loans in excess of the interest paid on the securities, as a percentage of the outstanding collateral balance. |
(F) | The ratio of original unpaid principal balance of loans still outstanding. |
(G) | Three month average constant prepayment rate. |
(H) | The percentage of underlying loans that are 90+ days delinquent, or in foreclosure or considered REO. |
7 |
Agency ARM RMBS (FNMA/FHLMC Securities)
Weighted Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Periodic Cap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Months to Reset (A) |
Number of Securities |
Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis (G) |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value (G) |
Coupon | Margin | 1st Coupon Adj (B) |
Subsequent Coupon Adj (C) |
Lifetime Cap (D) |
Months to Reset (F) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
1-12 | 44 | $ | 294,291 | $ | 310,086 | 57.1 | % | $ | 312,855 | 2.56 | % | 1.87 | % | N/A (E | ) | 1.95 | % | 9.84 | % | 7 | ||||||||||||||
13-24 | 12 | 114,552 | 121,333 | 22.4 | % | 121,744 | 3.54 | % | 1.79 | % | 4.71 | % | 2.00 | % | 8.54 | % | 17 | |||||||||||||||||
25-36 | 8 | 106,151 | 111,381 | 20.5 | % | 111,832 | 3.13 | % | 1.86 | % | 5.00 | % | 2.00 | % | 8.13 | % | 30 | |||||||||||||||||
Total | 64 | $ | 514,994 | $ | 542,800 | 100.0 | % | $ | 546,431 | 2.90 | % | 1.85 | % | 4.85 | % | 1.97 | % | 9.20 | % | 14 |
(A) | Of these investments, 84.3% reset based on 12-month LIBOR index, 14.3% reset based on the 1-year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate and 1.4% reset based on the 12 month Treasury Average. After the initial fixed rate period, 98.6% of these securities reset annually and 1.4% reset monthly. |
(B) | Represents the maximum change in the coupon at the end of the fixed rate period. |
(C) | Represents the maximum change in the coupon at each reset date subsequent to the first coupon adjustment. |
(D) | Represents the maximum coupon on the underlying security over its life. |
(E) | Not applicable as 41 of the securities (91% of the current face of this category) are past the first coupon adjustment period. The remaining three securities (9% of the current face of this category) have a maximum change in the coupon of 5.0% at the end of the fixed rate period. |
(F) | Represents the current weighted average months to the next interest rate reset. |
(G) | Amortized cost basis and carrying value excludes $4.8 million of principal receivables as of December 31, 2013. |
In January 2014, we sold all of the remaining FNMA/FHLMC securities at an average price of 105.82% for total proceeds of $532.2 million and repaid $516.1 million of repurchase agreements associated with these securities, and we recognized a gain of approximately of $1.9 million.
REIT Debt
Industry | Average Minimum Rating (A) |
Number | Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value |
|||||||||||||
Retail | A- | 1 | $ | 4,500 | $ | 4,141 | 14.4 | % | $ | 4,874 | |||||||||
Diversified | B- | 1 | 12,000 | 11,994 | 41.8 | % | 12,615 | ||||||||||||
Multifamily | BBB | 1 | 5,000 | 4,980 | 17.5 | % | 5,208 | ||||||||||||
Healthcare | BBB+ | 2 | 7,700 | 7,552 | 26.3 | % | 8,489 | ||||||||||||
Total / WA | BB+ | 5 | $ | 29,200 | $ | 28,667 | 100.0 | % | $ | 31,186 |
Corporate Bank Loans
Industry | Average Minimum Rating (A) |
Number | Outstanding Face Amount |
Amortized Cost Basis |
Percentage of Total Amortized Cost Basis |
Carrying Value |
|||||||||||||
Resorts | NR | 3 | $ | 231,265 | $ | 155,579 | 93.3 | % | $ | 155,579 | |||||||||
Restaurant | B | 2 | 25,329 | 11,131 | 6.7 | % | 11,131 | ||||||||||||
Total / WA | C | 5 | $ | 256,594 | $ | 166,710 | 100.0 | % | $ | 166,710 |
(A) | Ratings provided above were determined by third party rating agencies, represent the most recent credit ratings available as of the reporting date and may not be current. We had no corporate assets that were on negative watch for possible downgrade by at least one rating agency as of December 31, 2013. |
Credit Risk Management – Debt Investments
Credit risk refers to the ability of each individual borrower under our loans and securities to make required interest and principal payments on the scheduled due dates. We strive to reduce credit risk by actively monitoring our asset portfolio and the underlying credit quality of our holdings and, where feasible and appropriate, repositioning our investments to upgrade their credit quality and yield. A significant portion of our investments are financed with collateralized debt obligations, known as CDOs. Our CDO financings offer us the structural flexibility to buy and sell certain investments to manage risk and, subject to certain limitations, to optimize returns.
Further, while the expected yield on our real estate securities, which comprise a meaningful portion of our assets, is sensitive to the performance of the underlying loans, the first risk of default and loss - referred to as a “first loss” position-is borne by the more subordinated securities or other features of the securitization transaction, in the case of commercial mortgage and asset backed securities, and the issuer’s underlying equity and subordinated debt, in the case of senior unsecured REIT debt securities.
8 |
We also invest in loans and securities which represent “first loss” positions; in other words, they do not benefit from credit support although we believe at acquisition they predominantly benefit from underlying collateral value in excess of their carrying amounts.
Other Investments
Senior Housing Investments
We currently own 51 dedicated independent living (“IL-only”) properties that are triple net leased to Holiday. We have 33 managed properties, including 2 IL-only properties and 31 properties with some combination of independent living, assisted living or memory care (“AL/MC”) properties. Our properties are located across 25 states. IL-only properties are age-restricted, multifamily rental properties with central dining that provide residents access to meals and other services such as housekeeping, linen service, transportation and social and recreational activities. A typical resident is 80 to 85 years old and is relatively healthy. Residents are typically charged all-inclusive monthly rates. AL/MC properties are state-regulated rental properties that provide the same services as IL-only properties and additionally have staff to provide residents assistance with activities of daily living, such as management of medications, bathing, dressing, toileting, ambulating and eating. AL/MC properties may include memory care facilities that specifically provide care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia or memory loss. The average age of an AL/MC resident is similar to that of an IL-only resident, but AL/MC residents typically have greater healthcare needs. Residents are typically charged all-inclusive monthly rates for IL-only services and additional “care charges” for AL/MC services, which vary depending on the types of services required. AL/MC properties are generally private pay, though many states will allow residents to cover a portion of the cost with Medicaid. The table below sets forth key characteristics of our portfolio.
Real Estate Property Investments as of December 31, 2013 | Revenues for the Year Ended December 31, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Asset Type | Number of Communities |
Number of Beds |
Real Estate Property Investment at Original Cost |
Percent of Total Real Estate Property Investment |
Real Estate Property Investment per Bed |
Total Revenues (1) | Percent of Total Revenues |
Number of States |
|||||||||||||||||
Managed Properties | 33 | 4,453 | $ | 432,077 | 31.5 | % | $ | 97.0 | $ | 83,349 | 97.8 | % | 11 | ||||||||||||
Triple Net Lease Properties | 51 | 5,842 | 937,548 | 68.5 | % | 160.5 | 1,918 | 2.2 | % | 24 | |||||||||||||||
Total | 84 | 10,295 | $ | 1,369,625 | 100.0 | % | $ | 85,267 | 100.0 | % |
(1) | Revenues relate to the period the properties were owned by us in 2013 and, therefore, are not indicative of full-year results for all properties. For example, the triple net lease properties were acquired on December 23, 2013. |
As of December 31, 2013, the average occupancy rate of our senior housing properties was 90% for acquisitions completed in 2012 and 82% for acquisitions completed in 2013 (excluding managed properties that we had owned for less than one full quarter as of December 31, 2013).
Our portfolio of senior housing properties is broadly diversified by geographic location throughout the United States. The following table shows the geographic location of our senior housing properties, and the percentage of total revenues by geographic location for the year ended December 31, 2013
9 |
Managed Properties: | ||||||||||
Location | Number of Communities |
Number of Beds |
Percent of Revenue (1) |
|||||||
Arizona | 1 | 108 | 5.45 | % | ||||||
California | 3 | 328 | 18.96 | % | ||||||
Florida | 16 | 2,330 | 25.47 | % | ||||||
Idaho | 1 | 121 | 6.98 | % | ||||||
New York | 1 | 109 | 1.85 | % | ||||||
North Carolina | 1 | 176 | 2.21 | % | ||||||
Oregon | 2 | 164 | 10.44 | % | ||||||
Pennsylvania | 2 | 291 | 5.22 | % | ||||||
Texas | 1 | 230 | 7.10 | % | ||||||
Utah | 4 | 475 | 15.92 | % | ||||||
Virginia | 1 | 121 | 0.40 | % | ||||||
33 | 4,453 | 100.00 | % |
(1) | Various properties were acquired in 2013. Percent of revenue is based on revenues related to the period the properties were owned by us in 2013 and, therefore, are not indicative of full-year results. |
Triple Net Lease Properties: | ||||||||||
Location | Number of Communities |
Number of Beds |
Percent of Revenue (1) |
|||||||
Arizona | 1 | 115 | 1.39 | % | ||||||
California | 2 | 235 | 5.00 | % | ||||||
Colorado | 4 | 439 | 6.63 | % | ||||||
Connecticut | 2 | 276 | 5.66 | % | ||||||
Florida | 3 | 370 | 6.46 | % | ||||||
Illinois | 1 | 111 | 1.62 | % | ||||||
Iowa | 2 | 215 | 2.74 | % | ||||||
Kansas | 2 | 238 | 3.66 | % | ||||||
Kentucky | 1 | 117 | 2.61 | % | ||||||
Louisiana | 1 | 103 | 0.66 | % | ||||||
Michigan | 1 | 121 | 1.68 | % | ||||||
Mississippi | 1 | 93 | 0.91 | % | ||||||
Missouri | 3 | 320 | 6.68 | % | ||||||
Montana | 1 | 115 | 1.88 | % | ||||||
Nevada | 1 | 121 | 2.32 | % | ||||||
New York | 2 | 234 | 5.15 | % | ||||||
North Carolina | 2 | 240 | 5.05 | % | ||||||
Oregon | 6 | 601 | 9.81 | % | ||||||
Pennsylvania | 2 | 228 | 4.59 | % | ||||||
Tennessee | 1 | 109 | 1.17 | % | ||||||
Texas | 9 | 1,088 | 17.74 | % | ||||||
Utah | 1 | 117 | 2.09 | % | ||||||
Virginia | 1 | 120 | 2.45 | % | ||||||
Wisconsin | 1 | 116 | 2.08 | % | ||||||
51 | 5,842 | 100.00 | % |
(1) | All of the triple net lease properties were acquired on December 23, 2013. Percent of revenue is based on revenues related to the period the properties were owned by us in 2013 and, therefore, are not indicative of full-year results. |
10 |
Managed Properties
As of December 31, 2013, either Blue Harbor or Holiday managed all of our managed properties. We pay annual property management fees pursuant to long-term property management agreements. Currently, all of our property management agreements have initial 10-year terms, with successive automatic 1-year renewal periods. For AL/MC properties, we pay base management fees equal to 6% of revenue for the first two years and 7% thereafter. For IL-only properties, we pay base management fees of 5% of revenues. As managers, Blue Harbor and Holiday do not lease our properties and, therefore, we are not directly exposed to their credit risk in the same manner or to the same extent as a triple net lease tenant. However, we rely on our managers’ personnel, expertise, technical resources and information systems, proprietary information, good faith and judgment to manage our senior housing operations efficiently and effectively. We also rely on our managers to set appropriate resident fees and to otherwise operate our seniors housing communities in compliance with the terms of our management agreements and all applicable laws and regulations. Although we have various rights as the property owner under our management agreements, including various rights to set budget guidelines and to terminate and exercise remedies under those agreements as provided therein, Blue Harbor’s or Holiday’s failure, inability or unwillingness to satisfy its respective obligations under those agreements, to efficiently and effectively manage our properties or to provide timely and accurate accounting information with respect thereto could have a material adverse effect on us.
Triple Net Lease Properties
The Holiday Portfolio is leased to Holiday pursuant to two triple net master leases on nearly identical terms. Each master lease has a 17-year term and first-year rent equal to 6.5% of the purchase price with annual increases during the following three years of 4.5% and up to 3.75% thereafter. Under each master lease, the respective Master Tenant is responsible for (i) operating its portion of the Holiday Portfolio and bearing the related costs, including repairs, maintenance, capital expenditures, utilities, taxes, insurance, and the payroll expense of property-level employees, and (ii) complying with the terms of the mortgage financing documents.
Media Investments
As part of the acquisition of the Media investments, we obtained an 84.6% ownership in New Media. New Media is one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States as measured by the number of daily publications. New Media operates in 338 markets across 24 states. New Media’s portfolio of products includes 435 community publications, 353 related websites, and 6 yellow page directories, serves more than 128,000 business advertising accounts and reaches approximately 12 million people on a weekly basis. We spun-off New Media in February 2014 as described above.
Golf Investment
As noted above, we restructured a debt investment that resulted in our acquisition of National Golf and American Golf. National Golf owns 27 golf courses and leases them to American Golf. American Golf also leases 54 golf courses owned by third parties and manages 11 golf courses owned by third parties. We categorize our owned and leased golf courses as public or private. Set forth below is additional information about our golf courses.
Public Courses. Public courses generate revenues principally through daily green fees, golf cart rentals and food, beverage and merchandise sales. Amenities at these courses generally include practice facilities, and pro shops with food and beverage facilities. In some cases, our public courses have small clubhouses with banquet facilities.
Private Courses. Private courses are open to members only and generate revenues principally through initiation fees, membership dues, guest fees, and food, beverage and merchandise sales. Amenities at these courses typically include practice facilities, full service clubhouses with a pro shop, locker room facilities and multiple food and beverage outlets, including grills, restaurants and banquet facilities.
Managed Courses. Our 11 managed courses are properties that American Golf manages pursuant to a management agreement with the owner. We will recognize revenue from these courses in an amount equal to the respective management fee.
11 |
The following table summarizes certain information about our golf courses as of December 31, 2013.
Course Type | Number of Courses | Number of Golf Holes | ||
Leased: | ||||
Public | 47 | 864 | ||
Private | 7 | 189 | ||
Total Leased | 54 | 1,053 | ||
Owned: | ||||
Public | 12 | 234 | ||
Private | 15 | 306 | ||
Total Owned | 27 | 540 | ||
Managed: | 11 | 198 | ||
Total | 92 | 1,791 |
Location by State | |||||||
California | 54 | 1,026 | |||||
Florida | 2 | 81 | |||||
Georgia | 10 | 171 | |||||
Hawaii | 1 | 18 | |||||
Idaho | 1 | 18 | |||||
Michigan | 1 | 18 | |||||
New Jersey | 2 | 36 | |||||
New Mexico | 1 | 27 | |||||
New York | 6 | 126 | |||||
Oklahoma | 3 | 54 | |||||
Oregon | 4 | 90 | |||||
Tennessee | 2 | 36 | |||||
Texas | 3 | 54 | |||||
Virginia | 1 | 18 | |||||
Washington | 1 | 18 | |||||
Total | 92 | 1,791 |
12 |
Our Financing and Hedging Activities
We employ leverage as part of our investment strategy. We do not have a predetermined target debt to equity ratio as we believe the appropriate leverage for the particular assets we are financing depends on the credit quality of those assets. As of December 31, 2013 and as of the date of this Annual Report, we have complied with the general investment guidelines adopted by our board of directors that limit total leverage. We utilize leverage for the sole purpose of financing our portfolio and not for the purpose of speculating on changes in interest rates.
We strive to maintain access to a broad array of capital resources in an effort to insulate our business from potential fluctuations in the availability of capital. We utilize multiple forms of financing, including common and preferred stock offerings, collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), other securitizations, term loans, and trust preferred securities, as well as short term financing in the form of loans and repurchase agreements. Additionally, the Manager may elect for us to bear a level of refinancing risk on a short term or longer term basis, such as is the case with investments financed with repurchase agreements, when, based on all of the relevant factors, the Manager determines that bearing such risk is advisable or unavoidable. Further details regarding the forms of financing that are currently utilized are presented in Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under “– Liquidity and Capital Resources.”
We attempt to reduce refinancing and interest rate risks through the use of match funded financing structures, when appropriate and available, whereby we seek (i) to match the maturities of our debt obligations with the maturities of our assets and (ii) to match the interest rates on our investments with like-kind debt financing (i.e., floating rate assets are financed with floating rate debt and fixed rate assets are financed with fixed rate debt), directly or through the use of interest rate swaps, interest rate caps or other financial instruments, or through a combination of these strategies. We believe this allows us to reduce the risk that we have to refinance our liabilities prior to the maturities of our assets and to reduce the impact of changing interest rates on our earnings.
We enter into hedging transactions to manage our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates and other changes in market conditions, and we may continue to do so, when feasible and appropriate. These transactions predominantly include interest rate swaps, interest rate caps and may include the purchase or sale of interest rate collars, caps or floors, options, mortgage derivatives and other hedging instruments, and may be subject to margin calls. These instruments may be used to hedge as much of the interest rate risk as our Manager determines is in the best interest of our stockholders, given the cost of such hedges and the need to maintain our status as a REIT. Our Manager elects to have us bear a level of interest rate risk that could otherwise be hedged when our Manager believes, based on its analysis, that bearing such risks is advisable or unavoidable. We engage in hedging for the purpose of protecting against interest rate risk and not for the purpose of speculating on changes in interest rates. We note that new hedging transactions with respect to many types of hedging instruments may impose liquidity constraints on us or may be uneconomical for us to obtain. As a result, we currently face meaningful challenges in entering into hedging transactions to protect new investments from interest rate fluctuations and other changes in market conditions.
Further details regarding our hedging activities are presented in Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk – Interest Rate and Credit Spread Sensitive Instruments and Fair Value.”
13 |
Debt Obligations
The following table presents certain summary information regarding our debt obligations and related hedges as of December 31, 2013 (dollars in thousands):
Collateral | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Outstanding Face Amount |
Carrying Value | Weighted Average Funding Cost (1) |
Weighted Average Maturity (Years) |
Face Amount of Floating Rate Debt |
Outstanding Face Amount (2) |
Amortized Cost Basis (2) |
Carrying Value (2) | Weighted Average Maturity (Years) |
Floating Rate Face Amount (2) |
Aggregate Notional Amount of Current Hedges (3) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Debt Obligation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CDO Bonds Payable | $ | 543,516 | $ | 544,525 | 2.3 | % | 1.9 | $ | 532,625 | $ | 1,020,951 | $ | 763,391 | $ | 836,160 | 1.9 | $ | 387,182 | $ | 193,758 | ||||||||||||||
Other Bonds and Notes Payable | 243,745 | 230,279 | 3.5 | % | 3.1 | 96,129 | 231,656 | 220,041 | 220,041 | 5.4 | 21,933 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchase Agreements | 556,347 | 556,347 | 0.5 | % | 0.1 | 556,347 | 551,023 | 574,812 | 578,443 | 3.7 | 551,023 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Mortgage Notes Payable | 1,077,163 | 1,076,828 | 4.7 | % | 6.8 | 198,584 | N/A | 1,463,758 | 1,463,758 | N/A | N/A | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Media Credit Facilities(4) | 183,000 | 182,016 | 7.9 | % | 4.7 | 183,000 | N/A | — | — | N/A | N/A | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Golf Credit Facilities(4) | 152,498 | 152,498 | 5.2 | % | 4.0 | 46,922 | N/A | — | — | N/A | N/A | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Junior Subordinated Notes Payable | 51,004 | 51,237 | 7.4 | % | 21.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subtotal debt obligations | 2,807,273 | 2,793,730 | 3.6 | % | 4.2 | $ | 1,613,607 | $ | 1,803,630 | $ | 3,022,002 | $ | 3,098,402 | 2.9 | $ | 960,138 | $ | 193,758 | ||||||||||||||||
Financing on Subprime Mortgage Loans Subject to Call Option | 406,217 | 406,217 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total debt obligations | $ | 3,213,490 | $ | 3,199,947 |
(1) | Including the effect of applicable hedges. |
(2) | Excluding (i) restricted cash held in CDOs to be used for principal and interest payments of CDO debt, and (ii) operating cash related to the senior housing business |
(3) | These facilities are collateralized by all of the assets of the respective businesses. |
(4) | Including a $88.7 million notional amount of interest rate swap agreements in CDO VI which were economic hedges not designated as hedges for accounting purposes. |
Further details regarding our debt obligations are presented in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources,” as well as Note 14 to Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
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Formation
We were formed in June 2002 and completed our initial public offering in October 2002.
The following table presents information on shares of our common stock issued since our formation:
Year | Shares Issued | Range of Issue Prices (1)(2) |
Net Proceeds (millions) |
|||||||
Formation - 2010 | 62,027,184 | |||||||||
2011 | 43,153,825 | $4.55 - $6.00 | $ | 210.9 | ||||||
2012 | 67,344,636 | $6.22 - $6.71 | $ | 434.9 | ||||||
2013 | 178,927,850 | $4.97 - $10.48 | $ | 1,262.6 | ||||||
December 31, 2013 | 351,453,495 |
(1) | Excludes prices of shares issued pursuant to the exercise of options and of shares issued to our independent directors. | |
(2) | On May 15, 2013, we completed the spin-off of New Residential. The May 15, 2013 closing price of our common stock on the NYSE was $12.33. On May 16, 2013, the opening price of our common stock was $5.79. |
Our Investment Guidelines
Our investment guidelines are purposefully broad to enable us to make investments in a wide array of assets, including, but not limited to, any assets that can be held by REITs. Our investment guidelines state:
• | no investment is to be made which would cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT; | |
• | no investment is to be made which would cause us to be regulated as an investment company; | |
• | no more than 20% of our total equity, determined as of the date of such investment, is to be invested in any single asset; | |
• | our leverage (as defined in our governing documents) is not to exceed 90% of the sum of our total debt and our total equity; and | |
• | we are not to co-invest with the Manager or any of its affiliates unless (i) our co-investment is otherwise in accordance with these guidelines and (ii) the terms of such co-investment are at least as favorable to us as to the Manager or such affiliate (as applicable) making such co-investment. |
These investment guidelines may be changed by our board of directors without the approval of our stockholders. We do not have specific policies as to the allocation among type of real estate related assets or investment categories since our investment decisions depend on changing market conditions. Instead, we focus on relative value and in-depth risk/reward analysis. Our focus on relative value means that assets which may be unattractive under particular market conditions may, if priced appropriately to compensate for risks such as projected defaults and prepayments, become attractive relative to other available investments. We generally utilize a match funded financing strategy, when appropriate and available, and active management as part of our investment strategy.
The Management Agreement
We are party to an amended and restated management agreement with FIG LLC, our Manager and an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, dated April 25, 2013 (the “management agreement”), pursuant to which FIG LLC provides for the day-to-day management of our operations and performs (or causes to be performed) such services and activities relating to our investments and operations as may be appropriate.
The management agreement requires our Manager to manage our business affairs, under the direction of our board of directors, in conformity with the policies and the investment guidelines that are approved and monitored by our board of directors. The Manager is responsible for, among other things, (i) the purchase and sale of our investments, (ii) the financing of our investments, (iii) management of our investments, including arranging for leases, maintenance, insurance, and servicing, as applicable, and (iv) investment advisory services.
We pay our Manager an annual management fee equal to 1.5% of our gross equity, as defined in the management agreement. The management agreement provides that we will reimburse our Manager for various expenses incurred by our Manager or its officers, employees and agents on our behalf, including costs of legal, accounting, tax, auditing, administrative and other similar services rendered for us by providers retained by our Manager or, if provided by our Manager’s employees, in amounts which are no greater than those which would be payable to outside professionals or consultants engaged to perform such services pursuant to agreements negotiated on an arm’s-length basis.
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To provide an incentive for our Manager to enhance the value of our common stock, our Manager is entitled to receive an incentive return (the “Incentive Compensation”) on a cumulative, but not compounding, basis in an amount equal to the product of (A) 25% of the dollar amount by which (1) (a) our funds from operations (defined as the net income available for common stockholders before the Incentive Compensation, excluding extraordinary items, plus depreciation of operating real estate, and after adjusting for unconsolidated subsidiaries, if any) per share of common stock (based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding) plus (b) gains (or losses) from debt restructuring and from sales of property and other assets per share of common stock (based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding), exceed (2) an amount equal to (a) the weighted average of the price per share of common stock in our initial public offering and the value attributed to the net assets transferred to us by Newcastle Investment Holdings, and in any of our subsequent offerings (adjusted for prior capital dividends or capital distributions) multiplied by (b) a simple interest rate of 10% per annum (divided by four to adjust for quarterly calculations) multiplied by (B) the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding. Our Manager earned no incentive compensation during 2013, 2012, or 2011.
The management agreement provides for automatic one year extensions. Our independent directors review our Manager’s performance annually and the management agreement may be terminated annually upon the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors, or by a vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, based upon unsatisfactory performance that is materially detrimental to us or a determination by our independent directors that the management fee earned by our Manager is not fair, subject to our Manager’s right to prevent such a management fee compensation termination by accepting a mutually acceptable reduction of fees. Our Manager must be provided with 60 days’ prior notice of any such termination and would be paid a termination fee equal to the amount of the management fee earned by our Manager during the twelve month period preceding such termination, which may make it difficult and costly for us to terminate the management agreement. Following any termination of the management agreement, we shall be entitled to purchase our Manager’s right to receive the Incentive Compensation at a price determined as if our assets were sold for cash at their then current fair market value (as determined by an appraisal, taking into account, among other things, the expected future value of the underlying investments) or otherwise we may continue to pay the Incentive Compensation to our Manager. In addition, if we do not purchase our Manager’s Incentive Compensation, our Manager may require us to purchase the same at the price discussed above. In addition, the management agreement may be terminated by us at any time for cause.
Policies with Respect to Certain Other Activities
Subject to the approval of our board of directors, we have the authority to offer our common stock or other equity or debt securities in exchange for property and to repurchase or otherwise reacquire our shares or any other securities and may engage in such activities in the future.
We also may make loans to, or provide guarantees of certain obligations of, our subsidiaries.
Subject to the percentage ownership and gross income and asset tests necessary for REIT qualification, we may invest in securities of other REITs, other entities engaged in real estate activities or securities of other issuers, including for the purpose of exercising control over such entities.
We may engage in the purchase and sale of investments.
Our officers and directors may change any of these policies and our investment guidelines without a vote of our stockholders.
In the event that we determine to raise additional equity capital, our board of directors has the authority, without stockholder approval (subject to certain NYSE requirements), to issue additional common stock or preferred stock in any manner and on such terms and for such consideration it deems appropriate, including in exchange for property.
Decisions regarding the form and other characteristics of the financing for our investments are made by our Manager subject to the general investment guidelines adopted by our board of directors.
Competition
We are subject to significant competition in seeking investments. We compete with other companies, including other REITs, insurance companies and other investors including funds and companies affiliated with our Manager. Some of our competitors have greater resources than we possess, or have greater access to capital or various types of financing than are available to us, and we may not be able to compete successfully for investments or provide attractive investments returns relative to our competitors.
For more information about the competition we face generally and in our senior housing and golf businesses specifically, see Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—Competition may affect our senior housing property managers’ and tenant operators’ ability to meet their obligations to us or make it difficult for us to identify and purchase, or
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develop, suitable senior housing properties to grow our investment portfolio” and “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business—We are subject to significant competition, and we may not compete successfully.”
Government Regulation of Our Senior Housing Business.
AL/MC properties and operations are subject to extensive and complex federal, state and local healthcare laws and regulations relating to fraud and abuse practices, government reimbursement, licensure and certificate of need and similar laws governing the operation of healthcare facilities. While the AL/MC properties within our portfolio are subject to many varying types of regulatory and licensing requirements, we expect that the healthcare industry, in general, will continue to face increased regulation, enforcement and pressure in the areas of fraud, waste and abuse, cost control, healthcare management and provision of services, among others. In fact, some states have revised and strengthened their regulation of senior housing properties and that trend may continue. In addition, efforts by third-party payors, such as Governmental Programs (defined below) and private insurance payor organizations (which include insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and other types of health plans/managed care organizations) to impose more stringent controls upon operators are expected to intensify and continue. Changes in applicable federal, state or local laws and regulations and new interpretations of existing laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.
As used in this section, “Governmental Program” means individually and collectively, any federal, state or local governmental reimbursement programs administered through a governmental body, agency thereof, or contractor thereof (including a Governmental Program Payor), including without limitation the Medicare and Medicaid programs or successor programs to any of them. “Governmental Program Payor” means a private insurance payor organization which has a contract with a Governmental Program to arrange for the provision of assisted living facility or skilled nursing facility (“SNF”) services to Governmental Program beneficiaries, and which receives reimbursement from the Governmental Program to do so.
Our AL/MC senior housing properties are regulated by state and local laws governing licensure, provision of services, staffing requirements and other operational matters. The laws that govern our facilities vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another. Owners and/or operators of certain senior housing properties, including, but not limited to, AL/MC facilities, are required to be licensed or certified by the state in which they operate. In granting and renewing such licenses, the state regulatory agencies consider numerous factors relating to a facility’s physical plant and operations, including, but not limited to, admission and discharge standards, staffing and training. A decision to grant or renew a license may also be affected by a facility’s record with respect to licensure compliance, patient and consumer rights, medication guidelines and other regulations. Certain states require additional licensure and impose additional staffing and other operational standards in order for a facility to provide higher levels of assisted living services. Senior housing properties may also be subject to state and/or local building, zoning, fire and food service laws before licensing or certification may be granted. Our facilities may also be affected by changes in accreditation standards or procedures of accreditation bodies that are recognized by states or a Governmental Program in the licensure or certification process.
In the future, we may also acquire senior housing properties that include skilled nursing facilities (“SNF”). SNFs are licensed by the state in which the facility is located, and if an owner chooses to participate in Medicaid or Medicare, or certain other Governmental Programs, the facility must also be certified to participate in such programs. In that regard, SNFs are particularly subject to myriad, comprehensive federal Medicare and Medicaid certification requirements that not only require state licensure, but which also separately (apart from state licensure) regulate the type and quality of the medical and/or nursing care provided, ancillary services (e.g., respiratory, occupational, physical and infusion therapies), qualifications of the administrative personnel and nursing staff, the adequacy of the physical plant and equipment, reimbursement and rate setting, and other operational issues and policies.
In the future, we may also acquire certain health care facilities (including assisted living facilities in some states, and SNFs in most states) that are subject to a variety of certificate of need (“CON”) or similar laws. None of our portfolio is currently subject to such laws. Where applicable, such laws generally require, among other requirements, as a predicate to licensure that a facility demonstrate the need for (i) constructing a new facility, (ii) adding beds or expanding an existing facility, (iii) investing in major capital equipment or adding new services, (iv) changing the ownership or control of an existing licensed facility, or (v) terminating services that have been previously approved through the CON process. These laws could affect, and even restrict, our ability to expand into new markets and to expand our facilities and services in existing markets. In addition, CON laws may constrain the ability of an operator to transfer responsibility for operating a particular facility to a new operator. If we have to replace a facility operator who is excluded from participating in a federal or state health care program (as discussed below), our ability to replace the operator may be affected by a particular state’s CON laws, regulations, and applicable guidance governing changes in provider control.
