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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
|
| |
x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018
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: 001-36367
OUTFRONT Media Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
|
| | |
Maryland | | 46-4494703 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| | |
405 Lexington Avenue, 17th Floor New York, NY | | 10174 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | | (Zip Code) |
(212) 297-6400
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:
|
| | |
Title of Each Class | | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Common Stock, $0.01 par value | | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:
None
(Title of class)
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 every Interactive Data File required to be submitted 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 (§232.405 of this chapter) 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. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer | x | | Accelerated filer | o |
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Non-accelerated filer | o (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) | | Smaller reporting company | o |
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| | | Emerging growth company | o |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). o Yes x No
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2018, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $2.7 billion based upon the closing price reported for such date on the New York Stock Exchange.
As of February 26, 2019, the number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock was 140,757,756.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant's Proxy Statement for the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated herein by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.
OUTFRONT Media Inc.
Table of Contents
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PART I | | |
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PART II | | |
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PART III | | |
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PART IV | | |
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SIGNATURES | | |
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Except as otherwise indicated or unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to (i) “OUTFRONT Media,” “the Company,” “we,” “our,” “us” and “our company” mean OUTFRONT Media Inc., a Maryland corporation, and unless the context requires otherwise, its consolidated subsidiaries, and (ii) the “25 largest markets in the U.S.,” “140 markets in the U.S. and Canada” and “Nielsen Designated Market Areas” are based, in whole or in part, on Nielsen Media Research’s Designated Market Area rankings as of January 1, 2019.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We have made statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “likely,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “predicts,” “estimates,” “forecast” or “anticipates” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases that are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and that do not relate solely to historical matters. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions related to our capital resources, portfolio performance and results of operations.
Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and you should not rely on them as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise and may not be able to be realized