Aside from CON considerations, transfers of ownership, provider control and/or operations of assisted living facilities and SNFs are subject to licensure and other regulatory approvals not required for transfers of other types of commercial operations and real estate. These regulations may also constrain or even impede our ability to replace tenant operators or
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managers of our facilities, and they may also impact our acquisition or sale of senior housing properties. In addition, if any of our licensed facilities are operated outside of its licensed authority, doing so could subject the facility to penalties, including closure of the facility. Failure to obtain licensure or loss or suspension of licensure or certification may prevent an assisted living facility or SNF from operating, or result in a suspension of Governmental Program reimbursement payment, until all licensure or certification issues have been resolved.
The significant portion of the revenues received by our facilities are from self-pay residents. The remaining revenue source is primarily Medicaid under certain federal waiver programs. As a part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“OBRA”) of 1981, Congress established a waiver program enabling some states to offer Medicaid reimbursement to assisted living providers as an alternative to institutional long-term care services. The provisions of OBRA and subsequent federal enactments permit states to seek a waiver from typical Medicaid requirements to develop cost-effective alternatives to long-term care, including Medicaid payments for assisted living, and in some instances including payment for such services through Governmental Program Payors. In 2013, approximately 4.2% of the revenues at our senior housing properties were from Medicaid reimbursement. There can be no guarantee that a state Medicaid program operating pursuant to a waiver will be able to maintain its waiver status, that funding levels will not decrease, or that eligibility requirements will not change.
Rates paid by self-pay residents are set by our senior housing properties and are determined by local market conditions and operating costs.
The level of assisted living Medicaid reimbursement varies from state to state. Thus, the revenues generated by our assisted living facilities may be adversely affected by payor mix, acuity level, changes in Medicaid eligibility and reimbursement levels. In addition, a state could lose its Medicaid waiver and no longer be permitted to utilize Medicaid dollars to reimburse for assisted living services. Such changes in revenues could in turn have a material adverse effect on our business.
Unlike assisted living operators, SNF operators typically receive most of their revenues from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, with the balance representing reimbursement payments from private insurance payor organizations (and perhaps minimal self-pay). Consequently, changes in federal or state reimbursement policies may also adversely affect our business if we acquire facilities with an SNF component.
The percentage of federal Medicaid revenue support used for long-term care varies from state to state, due in part to different ratios of elderly population and eligibility requirements. Within certain federal guidelines, states have a fairly wide range of discretion to determine eligibility and to establish a reimbursement methodology for SNF Medicaid patients. Many states reimburse SNFs pursuant to fixed daily Medicaid rates, which are applied prospectively based on patient acuity and the historical costs incurred in providing patient care. Reasonable costs typically include allowances for staffing, administrative and general expenses, property, and equipment (e.g., real estate taxes, depreciation and fair rental).
The Medicare SNF benefit covers skilled nursing care, rehabilitation services and other goods and services and the facility receives a pre-determined daily rate for each day of care, up to 100 days. These prospective payment system (“PPS”) rates are expected to cover all operating and capital costs that efficient facilities would be expected to incur in furnishing most SNF services, with certain high-cost, low-probability ancillary services paid separately.
There is a risk that some skilled nursing facilities’ costs could exceed the fixed payments under the SNF PPS, and there is also a risk that payments under the SNF PPS may be set below the costs to provide certain items and services, which could have a material adverse effect on a SNF. Further, SNFs are subject to periodic pre- and post-payment reviews, and other audits by federal and state authorities. Such a review or audit could result in recoupments, denials, or delay of payments in the future, which could have a material adverse effect on the business of a SNF.
In the ordinary course of business, our AL/MC facilities have been and are subject regularly to inspections, inquiries, investigations and audits by state agencies that oversee applicable laws and regulations. State licensure laws, and where applicable, Governmental Program certification, require license renewals and compliance surveys on an annual or bi-annual basis. The failure of our AL/MC facility managers or operators to maintain or renew any required license or regulatory approval, as well as the failure of our managers or operators to correct serious deficiencies identified in a compliance survey, could result in the suspension of operations at a facility. In addition, if an AL/MC or SNF facility, where applicable, is found to be out of compliance with Governmental Program conditions of participation, the facility’s manager or operator may be excluded from participating in those Governmental Programs. Any such occurrence may impair the ability of a manager or operator to meet its obligations. If we have to replace a manager or operator, our ability to do so may be affected by the federal and state regulations governing such changes. This may result in payment delays, an inability to find a replacement manager or operator or other difficulties. Unannounced surveys or inspections of a facility may occur annually or bi-annually, or following a regulator’s receipt of a complaint regarding the facility. From time-to-time, our facilities receive deficiency reports from state regulatory bodies resulting from such inspections or surveys. Most
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deficiencies are resolved through a plan of corrective action relating to the facility’s operations, but whether the deficiencies are cured or not, the applicable governmental authority typically has the authority to take further action against a licensee. Such an action could result in the imposition of fines, imposition of a provisional or conditional license, suspension or revocation of a license or Governmental Program participation, suspension or denial of admissions, or imposition of other sanctions, including criminal penalties. The imposition of such sanctions may adversely affect our business.
Assisted living facilities and SNFs that participate in Governmental Programs are subject to numerous federal, state, and local laws, including their implementing regulations and applicable governmental guidance, that govern the operational, financial and other arrangements that may be entered into by health care facilities and other providers. Certain of these laws prohibit direct or indirect payments of any kind for the purpose of inducing or encouraging the referral of patients for medical products or services reimbursable by Governmental Programs. Other laws require providers to furnish only medically necessary services and submit to the Governmental Program and Governmental Program Payors valid and accurate statements for each service, and other laws require providers to comply with a variety of safety, health and other requirements relating to the condition of the licensed property and the quality of care provided. Sanctions for violations of these laws may include, but are not limited to, criminal and/or civil penalties and fines, loss of licensure, immediate termination of government payments, and exclusion from any Governmental Program participation. In certain circumstances, violation of these laws (such as those prohibiting abusive and fraudulent behavior and in the case of Governmental Program Payors, also prohibiting insurance fraud) with respect to one facility may subject other facilities under common control or ownership to sanctions, including exclusion from participation in Governmental Programs. In the ordinary course of business, our facilities are regularly subjected to inquiries, investigations, and audits by the federal and state agencies that oversee these laws.
All health care providers, including but not limited to assisted living facilities and SNFs that participate in Governmental Programs, are also subject to the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a criminal statute which generally prohibits persons from offering, providing, soliciting, or receiving remuneration to induce either the referral of an individual or the furnishing of a good or service for which payment may be made under a federal Governmental Program. SNFs and certain other types of health care facilities and providers are also subject to the Federal Ethics in Patient Referral Act of 1989, commonly referred to as the “Stark Law.” The Stark Law generally prohibits the submission of claims to Medicare for payment if the claim results from a physician referral for certain designated services and the physician has a financial relationship with the health service provider that does not qualify under one of the exceptions for a financial relationship under the Stark Law. Many states have similar prohibitions on physician self-referrals and submission of claims which are applicable to all payor sources, including state Medicaid programs.
Further, health care facilities and other providers, including, but not limited to, assisted living facilities and SNFs, that receive Governmental Program payments, are subject to substantial financial and other (in some cases, criminal) penalties under the Civil Monetary Penalties Act, the Federal False Claims Act and, in particular, actions under the Federal False Claims Act’s “whistleblower” provisions. Violations of these laws can also subject persons and entities to termination from participation in Governmental Programs or result in the imposition of substantial damages, fines or other penalties. Private enforcement of health care fraud has increased due in large part to amendments to the Federal False Claims Act that encourage private individuals to sue on behalf of Governmental. These whistleblower suits brought by private individuals, known as qui tam actions, may be filed by almost anyone, including present and former patients, nurses and other employees. Significantly, if a claim is successfully adjudicated, the Federal False Claims Act provides for treble damages, in addition to penalties up to $11,000 per claim. Various state false claim act and anti-kickback laws may also apply to each facility operator, regardless of payor source (i.e. such as a private insurance payor organization or a Governmental Program), and violations of those state laws can also result in substantial fines and/or adverse licensure actions to our material detriment.
Government investigations and enforcement actions brought against the health care industry have increased dramatically over the past several years and are expected to continue. Some of these enforcement actions represent novel legal theories and expansions in the application of the Federal False Claims Act. Governmental agencies, both state and federal, are also devoting increasing attention and resources to anti-fraud initiatives against healthcare facilities and other providers. Legislative developments, including changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), have greatly expanded the definition of health care fraud and related offenses and broadened its scope to include certain private insurance payor organizations in addition to Governmental Programs. Congress also has greatly increased funding for the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to audit, investigate and prosecute suspected health care fraud. Moreover, a significant portion of the billions in health care fraud recoveries over the past several years has also been returned to government agencies to further fund their fraud investigation and prosecution efforts.
HIPAA regulations provide for communication of health information through standard electronic transaction formats and for the privacy and security of health information. In order to comply with the regulations, health care providers often must
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undertake significant operational and technical implementation efforts. Operators also may face significant financial exposure if they fail to maintain the privacy and security of medical records and other personal health information about individuals. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act, passed in February 2009, strengthened the HHS Secretary’s authority to impose civil money penalties for HIPAA violations occurring after February 18, 2009. HITECH directs the HHS Secretary to provide for periodic audits to ensure covered entities and their business associates (as that term is defined under HIPAA) comply with the applicable HITECH requirements, increasing the likelihood that a HIPAA violation will result in an enforcement action. CMS issued an interim Final Rule which conformed HIPAA enforcement regulations to the HITECH Act, increasing the maximum penalty for multiple violations of a single requirement or prohibition to $1.5 million. Higher penalties may accrue for violations of multiple requirements or prohibitions. Additionally, on January 17, 2013, CMS released a final rule, which expands the applicability of HIPAA and HITECH and strengthens the government’s ability to enforce these laws. The final rule broadens the definition of “business associate” and provides for civil money penalty liability against covered entities and business associates for the acts of their agents regardless of whether a business associate agreement is in place. Additionally, the final rule adopts certain changes to the HIPAA enforcement regulations to incorporate the increased and tiered civil monetary penalty structure provided by HITECH, and makes business associates of covered entities directly liable under HIPAA for compliance with certain of the HIPAA privacy standards and HIPAA security standards. HIPAA violations are also potentially subject to criminal penalties.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Affordable Care Act”) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which amends the Affordable Care Act (collectively, the “Health Reform Laws”) and the June 28,2012 United States Supreme Court ruling upholding the individual mandate of the Health Reform Laws and partially invalidating the expansion of Medicaid (further discussed below), may have a significant impact on Medicare, Medicaid, other Governmental Programs, and as well on private insurance payor organizations, which in turn may impact the reimbursement amounts received by our facilities which participate in Governmental Programs. In fact, the Health Reform Laws could have a substantial and material adverse effect on all parties directly or indirectly involved in the healthcare system. Together, the Health Reform Laws make the most sweeping and fundamental changes to the U.S. healthcare system undertaken since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid and contain various provisions that may directly impact our business.
These new Health Reform laws include without limitation the expansion of Medicaid eligibility, requiring most individuals to have health insurance, establishing new regulations on certain private insurance payor organizations (including Governmental Program Payors), establishing health insurance exchanges and modifying certain payment systems to encourage more cost-effective care and a reduction of inefficiencies and waste, including through new tools to address fraud and abuse. Because many of our facilities deliver healthcare services, we will be impacted by the risks associated with the healthcare industry, including the Health Reform Laws. While the expansion of health care coverage may result in some additional demand for services provided by our facilities, reimbursement levels may be lower than the costs required to provide such services, which could materially adversely affect our business. The Health Reform Laws also enhance certain fraud and abuse penalty provisions in the event of one or more violations of the federal health care regulatory laws. In addition, the Health Reform Laws have provisions that impact the health coverage that our managers or future operators provide to their respective employees. We cannot predict whether the existing Health Reform Laws, or future healthcare reform legislation or regulatory changes, will have a material impact on our business.
Additionally, certain provisions Health Care Reform Laws are designed to increase transparency and program integrity of SNFs. Specifically, SNFs will be required to institute compliance and ethics programs. Additionally, the Health Reform Laws make it easier for consumers to file complaints against nursing homes by mandating that states establish complaint websites. The provisions calling for enhanced transparency will increase the administrative burden and costs on SNF providers.
Government Regulation of Our Golf Business
Our golf facilities and operations are subject to a number of environmental laws. As a result, we may be required to incur costs to comply with the requirements of these laws, such as those relating to water resources, discharges to air, water and land, the handling and disposal of solid and hazardous waste, and the cleanup of properties affected by regulated materials. Under these and other environmental requirements, we may be required to investigate and clean up hazardous or toxic substances or chemical releases from current or formerly owned or operated facilities.
Environmental laws typically impose cleanup responsibility and liability without regard to whether the relevant entity knew of or caused the presence of the contaminants. We may use certain substances and generate certain wastes that may be deemed hazardous or toxic under such laws, and from time to time have incurred, and in the future may incur, costs related to cleaning up contamination resulting from historic uses of certain of our current or former properties or our treatment, storage or disposal of wastes at facilities owned by others. Our facilities are also subject to risks associated with mold, asbestos and other indoor building contaminants. The costs of investigation, remediation or removal of regulated materials
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may be substantial, and the presence of those substances, or the failure to remediate a property properly, may impair our ability to use, transfer or obtain financing for our property. We may be required to incur costs to remediate potential environmental hazards, mitigate environmental risks in the future, or comply with other environmental requirements.
In addition, in order to improve, upgrade or expand some of our facilities, we may be subject to environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and, for projects in California, the California Environmental Quality Act. Both acts require that a specified government agency study any proposal for potential environmental impacts and include in its analysis various alternatives. Any improvement proposal may not be approved or may be approved with modifications that substantially increase the cost or decrease the desirability of implementing the project.
We are also subject to regulation by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration and similar health and safety laws in other jurisdictions. These regulations impact a number of aspects of operations, including golf course maintenance and food handling and preparation.
The ownership and operation of our facilities subjects us to federal, state and local laws regulating zoning, land development, land use, building design and construction, and other real estate-related laws and regulations.
Our facilities and operations are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (the "ADA"). The rules implementing the ADA have been further revised by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which included additional compliance requirements for golf facilities and recreational areas. The ADA generally requires that we remove architectural barriers when readily achievable so that our facilities are made accessible to people with disabilities. Noncompliance could result in imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants. Federal legislation or regulations may further amend the ADA to impose more stringent requirements with which we would have to comply.
We are also subject to various local, state and federal laws, regulations and administrative practices affecting our business. For instance, we must comply with provisions regulating equal employment, minimum wages, and licensing requirements and regulations for the sale of food and alcoholic beverages.
Taxation
We have elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and we intend to continue to operate in such a manner. Our current and continuing qualification as a REIT depends on our ability to meet various tax law requirements, including, among others, requirements relating to the sources of our income, the nature of our assets, the composition of our stockholders, and the timing and amount of distributions that we make. A portion of the REIT distribution requirements may be able to be satisfied through stock dividends rather than cash, subject to limitations based on the value of the stock.
As a REIT, we will generally not be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on that portion of our income that is distributed to stockholders if we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income to our stockholders by prescribed dates and comply with various other requirements. We may, however, nevertheless be subject to certain state, local and foreign income and other taxes, and to U.S. federal income and excise taxes and penalties in certain situations, including taxes on our undistributed income. In addition, our stockholders may be subject to state, local or foreign taxation in various jurisdictions, including those in which they transact business or reside. The state, local and foreign tax treatment of us and our stockholders may not conform to the U.S. federal income tax treatment. Taxable income generated by our taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRS”) is subject to regular corporate income tax.
If, in any taxable year, we fail to satisfy one or more of the various tax law requirements, we could fail to qualify as a REIT. If we fail to qualify as a REIT for a particular tax year, our income in that year would be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax (including any applicable alternative minimum tax), and we may need to borrow funds or liquidate certain investments in order to pay the applicable tax, or we may not be able to pay it. Unless entitled to relief under certain statutory provisions, we would also be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification is lost. Moreover, if we fail to qualify as a REIT, we would be delisted from the NYSE.
Although we currently intend to operate in a manner designed to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that economic, market, legal, tax or other developments may cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT, or may cause our board of directors to revoke the REIT election, including certain potential developments discussed in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
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Employees
As described above under “– The Management Agreement,” we are managed by FIG LLC, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC. As a result, except in our media and golf operations which are discussed below, we have no employees. From time to time, certain of our officers may enter into written agreements with us that memorialize the provision of certain services; these agreements do not provide for the payment of any cash compensation to such officers from us. The employees of FIG LLC are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements.
Media
As of December 31, 2013, our media segment had approximately 4,992 employees, consisting of hourly and salaried employees. We employed union personnel at a number of our core publications representing approximately 717 full-time equivalent employees. As of December 31, 2013, there were 27 collective bargaining agreements covering union personnel. Most of our unionized employees work under collective bargaining agreements that expire in 2014. As described above, in February 2014, we spun-off our media segment. As a result, we no longer employ these employees.
Golf
As of December 31, 2013, there were approximately 4,450 employees at our golf facilities, consisting primarily of hourly employees. Other than a small group of golf course maintenance staff at one of our clubs, our employees are not unionized. We believe we have a good working relationship with our employees, and the golf business has not experienced interruptions as a result of labor disputes.
Corporate Governance and Internet Address; Where Readers Can Find Additional Information
We emphasize the importance of professional business conduct and ethics through our corporate governance initiatives. Our board of directors consists of a majority of independent directors; the Audit, Nominating and Corporate Governance, and Compensation committees of our board of directors are composed exclusively of independent directors. We have adopted corporate governance guidelines, and our Manager has adopted a code of business conduct and ethics, which delineate our standards for our officers and directors, and employees of our Manager.
Newcastle files annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the ‘‘Exchange Act’’), with the SEC. Readers may read and copy any document that Newcastle files at the SEC’s Public Reference Room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, U.S.A. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the Public Reference Room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public from the SEC’s internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of these reports, proxy statements and other information can also be inspected at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., 20 Broad Street, New York, New York 10005, U.S.A.
Our internet site is http://www.newcastleinv.com. We make available free of charge through our internet site our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Also posted on our website in the ‘‘Investor Relations—Corporate Governance” section are charters for the company’s Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines and our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics governing our directors, officers and employees. Information on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this report.
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Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative total return for Newcastle’s common stock (stock price change plus reinvested dividends) with the comparable return of four indices: NAREIT All REIT, Russell 2000, NAREIT Mortgage REIT and S&P 500. The graph assumes an investment of $100 in the Newcastle’s common stock and in each of the indices on December 31, 2008, and that all dividends were reinvested. The past performance of Newcastle’s common stock is not an indication of future performance. Newcastle’s historical stock price has been adjusted to take into consideration the impact of the spin-off of New Residential in May 2013.
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Before you invest in our common stock, you should carefully consider the risks involved, including the risks set forth below.
Risks Related to the Financial Markets
Market conditions could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The markets in which we operate are affected by a number of factors that are largely beyond our control but can nonetheless have a potentially significant, negative impact on us. These factors include, among other things:
• | Interest rates and credit spreads; |
• | The availability of credit, including the price, terms and conditions under which it can be obtained; |
• | The quality, pricing and availability of suitable investments and credit losses with respect to our investments; |
• | The ability to obtain accurate market-based valuations; |
• | Loan values relative to the value of the underlying real estate assets; |
• | Default rates on both residential and commercial mortgages and the amount of the related losses; |
• | Prepayment speeds; |
• | The actual and perceived state of the real estate markets, market for dividend-paying stocks and the U.S. economy and public capital markets generally; |
• | Unemployment rates; and |
• | The attractiveness of other types of investments relative to investments in real estate or REITs generally. |
Changes in these factors are difficult to predict, and a change in one factor can affect other factors. For example, during 2007, increased default rates in the subprime mortgage market played a role in causing credit spreads to widen, reducing availability of credit on favorable terms, reducing liquidity and price transparency of real estate related assets, resulting in difficulty in obtaining accurate mark-to-market valuations, and causing a negative perception of the state of the real estate markets and of REITs generally. These conditions worsened during 2008, and intensified meaningfully during the fourth quarter of 2008 as a result of the global credit and liquidity crisis, resulting in extraordinarily challenging market conditions. Since then, market conditions have generally improved, but they could deteriorate in the future for a variety of reasons.
A prolonged economic slowdown, a lengthy or severe recession, or declining real estate values could harm our operations.
We believe the risks associated with our business are more severe during periods in which an economic slowdown or recession is accompanied by declining real estate values. Declining real estate values generally reduce the level of new mortgage loan originations, since borrowers often use increases in the value of their existing properties to support the purchase of, or investment in, additional properties. Borrowers may also be less able to pay principal and interest on our loans, and the loans underlying our securities, if the economy weakens. Further, declining real estate values significantly increase the likelihood that we will incur losses on our loans and securities in the event of default because the value of our collateral may be insufficient to cover our basis. Any sustained period of increased payment delinquencies, foreclosures or losses could adversely affect our net interest income from loans and securities in our portfolio, as well as our ability to originate, sell and securitize loans, which would significantly harm our revenues, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, business prospects and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. For more information on the impact of market conditions on our business and results of operations see the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Market Considerations” in this report.
Furthermore, in our golf business, a substantial portion of our revenue is derived from discretionary or leisure spending by our members and guests, and such spending can be particularly sensitive to changes in general economic conditions. An economic downturn, whether local, regional, national or global, may lead to increases in unemployment, loss of consumer confidence and a reduction in discretionary spending, which would likely result in increased attrition (i.e., resignations of members of our private courses), a decrease in the rate of new memberships, a decrease in rounds played at our daily fee courses and reduced spending by our members and guests. As a result, our golf business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected by an economic downturn.
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We do not know what impact the Dodd-Frank Act will have on our business.
On July 21, 2010, the United States enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act” or “Act”). The Dodd-Frank Act affects almost every aspect of the U.S. financial services industry, including certain aspects of the markets in which we operate. The Act imposes new regulations on us and how we conduct our business. For example, the Act will impose additional disclosure requirements for public companies and generally require issuers or originators of asset-backed securities to retain at least five percent of the credit risk associated with the securitized assets. In addition, as a result of the Act, we were required to register as an investment adviser with the SEC, which increases our regulatory compliance costs and subjects us to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”). The Advisers Act imposes numerous obligations on registered investment advisers, including record-keeping, reporting, operational and marketing requirements, disclosure obligations and prohibitions on fraudulent activities. The SEC is authorized to institute proceedings and impose sanctions for violations of the Advisers Act, ranging from fines and censure to termination of an investment adviser’s registration. Investment advisers also are subject to certain state securities laws and regulations. Non-compliance with the Advisers Act or other federal and state securities laws and regulations could result in investigations, sanctions, disgorgement, fines and reputational damage.
The Act imposes mandatory clearing and will impose exchange-trading and margin requirements on many derivatives transactions (including formerly unregulated over-the-counter derivatives) in which we may engage. The Act also creates new categories of regulated market participants, such as “swap-dealers,” “security-based swap dealers,” “major swap participants” and “major security-based swap participants,” who will be subject to significant new capital, registration, recordkeeping, reporting, disclosure, business conduct and other regulatory requirements that will give rise to new administrative costs.
Even if certain new requirements are not directly applicable to us, they may still increase our costs of entering into transactions with the parties to whom the requirements are directly applicable. Moreover, new exchange-trading and trade reporting requirements may lead to reductions in the liquidity of derivative transactions, causing higher pricing or reduced availability of derivatives, or the reduction of arbitrage opportunities for us, which could adversely affect the performance of certain of our trading strategies. Importantly, many key aspects of the changes imposed by the Act will be established by various regulatory bodies and other groups over the next several years. As a result, we do not know how significantly the Act will affect us. It is possible that the Act could, among other things, increase our costs of operating as a public company, impose restrictions on our ability to securitize assets and reduce our investment returns on securitized assets.
We do not know what impact certain U.S. government programs intended to stabilize the economy and the financial markets will have on our business.
In recent years, the U.S. government has taken a number of steps to attempt to strengthen the financial markets and U.S. economy, including direct government investments in, and guarantees of, troubled financial institutions as well as government-sponsored programs such as the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility program (TALF) and the Public Private Investment Partnership Program (PPIP). The U.S. government continues to evaluate or implement an array of other measures and programs intended to help improve U.S. financial and market conditions. While conditions appear to have improved relative to the depths of the global financial crisis, it is not clear whether this improvement is real or will last for a significant period of time. It is not clear what impact the government’s future actions to improve financial and market conditions will have on our business. To date, we have not benefited in a direct, material way from any government programs, and we may not derive any meaningful benefit from these programs in the future. Moreover, if any of our competitors are able to benefit from one or more of these initiatives, they may gain a significant competitive advantage over us.
Legislation that permits modifications to the terms of outstanding loans has negatively affected our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The U.S. government has enacted legislation that enables government agencies to modify the terms of a significant number of residential and other loans to provide relief to borrowers without the applicable investor’s consent. These modifications allow for outstanding principal to be deferred, interest rates to be reduced, the term of the loan to be extended or other terms to be changed in ways that can permanently eliminate the cash flow (principal and interest) associated with a portion of the loan. These modifications are currently reducing, or in the future may reduce, the value of a number of our current or future investments, including investments in mortgage-backed securities. As a result, such loan modifications could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Additional legislation intended to provide relief to borrowers may be enacted and could further harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Risks Related to Our Manager
We are dependent on our manager and may not find a suitable replacement if our manager terminates the management agreement.
None of our officers or other senior employees who perform services for us is an employee of Newcastle. Instead, these individuals are employees of our manager. In addition, in our senior housing business, we rely on services provided by individuals who are employees of affiliates of our manager or companies owned by private equity funds managed by affiliates of our manager. Accordingly, we are completely reliant on our manager, which has significant discretion as to the implementation of our operating policies and strategies, to conduct our business. Furthermore, we are dependent on the services of certain key employees of our manager whose compensation is partially dependent upon the amount of incentive or management compensation earned by our manager and whose continued service is not guaranteed, and the loss of such services could adversely affect our operations. We are subject to the risk that our manager will terminate the management agreement and that we will not be able to find a suitable replacement for our manager in a timely manner, at a reasonable cost or at all. We may also be adversely affected by operational risks, including cyber security attacks, that could disrupt our manager’s financial, accounting and other data processing systems.
There are conflicts of interest in our relationship with our manager.
There are conflicts of interest inherent in our relationship with our manager, as described below. It is possible that actual, potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to investor dissatisfaction, litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. Appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and our reputation could be damaged if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with one or more potential, actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Regulatory scrutiny of, or litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, which could materially adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including causing an inability to raise additional funds, a reluctance of counterparties to do business with us, a decrease in the prices of our common and preferred securities and a resulting increased risk of litigation and regulatory enforcement actions.
Our management agreement with our manager was not negotiated at arm’s-length, and its terms, including fees payable, may not be as favorable to us as if it had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party.
Our management agreement, as amended, does not limit or restrict our manager or its affiliates from engaging in any business or managing other pooled investment vehicles that make investments that meet our investment objectives. Entities managed by our manager or its affiliates— including investment funds, private investment funds, or businesses managed by our manager—have investment objectives that overlap with our investment objectives. Certain investments appropriate for us may also be appropriate for one or more of these other investment vehicles. These entities may invest in assets that meet our investment objectives, including real estate securities, real estate related and other loans, senior housing properties and other operating real estate, and other assets. Our manager or its affiliates may have investments in and/or earn fees from such other investment vehicles that are higher than their economic interests in us and which may therefore create an incentive to allocate investments to such other investment vehicles. Our manager or its affiliates may determine, in their discretion, to make a particular investment through an investment vehicle other than us and have no obligation to offer to us the opportunity to participate in any particular investment opportunity.
Certain members of our board of directors, including our chairman, are officers of our manager. Certain employees of our manager who perform services for us also perform services for companies and funds that compete with us. These employees may serve as officers and/or directors of these other entities. The ability of our manager and its officers and employees to engage in other business activities may reduce the amount of time our manager, its officers or other employees spend managing us.
In addition, we have engaged or may engage (subject to our investment guidelines) in material transactions with our manager or an entity managed by our manager or one of its affiliates, including, but not limited to, certain financing arrangements, purchases of debt, co-investments, acquisitions of senior housing properties and other assets, that present an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest. We may invest in portfolio companies of private equity funds managed by our manager (or an affiliate thereof). We currently have debt investments in a portfolio company.
The management compensation structure that we have agreed to with our manager, as well as compensation arrangements that we may enter into with our manager in the future (in connection with new lines of business or other activities), may incentivize our manager to invest in high risk investments or to pursue separation transactions, such as the spin-off of New Residential and the spin-off of New Media. In addition to its management fee, our manager is entitled to receive incentive compensation based in part upon our achievement of targeted levels of funds from operations (as defined in the management agreement). In evaluating investments and other management strategies, the opportunity to earn incentive compensation based on funds from operations or, in the case of any future incentive compensation arrangement, other financial measures on which incentive compensation may be based, may lead our manager to place undue emphasis on the maximization of such measures at the expense of other criteria, such as preservation of capital, in order to achieve higher
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incentive compensation, particularly in light of the fact that our manager has not received any incentive compensation since 2008. Investments with higher yield potential are generally riskier or more speculative than lower-yielding investments. Our manager is eligible to receive compensation in the form of options in connection with the completion of our common equity offerings. Therefore, our manager may be incentivized to cause us to issue additional common stock, which could be dilutive to existing stockholders. In addition to the shares available for issuance under the 2012 Newcastle Nonqualified Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “Option Plan”), our board of directors may also determine to grant options to our manager that are not issued pursuant to the Option Plan, provided that the number of shares underlying any options granted to our manager in connection with any capital raising efforts will not exceed 10% of the shares sold in such offering and would be subject to NYSE rules. See also “—Risks Related to Our Business—Our agreements with New Residential may not reflect terms that would have resulted from arm’s-length negotiations among unaffiliated third parties, and we have agreed to indemnify New Residential for certain liabilities.”
It would be difficult and costly to terminate our management agreement with our manager.
It would be difficult and costly for us to terminate our management agreement with our manager. The management agreement may only be terminated annually upon (i) the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors, or by a vote of the holders of a simple majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, that there has been unsatisfactory performance by our manager that is materially detrimental to us or (ii) a determination by a simple majority of our independent directors that the management fee payable to our manager is not fair, subject to our manager’s right to prevent such a termination by accepting a mutually acceptable reduction of fees. Our manager will be provided 60 days’ prior notice of any such termination and will be paid a termination fee equal to the amount of the management fee earned by the manager during the twelve-month period preceding such termination. In addition, following any termination of the management agreement, the manager may require us to purchase its right to receive incentive compensation at a price determined as if our assets were sold for their fair market value (as determined by an appraisal, taking into account, among other things, the expected future value of the underlying investments) or otherwise we may continue to pay the incentive compensation to our manager. These provisions may increase the effective cost to us of terminating the management agreement, thereby adversely affecting our ability to terminate our manager without cause.
Our directors have approved very broad investment guidelines for our manager, and we are not required to obtain stockholder consent to change our investment strategy or asset portfolio.
Our manager is authorized to follow very broad investment guidelines, and our directors do not approve each investment decision made by our manager. Our investment guidelines are purposefully broad to enable our manager to make investments in a wide array of assets, including, but not limited to, any type of assets that can be held by a REIT. Our manager’s investment decisions are based on a variety of factors, such as changing market conditions. Investment opportunities that present unattractive risk-return profiles relative to other available investment opportunities under particular market conditions may become relatively attractive under changed market conditions, and changes in market conditions may therefore result in changes in the investments we target. We do not have policies requiring the allocation of equity to different investment categories, although our investment guidelines do restrict investments of more than 20% of our total equity (as determined on the date of such investment) in any single asset. Consequently, our manager has great latitude in determining which investments are appropriate for us, including the latitude to build concentrations in certain positions and to invest in asset classes that may differ significantly from those in our existing portfolio. Our directors periodically review our investment guidelines and our investment portfolio. However, our directors rely primarily on information provided to them by our manager, and they do not review or pre-approve each proposed investment or the related financing arrangements. A transaction entered into by our manager that contravenes the terms of our management agreement may be difficult or impossible to unwind by the time it is reviewed by our directors. In addition, we are not required to obtain stockholder consent in order to change our investment strategy and asset portfolio, which may result in making investments that are different, riskier or less profitable than our current investments.
Our investment strategy and asset portfolio have undergone meaningful changes in recent years and will continue to evolve in light of existing market conditions and investment opportunities. As part of our continuing efforts to provide value to our stockholders, we are currently considering a transaction to spin-off our senior housing business from the remainder of our investment portfolio. If the transaction resulted in our senior housing business being held in a stand-alone entity, we expect that such entity would elect and qualify to be taxed as a REIT. Our board has not formally evaluated any such transaction, and there can be no assurance as to the timing, terms, structure or completion of any such transaction. Any such transaction would be subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, could have tax implications for the holders of shares of our common stock, and could adversely affect the price of shares of our common stock. See “—Risks Related to Our Business—We are actively exploring new business opportunities and asset categories, which could entail significant risks and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.”
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Our manager will not be liable to us for any acts or omissions performed in accordance with the management agreement, including with respect to the performance of our investments.
Pursuant to our management agreement, our manager will not assume any responsibility other than to render the services called for thereunder and will not be responsible for any action of our board of directors in following or declining to follow its advice or recommendations. Under the terms of our management agreement, our manager, its officers, partners, members, managers, directors, personnel, other agents, any person controlling or controlled by our manager and any person providing sub-advisory services to our manager will not be liable to us, any subsidiary of ours, our directors, our stockholders or any subsidiary’s stockholders or partners for acts or omissions performed in accordance with and pursuant to our management agreement, except because of acts constituting bad faith, willful misconduct or gross negligence, as determined by a final non-appealable order of a court of competent jurisdiction. In addition, we have agreed to indemnify our manager, its officers, partners, members, managers, directors, personnel, other agents, any person controlling or controlled by our manager and any person providing sub-advisory services to our manager with respect to all expenses, losses, damages, liabilities, demands, charges and claims arising from acts of our manager not constituting bad faith, willful misconduct or gross negligence, pursuant to our management agreement.
Our manager’s due diligence of investment opportunities or other transactions may not identify all pertinent risks, which could materially affect our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.
Our manager intends to conduct due diligence with respect to each investment opportunity or other transaction it pursues. It is possible, however, that our manager’s due diligence processes will not uncover all relevant facts, particularly with respect to any assets we acquire from third parties. In these cases, our manager may be given limited access to information about the investment and will rely on information provided by the target of the investment. In addition, if investment opportunities are scarce, the process for selecting bidders is competitive, or the timeframe in which we are required to complete diligence is short, our ability to conduct a due diligence investigation may be limited, and we would be required to make investment decisions based upon a less thorough diligence process than would otherwise be the case. Accordingly, investments and other transactions that initially appear to be viable may prove not to be over time due to the limitations of the due diligence process or other factors.
Risks Related to Our Business
We are actively exploring new business opportunities and asset categories, which could entail significant risks and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
Consistent with our broad investment guidelines and our investment objectives, we have acquired and/or are pursuing a variety of assets that differ from the assets in our legacy portfolio, such as senior housing properties, a golf business, Excess MSRs (which we spun-off in May 2013) and media assets (which we spun-off in February 2014). Although we currently believe that we will have significant investment opportunities in the future, these opportunities may not materialize. In addition, our ability to act on new investment opportunities may be constrained by the requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and federal tax law.
New investments may not be profitable (or as profitable as we expect), may increase our exposure to certain industries (such as the golf industry), may increase our exposure to interest rate, foreign currency, real estate market or credit market fluctuations, may divert managerial attention from more profitable opportunities, and may require significant financial resources. A change in our investment strategy may also increase our use of non-match-funded financing, increase the guarantee obligations we agree to incur or increase the number of transactions we enter into with affiliates. Moreover, new investments may present risks that are difficult for us to adequately assess, given our lack of familiarity with a particular asset class or other reasons. The risks related to new asset categories or the financing risks associated with such assets could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and could impair our ability to pay dividends on both our common stock and preferred stock. See “—Risks Related to Our Manager—Our directors have approved very broad investment guidelines for our manager, and we are not required to obtain stockholder consent to change our investment strategy or asset portfolio.”
We recently acquired a golf business, which is subject to various risks that could have a negative impact on our financial results.
In December 2013, we completed a restructuring of an investment in mezzanine debt issued by NGP, the indirect parent of National Golf. National Golf owns 27 golf courses across 9 states, and leases these courses to American Golf, an affiliated operating company. American Golf also leases an additional 54 golf courses and manages 11 courses owned by third parties, respectively. As part of the restructuring, we acquired the equity of NGP and American Golf’s indirect parent, AGC, and therefore consolidated these entities as of December 31, 2013.
We have never owned or operated a golf business, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully manage this business. Our ability to attract and retain members and increase usage at our golf facilities is critical to the
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success of our golf business, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so. See “—We are actively exploring new business opportunities and asset categories, which could entail significant risks and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.” Moreover, the golf companies we have acquired, and the golf industry generally, have experienced a period of declining revenue and profitability. See “—We have invested in operating businesses in distressed industries such as golf, and such investments are subject to operational and other business risks.”
Our golf business is subject to various risks that may not apply to our other operations. For example, unusual weather patterns and extreme weather events, such as heavy rains, prolonged snow accumulations, high winds, extended heat waves and drought, could negatively affect our facilities. The maintenance of satisfactory turf grass conditions on our golf courses, which requires significant amounts of water. Our ability to irrigate a golf course could be adversely impacted by a drought or other cause of water shortage and government imposing water restrictions. We have a concentration of golf facilities in states (such as California, Georgia, and New York) that experience periods of unusually hot, cold, dry or rainy weather. Unfavorable weather patterns in such states, or any other circumstance or event that causes a prolonged disruption in the operations of our facilities in such states (including, without limitation, economic and demographic changes in these areas), could have a particularly adverse impact on our golf business.
Seasonality will affect our golf business’s results of operations. Usage of golf facilities tends to decline significantly during the first and fourth quarters, when colder temperatures and shorter days reduce the demand for outdoor activities. As a result, we expect the golf business to generate a disproportionate share of its annual revenue in the second and third quarters of each year. Accordingly, our golf business is especially vulnerable to events that may negatively impact its operations during the second and third quarters, when guest and member usage is highest.
In addition, we may be required to make significant cash outlays in connection with “initiation deposits.” Members of our private courses are generally required to pay an initiation deposit upon their acceptance as a member and, in most cases, such deposits are fully refundable after a fixed number of years (typically, 30 years) and upon the occurrence of other contract-specific conditions. While we will make a refund to any member whose initiation deposit is eligible to be refunded, we may be subject to various states' escheatment laws with respect to initiation deposits that have not been refunded to members. All states have escheatment laws and generally require companies to remit to the state cash in an amount equal to unclaimed and abandoned property after a specified period of dormancy, which is typically 3 to 5 years. Moreover, most of the states in which we conduct business hire independent agents to conduct unclaimed and abandoned property audits. We currently do not remit to states any amounts relating to initiation deposits that are eligible to be refunded to members based upon our interpretation of the applicability of such laws to initiation deposits. The analysis of the potential application of escheatment laws to our initiation deposits is complex, involving an analysis of constitutional and statutory provisions and contractual and factual issues. While we do not believe that initiation deposits must be escheated, we may be forced to remit such amounts if we are challenged and fail to prevail in our position.
If one or more of the foregoing risks were to materialize, our golf business could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
The geographic distribution of the mortgage loans underlying, and collateral securing, certain of our investments subjects us to geographic real estate market risks, which could adversely affect the performance of our investments, our results of operations and our financial condition.
The geographic distribution of the commercial and residential mortgage loans underlying, and collateral securing, certain of our investments, including our mortgage-backed securities, exposes us to risks associated with the real estate industry in general within the states and regions in which we hold significant investments. These risks include, without limitation: possible declines in the value of real estate; risks related to general and local economic conditions; possible lack of availability of mortgage funds; overbuilding; extended vacancies of properties; increases in competition, property taxes and operating expenses; changes in zoning laws; costs resulting from the clean-up of, and liability to third parties for damages resulting from, environmental problems; casualty or condemnation losses; uninsured damages from floods, earthquakes or other natural disasters; and changes in interest rates. To the extent any of the foregoing risks arise in states and regions where we hold significant investments, the performance of our investments, our results of operations and our financial condition could suffer a material adverse effect.
The coverage tests applicable to our CDO financings may have a negative impact on our operating results and cash flows.
We have retained, and may in the future retain or repurchase, subordinate classes of bonds issued by certain of our subsidiaries in our CDO financings. Each of our CDO financings contains tests that measure the amount of over collateralization and excess interest in the transaction. Failure to satisfy these tests would generally result in principal and/or interest cash flow that would otherwise be distributed to more junior classes of securities (including those held by us) to be redirected to pay down the most senior class of securities outstanding until the tests are satisfied. As a result, failure to satisfy the coverage tests could adversely affect our operating results and cash flows by temporarily or
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permanently directing funds that would otherwise come to us to holders of the senior classes of bonds. In addition, the redirected funds would be used to pay down financing thereby reducing our future returns from the affected CDO. The ratings assigned to the assets in each CDO affect the results of the tests governing whether a CDO can distribute cash to the various classes of securities in the CDO. As a result, ratings downgrades of the assets in a CDO can result in a CDO failing its tests and thereby cause us not to receive cash flows from the affected CDO.
We had no assets in our consolidated CDOs as of December 31, 2013 under negative watch for possible downgrade by at least one of the rating agencies. One or more of the rating agencies could downgrade some or all of these assets at any time, and any such downgrade could negatively affect—and possibly materially affect—our future cash flows. As of the February 2014 remittance date for CDO VI, this CDO was not in compliance with its applicable over collateralization tests and consequently, we are not receiving residual cash flows from this CDO, other than senior management fees and cash flow distributions from senior classes of bonds we own. Based upon our current calculations, we expect CDO VI to remain out of compliance for the foreseeable future. Moreover, given current market conditions, it is possible that all of our CDOs could be out of compliance with their over collateralization tests as of one or more measurement dates within the next twelve months.
Our ability to rebalance will depend upon a variety of factors, such as the availability of suitable securities, market prices, available cash, and other factors that may be beyond our control. For example, one strategy we have employed to facilitate compliance with over collateralization tests has been to repurchase notes issued by our CDOs and subsequently cancel them in accordance with the terms of the relevant governing documentation. However, there can be no assurance that the trustee of our CDOs will not impose guidelines for such cancellations that would make it more difficult or impossible to employ this strategy in the future. While there are other permissible methods to rebalance or otherwise correct CDO test failures, such methods may be extremely difficult to employ as a result of market conditions or other factors, and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in our rebalancing efforts. If the liabilities of our CDOs are downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service to certain predetermined levels, our discretion to rebalance the applicable CDO portfolios may be negatively impacted. Moreover, if we bring these coverage tests into compliance, we cannot assure you that they will not fall out of compliance in the future or that we will be able to correct any noncompliance.
Failure of the over collateralization tests can also cause a “phantom income” issue if cash that constitutes income is diverted to pay down debt instead of distributed to us. For more information regarding noncompliance with the terms of certain of our CDO financings in the near future, please see the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” in this report.
We may experience an event of default or be removed as collateral manager under one or more of our CDOs, which would negatively affect us in a number of ways.
The documentation governing our CDOs specifies certain events of default, which, if they occur, would negatively affect us. Events of default include, among other things, failure to pay interest on senior classes of securities within the CDO, breaches of covenants, representations or warranties, bankruptcy, and failure to satisfy specific over collateralization tests. If an event of default occurs under any of our CDOs, it could negatively affect our cash flows, business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, we can be removed as
manager of a CDO if certain events occur, including, among other things, the failure to satisfy specific over
collateralization tests, failure to satisfy certain “key man” requirements or an event of default occurring for
the failure to pay interest on certain senior classes of securities of the CDO. If we are removed as collateral manager, we
would no longer receive management fees from—and no longer be able to manage the assets of—the applicable CDO,
which could negatively affect our cash flows, business, results of operations and financial condition. On June 17, 2011,
CDO V failed certain over collateralization tests. The consequences of failing these tests are that an event of default has
occurred, and we may be removed as the collateral manager under the documentation governing CDO V. So long as the event of
default continues, we will not be permitted to purchase or sell any collateral in CDO V. If we are removed as the collateral
manager of CDO V, we would no longer receive the senior management fees from such CDO. As of the date of
this report, we have not been removed as collateral manager. Based upon our current calculations, we estimate that if we are
removed as the collateral manager of CDO V, the loss of senior management fees would not have a material negative impact on
our cash flows, business, results of operations or financial condition. Given current market conditions, it is possible that
events of default constituting manager termination events, or other manager termination events, may occur in other CDOs, and
we could be removed as the collateral manager of those CDOs if such events of default occur. Moreover, our cash flows,
business, results of operations and/or financial condition could be materially and negatively impacted if such events of
default occur.
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We have assumed the role of manager of numerous CDOs previously managed by a third party, and we may assume the role of manager of additional CDOs in the future. Each such engagement exposes us to a number of potential risks.
Changes within our industry may result in CDO collateral managers being replaced. In such instances, we may seek to be engaged as the collateral manager of CDOs currently managed by third parties. For example, in February 2011, one of our subsidiaries became the collateral manager of certain CDOs previously managed by C-BASS Investment Management LLC (“C-BASS”).
While being engaged as the collateral manager of such CDOs potentially enables us to grow our business, it also entails a number of risks that could harm our reputation, results of operations and financial condition. For example, we purchased the management rights with respect to the C-BASS CDOs pursuant to a bankruptcy proceeding. As a result, we were not able to conduct extensive due diligence on the CDO assets even though many classes of securities issued by the CDOs were rated as “distressed” by the rating agencies as of the most recent rating date prior to our becoming the collateral manager of the CDOs. We may willingly or unknowingly assume actual or contingent liabilities for significant expenses, we may become subject to new laws and regulations with which we are not familiar, and we may become subject to increased risk of litigation, regulatory investigation or negative publicity. For example, we determined that it would be prudent to register the subsidiary that became the collateral manager of the C-BASS CDOs as a registered investment adviser, which has increased our regulatory compliance costs. In addition to defending against litigation and complying with regulatory requirements, being engaged as collateral manager may require us to invest other resources for various other reasons, which could detract from our ability to capitalize on future opportunities. Moreover, being engaged as collateral manager may require us to integrate complex technological, accounting and management systems, which may be difficult, expensive and time-consuming and which we may not be successful in integrating into our current systems. In addition to the risk that we face if we are successful in becoming the manager of additional CDOs, we may attempt but fail to become the collateral manager of CDOs in the future, which could harm our reputation and subject us to costly litigation. Finally, if we include the financial performance of the C-BASS CDOs or other CDOs for which we become the collateral manager in our public filings, we are subject to the risk that, particularly during the period immediately after we become the collateral manager, this information may prove to be inaccurate or incomplete. The occurrence of any of these negative integration events could negatively impact our reputation with both regulators and investors, which could, in turn, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny and impair our relationships with the investment community. The occurrence of any of these problems could negatively affect our reputation, financial condition and results of operations.
Our investments may be subject to significant impairment charges, which would adversely affect our results of operations.
We are required to periodically evaluate our investments for impairment indicators. The value of an investment is impaired when our analysis indicates that, with respect to a loan, it is probable that we will not be able to collect the full amount we intended to collect from the loan or, with respect to a security, it is probable that the value of the security is other than temporarily impaired. The judgment regarding the existence of impairment indicators is based on a variety of factors depending upon the nature of the investment and the manner in which the income related to such investment was calculated for purposes of our financial statements. If we determine that an impairment has occurred, we are required to make an adjustment to the net carrying value of the investment and the amount of accrued interest recognized as income from such investment, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.
As has been widely publicized, the recent market conditions have resulted in a number of financial institutions recording an unprecedented amount of impairment charges, and we were also affected by these conditions. These challenging conditions have reduced the market trading activity for many real estate securities, resulting in less liquid markets for those securities. These lower valuations have affected us by, among other things, decreasing our net book value and contributing to our decision to record impairment charges. In addition, the amount we ultimately realize from certain of our debt investments may be dependent on our ability to execute long-term strategies involving corporate reorganizations of the applicable issuer.
The lenders under our repurchase agreements may elect not to extend financing to us, which could quickly and seriously impair our liquidity.
We have historically financed a meaningful portion of our investments not held in CDOs with repurchase agreements, which are short-term financing arrangements, and we may enter into additional repurchase agreements in the future. Under the terms of these agreements, we sell a security to a counterparty for a specified price and concurrently agree to repurchase the same security from our counterparty at a later date for a higher specified price. During the term of the repurchase agreement—generally 30 days—the counterparty makes funds available to us and holds the security as collateral. Our counterparties can also require us to post additional margin as collateral at any time during the term of the agreement. When the term of a repurchase agreement ends, we are required to repurchase the security for the specified repurchase price, with
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the difference between the sale and repurchase prices serving as the equivalent of paying interest to the counterparty in return for extending financing to us. If we want to continue to finance the security with a repurchase agreement, we ask the counterparty to extend—or “roll”—the repurchase agreement for another term.
Our counterparties are not required to roll our repurchase agreements upon the expiration of their stated terms, which subjects us to a number of risks. As we have experienced in the past and may experience in the future, counterparties electing to roll our repurchase agreements may charge higher spreads and impose more onerous terms upon us, including the requirement that we post additional margin as collateral. More significantly, if a repurchase agreement counterparty elects not to extend our financing, we would be required to pay the counterparty the full repurchase price on the maturity date and find an alternate source of financing. Alternate sources of financing may be more expensive, contain more onerous terms or simply may not be available. If we were unable to pay the repurchase price for any security financed with a repurchase agreement, the counterparty has the right to sell the underlying security being held as collateral and require us to compensate for any shortfall between the value of our obligation to the counterparty and the amount for which the collateral was sold (which may be a significantly discounted price). As of December 31, 2013, we had $617.0 million outstanding under repurchase agreement financings, including linked transactions. These repurchase agreement obligations are with six counterparties. If any of our counterparties elected not to roll these repurchase agreements, we may not be able to find a replacement counterparty in a timely manner.
Our determination of how much leverage to apply to our investments may adversely affect our return on our investments and may reduce cash available for distribution.
We leverage a meaningful portion of our portfolio through borrowings, generally through the use of credit facilities, warehouse facilities, repurchase agreements, mortgage loans on real estate, securitizations, including the issuance of CDOs, private or public offerings of debt by subsidiaries, loans to entities in which we hold, directly or indirectly, interests in pools of properties or loans, and other borrowings. Our investment policies do not limit the amount of leverage we may incur with respect to any specific asset or pool of assets, subject to an overall limit on our use of leverage to 90% (as defined in our governing documents) of the value of our assets on an aggregate basis. During the recent financial crisis, the return we were able to earn on our investments and cash available for distribution to our stockholders was significantly reduced due to changes in market conditions causing the cost of our financing to increase relative to the income that can be derived from our assets. While our liquidity position has improved, we cannot assure you that we will be able to sustain our improved liquidity position.
We may become party to agreements that require cash payments at periodic intervals. Failure to make such required payments may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are currently party to repurchase agreements that may require us to post additional margin as collateral at any time during the term of the agreement, based on the value of the collateral. We may become party to additional financing agreements that require us to make cash payments at periodic intervals or upon the occurrence of certain events. Events could occur or circumstances could arise, which we may not be able to foresee, that may cause us to be unable to make any such cash payments when they become due. Failure to make the payments required under our financing documents would give the lenders the right to require us to repay all amounts owed to them under the applicable financing immediately.
We are subject to counterparty default and concentration risks.
In the ordinary course of our business, we enter into various types of financing arrangements with counterparties. Currently, the majority of our financing arrangements take the form of repurchase agreements, securitization vehicles, loans, hedge contracts and other derivative and non-derivative contracts. The terms of these contracts are often customized and complex, and many of these arrangements occur in markets or relate to products that are not subject to regulatory oversight.
We are subject to the risk that the counterparty to one or more of these contracts defaults, either voluntarily or involuntarily, on its performance under the contract. Any such counterparty default may occur rapidly and without notice to us. Moreover, if a counterparty defaults, we may be unable to take action to cover our exposure, either because we lack the contractual ability or because market conditions make it difficult to take effective action. This inability could occur in times of market stress, which are precisely the times when defaults may be most likely to occur.
In addition, our risk-management processes may not accurately anticipate the impact of market stress or counterparty financial condition, and as a result, we may not take sufficient action to reduce our risks effectively. Although we monitor our credit exposures, default risk may arise from events or circumstances that are difficult to detect, foresee or evaluate. In addition, concerns about, or a default by, one large participant could lead to significant liquidity problems for other participants, which may in turn expose us to significant losses.
In the event of a counterparty default, particularly a default by a major investment bank, we could incur material losses rapidly, and the resulting market impact of a major counterparty default could seriously harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. In the event that one of our counterparties becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, our
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ability to eventually recover any losses suffered as a result of that counterparty’s default may be limited by the liquidity of the counterparty or the applicable legal regime governing the bankruptcy proceeding.
In addition, with respect to our CDOs, certain of our derivative counterparties are required to maintain certain ratings to avoid having to post collateral or transfer the derivative to another counterparty. If a counterparty was downgraded below these levels, it may not be able to satisfy its obligations under the derivative, which could have a material negative effect on the applicable CDO.
The consolidation and elimination of counterparties has increased our counterparty concentration risk. We are not restricted from dealing with any particular counterparty or from concentrating any or all of our transactions with a few counterparties. As of the date of this report, we had obligations to repurchase assets pursuant to repurchase agreements with six different counterparties. If any of our counterparties elected not to roll these repurchase agreements, we may not be able to find a replacement counterparty. In addition, counterparties have generally tightened their underwriting standards and increased
their margin requirements for financing, which has negatively impacted us in several ways, including, decreasing the number of counterparties willing to provide financing to us, decreasing the overall amount of leverage available to us, and increasing the costs of borrowing.
Any loss suffered by us as a result of a counterparty defaulting, refusing to conduct business with us or imposing more onerous terms on us would also negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may not match fund certain of our investments, which may increase the risks associated with these investments.
One component of our investment strategy is to use match funded financing structures for certain of our investments, which match assets and liabilities with respect to maturities and interest rates. When available, this strategy mitigates the risk of not being able to refinance an investment on favorable terms or at all. However, our manager may elect for us to bear a level of refinancing risk on a short-term or longer-term basis, as in the case of investments financed with repurchase agreements, when, based on its analysis, our manager determines that bearing such risk is advisable or unavoidable (which is generally the case with respect to the residential mortgage loans and FNMA/FHLMC securities in which we invest). In addition, we may be unable, as a result of conditions in the credit markets, to match fund our investments. For example, since the 2008 recession, non-recourse term financing not subject to margin requirements has been more difficult to obtain, which impairs our ability to match fund our investments. Moreover, we may not be able to enter into interest rate swaps. Lastly, lenders may be unwilling to finance certain types of assets because of the challenges with perfecting security interests in the underlying collateral. A decision not to, or the inability to, match fund certain investments, exposes us to additional risks.
Furthermore, we anticipate that, in most cases, for any period during which our floating rate assets are not match funded with respect to maturity, the income from such assets may respond more slowly to interest rate fluctuations than the cost of our borrowings. Because of this dynamic, interest income from such investments may rise more slowly than the related interest expense, with a consequent decrease in our net income. Interest rate fluctuations resulting in our interest expense exceeding interest income would result in operating losses for us from these investments.
Accordingly, if we do not or are unable to match fund our investments with respect to maturities and interest rates, we will be exposed to the risk that we may not be able to finance or refinance our investments on economically favorable terms or may have to liquidate assets at a loss.
We may not be able to finance our securities and loan investments on attractive terms or at all.
When we acquire securities and loans that we finance on a short-term basis with a view to securitization or other long-term financing, we bear the risk of being unable to securitize the assets or otherwise finance them on a long-term basis at attractive prices or in a timely matter, or at all. If it is not possible or economical for us to securitize or otherwise finance such assets on a long-term basis, we may be unable to pay down our short-term credit facilities, or be required to liquidate the assets at a loss in order to do so. For example, our ability to finance investments with securitizations or other long-term non-recourse financing not subject to margin requirements has been impaired since 2007 as a result of market conditions. These conditions make it highly likely that we will have to use less efficient forms of financing for any new investments, which will likely require a larger portion of our cash flows to be put toward making the initial investment and thereby reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders and funds available for operations and investments, and which will also likely require us to assume higher levels of risk when financing our investments.
As non-recourse long-term financing structures become available to us and are utilized, such structures expose us to risks that could result in losses to us.
We may use securitization and other non-recourse long-term financing for our investments to the extent available. In such structures, our lenders typically would have only a claim against the assets included in the securitizations rather than a general claim against us as an entity. Prior to any such financing, we would seek to finance our investments with relatively
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short-term facilities until a sufficient portfolio is accumulated. As a result, we would be subject to the risk that we would not be able to acquire, during the period that any short-term facilities are available, sufficient eligible assets or securities to maximize the efficiency of a securitization. We also bear the risk that we would not be able to obtain new short-term facilities or would not be able to renew any short-term facilities after they expire should we need more time to seek and acquire sufficient eligible assets or securities for a securitization. In addition, conditions in the capital markets may make the issuance of any such securitization less attractive to us even when we do have sufficient eligible assets or securities. While we would intend to retain the unrated equity component of securitizations and, therefore, still have exposure to any investments included in such securitizations, our inability to enter into such securitizations may increase our overall exposure to risks associated with direct ownership of such investments, including the risk of default. Our inability to refinance any short-term facilities would also increase our risk because borrowings thereunder would likely be recourse to us as an entity. If we are unable to obtain and renew short-term facilities or to consummate securitizations to finance our investments on a long-term basis, we may be required to seek other forms of potentially less attractive financing or to liquidate assets at an inopportune time or price.
Our investments in loans, and the loans underlying our investments in securities, are subject to delinquency, foreclosure and loss, and we may convert a debt position into an equity position in order to preserve the value of our investment, which could result in losses to us and expose us to additional risks.
Commercial mortgage loans are secured by multifamily or commercial property and are subject to risks of delinquency and foreclosure, and risks of loss. The ability of a borrower to repay a loan secured by an income-producing property typically is dependent primarily upon the successful operation of such property rather than upon the existence of independent income or assets of the borrower. If the net operating income of the property is reduced, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Net operating income of an income-producing property can be affected by, among other things: tenant mix, success of tenant businesses, property management decisions, property location and condition, competition from comparable types of properties, changes in laws that increase operating expense or limit rents that may be charged, any need to address environmental contamination at the property, the occurrence of any uninsured casualty at the property, changes in national, regional or local economic conditions and/or specific industry segments, declines in regional or local real estate values, declines in regional or local rental or occupancy rates, increases in interest rates, changes in the availability of credit on favorable terms, real estate tax rates and other operating expenses, changes in governmental rules, regulations and fiscal policies, including environmental legislation, acts of God, terrorism, social unrest and civil disturbances.
Residential mortgage loans, manufactured housing loans and subprime mortgage loans are secured by single-family residential property and are also subject to risks of delinquency and foreclosure, and risks of loss. The ability of a borrower to repay a loan secured by a residential property is dependent upon the income or assets of the borrower. A number of factors may impair borrowers’ abilities to repay their loans, including, among other things, changes in the borrower’s employment status, changes in national, regional or local economic conditions, changes in interest rates or the availability of credit on favorable terms, changes in regional or local real estate values, changes in regional or local rental rates and changes in real estate taxes.
In the event of a default under a loan held directly by us, we will bear a risk of loss of principal to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the collateral and the outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest of the loan, which could adversely affect our financial condition, earnings and cash flow from operations. Foreclosure of a loan, particularly a commercial loan, or any other restructuring activities related to an investment, can be an expensive and lengthy process, which would negatively affect our anticipated return on the foreclosed loan or such other investment. In addition, as part of any foreclosure or other restructuring, we may acquire control of a property securing a defaulted loan, which would expose us to additional risks specific to the property, including, but not limited to, the risks related to any business conducted on such property. As part of a restructuring, we may also exchange our debt for, or otherwise acquire, equity of an entity, which may involve contested negotiations and expose us to risks associated with owning the entity.
Mortgage and asset-backed securities are bonds or notes backed by loans and/or other financial assets and include commercial mortgage-backed securities, FNMA/FHLMC securities, and real estate related asset-backed securities. The ability of a borrower to repay these loans or other financial assets is dependent upon the income or assets of these borrowers. If a borrower has insufficient income or assets to repay these loans, it will default on its loan. While we intend to focus on real estate related asset-backed securities, there can be no assurance that we will not invest in other types of asset-backed securities.
Our investments in mortgage and asset-backed securities will be adversely affected by defaults under the loans underlying such securities. To the extent losses are realized on the loans underlying the securities in which we invest, we may not recover the amount invested in, or, in extreme cases, any of our investment in such securities.
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Our investments in debt securities are subject to specific risks relating to the particular issuer of the securities and to the general risks of investing in subordinated real estate securities.
Our investments in debt securities involve special risks. REITs generally are required to invest substantially in real estate or real estate-related assets and are subject to the inherent risks associated with real estate-related investments discussed in this report. Our investments in debt are subject to the risks described above with respect to mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities and similar risks, including:
• | risks of delinquency and foreclosure, and risks of loss in the event thereof; |
• | the dependence upon the successful operation of and net income from real property; |
• | risks generally incident to interests in real property; and |
• | risks that may be presented by the type and use of a particular property. |
Debt securities may be unsecured and may also be subordinated to other obligations of the issuer. We may also invest in debt securities that are rated below investment grade. As a result, investments in debt securities are also subject to risks of:
• | limited liquidity in the secondary trading market; |
• | substantial market price volatility resulting from changes in prevailing interest rates or credit spreads; |
• | subordination to the prior claims of senior lenders to the issuer; |
• | the possibility that earnings of the debt security issuer may be insufficient to meet its debt service; and |
• | the declining creditworthiness and potential for insolvency of the issuer of such debt securities. |
These risks may adversely affect the value of outstanding debt securities and the ability of the issuers thereof to repay principal and interest.
We are subject to significant competition, and we may not compete successfully.
We are subject to significant competition in seeking investments. We compete with other companies, including other REITs, insurance companies and other investors, including funds and companies affiliated with our manager. Our management agreement, as amended, does not limit or restrict our manager or its affiliates from engaging in any business or managing other pooled investment vehicles that make investments that meet our investment objectives. See “—Risks Related to Our Manager—There are conflicts of interest in our relationship with our manager.”
Some of our competitors have greater resources than we possess or have greater access to capital or various types of financing structures than are available to us, and we may not be able to compete successfully for investments or provide attractive investment returns relative to our competitors. These competitors may be willing to accept lower returns on their investments or to compromise underwriting standards and, as a result, our origination volume and profit margins could be adversely affected. Furthermore, competition for investments that are suitable for us may lead to the returns available from such investments decreasing, which may further limit our ability to generate our desired returns. We cannot assure you that other companies will not be formed that compete with us for investments or otherwise pursue investment strategies similar to ours or that we will be able to complete successfully against any such companies.
Our manager or its affiliates have and may in the future raise, acquire or manage investment vehicles that are entitled to a priority or exclusive right to invest in certain types of assets. If such an investment vehicle exists, that vehicle’s exclusivity would prevent us from investing in the assets over which the investment vehicle has exclusivity because we do not have the exclusive right to invest in any particular type of asset. This dynamic may reduce the type of assets in which we are able to invest.
Our golf facilities compete on a local and regional level with other golf facilities. Competition tends to be based on market penetration, demographic and quality factors, as opposed to price factors. The level of competition and primary competitors vary by region and are subject to change as existing facilities are renovated or new facilities are developed. An increase in the number or quality of similar facilities in a particular region could significantly increase competition, which could have a negative impact on the results of operations for our golf segment.
For competition risk related to our senior housing business, see “—Competition may affect our senior housing property managers’ and tenant operators’ ability to meet their obligations to us or make it difficult for us to identify and purchase, or develop, suitable senior housing properties to grow our investment portfolio.”
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Our returns will be adversely affected when investments held in CDOs are prepaid or sold subsequent to the reinvestment period.
Real estate securities and loans are subject to prepayment risk. In addition, we may sell, and realize gains (or losses) on, investments. To the extent such assets were held in CDOs subsequent to the end of the reinvestment period, the proceeds are fully utilized to pay down the related CDO’s debt. This causes the leverage on the CDO to decrease, thereby lowering our returns on equity.
Our investments in senior unsecured REIT securities are subject to specific risks relating to the particular REIT issuer and to the general risks of investing in subordinated real estate securities, which may result in losses to us.
Our investments in REIT securities involve special risks relating to the particular REIT issuer of the securities, including the financial condition and business outlook of the issuer. REITs generally are required to substantially invest in operating real estate or real estate related assets and are subject to the inherent risks associated with real estate related investments discussed in this report.
Our investments in REIT securities are also subject to the risks described above with respect to mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities and similar risks, including (i) risks of delinquency and foreclosure, and risks of loss in the event thereof, (ii) the dependence upon the successful operation of and net income from real property, (iii) risks generally incident to interests in real property, and (iv) risks that may be presented by the type and use of a particular commercial property.
REIT securities are generally unsecured and may also be subordinated to other obligations of the issuer. We may also invest in REIT securities that are rated below investment grade. As a result, investments in REIT securities are also subject to risks of: (i) limited liquidity in the secondary trading market, (ii) substantial market price volatility resulting from changes in prevailing interest rates, (iii) subordination to the prior claims of banks and other senior lenders to the issuer, (iv) the operation of mandatory sinking fund or call/redemption provisions during periods of declining interest rates that could cause the issuer to reinvest premature redemption proceeds in lower yielding assets, (v) the possibility that earnings of the REIT issuer may be insufficient to meet its debt service and dividend obligations and (vi) the declining creditworthiness and potential for insolvency of the issuer of such REIT securities during periods of rising interest rates and economic downturn. These risks may adversely affect the value of outstanding REIT securities and the ability of the issuers thereof to repay principal and interest or make dividend payments.
Our investments in real estate related and other loans and other direct and indirect interests in pools of real estate properties or other loans may be subject to additional risks relating to the structure and terms of these transactions, which may result in losses to us.
We have investments in real estate related and other loans and other direct and indirect interests in pools of real estate properties or loans, such as mezzanine loans and “B Note” mortgage loans. We have invested in mezzanine loans that take the form of subordinated loans secured by second mortgages on the underlying real property or other business assets or revenue streams or loans secured by a pledge of the ownership interests of the entity owning real property or other business assets or revenue streams (or the ownership interest of the parent of such entity). These types of investments involve a higher degree of risk than long-term senior lending secured by business assets or income producing real property because the investment may become unsecured as a result of foreclosure by a senior lender. In the event of a bankruptcy of the entity providing the pledge of its ownership interests as security, we may not have full recourse to the assets of such entity, or the assets of the entity may not be sufficient to repay our mezzanine loan. If a borrower defaults on our mezzanine loan or debt senior to our loan, or in the event of a borrower bankruptcy, our mezzanine loan will be satisfied only after the senior debt is repaid in full. As a result, we may not recover some or all of our investment. In addition, mezzanine loans may have higher loan to value ratios than conventional mortgage loans, resulting in less equity in the property and increasing the risk of loss of principal.
We also have investments in B Notes—mortgage loans that while secured by a first mortgage on a single large commercial property or group of related properties are subordinated to an “A Note” secured by the same first mortgage on the same collateral. As a result, if an issuer defaults, there may not be sufficient funds remaining for B Note holders. B Notes reflect similar credit risks to comparably rated commercial mortgage-backed securities. In addition, we invest, directly or indirectly, in pools of real estate properties or loans. Since each transaction is privately negotiated, these investments can vary in their structural characteristics and risks. For example, the rights of holders of B Notes to control the process following a borrower default may vary from transaction to transaction, while investments in pools of real estate properties or loans may be subject to varying contractual arrangements with third party co-investors in such pools. Further, B Notes typically are secured by a single property, and so reflect the risks associated with significant concentration. These investments also are less liquid than commercial mortgage-backed securities.
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Investment in non-investment grade loans may involve increased risk of loss.
We have acquired and may continue to acquire in the future certain loans that do not conform to conventional loan criteria applied by traditional lenders and are not rated or are rated as non-investment grade (for example, for investments rated by Moody’s Investors Service, ratings lower than Baa3, and for Standard & Poor’s, BBB- or below). The non-investment grade ratings for these loans typically result from the overall leverage of the loans, the lack of a strong operating history for the properties or businesses underlying the loans, the borrowers’ credit history, the properties’ underlying cash flow or other factors. As a result, these loans have a higher risk of default and loss than conventional loans. Any loss we incur may reduce distributions to our stockholders. There are no limits on the percentage of unrated or non-investment grade assets we may hold in our portfolio.
Insurance on real estate in which we have interests (including the real estate serving as collateral for our real estate securities and loans) may not cover all losses.
There are certain types of losses, generally of a catastrophic nature, such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, terrorism or acts of war, that may be uninsurable or not economically insurable. Inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations, and other factors, including terrorism or acts of war, also might make the insurance proceeds insufficient to repair or replace a property if it is damaged or destroyed. Under such circumstances, the insurance proceeds received might not be adequate to restore our economic position with respect to the affected real property. As a result of the events of September 11, 2001, insurance companies have limited or excluded coverage for acts of terrorism in insurance policies. As a result, we may suffer losses from acts of terrorism that are not covered by insurance.
In addition, the mortgage loans that are secured by certain of the properties in which we have interests contain customary covenants, including covenants that require property insurance to be maintained in an amount equal to the replacement cost of the properties. There can be no assurance that the lenders under these mortgage loans will not take the position that exclusions from coverage for losses due to terrorist acts is a breach of a covenant which, if uncured, could allow the lenders to declare an event of default and accelerate repayment of the mortgage loans.
Many of our investments are illiquid, and this lack of liquidity could significantly impede our ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic and other conditions or to realize the value at which such investments are carried if we are required to dispose of them.
The real estate properties that we own and operate and our other direct and indirect investments in real estate, real estate related and other assets are generally illiquid. In addition, the real estate securities that we purchase in connection with privately negotiated transactions are not registered under the relevant securities laws, resulting in a prohibition against their transfer, sale, pledge or other disposition except in a transaction that is exempt from the registration requirements of, or is otherwise in accordance with, those laws. In addition, there are no established trading markets for a majority of our investments. As a result, our ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic and other conditions may be limited.
Our securities have historically been valued based primarily on third party quotations, which are subject to significant variability based on the liquidity and price transparency created by market trading activity. In the past, dislocation in the trading markets has reduced the trading for many real estate securities, resulting in less transparent prices for those securities. During such times, it is more difficult for us to sell many of our assets because, if we were to sell such assets, we would likely not have access to readily ascertainable market prices when establishing valuations of them. If we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our illiquid investments quickly, we may realize significantly less than the amount at which we have previously valued these investments.
Interest rate fluctuations and shifts in the yield curve may cause losses.
Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations and other factors beyond our control. Our primary interest rate exposures relate to our real estate securities, loans, floating rate debt obligations and interest rate swaps. Changes in interest rates, including changes in expected interest rates or “yield curves,” affect our business in a number of ways. Changes in the general level of interest rates can affect our net interest income, which is the difference between the interest income earned on our interest-earning assets and the interest expense incurred in connection with our interest-bearing liabilities and hedges. Changes in the level of interest rates also can affect, among other things, our ability to acquire real estate securities and loans at attractive prices, the value of our real estate securities, loans and derivatives and our ability to realize gains from the sale of such assets. In the past, we have utilized hedging transactions to protect our positions from interest rate fluctuations, but as a result of current market conditions we face significant obstacles to entering into new hedging transactions. As a result, we may not be able to protect new investments from interest rate fluctuations to the same degree as in the past, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
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In the event of a significant rising interest rate environment and/or economic downturn, loan and collateral defaults may increase and result in credit losses that would adversely affect our liquidity and operating results. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political conditions, and other factors beyond our control.
Our ability to execute our business strategy, particularly the growth of our investment portfolio, depends to a significant degree on our ability to obtain additional capital. Our financing strategy is dependent on our ability to place the match funded debt we use to finance our investments at rates that provide a positive net spread. If spreads for such liabilities widen or if demand for such liabilities ceases to exist, then our ability to execute future financings will be severely restricted.
Interest rate changes may also impact our net book value as our real estate securities, real estate related and other loans and hedge derivatives are marked to market each quarter. Debt obligations are not marked to market. Generally, as interest rates increase, the value of our fixed rate securities decreases, which will decrease the book value of our equity.
Furthermore, shifts in the U.S. Treasury yield curve reflecting an increase in interest rates would also affect the yield required on our real estate securities and therefore their value. For example, increasing interest rates would reduce the value of the fixed rate assets we hold at the time because the higher yields required by increased interest rates result in lower market prices on existing fixed rate assets in order to adjust the yield upward to meet the market, and vice versa. This would have similar effects on our real estate securities portfolio and our financial position and operations to a change in interest rates generally.
We have invested in RMBS collateralized by subprime mortgage loans, which are subject to increased risks.
We have invested in RMBS backed by collateral pools of subprime residential mortgage loans. “Subprime” mortgage loans refer to mortgage loans that have been originated using underwriting standards that are less restrictive than the underwriting requirements used as standards for other first and junior lien mortgage loan purchase programs, such as the programs of FNMA and FHLMC. These lower standards include mortgage loans made to borrowers having imperfect or impaired credit histories (including outstanding judgments or prior bankruptcies), mortgage loans where the amount of the loan at origination is 80% or more of the value of the mortgage property, mortgage loans made to borrowers with low credit scores, mortgage loans made to borrowers who have other debt that represents a large portion of their income and mortgage loans made to borrowers whose income is not required to be disclosed or verified. Due to economic conditions, including increased interest rates and lower home prices, as well as aggressive lending practices, subprime mortgage loans have in recent periods experienced increased rates of delinquency, foreclosure, bankruptcy and loss, and they are likely to continue to experience delinquency, foreclosure, bankruptcy and loss rates that are higher, and that may be substantially higher, than those experienced by mortgage loans underwritten in a more traditional manner. Thus, because of the higher delinquency rates and losses associated with subprime mortgage loans, the performance of RMBS backed by subprime mortgage loans in which we have invested could be correspondingly adversely affected, which could adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition and business.
The value of our RMBS may be adversely affected by deficiencies in servicing and foreclosure practices, as well as related delays in the foreclosure process.
Allegations of deficiencies in servicing and foreclosure practices among several large sellers and servicers of residential mortgage loans that surfaced in 2010 raised various concerns relating to such practices, including the improper execution of the documents used in foreclosure proceedings (so-called “robo signing”), inadequate documentation of transfers and registrations of mortgages and assignments of loans, improper modifications of loans, violations of representations and warranties at the date of securitization and failure to enforce put-backs.
As a result of alleged deficiencies in foreclosure practices, a number of servicers temporarily suspended foreclosure proceedings beginning in the second half of 2010 while they evaluated their foreclosure practices. In late 2010, a group of state attorneys general and state bank and mortgage regulators representing nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, began an investigation into foreclosure practices of banks and servicers. The investigations and lawsuits by several state attorneys general led to a settlement agreement in early February 2012 with five of the nation’s largest banks, pursuant to which the banks agreed to pay more than $25 billion to settle claims relating to improper foreclosure practices. The settlement does not prohibit the states, the federal government, individuals or investors in RMBS from pursuing additional actions against the banks and servicers in the future.
The integrity of the servicing and foreclosure processes are critical to the value of the mortgage loan portfolios underlying our RMBS, and our financial results could be adversely affected by deficiencies in the conduct of those processes. For example, delays in the foreclosure process that have resulted from investigations into improper servicing practices may adversely affect the values of, and our losses on, our non-Agency RMBS. Foreclosure delays may also increase the administrative expenses of the securitization trusts for the non-Agency RMBS, thereby reducing the amount of funds
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available for distribution to investors. In addition, the subordinate classes of securities issued by the securitization trusts may continue to receive interest payments while the defaulted loans remain in the trusts, rather than absorbing the default losses. This may reduce the amount of credit support available for the senior classes we own, thus possibly adversely affecting these securities. Additionally, a substantial portion of the $25 billion settlement is intended to be a “credit” to the banks and servicers for principal write-downs or reductions they may make to certain mortgages underlying RMBS. There remains considerable uncertainty as to how these principal reductions will work and what effect they will have on the value of related RMBS; as a result, there can be no assurance that any such principal reductions will not adversely affect the value of certain of our RMBS.
While we believe that the sellers and servicers would be in violation of their servicing contracts to the extent that they have improperly serviced mortgage loans or improperly executed documents in foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings, or do not comply with the terms of servicing contracts when deciding whether to apply principal reductions, it may be difficult, expensive, and time consuming for us to enforce our contractual rights. We continue to monitor and review the issues raised by the alleged improper foreclosure practices. While we cannot predict exactly how the servicing and foreclosure matters or the resulting litigation or settlement agreements will affect our business, there can be no assurance that these matters will not have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
We invest in senior housing properties, which are subject to various risks that could have a negative impact on our financial results.
Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, we intend to continue to purchase senior housing properties and engage third parties (including affiliates of our Manager) to manage the operations or lease the properties. The income we recognize from any senior housing properties that we engage third parties to manage would be dependent on the ability of the property manager(s) of such facilities to successfully manage these properties. The property manager(s) would compete with other companies on a number of different levels, including: the quality of care provided, reputation, the physical appearance of a facility, price and range of services offered, alternatives for healthcare delivery, the supply of competing properties, physicians, staff, referral sources, location, the size and demographics of the population in surrounding areas, and the financial condition of tenants and managers. A property manager’s inability to successfully compete with other companies on one or more of the foregoing levels could adversely affect the senior housing property and materially reduce the income we would receive from an investment in such facility.
We may continue to purchase senior housing properties and engage the sellers of such facilities or other third parties under a triple net lease in which the rental payments are fixed with scheduled periodic increases that are either fixed or based on the Consumer Price Index with caps. The properties we currently lease to Holiday account for a meaningful portion of our total revenues and net operating income from our senior housing properties, and because our leases with Holiday are triple net leases, we depend on Holiday to pay all operating costs, including repairs, maintenance, capital expenditures, utilities, taxes, insurance, and payroll expense of property-level employees in connection with the leased properties. We cannot assure you that Holiday will have sufficient assets, income and access to financing to enable them to satisfy its obligations to us, and any failure, inability or unwillingness by Holiday to do so could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, although a subsidiary of Holiday provided a lease guaranty in connection with the leases, and a subsidiary of Holiday agreed to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities arising in connection with their business, we cannot assure you that the guaranty will be sufficient to satisfy Holiday’s obligations to us, and we cannot assure you that Holiday will have sufficient assets, income and access to financing to enable it to satisfy its obligations to us. Our reliance on Holiday for a meaningful portion of our total revenues and net operating income from our senior housing investments creates credit risk. If Holiday becomes unable or unwilling to satisfy its obligations to us, our financial condition and results of operations could be weakened.
As a result of any new investment in senior housing properties, we may be required to consolidate additional entities, and, therefore, to document and test effective internal controls over the financial reporting of these entities in accordance with Section 404, which we may not be able to do. Even if we are able to do so, there could be significant costs and delays, particularly if these entities were not subject to Section 404 prior to being acquired by us. Under certain circumstances, the SEC permits newly acquired businesses to be excluded for a limited period of time from management’s annual assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls. We temporarily excluded the senior housing properties acquired in 2013 from management’s annual assessment of the effectiveness of internal control in 2013 pursuant to a one-year deferral permissible under PCAOB and SEC guidelines and may avail ourselves of this flexibility with respect to any newly acquired business. If we are not able to maintain or document effective internal control over financial reporting, our independent registered public accounting firm would not be able to certify as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the required dates, which could subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions or investigations by the SEC, or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements, which could lead to a decline in our share price, impair our ability to raise capital and other adverse consequences.
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In addition, private, federal and state payment programs as well as the effect of laws and regulations may also have a significant impact on the profitability of such facilities. The failure of a manager to comply with any of these laws could result in the loss of accreditation, denial of reimbursement, imposition of fines, suspension or decertification from federal and state healthcare programs, loss of license or closure of the facility. These events, among others, could result in the loss of part or all of any investment we make in a senior housing property.
Furthermore, the ability to successfully manage a senior housing property depends on occupancy levels. A material decline in occupancy levels and revenues may make it more difficult for the manager of any senior housing property in which we invest to successfully generate income for us. Alternatively, to avoid a decline in occupancy, a manager may reduce the rates charged, which would also reduce our revenues and therefore negatively impact the ability to generate income.
Our ability to acquire senior housing properties will be subject to the applicable REIT qualification tests, and we may have to hold certain interests through taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRS”), which may negatively impact our returns from these assets.
We are not permitted to operate our AL/MC properties, and we are dependent on the property managers of our AL/MC properties and on tenants for our triple net lease properties.
Because federal income tax laws generally restrict REITs and their pass-through subsidiaries from operating healthcare properties, we do not manage our AL/MC senior housing properties. Instead, AL/MC investments are structured to be compliant with the REIT Investment Diversification Empowerment Act of 2007 (“RIDEA”).
The RIDEA structure permits a REIT to lease facilities to a subsidiary that qualifies as a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”) if the TRS hires an eligible independent contractor (“EIK”) to manage the property. Under this structure, the REIT leases health care properties to the TRS and receives rent while the TRS earns income from the properties’ operations, and pays a management fee to the EIK and rent to the REIT property owner.
Accordingly, our TRS has retained Blue Harbor and Holiday to manage facilities that are leased to it by us. Although we have various rights as the tenant under our management agreements, we rely upon our property managers’ personnel, expertise, technical resources and information systems, proprietary information, good faith and judgment to manage our senior housing operations efficiently and effectively. We also rely on our property managers to provide accurate property-level financial results for our properties in a timely manner and to otherwise operate our facilities in compliance with the terms of our management agreements and all applicable laws and regulations. We rely on Holiday and Blue Harbor to attract and retain skilled management personnel and property level personnel who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of our facilities. Increases in labor costs and other property operating expenses, or significant changes in Holiday’s or Blue Harbor’s ability to manage our facilities efficiently and effectively could adversely affect the income we receive from our facilities and have a material adverse effect on us. As managers, our property managers do not lease our facilities, and, therefore, we are not directly exposed to their credit risk in the same manner or to the same extent as our triple net tenants. However, any adverse developments in Holiday’s or Blue Harbor’s business and affairs or financial condition could impair its ability to manage our properties efficiently and effectively and could have a material adverse effect on us.
While we monitor our property managers’ and tenants’ performance, we have limited recourse under our management agreements if we believe that the property managers are not performing adequately. In addition, our property managers may manage, own or invest in, properties that compete with our properties, which may result in conflicts of interest. As a result, our property managers may make decisions regarding competing properties that are not in our best interests.
The triple net lease structure also provides us with a REIT-eligible structure for owning health care facilities. The triple net lease structure permits a REIT to lease facilities to a third-party operator and collect rent from the operator. Unlike the RIDEA structure, the triple net lease structure creates credit risk from the tenant.
Due to the dependency of our revenues on private pay sources, events which adversely affect the ability of seniors to afford the monthly resident fees (including downturns in the economy, housing market, consumer confidence or the equity markets and unemployment among resident family members) could cause our occupancy rates, revenues and results of operations to decline.
Costs to seniors associated with independent and certain assisted living services are not generally reimbursable under government reimbursement programs such as Medicaid. Economic downturns, softness in the housing market, higher levels of unemployment among resident family members, lower levels of consumer confidence, changes to social security benefits, stock market volatility, interest rate volatility, adverse changes to fixed income arrangements and/or changes in demographics could adversely affect the ability of seniors to afford our resident fees. If we are unable to retain and/or
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attract seniors with sufficient income, assets or other resources required to pay the fees associated with independent and assisted living services and other service offerings, our occupancy rates, revenues and results of operations could decline.
Increases in labor costs at our senior housing properties may have a material adverse effect on us.
Wages and employee benefits represent a significant part of the expenses of any senior housing property. In connection with our RIDEA, AL/MC properties and in connection with our IL-only properties that are managed by our property managers, we rely on our property managers to attract and retain skilled management personnel and property level personnel who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of our facilities.
The market for qualified nurses and healthcare professionals is highly competitive. Periodic and geographic area shortages of nurses or other trained personnel may require our property managers to increase the wages and benefits offered to its employees in order to attract and retain these personnel or to hire more expensive temporary personnel. Also, our property managers may have to compete with numerous other employers for lesser skilled workers.
As we acquire additional facilities, we may be required to pay increased compensation or offer other incentives to retain key personnel and other employees. Employee benefits costs, including employee health insurance and workers’ compensation insurance costs, have materially increased in recent years. Increasing employee health and workers’ compensation insurance costs may materially and negatively affect our earnings at our senior housing properties. We cannot assure you that labor costs at our senior housing properties will not increase or that any increase will be matched by corresponding increases in rates charged to residents. Any significant failure by our property managers to control labor costs or to pass on any such increased labor costs to residents through rate increases could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if the Master Tenants of the Holiday Portfolio fail to attract and retain qualified personnel, their ability to satisfy their obligations to us could be impaired.
Termination of assisted living resident agreements and resident attrition could adversely affect our revenues and earnings at our senior housing properties.
State regulations governing assisted living facilities typically require a written resident agreement with each resident. Most of these regulations also require that each resident have the right to terminate these assisted living resident agreements for any reason on reasonable notice. Consistent with these regulations, most resident agreements at our senior housing properties allow residents to terminate their agreements on 30 days’ notice. Thus, our property managers may be unable to contract with assisted living residents to stay for longer periods of time, unlike typical apartment leasing arrangements that involve lease agreements with terms of up to a year or longer. If a large number of residents elected to terminate their resident agreements at or around the same time, our revenues and earnings from our assisted living facilities could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, the advanced ages of the residents at our senior housing properties makes the resident turnover rate in these facilities difficult to predict.
Our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) may be faced with significant potential litigation and rising insurance costs that not only affect their ability to obtain and maintain adequate liability and other insurance, but also may affect their ability to pay their lease payments and fulfill their insurance and indemnification obligations to us.
In some states, advocacy groups monitor the quality of care at assisted and independent living communities, and these groups have brought litigation against operators. Also, in several instances, private litigation by assisted and independent living community residents or their families have succeeded in winning very large damage awards for alleged neglect. The effect of this litigation and potential litigation has been to materially increase the costs of monitoring and reporting quality of care compliance. The cost of liability and medical malpractice insurance has increased and may continue to increase so long as the present litigation environment in many parts of the United States continues. This may affect the ability of some of our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) to obtain and maintain adequate liability and other insurance and manage their related risk exposures. In addition to causing some of our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) to be unable to fulfill their insurance, indemnification and other obligations to us under their property management agreements or leases and thereby potentially exposing us to those risks, these litigation risks and costs could cause some of our property managers and future tenants to become unable to pay rents due to us. Such nonpayment could potentially affect our ability to meet future monetary obligations under our financing arrangements.
The failure of our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) to comply with laws relating to the operation of our property managers’ and tenants’ (including the Master Tenants’) facilities may have a material adverse effect on the ability of our tenants (including the Master Tenants) to pay us rent, the profitability of our managed facilities and the values of our properties.
We and our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) are subject to or impacted by extensive, frequently changing federal, state and local laws and regulations. Some of these laws and regulations include: state and
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local licensure laws; laws protecting consumers against deceptive practices; laws relating to the operation of our properties and how our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) conduct their operations, such as fire, health and safety laws and privacy laws; federal and state laws affecting communities that participate in Medicaid; the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state and local laws; and safety and health standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We and our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) expend significant resources to maintain compliance with these laws and regulations, and responding to any allegations of noncompliance also results in the expenditure of significant resources. If we or our property managers or tenants (including the Master Tenants) fail to comply with any applicable legal requirements, or are unable to cure deficiencies, certain sanctions may be imposed and, if imposed, may adversely affect our tenants’ (including the Master Tenants’) ability to pay their rent, the profitability of affected facilities managed by our property managers and the values of our properties. Further, changes in the regulatory framework could have a material adverse effect on the ability of our tenants (including the Master Tenants) to pay us rent (and any such nonpayment could potentially affect our ability to meet future monetary obligations under our financing arrangements), the profitability of our facilities managed by our property managers and the values of our properties.
We and our property managers and our tenants (including the Master Tenants) are required to comply with federal and state laws governing the privacy, security, use and disclosure of individually identifiable information, including financial information and protected health information. Under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), we and our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) are required to comply with the HIPAA privacy rule, security standards, and standards for electronic healthcare transactions. State laws also govern the privacy of individual health information, and these laws are, in some jurisdictions, more stringent than HIPAA. Other federal and state laws govern the privacy of individually identifiable information. If we or our property managers or tenants (including the Master Tenants) fail to comply with applicable federal or state standards, we or they could be subject to civil sanctions and criminal penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our properties and their operations are subject to extensive regulations.
Various governmental authorities mandate certain physical characteristics of senior housing properties. Changes in laws and regulations relating to these matters may require significant expenditures. Our property management agreements generally require our managers to maintain our properties in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and we expend resources to monitor their compliance. We anticipate that any leases we sign in the future will also require our future tenants to maintain our properties in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The the Master Tenants master leases include such requirements. However, our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) may neglect maintenance of our properties if they suffer financial distress. We may agree to fund capital expenditures in return for rent increases or other concessions. Our available financial resources or those of our property managers and tenants (including the Master Tenants) may be insufficient to fund the expenditures required to operate our properties in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. If we fund these expenditures, our tenants’ (including the Master Tenants’) financial resources may be insufficient to satisfy their increased rental payments to us or other incremental obligations.
Licensing and Medicaid laws may also require some or all of our senior housing property managers and tenants to comply with extensive standards governing their operations. In addition, certain laws prohibit fraud by senior housing operators and other healthcare communities, including civil and criminal laws that prohibit false claims in, Medicaid and other programs and that regulate patient referrals. In recent years, the federal and state governments have devoted increasing resources to monitoring the quality of care at senior housing communities and to anti-fraud investigations in healthcare operations generally. When violations of applicable laws are identified, federal or state authorities may impose civil monetary damages, treble damages, repayment requirements and criminal sanctions. Healthcare communities may also be subject to license revocation or conditional licensure and exclusion from Medicaid participation or conditional participation. When quality of care deficiencies or improper billing are identified, various laws may authorize civil money penalties or fines; the suspension, modification, or revocation of a license or Medicaid participation; the suspension or denial of admissions of residents; the denial of payments in full or in part; the implementation of state oversight, temporary management or receivership; and the imposition of criminal penalties. We, our property managers and our future tenants (including the Master Tenants) may receive notices of potential sanctions from time to time, and governmental authorities may impose such sanctions from time to time on our facilities. If our property managers and future tenants (including the Master Tenants) are unable to cure deficiencies which have been identified or which are identified in the future, these sanctions may be imposed, and if imposed, may adversely affect our future tenants’ (including the Master Tenants’) ability to pay rents to us (and any such nonpayment could potentially affect our ability to meet future monetary obligations under our financing arrangements), and our ability to identify substitute property managers or tenants. Federal and state requirements for change in control of healthcare communities, including, as applicable, approvals of the proposed operator for licensure, certificate of need and Medicaid participation, may also limit or delay our ability to find substitute tenants or property managers. If any of our property managers or future tenants (including the Master Tenants) becomes unable to operate our properties, or if any of our future tenants becomes unable to pay its rent because it has violated government regulations or
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payment laws, we may experience difficulty in finding a substitute tenant or property manager or selling the affected property for a fair and commercially reasonable price, and the value of an affected property may decline materially.
Our golf business is also subject to extensive regulations, including, without limitation, labor, health and safety, environmental, zoning and land-use laws. For more information, see “Business—Government Regulation of Our Golf Business.”
The Master Tenants may be unable to cover their lease obligations to us, and there can be no assurance that the Guarantor will be able to cover any shortfall.
Prior to our acquisition of the Holiday Portfolio, Holiday did not have a lease expense to cover like the lease expense that is payable to us under the master leases. If our master leases had been in effect for the year ended December 31, 2013, EBITDAR less capital expenditures from the Holiday Portfolio, excluding any contribution from the Guarantor, would have resulted in a lease coverage ratio (i.e., the ratio of (i) EBITDAR less capital expenditures to (ii) lease expense) of 1.1x.
If either of the Master Tenants is not able to satisfy its obligations to us, we would be entitled, among other remedies, to use any funds of Holiday then held by us and to seek recourse against the Guarantor under its guaranty of the applicable master lease. Such guaranty includes certain financial covenants of the Guarantor, including maintaining a minimum net worth of $150 million (book value plus accumulated depreciation, and certain other adjustments as defined in the guaranty), a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.10 and a maximum leverage ratio of 10 to 1. The Guarantor has guaranteed significant lease obligations of various other subsidiaries in addition to its guaranty of the Master Tenants’ obligations. In the future, the Guarantor may execute additional guaranties of the lease obligations of its subsidiaries without limitation, though subject to covenants. As of the closing of the Holiday Acquisition, the Guarantor had a net worth (book value plus accumulated depreciation and certain other adjustments) of approximately $420 million (which amount includes a $43.5 million security deposit posted by the Master Tenants). There can be no assurance that the Guarantor will have the resources necessary to satisfy its obligations to us under its guaranty of the master leases in the event that either of the Master Tenants fails to satisfy its lease obligations to us in full, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Our acquisitions of senior housing properties may not be successful.
We intend to acquire additional senior housing properties. We cannot assure that we will be able to consummate attractive acquisition opportunities or that acquisitions we make will be successful. We might encounter unanticipated difficulties and expenditures relating to any acquired properties. Newly acquired properties might require significant management attention. We might never realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions. Notwithstanding pre-acquisition due diligence, we do not believe that it is possible to fully understand a property before it is owned and operated for an extended period of time. For example, we could acquire a property that contains undisclosed defects in design or construction. In addition, after our acquisition of a property, the market in which the acquired property is located may experience unexpected changes that adversely affect the property’s value. The occupancy of properties that we acquire may decline during our ownership, and rents or returns that are in effect or expected at the time a property is acquired may decline thereafter. Also, our property operating costs for acquisitions may be higher than we anticipate and acquisitions of properties may not yield the returns we expect and, if financed using debt or new equity issuances, may result in stockholder dilution. For these reasons, among others, any acquisitions of additional properties may not succeed or may cause us to experience losses.
Competition may affect our senior housing property managers’ and tenant operators’ ability to meet their obligations to us or make it difficult for us to identify and purchase, or develop, suitable senior housing properties to grow our investment portfolio.
We face significant competition from other REITs, investment companies, private equity and hedge fund investors, sovereign funds, healthcare operators, lenders, developers and other institutional investors, some of whom may have greater resources and lower costs of capital than we do. Increased competition makes it more challenging for us to identify and successfully capitalize on opportunities that meet our business goals and could improve the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell, thereby impeding our investment, acquisition and development activities. If we cannot identify and purchase a sufficient quantity of senior housing properties at favorable prices or if we are unable to finance acquisitions on commercially favorable terms, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The healthcare industry is also highly competitive, and our operators, tenants and managers may encounter increased competition for residents and patients, including with respect to the scope and quality of care and services provided, reputation and financial condition, physical appearance of the properties, price and location. The operations of our AL/MC, RIDEA properties and our IL-only owned and managed properties depend on the competiveness and financial viability of the facilities. If our managers are unable to successfully compete with other operators and managers by maintaining profitable occupancy and rate levels, their ability to generate income for us may be materially adversely
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affected. The operations of our triple net lease tenants also depend upon their ability to successfully compete with other operators and managers. If our tenants are unable to successfully compete, their ability to fulfill their obligations to us, including the ability to make rent payments to us, may be materially adversely affected. We cannot assure you that future changes in government regulation will not adversely affect the healthcare industry, including our seniors housing and healthcare operations, tenants and operators, nor can we be certain that our tenants, operators and managers will achieve and maintain occupancy and rate levels that will enable them to satisfy their obligations to us. Any adverse changes in the regulation of the healthcare industry or the competitiveness of our tenants, operators and managers could have a more pronounced effect on us than if we had investments outside the seniors housing and healthcare industries.
Our tenant operators (including the Master Tenants) may become subject to bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings.
Our tenant operators (including the Master Tenants) may not be able to meet the rent or other payments due us, which may result in a tenant bankruptcy or insolvency, or that a tenant might become subject to bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings for other reasons. Although our operating lease agreements provide us with the right to evict tenant operators, demand immediate payment of rent and exercise other remedies, the bankruptcy and insolvency laws afford certain rights to a party that has filed for bankruptcy or reorganization. A tenant in bankruptcy or subject to insolvency proceedings may be able to limit or delay our ability to collect unpaid rent and to exercise other rights and remedies.
We may be required to fund certain expenses (e.g., real estate taxes and maintenance) to preserve the value of an investment property, avoid the imposition of liens on a property and/or transition a property to a new tenant. If we cannot transition a leased property to a new tenant, we may take possession of that property, which may expose us to certain successor liabilities. Should such events occur, our revenue and operating cash flow may be adversely affected.
Transfers of health care facilities may require regulatory approvals and these facilities may not have efficient alternative uses.
Transfers of health care facilities to successor operators frequently are subject to regulatory approvals or notifications, including, but not limited to, change of ownership approvals under certificate of need (“CON”) or determination of need laws, state licensure laws and Medicaid provider arrangements, that are not required for transfers of other types of real estate. The replacement of a health care facility operator could be delayed by the approval process of any federal, state or local agency necessary for the transfer of the facility or the replacement of the operator licensed to manage the facility. Alternatively, given the specialized nature of our facilities, we may be required to spend substantial time and funds to adapt these properties to other uses. If we are unable to timely transfer properties to successor operators or find efficient alternative uses, our revenue and operations may be adversely affected.
Certain of our properties may require a license or registration to operate.
Failure to obtain a license or registration or loss of a required license or registration would prevent a facility from operating in the manner intended by the property managers or tenant operators. These events could materially adversely affect our property managers’ ability to generate income for us or our tenant operators’ ability to make rent payments to us. State and local laws also may regulate the expansion, including the addition of new beds or services or acquisition of medical equipment, and the construction or renovation of health care facilities, by requiring a CON or other similar approval from a state agency.
The impact of the comprehensive healthcare regulation enacted in 2010 on us and our property managers and tenant operators cannot accurately be predicted.
The Health Reform Laws provide states with an increased federal medical assistance percentage under certain conditions. On June 28, 2012, The United States Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate of the Health Reform Laws but partially invalidated the expansion of Medicaid. The ruling on Medicaid expansion will allow states not to participate in the expansion—and to forego funding for the Medicaid expansion—without losing their existing Medicaid funding. Given that the federal government substantially funds the Medicaid expansion, it is unclear whether any state will pursue this option, although at least some appear to be considering this option at this time. The participation by states in the Medicaid expansion could have the dual effect of increasing our property managers’ and tenant operators’ revenues, through new patients, but further straining state budgets. While the federal government will pay for approximately 100% of those additional costs from 2014 to 2016, states will be expected to begin paying for part of those additional costs in 2017. With increasingly strained budgets, it is unclear how states will pay their share of these additional Medicaid costs and what other health care expenditures could be reduced as a result. A significant reduction in other health care related spending by states to pay for increased Medicaid costs could affect our property managers’ and tenant operators’ revenue streams, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Overbuilding in markets in which our senior housing properties are located could adversely affect our future occupancy rates, operating margins and profitability.
The senior housing industry generally has limited barriers to entry, and, as a consequence, the development of new senior housing properties could outpace demand. If development outpaces demand for those asset types in the markets in which our properties are located, those markets may become saturated and we could experience decreased occupancy, reduced operating margins and lower profitability.
We rely on information technology in our operations, and any material failure, inadequacy, interruption or security failure of that technology could harm our business.
We rely on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to process, transmit and store electronic information and to manage or support a variety of our business processes, including financial transactions and maintenance of records, which in the case of our senior housing and golf businesses, may include personal identifying information. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for processing, transmitting and storing this confidential information, such as individually identifiable information relating to financial accounts. Although we have taken steps to protect the security of the data maintained in our information systems, it is possible that our security measures will not be able to prevent the systems’ improper functioning, or the improper disclosure of personally identifiable information such as in the event of cyber attacks. Security breaches, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, attacks by hackers and similar breaches, can create system disruptions, shutdowns or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Any failure to maintain proper function, security and availability of our information systems could interrupt our operations, damage our reputation, subject us to liability claims or regulatory penalties and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our investments in debt securities and loans are subject to changes in credit spreads, which could adversely affect our ability to realize gains on the sale of such investments.
Debt securities and loans are subject to changes in credit spreads. Credit spreads measure the yield demanded on securities and loans by the market based on their credit relative to a specific benchmark.
Fixed rate securities and loans are valued based on a market credit spread over the rate payable on fixed rate U.S. Treasuries of like maturity. Floating rate securities and loans are valued based on a market credit spread over LIBOR and are affected similarly by changes in LIBOR spreads. Excessive supply of these securities combined with reduced demand will generally cause the market to require a higher yield on these securities and loans, resulting in the use of a higher, or “wider,” spread over the benchmark rate to value such securities. Under such conditions, the value of our debt securities and loan portfolios would tend to decline. Conversely, if the spread used to value such securities were to decrease, or “tighten,” the value of our debt securities portfolio would tend to increase. Such changes in the market value of our debt securities and loan portfolios may affect our net equity, net income or cash flow directly through their impact on unrealized gains or losses on available-for-sale securities, and therefore our ability to realize gains on such securities, or indirectly through their impact on our ability to borrow and access capital. During 2008 through the first quarter of 2009, credit spreads widened substantially. This widening of credit spreads caused the net unrealized gains on our securities, loans and derivatives, recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income or retained earnings, and therefore our book value per share, to decrease and resulted in net losses.
In addition, if the value of our loans subject to financing agreements were to decline, it could affect our ability to refinance such loans upon the maturity of the related repurchase agreements. Any credit or spread related losses incurred with respect to our loans would affect us in the same way as similar losses on our real estate securities portfolio as described above.
Any hedging transactions that we enter into may limit our gains or result in losses.
We have used (and may continue to use, when feasible and appropriate) derivatives to hedge a portion of our interest rate exposure, and this approach has certain risks, including the risk that losses on a hedge position will reduce the cash available for distribution to stockholders and that such losses may exceed the amount invested in such instruments. We have adopted a general policy with respect to the use of derivatives, which generally allows us to use derivatives where appropriate, but does not set forth specific policies and procedures or require that we hedge any specific amount of risk. From time to time, we use derivative instruments, including forwards, futures, swaps and options, in our risk management strategy to limit the effects of changes in interest rates on our operations. A hedge may not be effective in eliminating all of the risks inherent in any particular position. Our profitability may be adversely affected during any period as a result of the use of derivatives.
There are limits to the ability of any hedging strategy to protect us completely against interest rate risks. When rates change, we expect the gain or loss on derivatives to be offset by a related but inverse change in the value of the items, generally our liabilities, that we hedge. We cannot assure you, however, that our use of derivatives will offset the risks
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related to changes in interest rates. We cannot assure you that our hedging strategy and the derivatives that we use will adequately offset the risk of interest rate volatility or that our hedging transactions will not result in losses. In addition, our hedging strategy may limit our flexibility by causing us to refrain from taking certain actions that would be potentially profitable but would cause adverse consequences under the terms of our hedging arrangements.
The REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), limit our ability to hedge. In managing our hedge instruments, we consider the effect of the expected hedging income on the REIT qualification tests that limit the amount of gross income that a REIT may receive from hedging. We need to carefully monitor, and may have to limit, our hedging strategy to assure that we do not realize hedging income, or hold hedges having a value, in excess of the amounts that would cause us to fail the REIT gross income and asset tests. In addition, our ability to hedge is limited by certain undertakings that we made to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in order to avail ourselves of no-action relief from the requirement to register as a commodity pool operator.
Accounting for derivatives under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), is extremely complicated. Any failure by us to account for our derivatives properly in accordance with GAAP in our financial statements could adversely affect our earnings.
Under certain conditions, increases in prepayment rates can adversely affect yields on many of our investments.
The value of many of the assets in which we invest may be affected by prepayment rates on these assets. Prepayment rates are influenced by changes in current interest rates and a variety of economic, geographic and other factors beyond our control, and consequently, such prepayment rates cannot be predicted with certainty. In periods of declining mortgage interest rates, prepayments on loans generally increase. If general interest rates decline as well, the proceeds of such prepayments received during such periods are likely to be reinvested by us in assets yielding less than the yields on the assets that were prepaid. In addition, the market value of floating rate assets may, because of the risk of prepayment, benefit less than fixed rate assets from declining interest rates. Conversely, in periods of rising interest rates, prepayments on loans generally decrease, in which case we would not have the prepayment proceeds available to invest in assets with higher yields. Under certain interest rate and prepayment scenarios we may fail to recoup fully our cost of acquisition of certain investments.
In addition, when market conditions lead us to increase the portion of our CDO investments that are comprised of floating rate securities, the risk of assets inside our CDOs prepaying increases. Since our CDO financing costs are locked in, reinvestment of such prepayment proceeds at lower yields than the initial investments, as a result of changes in the interest rate or credit spread environment, will result in a decrease of the return on our equity and therefore our net income.
Changes in accounting rules could occur at any time and could impact us in significantly negative ways that we are unable to predict or protect against.
As has been widely publicized, the SEC, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and other regulatory bodies that establish the accounting rules applicable to us have recently proposed or enacted a wide array of changes to accounting rules. Moreover, in the future these regulators may propose additional changes that we do not currently anticipate. Changes to accounting rules that apply to us could significantly impact our business or our reported financial performance in negative ways that we cannot predict or protect against. We cannot predict whether any changes to current accounting rules will occur or what impact any codified changes will have on our business, results of operations, liquidity or financial condition.
Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.
As a public company, we are required to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Internal control over financial reporting is complex and may be revised over time to adapt to changes in our business, or changes in applicable accounting rules. In connection with new investments, we may be required to consolidate additional entities, and, therefore, to document and test effective internal controls over the financial reporting of these entities in accordance with Section 404, which we may not be able to do. Even if we are able to do so, there could be significant costs and delays, particularly if these entities were not subject to Section 404 prior to being acquired by us. Under certain circumstances, the SEC permits newly acquired businesses to be excluded for a limited period of time from management's annual assessment of the effectiveness of internal control. We have excluded certain assets from management's annual assessment of the effectiveness of internal control in 2013 pursuant to a one-year deferral permissible under PCAOB and SEC guidelines, and we may avail ourselves of this flexibility in the future with respect to other newly acquired businesses. Our management identified a material weakness in our internal controls with respect to our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2011. Although this was remediated, we cannot assure you that our internal control over financial reporting will be effective in the future or that a material weakness will not be discovered with respect to a prior period for which we believe that internal controls were effective. If we are not able to maintain or document effective internal control over financial reporting, our independent registered public accounting
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firm may not be able to certify as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the required dates. Matters impacting our internal controls may cause us to be unable to report our financial information on a timely basis, or may cause us to restate previously issued financial information, and thereby subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions or investigations by the SEC, or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. Confidence in the reliability of our financial statements is also likely to suffer if we or our independent registered public accounting firm reports a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This could materially adversely affect us by, for example, leading to a decline in our share price and impairing our ability to raise capital.
Environmental compliance costs and liabilities related to real estate that we own, or in which we have interests, may adversely affect our results of operations.
Our operating costs may be affected by the cost of complying with existing or future environmental laws, ordinances and regulations with respect to the properties, or loans secured by such properties, or by environmental problems that materially impair the value of such properties. Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on, under, or in such property. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. In addition, the presence of hazardous or toxic substances, or the failure to remediate properly, may adversely affect the owner’s ability to borrow using such real property as collateral. Certain environmental laws and common law principles could be used to impose liability for releases of hazardous materials, including asbestos-containing materials, into the environment, and third parties may seek recovery from owners or operators of real properties for personal injury associated with exposure to released asbestos-containing materials or other hazardous materials. Environmental laws may also impose restrictions on the manner in which a property may be used or transferred or in which businesses it may be operated, and these restrictions may require expenditures. In connection with the direct or indirect ownership and operation of properties, we may be potentially liable for any such costs. The cost of defending against claims of liability or remediating contaminated property and the cost of complying with environmental laws could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Lawsuits, investigations and indemnification claims could result in significant liabilities and reputational harm, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
From time to time, we may be involved in lawsuits or investigations or receive claims for indemnification. Our efforts to resolve any such lawsuits, investigations or claims could be very expensive and highly damaging to our reputation, even if the underlying claims are without merit. We could potentially be found liable for significant damages or indemnification obligations. Such developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our risk of litigation includes lawsuits that could be brought by residents of our senior housing properties, users of our golf courses or property-level employees in our senior housing and golf businesses. For instance, we are subject to federal and state laws governing minimum wage requirements, overtime compensation, discrimination and family and medical leave. Any lawsuit alleging a violation of any such laws could result in a settlement or other resolution that requires us to make a substantial payment, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, accidents or injuries in connection with our senior housing or golf properties could subject us to liability and reputational harm.
We have invested in operating businesses in distressed industries, such as golf, and such investments are subject to operational and other business risks.
We opportunistically pursue a variety of investments, such as our recent restructuring of a debt investment in National Golf and, as a consequence, we are subject to risks of the industries in which we may invest, which may include non-real estate related operating businesses in deeply distressed industries. These investments are subject to the risks of the industry in which such business(es) operate, and we expect any businesses we acquire to be subject to similar issues and risks. Businesses operating in distressed industries can face declining revenues, profitability, margins, customer base, product acceptance and growth prospects as well as concerns regarding increased fixed costs, lack of available financing or lack of a viable long-term strategy. Some or all of these risks may exist in any investment we make in a distressed business or industry. As a result, investments in distressed operating businesses involve heightened risks, and we cannot assure you that any such investments will be profitable. We may acquire significant positions in distressed businesses for strategic reasons, which may require us to expend significant capital on investments that differ from, and involve a higher degree of risk than, other assets currently in our portfolio. In addition, acquiring an operating business exposes us to some or all of the meaningful risks associated with owning an operating business. Any loss of invested capital in such businesses would adversely affect our results of operation, profitability and the amount of funds available for distribution as a dividend to our
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stockholders. See “—We recently acquired a golf business, which is subject to various risks that could have a negative impact on our financial results.”
Our agreements with New Residential may not reflect terms that would have resulted from arm’s-length negotiations among unaffiliated third parties, and we have agreed to indemnify New Residential for certain liabilities.
We completed a spin-off of New Residential in May 2013. The terms of the agreements related to the spin-off of New Residential, including a Separation and Distribution Agreement dated April 26, 2013 (the “Separation and Distribution Agreement”) between us and New Residential and a management agreement between our manager and New Residential, were not negotiated among unaffiliated third parties. Such terms were proposed by our officers and other employees of our manager and approved by our board of directors. As a result, these terms may be less favorable to us than the terms that would have resulted from arm’s-length negotiations among unaffiliated third parties.
In the Separation and Distribution Agreement, we have agreed to indemnify New Residential and its affiliates and representatives against losses arising from: (a) any liability related to our junior subordinated notes due 2035; (b) any other liability that has not been defined as a liability of New Residential; (c) any failure by us and our subsidiaries (other than New Residential and its subsidiaries) (collectively, the “Newcastle Group”) to pay, perform or otherwise promptly discharge any liability listed under (a) and (b) above in accordance with their respective terms, whether prior to, at or after the time of effectiveness of the Separation and Distribution Agreement; (d) any breach by any member of the Newcastle Group of any provision of the Separation and Distribution Agreement and any agreements ancillary thereto (if any), subject to any limitations of liability provisions and other provisions applicable to any such breach set forth therein; and (e) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, with respect to all information contained in the information statement or the registration statement of which the information statement is a part that relates solely to any assets owned, directly or indirectly by us, other than New Residential’s initial portfolio of assets. Any indemnification payments that we may be required to make could have a significantly negative effect on our liquidity and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our REIT Status and Other Matters
Our failure to qualify as a REIT would result in higher taxes and reduced cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
We operate in a manner intended to qualify us as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. Our ability to satisfy the asset tests depends upon our analysis of the fair market values of our assets, some of which are not susceptible to a precise determination, and for which we do not obtain independent appraisals. Our compliance with the REIT income and quarterly asset requirements also depends upon our ability to successfully manage the composition of our income and assets on an ongoing basis. Moreover, the proper classification of an instrument as debt or equity for federal income tax purposes, and the tax treatment of participation interests that we hold in mortgage loans and mezzanine loans, may be uncertain in some circumstances, which could affect the application of the REIT qualification requirements. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) will not contend that our interests in subsidiaries or other issuers violate the REIT requirements.
If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to federal income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and distributions to stockholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Any such corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the value of, and trading prices for, our stock. Unless entitled to relief under certain provisions of the Code, we also would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which we initially ceased to qualify as a REIT.
Our failure to qualify as a REIT would create issues under a number of our financings and other agreements and would cause our common and preferred stock to be delisted from the NYSE.
Our failure to qualify as a REIT would create issues under a number of our financing and other agreements. In addition, the NYSE requires, as a condition to the continued listing of our common and preferred stock, that we maintain our REIT status. Consequently, if we fail to maintain our REIT status, our common and preferred stock would promptly be delisted from the NYSE, which would decrease the trading activity of such shares. This could make it difficult to sell shares and could cause the market volume of the shares trading to decline.
If we were delisted as a result of losing our REIT status and desired to relist our stock on the NYSE, we would have to reapply to the NYSE to be listed as a domestic corporation. As the NYSE’s listing standards for REITs are less onerous than its standards for domestic corporations, it would be more difficult for us to become a listed company under these
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heightened standards. We might not be able to satisfy the NYSE’s listing standards for a domestic corporation. As a result, if we were delisted from the NYSE, we might not be able to relist as a domestic corporation, in which case our common and preferred stock could not trade on the NYSE.
Our failure to qualify as a REIT would potentially give rise to a claim for damages from New Residential.
In connection with the spin-off of New Residential, which was completed in May 2013, we represented in the Separation and Distribution Agreement that we have no knowledge of any fact or circumstance that would cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT. We also covenanted in the Separation and Distribution Agreement to use our reasonable best efforts to maintain our REIT status for each of our taxable years ending on or before December 31, 2014 (unless we obtain an opinion from a nationally recognized tax counsel or a private letter ruling from the IRS to the effect that our failure to maintain our REIT status will not cause New Residential to fail to qualify as a REIT under the successor REIT rules). In the event of a breach of this representation or covenant, New Residential may be able to seek damages from us, which could have a significantly negative effect on our liquidity and results of operations.
If New Residential fails to qualify as a REIT for 2013, it would significantly affect our ability to maintain our REIT status.
For federal income tax purposes we recorded approximately $600 million of gain as a result of the spin-off of New Residential in May 2013. If New Residential qualified for taxation as a REIT for 2013, that gain is qualifying income for purposes of our 2013 REIT income tests. If, however, New Residential failed to qualify as a REIT for 2013, that gain is non-qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test. Although New Residential covenanted in the Separation and Distribution Agreement to use reasonable best efforts to qualify as a REIT in 2013, no assurance can be given that it so qualified. If New Residential failed to qualify, it could cause us to fail our 2013 REIT income tests, which could cause us to lose our REIT status and thereby materially negatively impact our business, financial condition and potentially impair our ability to continue operating in the future.
The failure of assets subject to repurchase agreements to qualify as real estate assets could adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT.
We have historically financed a meaningful portion of our investments not held in CDOs with repurchase agreements, which are short-term financing arrangements and we may enter into additional repurchase agreements in the future. Under these agreements, we nominally sell certain of our assets to a counterparty and simultaneously enter into an agreement to repurchase these assets at a later date in exchange for a purchase price. Economically, these agreements are financings that are secured by the assets sold pursuant thereto. We believe that, for purposes of the REIT asset and income tests, we should be treated as the owner of the assets that are the subject of any such sale and repurchase agreement, notwithstanding that those agreements may transfer record ownership of the assets to the counterparty during the term of the agreement. It is possible, however, that the IRS could assert that we did not own the assets during the term of the sale and repurchase agreement, in which case we might fail to qualify as a REIT.
Rapid changes in the values of assets that we hold may make it more difficult for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT or our exemption from the 1940 Act.
If the market value or income potential of qualifying assets for purposes of our qualification as a REIT or our exemption from registration as an investment company under the 1940 Act declines as a result of increased interest rates, changes in prepayment rates or other factors, we may need to increase our investments in qualifying assets and/or liquidate our non-qualifying assets to maintain our REIT qualification or our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act. If the decline in market values or income occurs quickly, this may be especially difficult to accomplish. This difficulty may be exacerbated by the illiquid nature of any non-qualifying assets we may own. We may have to make investment decisions that we otherwise would not make absent the intent to maintain our qualification as a REIT and exemption from registration under the 1940 Act.
Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates.
Dividends payable to domestic stockholders that are individuals, trusts or estates are generally taxed at reduced rates. Dividends payable by REITs, however, are generally not eligible for the reduced rates. Although these rules do not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends paid by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate dividends could cause investors who are individuals, trusts and estates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the stock of REITs, including our common stock. In addition, the relative attractiveness of real estate in general may be adversely affected by the favorable tax treatment given to corporate dividends, which could affect the value of our real estate assets negatively.
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Qualifying as a REIT involves highly technical and complex provisions of the Code.
Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist. Even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. Compliance with these requirements must be carefully monitored on a continuing basis, and there can be no assurance that our manager’s personnel responsible for doing so will be able to successfully monitor our compliance.
REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to execute our business plan.
In order to maintain our tax status as a REIT, we are generally required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and not including net capital gains) each year to our stockholders. We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the requirements of the Code. However, differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash could require us to sell assets or borrow funds on a short-term or long-term basis to meet the 90% distribution requirement of the Code. Certain of our assets may generate substantial mismatches between taxable income and available cash. As a result, the requirement to distribute a substantial portion of our net taxable income could cause us to: (i) sell assets in adverse market conditions, (ii) borrow on unfavorable terms, (iii) distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions, capital expenditures or repayment of debt, or (iv) make taxable distributions of our capital stock in order to comply with REIT requirements. Further, amounts distributed will not be available to fund investment activities. If we fail to obtain debt or equity capital in the future, it could limit our ability to satisfy our liquidity needs, which could adversely affect the value of our common stock.
In January 2013, we experienced an “ownership change” for purposes of Section 382 of the Code, which limits our ability to utilize our net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards and certain built-in losses to reduce our future taxable income, potentially increases our related REIT distribution requirement, and potentially adversely affects our liquidity.
In order to maintain our tax status as a REIT, we are generally required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and not including net capital gains) each year to our stockholders. To qualify for the tax benefits accorded to REITs, we intend to make distributions to our stockholders such that we distribute all or substantially all our net taxable income (if any) each year, subject to certain adjustments. In the past, we have used net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards to facilitate the satisfaction of our distribution requirements. As a result of our January 2013 “ownership change,” our future ability to utilize our net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards to reduce our taxable income may be limited by certain provisions of the Code.
Specifically, the Code limits the ability of a company that undergoes an “ownership change” to utilize its net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards and certain built-in losses to offset taxable income earned in years after the ownership change. An ownership change occurs if, during a three-year testing period, more than 50% of the stock of a company is acquired by one or more persons (or certain groups of persons) who own, directly or constructively, 5% or more of the stock of such company. An ownership change can occur as a result of a public offering of stock, as well as through secondary market purchases of our stock and certain types of reorganization transactions. Generally, when an ownership change occurs, the annual limitation on the use of net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards and certain built-in losses is equal to the product of the applicable long-term tax exempt rate and the value of the company’s stock immediately before the ownership change. We have substantial net operating and net capital loss carry forwards which we have used, and will continue to use, to offset our tax and distribution requirements. In January 2013, an “ownership change” for purposes of Section 382 of the Code occurred. Therefore, the provisions of Section 382 of the Code impose an annual limit on the amount of net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards and built in losses that we can use to offset future taxable income. Such limitation may increase our dividend distribution requirement in the future, which could adversely affect our liquidity. We do not believe that the limitation as a result of the January 2013 ownership change will prevent us from satisfying our REIT distribution requirement for the current year and future years. No assurance, however, can be given that we will be able to satisfy our distribution requirement following a current or future ownership change or otherwise. If we were to fail to satisfy our distribution requirement, it would cause us to lose our REIT status and thereby materially negatively impact our business, financial condition and potentially impair our ability to continue operating in the future.
Certain properties are leased to our TRSs pursuant to special provisions of the Code.
We currently lease certain “qualified healthcare properties” to our TRSs (or a limited liability company of which a TRS is a member). These TRSs in turn contract with an affiliate of our manager to manage the healthcare operations at these properties. The rents paid by the TRSs in this structure will be treated as qualifying rents from real property for purposes of the REIT requirements if (i) they are paid pursuant to an arm’s-length lease of a qualified healthcare property and (ii) the operator qualifies as an “eligible independent contractor” with respect to the property. An operator will qualify as an
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eligible independent contractor if it meets certain ownership tests with respect to us, and if, at the time the operator enters into the management agreement, the operator is actively engaged in the trade or business of operating qualified healthcare properties for any person who is not a related person to us or the lessee. If any of the above conditions were not satisfied, then the rents would not be considered income from a qualifying source for purposes of the REIT rules, which could cause us to incur penalty taxes or to fail to qualify as a REIT.
We may be required to report taxable income for certain investments in excess of the economic income we ultimately realize from them.
We may acquire debt instruments in the secondary market for less than their face amount. The amount of such discount will generally be treated as “market discount” for federal income tax purposes. Accrued market discount is generally recognized as taxable income over our holding period in the instrument in advance of the receipt of cash. If we collect less on the debt instrument than our purchase price plus the market discount we had previously reported as income, we may not be able to benefit from any offsetting loss deductions.
In addition, we may acquire debt investments that are subsequently modified by agreement with the borrower. If the amendments to the outstanding debt are “significant modifications” under the applicable Treasury regulations, the modified debt may be considered to have been reissued to us in a debt-for-debt exchange with the borrower. In that event, we may be required to recognize taxable gain to the extent the principal amount of the modified debt exceeds our adjusted tax basis in the unmodified debt, even if the value of the debt or the payment expectations have not changed. Following such a taxable modification, we would hold the modified loan with a cost basis equal to its principal amount for federal tax purposes.
Moreover, in the event that any debt instruments acquired by us are delinquent as to mandatory principal and interest payments, or in the event payments with respect to a particular debt instrument are not made when due, we may nonetheless be required to continue to recognize the unpaid interest as taxable income. Similarly, we may be required to accrue interest income with respect to subordinate mortgage-backed securities at the stated rate regardless of whether corresponding cash payments are received.
The IRS tax rules regarding recognizing capital losses and ordinary income for our non-recourse financings, coupled with current REIT distribution requirements, could result in our recognizing significant taxable net income without receiving an equivalent amount of cash proceeds from which to make required distributions. This disconnect could have a serious, negative effect on us.
We may experience issues regarding the characterization of income for tax purposes. For example, we may recognize significant ordinary income, which we would not be able to offset with capital losses, which would, in turn, increase the amount of income we would be required to distribute to stockholders in order to maintain our REIT status. We expect that this disconnect will occur in the case of one or more of our non-recourse financing structures, including off balance sheet structures such as our subprime securitizations and non-consolidated CDOs, where we incur capital losses on the related assets, and ordinary income from the cancellation of the related non-recourse financing if the ultimate proceeds from the assets are insufficient to repay such debt. Through December 31, 2013, no such cancellation of CDO debt had been effected as a result of losses incurred. However, we expect that such cancellation of indebtedness within our CDOs, consolidated or non-consolidated, may occur in the future. In the case of our subprime securitizations, $101.9 million of such cancellations had been effected through December 31, 2013, and we expect such cancellations will continue as losses are realized. This disconnect could also occur, and has occurred, as a result of the repurchase of our outstanding debt at a discount as the gain recorded upon the cancellation of indebtedness is characterized as ordinary income for tax purposes. We have repurchased our debt at a discount in the past, and we intend to attempt to do so in the future. During 2009 and 2010, we repurchased $787.8 million face amount of our outstanding CDO debt and junior subordinated notes at a discount, and recorded $521.1 million of gain. In compliance with tax laws, we had the ability to defer the ordinary income recorded as a result of this cancellation of indebtedness to future years and have deferred or intend to defer all or a portion of such gain for 2009 and 2010. While such deferral may postpone the effect of the disconnect on the ability to offset taxable income and losses, it does not eliminate it. Furthermore, cancellation of indebtedness income recognized on or after January 1, 2011 cannot be deferred and must generally be recognized as ordinary income in the year of such cancellation. During the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, we repurchased $35.9 million, $34.1 million and $188.9 million face amount of our outstanding CDO debt and notes payable at a discount and recorded $4.6 million, $23.2 million and $81.1 million of gain for tax purposes, respectively (of which only $4.6 million, $24.1 million and $66.1 million of gain relating to $35.9 million, $39.3 million and $171.8 million face amount of debt repurchased, respectively, was recognized for GAAP purposes). The elimination of the ability to defer the recognition of cancellation of indebtedness income introduces additional tax implications that may significantly reduce the economic benefit of repurchasing our outstanding CDO debt.
When we experience any of these disconnects, and to the extent that a distribution through stock dividends is not viable, we may not have sufficient cash flow to make the distributions necessary to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements, which would cause us to lose our REIT status and thereby materially negatively impact our business, financial condition and potentially impair our ability to continue operating in the future. Under current market conditions, this type of disconnect
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between taxable income and cash proceeds would be likely to occur at some point in the future if the current regulations that create the disconnect are not revised, but we cannot predict at this time when such a disconnect might occur.
We may be unable to generate sufficient revenue from operations to pay our operating expenses and to pay distributions to our stockholders.
As a REIT, we are generally required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and not including net capital losses) each year to our stockholders. To qualify for the tax benefits accorded to REITs, we intend to make distributions to our stockholders in amounts such that we distribute all or substantially all of our net taxable income each year, subject to certain adjustments. However, our ability to make distributions may be adversely affected by the risk factors described herein. In the event of a sustained downturn in our operating results and financial performance relative to previous periods or sustained declines in the value of our asset portfolio, we may be unable to declare or pay quarterly distributions or make distributions to our stockholders, and we may elect to comply with our REIT distribution requirements by, after completing various procedural steps, distributing, under certain circumstances, a portion of the required amount in the form of common shares in lieu of cash. The timing and amount of distributions are in the sole discretion of our board of directors, which considers, among other factors, our earnings, financial condition, debt service obligations and applicable debt covenants, REIT qualification requirements and other tax considerations and capital expenditure requirements as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time.
The stock ownership limit imposed by the Code for REITs and our charter may inhibit market activity in our stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.
In order for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT under the Code, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year after our first year. Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of directors to take the actions that are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our board of directors, no person may own more than 8% of the aggregate value of our outstanding capital stock, treating classes and series of our stock in the aggregate, or more than 25% of the outstanding shares of our Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock or Series D Preferred Stock. Our board may grant an exemption in its sole discretion, subject to such conditions, representations and undertakings as it may determine in its sole discretion. These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in our control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise not be in the best interest of our stockholders.
Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow.
Even if we remain qualified for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets, including taxes on any undistributed income, tax on income from some activities conducted as a result of a foreclosure, and state or local income, property and transfer taxes, such as mortgage recording taxes. Moreover, if a REIT distributes less than 85% of its taxable income to its stockholders during any calendar year (including any distributions declared by the last day of the calendar year but paid in the subsequent year), then it is required to pay an excise tax of 4% on any shortfall between the required 85% and the amount that was actually distributed. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distribution to our stockholders. In addition, in order to meet the REIT qualification requirements, or to avert the imposition of a 100% tax that applies to certain gains derived by a REIT from dealer property or inventory, we may hold some of our assets through TRSs. Such subsidiaries will be subject to corporate level income tax at regular rates.
Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego, liquidate or contribute to a TRS otherwise attractive opportunities.
To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our stock. As a result of these tests, we may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution, forego otherwise attractive investment opportunities, liquidate assets in adverse market conditions or contribute assets to a TRS that is subject to regular corporate federal income tax. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make and retain certain attractive investments.
Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively.
The existing REIT provisions of the Code may substantially limit our ability to hedge our operations because a significant amount of the income from those hedging transactions is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both REIT gross income tests. In addition, we must limit our aggregate income from non-qualified hedging transactions, from our provision of services and from other non-qualifying sources, to less than 5% of our annual gross income (determined
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without regard to gross income from qualified hedging transactions). As a result, we may have to limit our use of certain hedging techniques or implement those hedges through total return swaps. This could result in greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to incur or could increase the cost of our hedging activities. If we fail to comply with these limitations, we could lose our REIT qualification for federal income tax purposes, unless our failure was due to reasonable cause, and not due to willful neglect, and we meet certain other technical requirements. Even if our failure were due to reasonable cause, we might incur a penalty tax.
The “taxable mortgage pool” rules may increase the taxes that we or our stockholders may incur, and may limit the manner in which we effect future securitizations.
Certain of our securitizations have resulted in the creation of taxable mortgage pools for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, so long as we own 100% of the equity interests in a taxable mortgage pool, we would generally not be adversely affected by the characterization of the securitization as a taxable mortgage pool. Certain categories of stockholders, however, such as foreign stockholders eligible for treaty or other benefits, stockholders with net operating losses, and certain tax-exempt stockholders that are subject to unrelated business income tax, could be subject to increased taxes on a portion of their dividend income from us that is attributable to the taxable mortgage pool. In addition, to the extent that our stock is owned by tax-exempt “disqualified organizations,” such as certain government-related entities and charitable remainder trusts that are not subject to tax on unrelated business income, we could incur a corporate level tax on a portion of our income from the taxable mortgage pool. In that case, we might reduce the amount of our distributions to any disqualified organization whose stock ownership gave rise to the tax. Moreover, we may be precluded from selling equity interests in these securities to outside investors, or selling any debt securities issued in connection with these securitizations that might be considered to be equity interests for tax purposes. These limitations may prevent us from using certain techniques to maximize our returns from securitization transactions.
Distributions to tax-exempt investors may be classified as unrelated business taxable income.
Neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions with respect to our stock nor gain from the sale of stock should generally constitute unrelated business taxable income to a tax-exempt investor. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. In particular:
• | part of the income and gain recognized by certain qualified employee pension trusts with respect to our stock may be treated as unrelated business taxable income if shares of our stock are predominantly held by qualified employee pension trusts, and we are required to rely on a special look-through rule for purposes of meeting one of the REIT ownership tests, and we are not operated in a manner to avoid treatment of such income or gain as unrelated business taxable income; |
• | part of the income and gain recognized by a tax-exempt investor with respect to our stock would constitute unrelated business taxable income if the investor incurs debt in order to acquire the stock; and |
• | to the extent that we are (or a part of us, or a disregarded subsidiary of ours, is) a “taxable mortgage pool,” or if we hold residual interests in a real estate mortgage investment conduit, a portion of the distributions paid to a tax-exempt stockholder that is allocable to excess inclusion income may be treated as unrelated business taxable income. |
The tax on prohibited transactions will limit our ability to engage in transactions which would be treated as prohibited transactions for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Net income that we derive from a prohibited transaction is subject to a 100% tax. The term “prohibited transaction” generally includes a sale or other disposition of property (including mortgage loans, but other than foreclosure property, as discussed below) that is held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our trade or business. We might be subject to this tax if we were to dispose of or securitize loans or certain other assets in a manner that was treated as a prohibited transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
We intend to conduct our operations so that no asset that we own (or are treated as owning) will be treated as, or as having been, held for sale to customers, and that a sale of any such asset will not be treated as having been in the ordinary course of our business. As a result, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of loans or certain other assets at the REIT level, and may limit the structures we utilize for our securitization transactions, even though the sales or structures might otherwise be beneficial to us. In addition, whether property is held “primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business” depends on the particular facts and circumstances. No assurance can be given that any property that we sell will not be treated as property held for sale to customers, or that we can comply with certain safe-harbor provisions of the Code that would prevent such treatment. The 100% prohibited transaction tax does not apply to gains from the sale of property that is held through a TRS or other taxable corporation, although such income will be subject to tax in the hands of the corporation at regular corporate rates. We intend to structure our activities to prevent prohibited transaction characterization.
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New legislation or administrative or judicial action, in each instance potentially with retroactive effect, could make it more difficult or impossible for us to qualify as a REIT.
The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of REITs may be modified, possibly with retroactive effect, by legislative, judicial or administrative action at any time, which could affect the U.S. federal income tax treatment of an investment in us. The U.S. federal income tax rules dealing with REITs constantly are under review by persons involved in the legislative process, the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, which results in statutory changes as well as frequent revisions to regulations and interpretations. Revisions in U.S. federal tax laws and interpretations thereof could affect or cause us to change our investments and commitments and affect the tax considerations of an investment in us.
Liquidation of assets may jeopardize our REIT qualification or create additional tax liability for us.
To qualify as a REIT, we must comply with requirements regarding the composition of our assets and our sources of income. If we are compelled to liquidate our investments to repay obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with these requirements, ultimately jeopardizing our qualification as a REIT, or we may be subject to a 100% tax on any resultant gain if we sell assets that are treated as dealer property or inventory.
Maintenance of our 1940 Act exemption imposes limits on our operations.
We conduct our operations in reliance on an exemption from the 1940 Act, which we refer to as Section 3(c)(5)(C), which is available for entities “primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate.”
Reliance on this exemption limits our ability to make certain investments. Section 3(c)(5)(C) generally requires that at least 55% of our assets be comprised of qualifying real estate assets and at least 80% of our assets be comprised of a combination of qualifying real estate assets and real estate related assets. In satisfying the 55% requirement, based on guidance from the SEC and its staff, we treat Agency ARM RMBS issued with respect to an underlying pool of mortgage loans in which we hold all of the certificates issued by the pool as qualifying real estate assets. The SEC and its staff have not issued guidance with respect to whole pool non-Agency RMBS for purposes of Section 3(c)(5)(C). Accordingly, based on our own judgment and analysis of the guidance with respect to Agency whole pool certificates, we treat non-Agency ARM RMBS issued with respect to an underlying pool of mortgage loans in which we hold all of the certificates issued by the pool as qualifying real estate assets. We also treat whole mortgage loans that we acquire directly as qualifying real estate assets provided that 100% of the loan is secured by real estate when we acquire the loan and we have the unilateral right to foreclose on the mortgage. In addition, we treat investments in Agency partial pool RMBS and non-Agency partial pool RMBS as real estate related assets. Section 3(c)(5)(C) generally limits the amount of our investments in non-real estate assets, including consumer loans, to no more than 20% of our total assets. To the extent that we acquire significant non-real estate assets in the future, in order to maintain our exemption under the 1940 Act, we may need to offset those acquisitions with additional qualifying real estate and real estate related assets, which may not generate risk-adjusted returns as attractive as those generated by non-real estate related assets.
In August 2011, the SEC solicited public comment on a wide range of issues relating to Section 3(c)(5)(C), including the nature of the assets that qualify for purposes of the exemption and whether mortgage REITs like us should be regulated in a manner similar to investment companies. The request for public comment has not yet resulted in SEC rulemaking or interpretive guidance and there can be no assurance that the laws and regulations governing the 1940 Act status of REITs, or SEC guidance regarding Section 3(c)(5)(C), will not change in a manner that adversely affects our operations. If the SEC takes action that could result in our failure to maintain an exception or exemption from the 1940 Act, we could, among other things, be required either to (a) change the manner in which we conduct our operations to maintain our exemption from registration as an investment company, (b) effect sales of our assets in a manner that, or at a time when, we would not otherwise choose to do so, or (c) register as an investment company (which, among other things, would require us to comply with the leverage constraints applicable to investment companies), any of which could negatively affect the value of our common stock, the sustainability of our business model, and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders, which could, in turn, materially and adversely affect us and the market price of our stock.
Our staggered board and other provisions of our charter and bylaws may prevent a change in our control.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes of directors. Directors of each class are chosen for three-year terms upon the expiration of their current terms, and each year one class of directors is elected by the stockholders. The staggered terms of our directors may reduce the possibility of a tender offer or an attempt at a change in control, even though a tender offer or change in control might be in the best interest of our stockholders. In addition, our charter and bylaws also contain other provisions that may delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.
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Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Our stock price has fluctuated meaningfully, particularly on a percentage basis, and may fluctuate meaningfully in the future. Accordingly, you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price at which you purchased them.
The trading price of our common stock has fluctuated significantly in the past. The trading price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly in the future and could be negatively affected in response to various factors, including:
• | market conditions in the broader stock market in general, or in the REIT or real estate industry in particular; |
• | our ability to make investments with attractive risk-adjusted returns; |
• | market perception of our current and projected financial condition, potential growth, future earnings and future cash dividends; |
• | announcements we make regarding dividends; |
• | actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial and operating results; |
• | market perception or media coverage of our manager or its affiliates; |
• | additional offerings of our common stock; |
• | actions by rating agencies; |
• | short sales of our common stock; |
• | any decision to pursue a distribution or disposition of a meaningful portion of our assets; |
• | issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations; |
• | media coverage of us, other REITs or the outlook of the real estate industry; |
• | major reductions in trading volumes on the exchanges on which we operate; |
• | credit deterioration within our portfolio; |
• | legislative or regulatory developments, including changes in the status of our regulatory approvals or licenses; |
• | litigation and governmental investigations.; and |
• | any decision to pursue a spin-off of a portion of our assets. |
These and other factors may cause the market price and demand for our common stock to fluctuate substantially, which may negatively affect the price or liquidity of our common stock. When the market price of a stock has been volatile or has decreased significantly in the past, holders of that stock have, at times, instituted securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders brought a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending, settling or paying any resulting judgments related to the lawsuit. Such a lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management from our business and hurt our share price.
We may be unable—or elect not—to pay dividends on our common or preferred stock in the future, which would negatively impact our business in a number of ways and decrease the price of our common and preferred stock.
While we are required to make distributions in order to maintain our REIT status (as described above under “—Risks Related to Our REIT Status and Other Matters—We may be unable to generate sufficient revenue from operations to pay our operating expenses and to pay distributions to our stockholders”), we may elect not to maintain our REIT status, in which case we would no longer be required to make such distributions. Moreover, even if we do elect to maintain our REIT status, we may elect to comply with the applicable requirements by, after completing various procedural steps, distributing, under certain circumstances, a portion of the required amount in the form of shares of our common stock in lieu of cash. If we elect not to maintain our REIT status or to satisfy any required distributions in common stock in lieu of cash, such action could negatively affect our business and financial condition as well as the price of both our common and preferred stock. No assurance can be given that we will pay any dividends on our common stock in the future.
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We do not currently have unpaid accrued dividends on our preferred stock. However, to the extent we do, we cannot pay any dividends on our common stock, pay any consideration to repurchase or otherwise acquire shares of our common stock or redeem any shares of any series of our preferred stock without redeeming all of our outstanding preferred shares in accordance with the governing documentation. Consequently, the failure to pay dividends on our preferred stock restricts the actions that we may take with respect to our common stock and preferred stock. Moreover, if we do not pay dividends on any series of preferred stock for six or more periods, then holders of each affected series obtain the right to call a special meeting and elect two members to our board of directors. We cannot predict whether the holders of our preferred stock would take such action or, if taken, how long the process would take or what impact the two new directors on our board of directors would have on our company (other than increasing our director compensation costs). However, the election of additional directors would affect the composition of our board of directors and, thus, could affect the management of our business.
We may choose to pay dividends in our own stock, or make a distribution of a subsidiary’s common stock, in which case you could be required to pay income taxes in excess of the cash dividends you receive.
We may in the future distribute taxable dividends that are payable in cash and shares of our common stock at the election of each stockholder. We may also determine to distribute a taxable dividend in the stock of a subsidiary in connection with a spin-off or other transaction, as in the case of our spin-off of New Residential in May 2013 and our spin-off of New Media in February 2014. We are currently considering a spin-off of our senior housing business, which could result in the distribution of a taxable dividend, although there can be no assurance as to the timing, terms, structure or completion of any such transaction. Taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the full amount of the distribution as ordinary income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for federal income tax purposes. As a result, stockholders may be required to pay income taxes with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash dividends received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock that it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sale proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in stock. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock.
It is unclear whether and to what extent we will be able to pay taxable dividends in cash and stock. Moreover, various aspects of such a taxable cash/stock dividend are uncertain and have not yet been addressed by the IRS. No assurance can be given that the IRS will not impose additional requirements in the future with respect to taxable cash/stock dividends, including on a retroactive basis, or assert that the requirements for such taxable cash/stock dividends have not been met.
Shares eligible for future sale may adversely affect our common stock price.
Sales of our common stock or other securities in the public or private market, or the perception that these sales may occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. This could also impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of our equity securities. Under our certificate of incorporation, we are authorized to issue up to 1,000,000,000 shares of common stock and we are authorized to reclassify a portion of our authorized preferred stock into common stock, and there were 351,453,495 shares or our common stock outstanding as of February 21, 2014. We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our common stock or other securities or the effect, if any, that future sales and issuances would have on the market price of our common stock.
An increase in market interest rates may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
One of the factors that investors may consider in deciding whether to buy or sell shares of our common stock is our distribution rate as a percentage of our share price relative to market interest rates. If the market price of our common stock is based primarily on the earnings and return that we derive from our investments and income with respect to our investments and our related distributions to stockholders, and not from the market value of the investments themselves, then interest rate fluctuations and capital market conditions will likely affect the market price of our common stock. For instance, if market interest rates rise without an increase in our distribution rate, the market price of our common stock could decrease as potential investors may require a higher distribution yield on our common stock or seek other securities paying higher distributions or interest. In addition, rising interest rates would result in increased interest expense on our variable rate debt, thereby adversely affecting cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness and pay distributions.
ERISA may restrict investments by plans in our common stock.
A plan fiduciary considering an investment in our common stock should consider, among other things, whether such an investment is consistent with the fiduciary obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), including whether such investment might constitute or give rise to a prohibited transaction under ERISA, the Code or any substantially similar federal, state or local law and, if so, whether an exemption from such prohibited transaction rules is available.
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Maryland takeover statutes may prevent a change of our control, which could depress our stock price.
Under Maryland law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder or an affiliate of an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include certain mergers, consolidations, share exchanges, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities or a liquidation or dissolution. An interested stockholder is defined as:
• | any person who beneficially owns 10% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding shares; or |
• | an affiliate or associate of a corporation who, at any time within the two-year period prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding stock of the corporation. |
A person is not an interested stockholder under the statute if the board of directors approved in advance the transaction by which he or she otherwise would have become an interested stockholder.
After the five-year prohibition, any business combination between the Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder generally must be recommended by the board of directors of the corporation and approved by the affirmative vote of at least:
• | 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation voting together as a single group; and |
• | two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom or with whose affiliate the business combination is to be effected or held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder voting together as a single voting group. |
The business combination statute may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer, including potential acquisitions that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.
Our authorized, but unissued common and preferred stock may prevent a change in our control.
Our charter authorizes us to issue additional authorized but unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock. In addition, our board of directors may classify or reclassify any unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock and may set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our board may establish a series of preferred stock that could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
We have no unresolved staff comments received more than 180 days prior to December 31, 2013.
Our direct investments in senior housing and golf properties are described under “Business – Investment Portfolio.”
Our Manager leases principal executive and administrative offices located at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105. Its telephone number is (212) 798-6100.
Our golf business’s executive office is located at 6080 Center Drive, Suite 500, Los Angeles, California, 90045. Its telephone number is (310) 664-4210.
We maintain our properties in good condition and believe that our current facilities are adequate to meet the present needs of our business. We do not believe any individual property is material to our financial condition or results of operations.
We are not a party to any material legal proceedings. No material proceedings were terminated during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year covered by this report.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
None.
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Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
We have one class of common stock, which has been listed and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “NCT” since our initial public offering in October 2002. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high, low and last sale prices in dollars on the NYSE for our common stock and the distributions we declared with respect to the periods indicated.
2013 | High | Low | Last Sale | Distributions Declared |
|||||||||
First Quarter | $ | 11.65 | $ | 8.80 | $ | 11.17 | $ | 0.22 | |||||
Second Quarter (1) | $ | 12.49 | $ | 4.70 | $ | 5.23 | $ | 0.17 | |||||
Third Quarter | $ | 5.97 | $ | 5.00 | $ | 5.62 | $ | 0.10 | |||||
Fourth Quarter | $ | 5.94 | $ | 5.18 | $ | 5.74 | $ | 0.10 |
2012 | High | Low | Last Sale | Distributions Declared |
|||||||||
First Quarter | $ | 6.75 | $ | 4.65 | $ | 6.28 | $ | 0.20 | |||||
Second Quarter | $ | 7.31 | $ | 5.96 | $ | 6.70 | $ | 0.20 | |||||
Third Quarter | $ | 8.13 | $ | 6.67 | $ | 7.53 | $ | 0.22 | |||||
Fourth Quarter | $ | 8.91 | $ | 6.95 | $ | 8.68 | $ | 0.22 |
(1) | On May 15, 2013, we completed the spin-off of New Residential. The May 15, 2013 closing price of our Common Stock on the NYSE was $12.33. On May 16, 2013, the opening price of our Common Stock was $5.79. |
We may declare quarterly distributions on our common stock. No assurance, however, can be given that any future distributions will be made or, if made, as to the amounts or timing of any future distributions as such distributions are subject to our earnings, financial condition, liquidity, capital requirements, REIT requirements and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.
On February 21, 2014, the closing sale price for our common stock, as reported on the NYSE, was $4.80. As of February 21, 2014, there were approximately 62 record holders of our common stock. This figure does not reflect the beneficial ownership of shares held in nominee name.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
In June 2002, Newcastle (with the approval of Newcastle’s board of directors) adopted the Newcastle Nonqualified Stock Option and Incentive Award Plan, or the Newcastle Option Plan, for officers, directors, consultants and advisors, including the Manager and its employees.
In May 2012, with the approval of the shareholders, Newcastle’s board of directors adopted the 2012 Newcastle Nonqualified Stock Option and Incentive Plan, or the 2012 Plan. The 2012 Plan is the successor to the Newcastle Option Plan for officers, directors, consultants and advisors, including the Manager and its employees, and is intended to facilitate the continued use of long-term equity-based awards and incentives for the benefit of the service providers to Newcastle and its Manager. All outstanding options granted under the Newcastle Option Plan will continue to be subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the agreements evidencing such options and the terms of the Newcastle Option Plan. The maximum number of shares available for issuance in the aggregate over the ten-year term of the 2012 Plan is 20,000,000 shares. Newcastle’s board of directors may also determine to issue options to the Manager that are not subject to the 2012 Plan, provided that the number of shares underlying any options granted to the Manager in connection with capital raising efforts would not exceed 10% of the shares sold in such offering and would be subject to New York Stock Exchange rules. Upon exercise, all options will be settled in an amount of cash equal to the excess of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of exercise over the strike price per share, unless advance approval is made to settle the option in shares of common stock.
The following table summarizes the total number of outstanding securities in the incentive plans and the number of securities remaining for future issuance, as well as the weighted average strike price of all outstanding securities as of December 31, 2013 (adjusted for options which expired unexercised on January 9, 2014).
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Plan Category | Number of Securities to be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options |
Weighted Average Strike Price of Outstanding Options |
Number of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under the 2012 Equity Compensation Plan |
|||||||
Equity Compensation Plans Approved by Security Holders: | ||||||||||
Newcastle Investment Corp. Nonqualified Stock Option and Incentive Award Plan | 7,579,941 | $ | 4.81 | — | ||||||
2012 Newcastle Investment Corp. Nonqualified Stock Option and Incentive Award Plan | 19,699,372 | 4.31 | 154,925 | |||||||
Total Approved | 27,279,313 | (1) | $ | 4.45 | 154,925 | (2) |
Equity Compensation Plans Not approved by Security Holders:
None
(1) | Includes options relating to (i) 24,318,843 shares held by an affiliate of our Manager; (ii) 2,956,470 shares granted to our Manager and assigned to certain of Fortress’s employees; and (iii) an aggregate of 4,000 shares granted to our directors, other than Mr. Edens, but does not include options relating to 2,934,890 shares granted to an affiliate of our Manager with a strike price of $5.25 per share that were not issued pursuant to an equity compensation plan. |
(2) | The maximum available for issuance is 20,000,000 shares in the aggregate over the term of the 2012 Plan and no award shall be granted on or after May 7, 2022 (but awards granted may extend beyond this date). The number of securities remaining available for future issuance is net of (i) an aggregate of 79,870 shares of our common stock awards to our directors, other than Mr. Edens and Mr. Riis, representing the aggregate annual automatic stock awards to each such director for the periods subsequent to the adoption of the 2012 Plan and (ii) an aggregate of 65,833 options which have been previously exercised. |
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Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
The selected historical consolidated financial information set forth below as of and for each of the five years ended December 31, 2013 has been derived from our audited historical consolidated financial statements.
The information below should be read in conjunction with Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Selected Consolidated Financial Information
(in thousands, except per share data)
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
2013 (1) | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | ||||||||||||
Operating Data | ||||||||||||||||
Interest income | $ | 213,715 | $ | 282,951 | $ | 291,036 | $ | 300,272 | $ | 361,866 | ||||||
Interest expense | 90,973 | 109,924 | 138,035 | 172,219 | 218,410 | |||||||||||
Net interest income | 122,742 | 173,027 | 153,001 | 128,053 | 143,456 | |||||||||||
Impairment (reversal) | (19,769 | ) | (5,664 | ) | 1,110 | (240,858 | ) | 548,540 | ||||||||
Net interest income (loss) after impairment/reversal | 142,511 | 178,691 | 151,891 | 368,911 | (405,084 | ) | ||||||||||
Other revenues | 148,960 | 20,075 | 1,899 | 1,708 | 1,547 | |||||||||||
Other income | 37,144 | 262,294 | 180,495 | 282,287 | 227,399 | |||||||||||
Expenses | 207,506 | 66,118 | 30,327 | 30,901 | 33,099 | |||||||||||
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income tax | 121,109 | 394,942 | 303,958 | 622,005 | (209,237 | ) | ||||||||||
Income tax expense | 2,100 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Income (loss) from continuing operations | 119,009 | 394,942 | 303,958 | 622,005 | (209,237 | ) | ||||||||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations | 33,332 | 39,168 | 561 | (343 | ) | (667 | ) | |||||||||
Net income (loss) | 152,341 | 434,110 | 304,519 | 621,662 | (209,904 | ) | ||||||||||
Preferred dividends | (5,580 | ) | (5,580 | ) | (5,580 | ) | (7,453 | ) | (13,501 | ) | ||||||
Excess of carrying amount of exchanged preferred stock over fair value of consideration paid | — | — | — | 43,043 | — | |||||||||||
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests | (928 | ) | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
Income (loss) applicable to common stockholders | $ | 145,833 | $ | 428,530 | $ | 298,939 | $ | 657,252 | $ | (223,405 | ) | |||||
Income (loss) per share of common stock, diluted | $ | 0.51 | $ | 2.94 | $ | 3.65 | $ | 10.96 | $ | (4.23 | ) | |||||
Income (loss) from continuing operations per share of common stock, after preferred dividends, excess of carrying amount of exchanged preferred stock over fair value of consideration paid and net income attributable to noncontrolling interest diluted | $ | 0.40 | $ | 2.67 | $ | 3.64 | $ | 10.97 | $ | (4.21 | ) | |||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations per share of common stock diluted | $ | 0.11 | $ | 0.27 | $ | 0.01 | $ | (0.01 | ) | $ | (0.02 | ) | ||||
Weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding, diluted | 283,310 | 145,766 | 81,990 | 59,949 | 52,864 | |||||||||||
Dividends declared per share of common stock | $ | 0.59 | $ | 0.84 | $ | 0.40 | $ | — | $ | — |
(1) | The 2013 operating data includes the impact of the acquisitions of the Holiday Portfolio, other senior housing properties and the Media investments. See additional information in Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements which appear in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” |
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As Of December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
2013 (1) | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | ||||||||||||
Balance Sheet Data | ||||||||||||||||
Real estate securities, available-for-sale | $ | 984,263 | $ | 1,691,575 | $ | 1,731,744 | $ | 1,860,584 | $ | 1,830,795 | ||||||
Real estate related loans, held-for-sale, net | 437,530 | 843,132 | 813,580 | 782,605 | 573,862 | |||||||||||
Residential mortgage loans, held-for-investment, net | 255,450 | 292,461 | 331,236 | 124,974 | — | |||||||||||
Residential mortgage loans, held-for-sale, net | 2,185 | 2,471 | 2,687 | 253,213 | 383,647 | |||||||||||
Investments in senior housing real estate, net | 1,362,900 | 162,801 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Investments in other real estate, net | 266,170 | 6,672 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Property, plant and equipment, net | 270,188 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Intangibles, net | 345,125 | 19,086 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Goodwill | 126,686 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Other investments | 25,468 | 24,907 | 24,907 | 24,907 | — | |||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | 105,944 | 231,898 | 157,356 | 33,524 | 68,300 | |||||||||||
Restricted cash | 12,366 | 2,064 | 105,040 | 157,005 | 200,251 | |||||||||||
Assets of discontinued operations | — | 245,069 | 43,971 | — | — | |||||||||||
Total assets | 4,852,563 | 3,945,312 | 3,651,799 | 3,687,111 | 3,514,628 | |||||||||||
Total debt | 3,199,947 | 2,781,761 | 3,299,693 | 3,745,811 | 4,940,204 | |||||||||||
Total liabilities | 3,626,439 | 2,872,252 | 3,459,710 | 3,934,696 | 5,155,280 | |||||||||||
Common stockholders’ equity (deficit) | 1,103,262 | 1,011,477 | 130,506 | (309,168 | ) | (1,793,152 | ) | |||||||||
Preferred stock | 61,583 | 61,583 | 61,583 | 61,583 | 152,500 | |||||||||||
Noncontrolling interests | 61,279 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Supplemental Balance Sheet Data | ||||||||||||||||
Common shares outstanding | 351,453 | 172,526 | 105,181 | 62,027 | 52,913 | |||||||||||
Book value (deficit) per share of common stock | $ | 3.14 | $ | 5.86 | $ | 1.24 | $ | (4.98 | ) | $ | (33.89 | ) | ||||
Other Data | ||||||||||||||||
Core Earnings (2) | $ | 140,903 | $ | 163,217 | $ | 120,169 | $ | 91,376 | $ | 98,331 |
(1) | The 2013 balance sheet data includes the impact of the acquisitions of the Holiday Portfolio, other senior housing properties and the Media and Golf businesses. See additional information in Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements, which appear in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” |
(2) | Newcastle has the following primary variables that impact its operating performance: (i) the current yield earned on its investments that are not included in non-recourse financing structures (i.e., unlevered investments, including investments in equity method investees and investments subject to recourse debt), (ii) the net yield it earns from its non-recourse financing structures, (iii) the interest expense and dividends incurred under its recourse debt and preferred stock, (iv) the net operating income on its real estate, media and golf investments, (v) its operating expenses and (vi) its realized and unrealized gains or losses, including any impairment, on its investments, derivatives and debt obligations. “Core earnings” is a non-GAAP measure of the operating performance of Newcastle excluding the sixth variable listed above and adjusting the consumer loans portfolio accounting to a level yield methodology. It also excludes depreciation and amortization charges and acquisition and spin-off related expenses. “Core earnings” is used by management to gauge the current performance of Newcastle without taking into account gains and losses, which, although they represent a part of our recurring operations, are subject to significant variability and are only a potential indicator of future economic performance. It is the judgment of management that depreciation and amortization charges are not indicative of operating performance and that acquisition and spin-off related expenses are not part of our core operations. Management believes that the exclusion from “Core earnings” of the items specified above allows investors and analysts to readily identify the operating performance of the assets that form the core of our activity, assists in comparing the core operating results between periods, and enables investors to evaluate Newcastle’s current performance using the same measure that management uses to operate the business, which is among the factors considered when determining the amount of distributions to our shareholders. Newcastle changed its definition of “Core Earnings” to exclude acquisition and spin-off related expenses in the third quarter of 2013. The calculation of “Core Earnings” has been retroactively adjusted for all periods presented. |
Core earnings does not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and therefore should not be considered an alternative to net income as an indicator of our operating performance or as an alternative to cash flow as a measure of our liquidity and is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs. For a further description of the differences between cash flow provided by operations and net income, see “– Liquidity and Capital Resource” below. Our calculation of core earnings may be different from the calculation used by other companies and, therefore, comparability may be limited. |
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Calculation of Core Earnings:
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||
Income applicable to common stockholders | $ | 145,833 | $ | 428,530 | $ | 298,939 | ||||
Add (deduct): | ||||||||||
Impairment (reversal) | (19,769 | ) | (5,664 | ) | 1,110 | |||||
Other income | (35,401 | ) | (262,294 | ) | (180,495 | ) | ||||
Impairment (reversal), other (income) loss and other adjustments from discontinued operations | (6,429 | ) | (17,421 | ) | (428 | ) | ||||
Depreciation and amortization (A) | 33,093 | 6,975 | 12 | |||||||
Acquisition and spin-off related expenses | 23,576 | 13,091 | 1,031 | |||||||
Core earnings | $ | 140,903 | $ | 163,217 | $ | 120,169 |
(A) | Includes $2.7 million of depreciation and amortization expense in equity method investments for the year ended December 31, 2013. |
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” and Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
General
Newcastle is a real estate investment trust that focuses on opportunistically investing in, and actively managing, a variety of real estate related and other investments. Newcastle is externally managed and advised by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, or Fortress. Newcastle’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NCT.”
We currently invest in (1) senior housing properties, (2) real estate debt and (3) other investments. Our investment guidelines are purposefully broad to enable us to make investments in a wide array of assets, and we actively explore new business opportunities and asset categories as part of our business strategy. Our objective is to leverage our longstanding investment expertise to drive attractive risk-adjusted returns. We target stable long-term cash flows and seek to employ conservative capital structures to generate returns throughout different interest rate environments. We take an active approach centered around identifying and executing on opportunities, responding to the changing market environment, and dynamically managing our investment portfolio to enhance returns.
For further information relating to Newcastle’s business, see “Item 1.–Business”.
During the fourth quarter of 2013, we changed our financial reporting segments. In particular, we established media and golf segments in connection with the restructurings of certain debt investments, as further described in Item 1, “Business - Developments in 2013 - Restructuring and Spin-off of Media Investments” and Item 1, “Business - Developments in 2013 - Restructuring of Golf Investment.”
We conduct our business through the following segments: (i) investments in senior housing properties (“senior housing”), (ii) debt investments financed with collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), (iii) other debt investments (“Other Debt”), (iv) investments in media (“Media”), (v) investment in golf courses and facilities (“Golf”) and (vi) corporate. Revenues attributable to each segment, as restated for previously reported periods, are disclosed below (in thousands).
Debt Investments | Inter-segment Elimination |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
For the Year Ended | Senior Housing (1) | CDOs | Other Debt | Media (2) | Golf (3) | Corporate | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
December 31, 2013 | $ | 85,270 | $ | 119,292 | $ | 101,024 | $ | 61,637 | $ | — | $ | 198 | $ | (4,746 | ) | $ | 362,675 | ||||||||
December 31, 2012 | $ | 18,026 | $ | 197,007 | $ | 93,867 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 170 | $ | (6,044 | ) | $ | 303,026 | ||||||||
December 31, 2011 | $ | — | $ | 218,475 | $ | 80,133 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 167 | $ | (5,840 | ) | $ | 292,935 |
(1) | We completed the acquisition of a portfolio of 51 IL-only properties on December 23, 2013 which are included in this segment. | |
(2) | We spun-off our Media business in February 2014. | |
(3) | The Golf business was acquired on December 30, 2013. |
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Market Considerations
Our ability to generate income is dependent on, among other factors, our ability to raise capital and finance investments on favorable terms, deploy capital on a timely basis at attractive returns, and exit investments at favorable yields. Market conditions outside of our control, such as interest rates, credit spreads and stock market volatility affect these objectives in a variety of ways.
Our ability to execute our business strategy, particularly the growth of our investment portfolio, depends to a significant degree on our ability to obtain additional capital. During 2013, we successfully accessed the capital markets, issuing 178,700,952 shares for total net proceeds of $1.3 billion. However, rising interest rates or stock market volatility could impair our ability to raise equity capital on attractive terms.
Debt Investments
Interest rates have risen significantly in recent months and may continue to increase, although the timing of any further increases is uncertain. We have investments in both floating and fixed rate real estate related securities and loans, which are affected by interest rates in different ways. We expect that the value of our floating rate assets would not be significantly affected by a change in interest rates (whether an increase or decrease), since the coupon tracks the movement in rates, while the value of fixed rate assets can be negatively affected by rising interest rates. However, in general, rising interest rates are usually indicative of a strengthening economic environment, which could reduce the credit risk of some of our investments. With respect to our fixed rate assets, we believe that the negative impact of rising interest rates could potentially be offset by the positive impact of reduced credit risk.
Credit spreads also affect the value of our investments in debt securities and loans. Credit spreads decreased, or “tightened,” during 2013 relative to 2012, which has had a favorable impact on the value of our portfolio. Credit spreads measure the yield relative to a specified benchmark that the market demands on securities and loans based on the credit risk of such assets. The value of our portfolio tends to increase when spreads tighten, because under these circumstances the yield on our investments will generally be higher than the yield available on comparable new investments. However, tightening spreads tend to reduce the yields available on potential new investments. Conversely, when spreads increase or “widen,” the potential yields on new investments increase, but the value of our existing investments in debt securities and loans tends to decline. As a result, widening spreads negatively affect our ability to exit investments at attractive returns. Credit spreads also affect the cost of financing, with widening spreads tending to increase the cost, and tightening spreads tending to reduce it.
Senior Housing
We believe that the senior housing sector currently presents an attractive investment opportunity. Specifically:
• | we expect projected changes in demographics will drive increased demand for senior housing, creating favorable supply-demand fundamentals; | |
• | targeting smaller portfolios enables us to reduce competition with other active REIT buyers of large portfolios; and | |
• | capitalizing on the experience of our Manager in the senior housing industry, we expect to generate growth in property-level net operating income when operational and structural efficiencies are achieved. |
We made eight acquisitions of senior housing properties comprised of 72 properties in 2013. We continue to explore opportunities to invest in additional senior housing properties across the United States. While we generally target small portfolios, we have invested in large portfolios that we believe offer attractive risk-adjusted returns.
Our senior housing acquisitions have been financed with a combination of fixed and floating rate debt. Rising interest rates would increase the cost of our floating rate financing and negatively impact the returns on our senior housing investments.
Media Business
We spun off New Media on February 13, 2014. The spin-off was effected as a taxable pro rata distribution by Newcastle of all of the outstanding shares of common stock we held of New Media to our common stockholders of record at the close of business on February 6, 2014. The distribution ratio was 0.0722 shares of New Media common stock for each share of Newcastle common stock. For more information about the acquisition and spin off of the media business, see Notes 3 and 20 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Golf Business
With respect to our Golf business, trends in consumer discretionary spending as well as climate and weather patterns have a significant impact on the markets in which we operate. We believe improving economic conditions and improvements in local housing markets will help drive membership growth and golf rounds played.
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Application of Critical Accounting Policies
Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the use of estimates and assumptions that could affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Management believes that the estimates and assumptions utilized in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are prudent and reasonable. Actual results historically have been in line with management’s estimates and judgments used in applying each of the accounting policies described below, as modified periodically to reflect current market conditions. A summary of our significant accounting policies is presented in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements, which appear in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” The following is a summary of our accounting policies that are most effected by judgments, estimates and assumptions.
General
Variable Interest Entities
Variable interest entities (“VIEs”) are defined as entities in which equity investors do not have the characteristics of a controlling financial interest or do not have sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support from other parties. A VIE is required to be consolidated by its primary beneficiary, and only by its primary beneficiary, which is defined as the party who has the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact its economic performance and who has the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE.
The VIEs in which we have a significant interest include (i) our CDOs, and (ii) our manufactured housing loan financing structures. We do not have the power to direct the relevant activities of CDO V, as a result of an event of default which allows us to be removed as collateral manager of this CDO and prevents us from purchasing or selling certain collateral within this CDO, and therefore we deconsolidated this CDO as of June 17, 2011. Similar events of default in the future, if they occur, could cause us to deconsolidate additional financing structures. We completed two securitization transactions to refinance our Manufactured Housing Loans Portfolios I and II. We analyzed the securitizations under the applicable accounting guidance and concluded that the securitization transactions should be accounted for as secured borrowings. As a result, we continue to recognize the portfolios of manufactured housing loans as pledged assets, which have been classified as loans held-for-investment at securitization, and recorded the notes issued to third parties as secured borrowings.
Our subprime securitizations and the CDO VIII Repack are also considered VIEs, but we do not control the decisions that most significantly impact their economic performance and, for the subprime securitizations, no longer receive a significant portion of their returns, and therefore do not consolidate them.
In addition, our investments in RMBS, CMBS, CDO securities and real estate related and other loans may be deemed to be variable interests in VIEs, depending on their structure. We monitor these investments and analyze the potential need to consolidate the related securitization entities pursuant to the VIE consolidation requirements. These analyses require considerable judgment in determining whether an entity is a VIE and determining the primary beneficiary of a VIE since they involve subjective determinations of significance, with respect to both power and economics. The result could be the consolidation of an entity that otherwise would not have been consolidated or the de-consolidation of an entity that otherwise would have been consolidated.
Debt Investments
Valuation of Securities
We have classified all our real estate securities as available for sale. As such, they are carried at fair value with net unrealized gains or losses reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income, to the extent impairment losses are considered temporary as described below. Fair value may be based upon broker quotations, counterparty quotations or pricing services quotations, which provide valuation estimates based upon reasonable market order indications or a good faith estimate thereof and are subject to significant variability based on market conditions, such as interest rates, credit spreads and market liquidity. A significant portion of our securities are currently not traded in active markets and therefore have little or no price transparency. For a further discussion of this trend, see “– Market Considerations” above. As a result, we have estimated the fair value of these illiquid securities based on internal pricing models rather than the sources described above. The determination of estimated cash flows used in pricing models is inherently subjective and imprecise. Changes in market conditions, as well as changes in the assumptions or methodology used to determine fair value, could result in a significant and immediate increase or decrease in our book equity. For
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securities valued with pricing models, these inputs include the discount rate, assumptions relating to prepayments, default rates and loss severities, as well as other variables.
See Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for information regarding the fair value of our investments, and its estimation methodology, as of December 31, 2013.
Our securities must be categorized by the “level” of inputs used in estimating their fair values. Level 1 would be assets valued based on quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets. We have no level 1 assets. Level 2 would be assets valued based on quoted prices in active markets for similar instruments, on quoted prices in less active or inactive markets, or on other “observable” market inputs. Level 3 would be assets valued based significantly on “unobservable” market inputs. Fair value under GAAP represents an exit price in the normal course of business, not a forced liquidation price. If we were forced to sell assets in a short period to meet liquidity needs, the prices we receive could be substantially less than the recorded fair values.
We generally classify the broker and pricing service quotations we receive as level 3 inputs, except for certain liquid securities. They are quoted prices in generally inactive and illiquid markets for identical or similar securities. These quotations are generally received via email and contain disclaimers which state that they are “indicative” and not “actionable” – meaning that the party giving the quotation is not bound to actually purchase the security at the quoted price. These quotations are generally based on models prepared by the brokers, and we have little visibility into the inputs they use. Based on quarterly procedures we have performed with respect to quotations received from these brokers, including comparison to the outputs generated from our internal pricing models and transactions we have completed with respect to these securities, as well as on our knowledge and experience of these markets, we have generally determined that these quotes represent a reasonable estimate of fair value. For the $1.0 billion carrying value of securities valued using quotations as of December 31, 2013, a 100 basis point change in credit spreads would impact estimated fair value by approximately $16.7 million.
Our estimation of the fair value of level 3 assets valued using internal models (as described below) involves significant judgment. We validated the inputs and outputs of our models by comparing them to available independent third party market parameters and models for reasonableness. We believe the assumptions we used are within the range that a market participant would use and factor in the liquidity conditions currently in the markets. In 2013, the inputs to our models, including discount rates, prepayment speeds, default rates and severity assumptions, have generally improved compared to assumptions used at December 31, 2012 and 2011. In 2013, Newcastle increased the prepayment assumptions based on actual prepayment speeds rising throughout the year as rates remained historically low and lenders were able to lend to a broader lender base due to less strict credit standards. Default assumptions decreased due to lower levels of delinquent underlying loans. Loss severity assumptions were decreased based on observed decreases in recent loss severities. Decreasing the projected delinquency, default, and severity rates were a result of rising property values throughout the year and an increased incentive for borrowers to remain current as they gained more equity in their investments. In 2012, the inputs to our models, including discount rates, prepayment speeds, default rates and severity assumptions, have generally remained consistent with the assumptions used at December 31, 2011, other than certain modifications we have made to the assumptions to reflect conditions relevant to specific assets. In 2011, in comparison to the prior year end, we generally used lower discount rates as inputs to our models for ABS and CMBS-large loan/single borrower securities in order to reflect current market conditions.
For CMBS valued with internal models, which have an aggregate fair value of $1.8 million as of December 31, 2013, a 10% unfavorable change in our assumptions would result in the following decreases in such aggregate fair value (in thousands):
CMBS | ||||
Outstanding face amount | $ | 2,482 | ||
Fair value | $ | 1,770 | ||
Effect on fair value with 10% unfavorable change in: | ||||
Discount rate | $ | (23 | ) | |
Prepayment rate | N/A | |||
Default rate | $ | — | ||
Loss severity | $ | 61 |
The sensitivity analysis is hypothetical and should be used with caution. In particular, the results are calculated by stressing a particular economic assumption independent of changes in any other assumption; in practice, changes in one factor may result in changes in another, which might counteract or amplify the sensitivities. Also, changes in the fair value based on a 10% variation in an assumption generally may not be extrapolated because the relationship of the change in the assumption to the change in fair value may not be linear.
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Impairment of Securities
We must also assess whether unrealized losses on securities, if any, reflect a decline in value which is other-than-temporary and, if so, write the impaired security down to its fair value through earnings. A decline in value is deemed to be other-than-temporary if (i) it is probable that we will be unable to collect all amounts due according to the contractual terms of a security which was not impaired at acquisition (there is an expected credit loss), or (ii) if we have the intent to sell a security in an unrealized loss position or it is more likely than not we will be required to sell a security in an unrealized loss position prior to its anticipated recovery (if any). For the purposes of performing this analysis, we assume the anticipated recovery period is until the respective security’s expected maturity. Also, for certain securities which represent beneficial interests in securitized financial assets, whenever there is a probable adverse change in the timing or amounts of estimated cash flows of a security from the cash flows previously projected, an other-than-temporary impairment will be deemed to have occurred. Our non-Agency RMBS acquired with evidence of deteriorated credit quality for which it was deemed probable, at acquisition, that we would be unable to collect all contractually required payments as they come due, fall within the scope of loans and debt securities acquired with deteriorated credit quality, as opposed to beneficial interests in securitized financial assets. We note that primarily all of our securities, except our FNMA/FHLMC securities and our non-Agency RMBS acquired with evidence of deteriorated credit quality, fall within the definition of beneficial interests in securitized financial assets.
Temporary declines in value generally result from changes in market factors, such as market interest rates and credit spreads, or from certain macroeconomic events, including market disruptions and supply changes, which do not directly impact our ability to collect amounts contractually due. We continually evaluate the credit status of each of our securities and the collateral supporting our securities. This evaluation includes a review of the credit of the issuer of the security (if applicable), the credit rating of the security, the key terms of the security (including credit support), debt service coverage and loan to value ratios, the performance of the pool of underlying loans and the estimated value of the collateral supporting such loans, including the effect of local, industry and broader economic trends and factors. These factors include loan default expectations and loss severities, which are analyzed in connection with a particular security’s credit support, as well as prepayment rates. These factors are also analyzed in relation to the amount of the unrealized loss and the period elapsed since it was incurred. The result of this evaluation is considered when determining management’s estimate of cash flows, particularly with respect to developing the necessary inputs and assumptions. Each security is impacted by different factors and in different ways; generally the more negative factors which are identified with respect to a given security, the more likely we are to determine that we do not expect to receive all contractual payments when due with respect to that security. Significant judgment is required in this analysis.
As of December 31, 2013, we had 13 securities with a carrying amount of $24.7 million that had been downgraded during 2013. We did not record a net other-than-temporary impairment charge on these securities for the year ended December 31, 2013. However, we do not depend on credit ratings in underwriting our securities, either at acquisition or on an ongoing basis. As mentioned above, a credit rating downgrade is one factor that we monitor and consider in our analysis regarding other-than-temporary impairment, but it is not determinative. Our securities generally benefit from the support of one or more subordinate classes of securities or equity or other forms of credit support. Therefore, credit rating downgrades, even to the extent they relate to an expectation that a securitization we have invested in, on an overall basis, has credit issues, may not ultimately impact cash flow estimates for the class of securities in which we are invested.
Furthermore, the analysis of whether it is more likely than not that we will be required to sell securities in an unrealized loss position prior to an expected recovery in value (if any), the amount of such expected required sales, and the projected identification of which securities would be sold is also subject to significant judgment.
Revenue Recognition on Securities
Income on these securities is recognized using a level yield methodology based upon a number of cash flow assumptions that are subject to uncertainties and contingencies. Such assumptions include the rate and timing of principal and interest receipts (which may be subject to prepayments and defaults). These assumptions are updated on at least a quarterly basis to reflect changes related to a particular security, actual historical data, and market changes. These uncertainties and contingencies are difficult to predict and are subject to future events, and economic and market conditions, which may alter the assumptions. For securities acquired at a discount for credit losses, we recognize the excess of all cash flows expected over our investment in the securities as Interest Income on a “loss-adjusted” yield basis. The loss-adjusted yield is determined based on an evaluation of the credit status of securities, as described in connection with the analysis of impairment above.
Valuation of Derivatives
Similarly, our derivative instruments are carried at fair value. Fair value is based on counterparty quotations. Newcastle reports the fair value of derivative instruments gross of cash paid or received pursuant to credit support agreements and fair value is reflected on a net counterparty basis when Newcastle believes a legal right of offset exists under an enforceable
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netting agreement. To the extent they qualify as cash flow hedges, net unrealized gains or losses are reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income; otherwise, the net unrealized gains and losses are reported currently in income. To the extent they qualify as fair value hedges, net unrealized gains or losses on both the derivative and the related portion of the hedged item are reported currently in income. Fair values of such derivatives are subject to significant variability based on many of the same factors as the securities discussed above, including counterparty credit risk. The results of such variability, the effectiveness of our hedging strategies and the extent to which a forecasted hedged transaction remains probable of occurring, could result in a significant increase or decrease in our GAAP equity and/or earnings.
Loans
We invest in loans, including, but not limited to, real estate related and other loans, including corporate bank loans, commercial mortgage loans, residential mortgage loans, manufactured housing loans and subprime mortgage loans. Loans for which we have the intent and ability to hold for the foreseeable future, or until maturity or payoff, are classified as held-for-investment. Loans for which we do not have the intent or the ability to hold for the foreseeable future, or until maturity or payoff, are classified as held-for-sale. Loans are presented in the consolidated balance sheet net of any unamortized discount (or gross of any unamortized premium) and an allowance for loan losses. We determine at acquisition whether loans will be aggregated into pools based on common risk characteristics (credit quality, loan type, and date of origination or acquisition); loans aggregated into pools are accounted for as if each pool were a single loan.
Impairment of Loans
To the extent that they are classified as held for investment, we must periodically evaluate each of these loans or loan pools for possible impairment. Impairment is indicated when it is deemed probable that we will be unable to collect all amounts due according to the contractual terms of the loan, or, for loans acquired at a discount for credit losses, when it is deemed probable that we will be unable to collect as anticipated. Upon determination of impairment, we would establish a specific valuation allowance with a corresponding charge to earnings. We continually evaluate our loans receivable for impairment.
Our residential mortgage loans, including manufactured housing loans, are aggregated into pools for evaluation based on like characteristics, such as loan type and acquisition date. Individual loans are evaluated based on an analysis of the borrower’s performance, the credit rating of the borrower, debt service coverage and loan to value ratios, the estimated value of the underlying collateral, the key terms of the loan, and the effect of local, industry and broader economic trends and factors. Pools of loans are also evaluated based on similar criteria, including historical and anticipated trends in defaults and loss severities for the type and seasoning of loans being evaluated. This information is used to estimate specific impairment charges on individual loans as well as provisions for estimated unidentified incurred losses on pools of loans.
Significant judgment is required both in determining impairment and in estimating the resulting loss allowance. Furthermore, we must assess our intent and ability to hold our loan investments on a periodic basis. If we do not have the intent to hold a loan for the foreseeable future or until its expected payoff, the loan must be classified as “held for sale” and recorded at the lower of cost or estimated value.
Revenue Recognition on Loans Held for Investment
Income on these loans is recognized similarly to that on our securities and is subject to similar uncertainties and contingencies, which are also analyzed on at least a quarterly basis. For loans acquired at a discount for credit losses, the net income recognized is based on a “loss adjusted yield” whereby a gross interest yield is recorded to Interest Income, offset by a provision for probable, incurred credit losses which is accrued on a periodic basis to Valuation Allowance. The provision is determined based on an evaluation of the loans as described under “– Impairment of Loans” above. A rollforward of the allowance is included in Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Revenue Recognition on Loans Held for Sale
Real estate related, commercial mortgage and residential mortgage loans that are considered held for sale are carried at the lower of amortized cost or market value determined on either an individual method basis, or in the aggregate for pools of similar loans. Interest income is recognized based on the loan’s coupon rate to the extent management believes it is collectable. Purchase discounts are not amortized as interest income during the period the loan is held for sale. A change in the market value of the loan, to the extent that the value is not above the average cost basis, is recorded in Valuation Allowance. A rollforward of the allowance is included in Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
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Investments in Equity Method Investees
We account for our interests in entities over which we exercise significant influence, but with respect to which the requirements for consolidation are not met, as investments in equity method investees. We record equity method investments initially at cost, and adjust the carrying amount to reflect our share of the earnings or losses of the investee, including all adjustments similar to those made in preparing consolidated financial statements. Our equity method investments are primarily comprised of Xanadu and, for the period from September 3, 2013 until November 26, 2013, Local Media Group. Other equity method investments are included within other investments on our balance sheet.
Senior Housing
Purchase Accounting
The senior housing properties acquired and the liabilities assumed were recorded at fair value. In determining the allocation of the purchase price between net tangible and identified intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, management made estimates of the fair value of the tangible and intangible assets and liabilities using information obtained as a result of preacquisition due diligence, marketing, leasing activities, and independent appraisals. Management allocated the purchase price to net tangible and identified intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values as of the acquisition date. The determination of fair value involved the use of significant judgment and estimation.
Impairment of Investments in Real Estate and Residential Lease Intangibles
We own senior housing properties held for investment. Intangibles and long-lived assets are tested for potential impairment annually or when changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Indicators of impairment include material adverse changes in the projected revenues and expenses, significant underperformance relative to historical or projected future operating results, and significant negative industry or economic trends. An impairment is determined to have occurred if the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated is less than the carrying value of an asset. The impairment is measured as the difference between the carrying value and the fair value. Significant judgment is required both in determining impairment and in estimating the fair value. We may use assumptions and estimates derived from a review of our operating results, business projections, expected growth rates, discount rates, and tax rates. We also make certain assumptions about future economic conditions, interest rates, and other market data. Many of the factors used in these assumptions and estimates are outside the control of management, and can change in future periods.
Senior Housing Revenue Recognition
Our triple net leases provide for periodic and determinable increases in base rent. We recognize base rental revenues under these leases on a straight-line basis over the applicable lease term when collectability is reasonably assured. Recognizing rental income on a straight-line basis generally results in recognized revenues during the first half of a lease term exceeding the cash amounts contractually due from our tenants, creating a straight-line rent receivable that is included in Receivables and Other Assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
We recognize rental, care, and ancillary income, other than nonrefundable community fee income, monthly as services are provided. We recognize nonrefundable community fee income on a straight-line basis over the average resident length of stay. Our lease agreements with residents generally have a term of 24 to 33 months and are cancelable by the resident upon 30 days’ notice.
Other Businesses
Purchase Accounting
The media and golf assets acquired and the liabilities assumed were recorded at fair value. In determining the allocation of the purchase price between net tangible and identified intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, management made estimates of the fair value of the tangible and intangible assets and liabilities using information obtained as a result of preacquisition due diligence, marketing, leasing activities, and independent appraisals. Management allocated the purchase price to net tangible and identified intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values as of the acquisition date. The determination of fair value involved the use of significant judgment and estimation.
Impairment of Investments in Real Estate
Intangibles and long-lived assets are tested for potential impairment annually or when changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Indicators of impairment include material adverse changes in the projected revenues and expenses, significant underperformance relative to historical or projected future operating results, and significant
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negative industry or economic trends. An impairment is determined to have occurred if the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated is less than the carrying value of an asset. The impairment is measured as the difference between the carrying value and the fair value. Significant judgment is required both in determining impairment and in estimating the fair value. We may use assumptions and estimates derived from a review of our operating results, business projections, expected growth rates, discount rates, and tax rates. We also make certain assumptions about future economic conditions, interest rates, and other market data. Many of the factors used in these assumptions and estimates are outside the control of management, and can change in future periods.
Goodwill and Intangible Assets
We assess the potential impairment of goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite lives on an annual basis. We perform our impairment at the reporting unit level. The fair value of the applicable reporting unit is compared to its carrying value. Estimating the fair value of a reporting unit requires us to make significant judgments, estimates and assumptions. We estimate fair value by applying third-party market value indicators to projected cash flows and/or projected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. In applying this methodology, we rely on a number of factors, including current operating results and cash flows, expected future operating results and cash flows, future business plans, and market data. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds the estimate of fair value, we calculate the impairment as the excess of the carrying value of goodwill over its implied fair value. The sum of the fair values of the reporting units are reconciled to our current market capitalization (based upon the stock market price) plus an estimated control premium.
We assess the recoverability of our definite lived intangible assets, whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate the carrying amount of the assets, or other appropriate grouping of assets, may not be fully recoverable. The assessment of recoverability is based on comparing management’s estimates of the sum of the estimated undiscounted cash flows generated by the underlying asset, or other appropriate grouping of assets, to its carrying value to determine whether an impairment existed at its lowest level of identifiable cash flows. Factors leading to impairment include significant under-performance relative to historical or projected results, significant changes in the manner of use of the acquired assets or the strategy for our overall business and significant negative industry or economic trends.
Pension and Postretirement Liabilities
An asset or liability is recognized in the consolidated balance sheet reflecting the funded status of pension and other postretirement benefit plans such as retiree health and life insurance, with current-year changes in the funded status recognized in the statement of equity.
The determination of pension plan obligations and expense is based on a number of actuarial assumptions. Two critical assumptions are the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the discount rate applied to pension plan obligations. For other postretirement benefit plans, which provide for certain health care and life insurance benefits for qualifying retired employees and which are not funded, critical assumptions in determining related obligations and expense are the discount rate and the assumed health care cost-trend rates.
Our only pension plan has assets valued at $20.3 million and the plan’s benefit obligation is $24.3 million resulting in the plan being 83% funded as of December 31, 2013.
To determine the expected long-term rate of return on the pension plan’s assets, we considered the current and expected asset allocations, as well as historical and expected returns on various categories of plan assets, input from actuaries and investment consultants, and long-term inflation assumptions. We used an assumption of 8.0% for the expected return on pension plan assets for 2013. If we were to reduce the rate of return by 50 basis points, then the expense for 2013 would have increased approximately $0.1 million.
We developed our discount rate for our other postretirement benefit plans using the same methodology as that described for the pension. The assumed health care cost-trend rate also affects other postretirement benefit liabilities and expense. A 100 basis point increase in the health care cost trend rate would result in an increase of approximately $0.4 million in the December 31, 2013 postretirement benefit obligation and a 100 basis point decrease in the health care cost trend rate would result in a decrease of approximately $0.3 million in the December 31, 2013 postretirement benefit obligation.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
The FASB has recently issued or discussed a number of proposed standards on such topics as consolidation, financial statement presentation, revenue recognition, leases, financial instruments, hedging, and contingencies. Some of the proposed changes are significant and could have a material impact on Newcastle’s reporting. Newcastle has not yet fully evaluated the potential impact of these proposals, but will make such an evaluation as the standards are finalized.
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Results of Operations
Consolidated Results
The following tables summarize the changes in our consolidated results of operations from year-to-year (dollars in thousands):
Comparison of Results of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 | |||||||||||||
Year Ended December 31, | Increase (Decrease) | ||||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | Amount | % | ||||||||||
Interest income | $ | 213,715 | $ | 282,951 | $ | (69,236 | ) | (24.5 | %) | ||||
Interest expense | 90,973 | 109,924 | (18,951 | ) | (17.2 | %) | |||||||
Net interest income | 122,742 | 173,027 | (50,285 | ) | (29.1 | %) | |||||||
Impairment (Reversal) | |||||||||||||
Valuation allowance (reversal) on loans | (25,035 | ) | (24,587 | ) | (448 | ) | (1.8 | %) | |||||
Other-than-temporary impairment on securities, net | 5,266 | 18,923 | (13,657 | ) | (72.2 | %) | |||||||
(19,769 | ) | (5,664 | ) | (14,105 | ) | (249.0 | %) | ||||||
Net interest income after impairment/reversal | 142,511 | 178,691 | (36,180 | ) | (20.2 | %) | |||||||
Other Revenues | |||||||||||||
Rental income | 74,936 | 17,081 | 57,855 | 338.7 | % | ||||||||
Care and ancillary income - senior housing | 12,387 | 2,994 | 9,393 | 313.7 | % | ||||||||
Media income - total | 61,637 | — | 61,637 | N.M. | |||||||||
148,960 | 20,075 | 128,885 | N.M. | ||||||||||
Other Income | |||||||||||||
Gain on settlement of investments, net | 17,369 | 232,897 | (215,528 | ) | (92.5 | %) | |||||||
Gain on extinguishment of debt | 4,565 | 24,085 | (19,520 | ) | (81.0 | %) | |||||||
Equity in earnings of Local Media Group | 1,870 | — | 1,870 | N.M. | |||||||||
Other income, net | 13,340 | 5,312 | 8,028 | 151.1 | % | ||||||||
37,144 | 262,294 | (225,150 | ) | (85.8 | %) | ||||||||
Expenses | |||||||||||||
Loan and security servicing expense | 3,857 | 4,260 | (403 | ) | (9.5 | %) | |||||||
Property operating expenses | 53,718 | 12,943 | 40,775 | 315.0 | % | ||||||||
Media operating expenses | 49,092 | — | 49,092 | N.M. | |||||||||
General and administrative expense | 36,775 | 17,247 | 19,528 | 113.2 | % | ||||||||
Management fee to affiliate | 33,091 | 24,693 | 8,398 | 34.0 | % | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 30,973 | 6,975 | 23,998 | 344.1 | % | ||||||||
207,506 | 66,118 | 141,388 | 213.8 | % | |||||||||
Income from continuing operations before income tax | $ | 121,109 | $ | 394,942 | $ | (273,833 | ) | (69.3 | %) |
N.M. – Not meaningful
Interest Income
Interest income decreased by $69.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 primarily due to a (i) a $64.4 million net decrease in interest income as a result of the deconsolidation of CDO X in September 2012 and (ii) a $6.4 million decrease in interest income as a result of the sale of the assets in CDO IV in May 2013, partially offset by a $1.6 million net increase in interest income as a result of new investments made including investments that were spun-off on May 15, 2013 and the investment in outstanding debt of GateHouse through November 25, 2013.
Interest Expense
Interest expense decreased by $19.0 million primarily due to (i) a $27.1 million decrease in interest expense as a result of the deconsolidation of CDO X in September 2012 and (ii) a $3.5 million decrease in interest expense as a result of the sale of the assets in CDO IV in May 2013. The decreases described above were partially offset by (i) a $9.1 million increase in mortgage interest expense as a result of the incurrence of mortgage notes used to fund the acquisition of senior housing properties since 2012 and (ii) a $2.5 million net increase in interest expense primarily due to a higher outstanding balance of repurchase agreement financing on our FNMA/FHLMC securities, non-agency RMBS and other investments.
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Valuation (Reversal) Allowance on Loans
The valuation allowance (reversal) on loans changed by $0.4 million primarily due to a $9.1 million increase in the reversal of the valuation allowance on our manufactured housing loans and residential mortgage loans in the 2013 period compared to the 2012 period as a result of market conditions for these assets improving more in the 2013 period than in the 2012 period. This change was partially offset by an $8.7 million decrease in valuation allowance (reversal) related to our real estate and other loans during the year ended December 31, 2013 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2012.
Other-than-temporary Impairment on Securities, Net
The other-than-temporary impairment on securities decreased by $13.7 million primarily due to market conditions improving in 2013. We recorded an impairment charge of $1.5 million on 22 securities which were not part of the spin-off during the year ended December 31, 2013, compared to an impairment charge of $18.9 million on 13 securities during the year ended December 31, 2012. In addition, we recorded $3.8 million of impairment charges during the year ended December 31, 2013 on FNMA/FHLMC securities and non-Agency RMBS in connection with the spin-off of New Residential.
Other Revenues
The other revenues increased by $128.9 million primarily due to (i) a $61.6 million increase in revenue from our Media business which was acquired during the fourth quarter of 2013, and (ii) a $67.2 million increase in rental and care and ancillary income during 2013 from our senior housing business due to the acquisitions of the senior housing properties since July 2012.
Gain on Settlement of Investments, Net
The net gain on settlement of investments decreased by $215.5 million. During the year ended December 31, 2013, as part of the sale of the assets in CDO IV in May 2013, Newcastle recorded a gain of $4.2 million on the sale of the assets and a $0.9 million gain on the CDO IV hedge termination. In addition, Newcastle recorded a gain of $12.3 million as part of the sale or restructuring of 10 securities and loans during 2013. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we recorded a net gain of $224.3 million on the sale of CDO X and a gain of $8.6 million on 27 securities and loans that were sold.
Gain on Extinguishment of Debt
The gain on extinguishment of debt decreased by $19.5 million primarily due to a higher average price of debt repurchased in the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012. We repurchased $35.9 million face amount of our own CDO debt and other bonds payable at an average price of 87.1% of par during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to $39.3 million face amount of CDO debt and other bonds payable at an average price of 38.4% of par during the year ended December 31, 2012.
Other Income, Net
Other income increased by $8.0 million primarily due to (i) $7.0 million of unrealized losses recognized on certain interest rate swap agreements that were de-designated as accounting hedges during the year ended December 31, 2012, and (ii) a $1.5 million increase in the fair value of certain non-hedge interest rate swap agreements as a result of changes in interest rates in the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012. The increase was partially offset by a $0.5 million decrease related to collateral management fee income.
Loan and Security Servicing Expense
Loan and security servicing expense remained relatively stable during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012.
Property Operating Expense
The property operating expenses increased by $40.8 million due to the acquisitions of the senior housing properties since July 2012.
Media Operating Expenses
Media operating expenses increased by $49.1 million due to the restructuring of the Media business on November 26, 2013.
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General and Administrative Expense
General and administrative expense increased by $19.5 million primarily due to an increase in professional fees related to the acquisition costs for investments in senior housing properties, the restructuring and spin-off of the Media investments, the restructuring of the Golf investment and the New Residential spin-off.
Management Fee to Affiliate
Management fees increased by $8.4 million primarily due to (i) an increase in gross equity as a result of our public offerings of common stock in 2012 and 2013, and (ii) an increase in property management fees in connection with the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012, partially offset by the decrease in gross equity of $1.2 billion due to the New Residential spin-off.
Depreciation and Amortization
The depreciation and amortization expense increased by $24.0 million due to the acquisitions of the senior housing properties since July 2012, and the additional depreciation expense recorded as a result of the Media restructuring during the fourth quarter of 2013.
Comparison of Results of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 | |||||||||||||
Year Ended December 31, | Increase (Decrease) | ||||||||||||
2012 | 2011 | Amount | % | ||||||||||
Interest income | $ | 282,951 | $ | 291,036 | $ | (8,085 | ) | (2.8 | %) | ||||
Interest expense | 109,924 | 138,035 | (28,111 | ) | (20.4 | %) | |||||||
Net interest income | 173,027 | 153,001 | 20,026 | 13.1 | % | ||||||||
Impairment (Reversal) | |||||||||||||
Valuation allowance (reversal) on loans | (24,587 | ) | (15,163 | ) | (9,424 | ) | (62.2 | %) | |||||
Impairment of long-lived assets | — | 433 | (433 | ) | (100.0 | %) | |||||||
Other-than-temporary impairment on securities, net | 18,923 | 15,840 | 3,083 | 19.5 | % | ||||||||
(5,664 | ) | 1,110 | (6,774 | ) | (610.3 | %) | |||||||
Net interest income after impairment (reversal) | 178,691 | 151,891 | 26,800 | 17.6 | % | ||||||||
Other Revenues | 20,075 | 1,899 | 18,176 | N.M. | |||||||||
Other Income | |||||||||||||
Gain on settlement of investments, net | 232,897 | 78,181 | 154,716 | 197.9 | % | ||||||||
Gain on extinguishment of debt | 24,085 | 66,110 | (42,025 | ) | (63.6 | %) | |||||||
Other income, net | 5,312 | 36,204 | (30,892 | ) | (85.3 | %) | |||||||
262,294 | 180,495 | 81,799 | 45.3 | % | |||||||||
Expenses | |||||||||||||
Loan and security servicing expense | 4,260 | 4,649 | (389 | ) | (8.4 | %) | |||||||
Property operating expenses | 12,943 | 1,110 | 11,833 | N.M. | |||||||||
General and administrative expense | 17,247 | 6,267 | 10,980 | 175.2 | % | ||||||||
Management fee to affiliate | 24,693 | 18,289 | 6,404 | 35.0 | % | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 6,975 | 12 | 6,963 | N.M. | |||||||||
66,118 | 30,327 | 35,791 | 118.0 | % | |||||||||
Income from continuing operations before income tax | $ | 394,942 | $ | 303,958 | $ | 90,984 | 29.9 | % |
N.M. – Not meaningful
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Interest Income
Interest income decreased by $8.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the year ended December 31, 2011 primarily due to a $31.3 million decrease in interest income as a result of the deconsolidation of CDO V in June 2011 and CDO X in September 2012 partially offset by a $23.3 million net increase in interest income as a result of new investments in securities and loans, offset by paydowns and changes in interest rates.
Interest Expense
Interest expense decreased by $28.1 million primarily due to (i) a $5.2 million decrease in interest expense on debt as a result of the paydowns and repurchases of our CDO debt obligations and the deconsolidation of CDO V and CDO X and (ii) a $26.8 million decrease in interest expense on derivatives as a result of the termination of interest rate swaps, decreases in swap notional amounts, changes in interest rates and the deconsolidation of CDO V and CDO X. The decreases described in (i) to (ii) above were partially offset by a $1.7 million increase in mortgage interest expense as a result of the acquisitions of senior housing properties in July and November of 2012 and a $2.2 million increase in interest expense on other bonds payable and repurchase agreements primarily due to a higher outstanding balance of repurchase agreement financing on our FNMA/FHLMC securities and non-agency RMBS.
Valuation Allowance (Reversal) on Loans
The valuation allowance (reversal) on loans changed by $9.4 million primarily due to (i) a $6.6 million larger net increase in fair values of our real estate related loans during the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the year ended December 31, 2011, as a result of market conditions improving more in the 2012 period than in the 2011 period and (ii) a $2.8 million lower net valuation allowance on our manufactured housing loans and residential mortgage loans in the 2012 period than in the 2011 period as a result of market conditions improving more in the 2012 period than in the 2011 period.
The reversal of previously established valuation allowances will likely decline over time as the reversal is subject to (i) a continued improvement in loan valuations and (ii) the remaining amount of previously established allowances that have not yet been reversed.
Impairment of Long-lived Assets
The impairment of long-lived assets decreased $0.4 million in the year ended 2012 compared to the year ended 2011 primarily due to a decline in fair value of the Ohio portfolio during the year ended December 31, 2011.
Other-than-temporary Impairment on Securities, Net
The other-than-temporary impairment on securities increased by $3.1 million primarily due to an additional decline in the value of certain commercial mortgage backed securities. We recorded an impairment charge of $18.9 million on 13 securities during the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to an impairment charge of $15.8 million on 30 securities during the year ended December 31, 2011.
Other Revenues
The other revenues increased $18.2 million due to rental revenues resulting from the acquisitions of the senior housing properties in July and November of 2012.
Gain (Loss) on Settlement of Investments, Net
The net gain on settlement of investments increased by $154.7 million primarily due to a $224.3 million gain on the sale of CDO X interests recorded in September 2012, partially offset by a $69.6 million decrease in the net gain on sales and repayments of investments in the 2012 period compared to the 2011 period. We recorded a net gain of $8.6 million on 27 securities and loans that were sold or paid off during the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to a net gain of $78.2 million on 95 securities and loans that were sold or paid off during the year ended December 31, 2011.
Gain (Loss) on Extinguishment of Debt
The gain on extinguishment of debt decreased by $42.0 million due to a lower face amount, somewhat offset by a lower average price of debt, repurchased in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the year ended December 31, 2011. We repurchased $39.3 million face amount of our own CDO debt and other bonds payable at an average price of 38.4% of par during the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $171.8 million face amount of CDO bonds and other bonds payable repurchased at an average price of 61.2% of par during the year ended December 31, 2011.
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Other Income (Loss), Net
Other income decreased by $30.9 million primarily due to (i) a $5.8 million greater increase in the fair value of certain non-hedge interest rate swap agreements as a result of changes in interest rates in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the year ended December 31, 2011, (ii) a $6.9 million decrease in unrealized losses recognized on certain interest rate swap agreements in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the year ended December 31, 2011, primarily caused by the fact that the interest rate swap agreements that were de-designated as accounting hedges (since the hedged items were considered not probable of occurring) had higher notional amounts during the year ended December 31, 2011 and (iii) a $1.5 million increase in other income related to hedge ineffectiveness and collateral management fee income. The increases in (i) to (iii) above were offset by a $45.1 million decrease in gain on deconsolidation of CDO V recorded in the year ended December 31, 2011.
Loan and Security Servicing Expense
Loan and security servicing expense remained relatively stable during the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to the year ended December 31, 2011.
Property Operating Expense
The property operating expenses increased $11.8 million due to the acquisitions of the senior housing properties since July 2012.
General and Administrative Expense
General and administrative expense increased by $11.0 million primarily due to an increase in professional fees related to the acquisitions of senior housing properties and other investments.
Management Fee to Affiliate
Management fees increased by $6.4 million primarily due to (i) an increase in gross equity as a result of our public offerings of common stock in March 2011, September 2011, April 2012, May 2012 and July 2012, and (ii) an increase in property management fees in connection with the acquisitions of senior housing properties in July and November of 2012.
Depreciation and Amortization
The depreciation and amortization expense increased $7.0 million due to the acquisitions of the senior housing properties in July and November 2012, and the additional depreciation expense recorded as a result of the classification of the Ohio portfolio as held for use in December 2012.
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Segment Results
Comparison of Senior Housing Results of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 | |||||||||||||
Year Ended December 31, | Increase (Decrease) | ||||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | Amount | % | ||||||||||
Revenues | |||||||||||||
Rental income | $ | 72,880 | $ | 15,032 | $ | 57,848 | 384.8 | % | |||||
Care and ancillary income | 12,387 | 2,994 | 9,393 | 313.7 | % | ||||||||
Total Revenues | 85,267 | 18,026 | 67,241 | 373.0 | % | ||||||||
Expenses | |||||||||||||
Property operating expenses | $ | 52,713 | $ | 11,539 | $ | 41,174 | 356.8 | % | |||||
General and administrative expense | 15,948 | 5,764 | 10,184 | 176.7 | % | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 26,905 | 5,784 | 21,121 | 365.2 | % | ||||||||
Interest expense, net | 10,778 | 1,688 | 9,090 | 538.5 | % | ||||||||
Management fee to affiliate | 5,034 | 1,082 | 3,952 | 365.2 | % | ||||||||
Total Expenses | 111,378 | 25,857 | 85,521 | 330.7 | % | ||||||||
Other gain (loss), net | $ | 11 | $ | (82 | ) | $ | 93 | 113.4 | % | ||||
Loss from continuing operations before income tax | $ | (26,100 | ) | $ | (7,913 | ) | $ | (18,187 | ) | (229.8 | %) |
N.M. - Not meaningful
Rental Income
Rental income increased by $57.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012.
Care and ancillary income
Care and ancillary income increased by $9.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012.
Property operating expenses
Property and operating expenses increased by $41.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012.
General and administrative expense
General and administrative expense increased by $10.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012.
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization increased by $21.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012.
Interest expense, net
Interest expense, net increased by $9.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012.
Management fee to affiliate
Management fee to affiliate increased by $4.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 due to the acquisitions of senior housing properties since July 2012.
Golf Segment
We completed the acquisition of our golf investment on December 30, 2013 and therefore our golf segment had no impact on our results of operations for the year ended December 30, 2013. In subsequent periods, revenues from our golf segment
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will be composed mainly of revenues from daily green fees, golf cart rentals and food, beverage and merchandise sales for our public courses, and initiation fees, membership dues, guest fees, and food, beverage and merchandise sales for our private courses. We expect operating expenses to primarily consist of labor expenses, food and beverage costs, golf course maintenance costs and general and administrative costs.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Overview
Liquidity is a measurement of our ability to meet potential cash requirements, including ongoing commitments to repay borrowings, fund and maintain investments, and other general business needs.
Our primary sources of funds for liquidity consist of net cash provided by operating activities, sales or repayments of investments, potential refinancing of existing debt, and the issuance of equity securities, when feasible. We have an effective shelf registration statement with the SEC, which allows us to issue common stock, preferred stock, depository shares, debt securities and warrants. Our debt obligations are generally secured directly by our investment assets, except for the junior subordinated notes payable.
Sources of Liquidity and Uses of Capital
As of the date of this filing, we have sufficient liquid assets, which include unrestricted cash, to satisfy all of our short-term recourse liabilities. Our junior subordinated notes payable are long-term obligations. With respect to the next twelve months, we expect that our cash on hand combined with our cash flow provided by operations will be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated liquidity needs with respect to our current investment portfolio, including related financings, capital expenditures, hedging activity, potential margin calls and operating expenses. In addition, we anticipate cash requirements with respect to incremental investments, including (but not limited to) senior housing properties. We may elect to meet the cash requirements of these incremental investments through proceeds from the monetization of our assets or from additional borrowings or equity offerings. While it is inherently more difficult to forecast beyond the next twelve months, we currently expect to meet our long-term liquidity requirements, specifically the repayment of our recourse debt obligations, through our cash on hand and, if needed, additional borrowings, proceeds received from repurchase agreements and similar financings, proceeds from equity offerings and the liquidation or refinancing of our assets.
These short-term and long-term expectations are forward-looking and subject to a number of uncertainties and assumptions, which are described below under “–Factors That Could Impact Our Liquidity, Capital Resources and Capital Obligations” as well as Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.” If our assumptions about our liquidity prove to be incorrect, we could be subject to a shortfall in liquidity in the future, and this shortfall may occur rapidly and with little or no notice, which would limit our ability to address the shortfall on a timely basis.
Cash flow provided by operations constitutes a critical component of our liquidity. Essentially, our cash flow provided by operations is equal to (i) revenues received from our senior housing properties, Media business (which we spun-off in February 2014) and Golf business debt, (ii) the net cash flow from our CDOs that have not failed their over collateralization or interest coverage tests, plus (iii) the net cash flow from our non-CDO debt investments that are not subject to mandatory debt repayment, including principal and sales proceeds, less (iv) operating expenses (primarily management fees, operating expenses, professional fees, insurance and taxes), less (v) interest on the junior subordinated notes payable and debt related to our senior housing, Media and Golf Segments, and less (vi) preferred dividends.
Our cash flow provided by operations differs from our net income (loss) due to these primary factors: (i) accretion of discount or premium on our real estate securities and loans (including the accrual of interest and fees payable at maturity), discount on our debt obligations, deferred financing costs, and deferred hedge gains and losses, (ii) gains and losses from sales of assets financed with CDOs, (iii) the valuation allowance recorded in connection with our loan assets, as well as other-than-temporary impairment on our securities, (iv) unrealized gains or losses on our non-hedge derivatives, (v) the non-cash gains or losses associated with our early extinguishment of debt, (vi) depreciation and amortization, and (vii) net income (loss) generated within CDOs that have failed their over collateralization or interest coverage tests. Proceeds from the sale of assets which serve as collateral for our CDO financings, including gains thereon, are required to be retained in the CDO structure until the related bonds are retired and are, therefore, not available to fund current cash needs outside of these structures.
REIT Compliance Requirements
To maintain our status as a REIT under the Code, we must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income. On May 15, 2013, we distributed, in a taxable distribution, 100% of the common stock of New Residential Investment Corp. with a value of $1.7 billion for tax purposes. As a result, we do not believe that there will be any additional REIT distribution requirements for the year ended December 31, 2013. As of December 31, 2012, we had a loss carryforward,
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inclusive of net operating loss and capital loss, of approximately $750.2 million. The net operating loss carryforward and capital loss carryforward can generally be used to offset future ordinary taxable income and capital gain, for up to twenty years and five years, respectively. In January 2013, we experienced an “ownership change” for purposes of Section 382 of the Code, which limits our ability to utilize our net operating loss and net capital loss carryforwards to reduce our future taxable income and potentially increases our related REIT distribution requirement. We do not believe that the limitation as a result of the January 2013 ownership change will prevent us from satisfying our REIT distribution requirement for the current year or future years. No assurance, however, can be given that we will be able to satisfy our distribution requirement following a current or future ownership change or otherwise. We note that a portion of this requirement may be able to be met in future years through stock dividends, rather than cash, subject to limitations based on the value of our stock.
Update on Liquidity, Capital Resources and Capital Obligations
Certain details regarding our liquidity, current financings and capital obligations as of February 21, 2014 are set forth below:
• | Unrestricted Cash Available to Invest After Commitments – We are currently fully invested after commitments; |
• | Margin Exposure and Recourse Financings – We have margin exposure on a $60.6 million repurchase agreement related to the financing of our purchase from a third party financial institution of certain repackaged Newcastle CDO VIII debt (treated as linked transactions), a $25.1 million repurchase agreement related to the financing of residential mortgage loans, and a $46.2 million repurchase agreement related to the financing of Newcastle CDO IX Class A-2 notes. |
The following table compares our recourse financings excluding the junior subordinated notes (in thousands):
Recourse Financings | February 21, 2014 | December 31, 2013 | December 31, 2012 | |||||||
CDO Securities | $ | 46,200 | $ | 15,094 | $ | 1,415 | ||||
Non-Agency RMBS | — | — | 150,922 | |||||||
Residential Mortgage Loans | 25,056 | 25,119 | — | |||||||
Linked transactions | 60,561 | 60,646 | — | |||||||
Non-FNMA/FHLMC recourse financings | 131,817 | 100,859 | 152,337 | |||||||
FNMA/FHLMC securities(1) | — | 516,134 | 772,855 | |||||||
Total recourse financings | $ | 131,817 | $ | 616,993 | $ | 925,192 |
(1) | In January 2014, we sold $503.0 million face of remaining FNMA/FHLMC securities and repaid $516.1 million of associated repurchase agreements. |
It is important for readers to understand that our liquidity, available capital resources and capital obligations could change rapidly due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Set forth below is a discussion of some of the factors that could impact our liquidity, available capital resources and capital obligations.
Factors That Could Impact Our Liquidity, Capital Resources and Capital Obligations
We refer readers to our discussions in other sections of this report for the following information:
• | For a further discussion of recent trends and events affecting our liquidity, see “– Market Considerations” above; |
• | As described above, under “– Update on Liquidity, Capital Resources and Capital Obligations,” we are subject to margin calls in connection with our repurchase agreements; |
• | Our match funded investments are financed long term, and their credit status is continuously monitored, which is described under “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk — Interest Rate Exposure’’ below. Our remaining investments, generally financed with short term debt or short term repurchase agreements, are also subject to refinancing risk upon the maturity of the related debt. See “– Debt Obligations” below; and |
• | For a further discussion of a number of risks that could affect our liquidity, access to capital resources and our capital obligations, see Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” above. |
In addition to the information referenced above, the following factors could affect our liquidity, access to capital resources and our capital obligations. As such, if their outcomes do not fall within our expectations, changes in these factors could negatively affect our liquidity.
• | Access to Financing from Counterparties – Decisions by investors, counterparties and lenders to enter into transactions with us will depend upon a number of factors, such as our historical and projected financial |
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• | performance, compliance with the terms of our current credit and derivative arrangements, industry and market trends, the availability of capital and our investors’, counterparties’ and lenders’ policies and rates applicable thereto, and the relative attractiveness of alternative investment or lending opportunities. Our business strategy is dependent upon our ability to finance our investments at rates that provide a positive net spread. |
• | Impact of Rating Downgrades on CDO Cash Flows – Ratings downgrades of assets in our CDOs can negatively impact compliance with the CDOs’ over collateralization tests. Generally, the over collateralization test measures the principal balance of the specified pool of assets in a CDO against the corresponding liabilities issued by the CDO. However, based on ratings downgrades, the principal balance of an asset or of a specified percentage of assets in a CDO may be deemed to be reduced below their current balance to levels set forth in the related CDO documents for purposes of calculating the over collateralization test. As a result, ratings downgrades can reduce the assumed principal balance of the assets used in the over collateralization test relative to the corresponding liabilities in the test, thereby reducing the over collateralization percentage. In addition, actual defaults of assets would also negatively impact compliance with the over collateralization tests. Failure to satisfy an over collateralization test could result in the redirection of cashflows, or, in certain cases, in the potential removal of Newcastle as collateral manager of the affected CDO. See “– Debt Obligations” below for a summary of assets on negative watch for possible downgrade in our CDOs. |
• | Impact of Expected Repayment or Forecasted Sale on Cash Flows – The timing of and proceeds from the repayment or sale of certain investments may be different than expected or may not occur as expected. Proceeds from sales of assets in the current illiquid market environment are unpredictable and may vary materially from their estimated fair value and their carrying value. |
Investment Portfolio
Our investment portfolio as of December 31, 2013 is described in Part I, Item 1, “Business – Investment Portfolio.”
Debt Obligations
Our debt obligations, as summarized in Note 14 to Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” existing at December 31, 2013 (gross of $13.5 million of discounts) had contractual maturities as follows (in thousands):
Nonrecourse | Recourse | Total | ||||||||
2014 | $ | 13,593 | $ | 560,659 | $ | 574,252 | ||||
2015 | 16,537 | 5,813 | 22,350 | |||||||
2016 | 41,083 | 9,625 | 50,708 | |||||||
2017 | 73,297 | 162,529 | 235,826 | |||||||
2018 | 142,789 | 103,219 | 246,008 | |||||||
Thereafter | 2,034,346 | 50,000 | 2,084,346 | |||||||
Total | $ | 2,321,645 | $ | 891,845 | $ | 3,213,490 |
Certain of the debt obligations included above are obligations of our consolidated subsidiaries which own the related collateral. In some cases, including the CDO Bonds Payable and Other Bonds Payable, such collateral is not available to other creditors of ours.
The financing of certain of our senior housing properties, our Media business (which we spun-off in February 2014), and our Golf business as well as our other non-CDO debt obligations, contain various customary loan covenants, in some cases including a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, maximum leverage ratio, minimum EBITDA amount, debt service coverage ratio, debt yield and/or minimum net worth requirement. We were in compliance with all of the covenants in these financings as of December 31, 2013. In addition, as of December 31, 2013, we had complied with the general investment guidelines adopted by our board of directors that limit total leverage.
Repurchase Agreements
The following table provides additional information regarding short term borrowings (dollars in thousands). The outstanding short-term borrowings were used to finance certain of our investments in FNMA/FHLMC securities and our investments in certain senior notes issued by Newcastle CDO VIII, CDO IX and Residential Mortgage Loans. All of the repurchase agreements have full recourse to Newcastle.
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Three Months Ended December 31, 2013 | Year Ended December 31, 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Outstanding Balance at December 31, 2013 |
Average Daily Amount Outstanding |
Maximum Amount Outstanding |
Weighted Average Interest Rate |
Average Daily Amount Outstanding |
Maximum Amount Outstanding |
Weighted Average Interest Rate |
||||||||||||||||
FNMA/FHLMC | $ | 516,134 | $ | 489,862 | $ | 547,366 | 0.37 | % | $ | 632,669 | $ | 1,351,728 | 0.41 | % | ||||||||
CDO Securities | 15,094 | 15,054 | 15,094 | 1.82 | % | 4,619 | 15,094 | 1.82 | % | |||||||||||||
Non-Agency RMBS | — | — | — | N/A | 71,311 | 302,033 | 2.18 | % | ||||||||||||||
Linked Transactions | 60,646 | 60,064 | 60,646 | 1.67 | % | 31,240 | 60,646 | 1.68 | % | |||||||||||||
Residential Mortgage Loans | 25,119 | 13,359 | 25,119 | 2.17 | % | 3,367 | 25,119 | 2.17 | % |
The non-Agency RMBS repurchase agreements were transferred to New Residential as part of the distribution on May 15, 2013. The weighted average differences between the fair value of the assets and the face amount of financing for the FNMA/FHLMC securities, CDO IX Class A-2, linked transactions, and Residential Mortgage Loans repurchase agreements were 5%, 30%, 42% and 20%, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2013. In January 2014, we sold $503.0 million face amount of the remaining FNMA/FHLMC securities at an average price of 105.82% for total proceeds of $532.2 million and repaid all $516.1 million of repurchase agreements.
Subprime Securitization
In March 2006, we acquired a portfolio of subprime mortgage loans (“Subprime Portfolio I”) for $1.50 billion. In April 2006, Newcastle Mortgage Securities Trust 2006-1 (“Securitization Trust 2006”) closed on a securitization of Subprime Portfolio I. We do not consolidate Securitization Trust 2006. We sold Subprime Portfolio I to Securitization Trust 2006, which issued $1.45 billion of notes with a stated maturity of March 2036. We, as holder of the equity of Securitization Trust 2006, have the option to redeem the notes once the aggregate principal balance of Subprime Portfolio I is equal to or less than 20% of such balance at the date of the transfer. The transaction between us and Securitization Trust 2006 qualified as a sale for accounting purposes. However, 20% of the loans which are subject to a call option by us, were not treated as being sold. Following the securitization, we held the following interests in Subprime Portfolio I: (i) the equity of Securitization Trust 2006, (ii) the retained notes, and (iii) subprime mortgage loans subject to call option and related financing in the amount of 100% of such loans (we note that this interest is non-economic if we do not exercise the option, meaning that it has no impact on us). As of December 31, 2013, the equity was valued at zero and the retained notes had a carrying value of $2.5 million.
In March 2007, we entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of subprime mortgage loans (“Subprime Portfolio II”) with up to $1.7 billion of unpaid principal balance. In July 2007, Newcastle Mortgage Securities Trust 2007-1 (“Securitization Trust 2007”) closed on a securitization of Subprime Portfolio II. As a result of the repurchase of delinquent loans by the seller, as well as borrower repayments, the unpaid principal balance of the portfolio upon securitization was $1.1 billion. We do not consolidate Securitization Trust 2007. We sold Subprime Portfolio II to Securitization Trust 2007, which issued $1.0 billion of notes with a stated maturity of April 2037. We, as holder of the equity of Securitization Trust 2007, have the option to redeem the notes once the aggregate principal balance of Subprime Portfolio II is equal to or less than 10% of such balance at the date of the transfer. The transaction between us and Securitization Trust 2007 qualified as a sale for accounting purposes. However, 10% of the loans which are subject to a call option by us were not treated as being sold. Following the securitization, we held the following interests in Subprime Portfolio II: (i) the equity of Securitization Trust 2007, (ii) the retained notes, and (iii) subprime mortgage loans subject to call option and related financing in the amount of 100% of such loans (we note that this interest is non-economic, meaning that if we do not exercise the option it has no impact on us). As of December 31, 2013, the equity and retained notes had a zero carrying value.
We have no obligation to repurchase any loans from either of our subprime securitizations. Therefore, it is expected that our exposure to loss is limited to the carrying amount of our retained interests in the securitization entities, as described above. A subsidiary of Newcastle gave limited representations and warranties with respect to Subprime Portfolio II; however, it has no assets and does not have recourse to the assets of Newcastle.
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Subordinated Notes Payable
The following table presents certain information regarding the junior subordinated notes (dollars in thousands).
Outstanding face amount | $51,004 | |||
Weighted average coupon | 7.57% | (A) | ||
Maturity | April 2035 |
Collateral | General credit of Newcastle |
(A) LIBOR + 2.25% after April 2016
Non-recourse Manufactured Housing Loan Financing
On April 15, 2010, Newcastle completed a securitization transaction to refinance its Manufactured Housing Loans Portfolio I. The securitization transaction is accounted for as a secured borrowing. Newcastle continues to recognize the portfolio of manufactured housing loans as pledged assets, which have been classified as loans held for investment at securitization, and records the notes issued to third parties as a secured borrowing.
On May 4, 2011, we completed a securitization transaction to refinance Manufactured Housing Loans Portfolio II. We sold approximately $197.0 million outstanding principal balance of manufactured housing loans to Newcastle Investment Trust 2011-MH 1 (the “2011 Issuer”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Newcastle. The 2011 Issuer issued approximately $159.8 million aggregate principal amount of investment grade notes, of which $142.8 million was sold to third parties and $17.0 million was sold to one of the CDOs managed and consolidated by us. In addition, we retained the below investment grade notes and residual interest. As a result, we invested approximately $20.0 million of unrestricted cash in the new securitization structure. The notes issued to third parties had an average expected maturity of 3.8 years and bore interest at an average rate of 3.23% per annum at issuance. At the closing of the securitization transaction, we used the gross proceeds received from the issuance of the notes to repay the previously existing debt in full, terminate the related interest rate swap contracts and pay the related transaction costs. Under the applicable accounting guidance, the securitization transaction is accounted for as a secured borrowing. As a result, no gain or loss is recorded for the transaction. We continue to recognize the portfolio of manufactured housing loans as pledged assets, which have been classified as loans held-for-investment at securitization, and record the notes issued to third parties as a secured borrowing.
Non-Recourse Senior Housing Financing
The following table summarizes our senior housing financing as of December 31, 2013 (dollars in thousands):
Non-recourse Financing |
Weighted Average Coupon |
Maturity Date | ||||
Managed Properties | ||||||
Fixed Rate | $ | 158,894 | 3.93 | % | August 2018 - March 2020 | |
Floating Rate | 198,584 | 4.60 | % | August 2016 - December 2018 | ||
Triple Net Lease Properties | ||||||
Fixed Rate | 719,350 | 4.15 | % | January 2021 - January 2024 |
Media Business Credit Facilities
Prior to the February 13, 2014 spin-off, we had an aggregate amount of $208.0 million in secured term and revolving loans related to the financing of the Media business, of which $25.0 million in revolving loans were undrawn. We had a $33.0 million secured term loan secured by all of the assets of Local Media Group. At Local Media Group, we also had a revolving credit facility with $10.0 million of additional available funding which was undrawn. This facility matures in September 2018 and has a weighted average interest rate of 7.50%. We also had $125.0 million of secured term loans secured by all of the assets of GateHouse and a revolving credit facility with $40.0 million of additional available funding of which $15.0 million was undrawn. The GateHouse facilities mature from November 2018 through November 2019 and have a weighted average interest rate of 8.02%.
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Golf Credit Facilities
As of result of the restructuring of our Golf investment, we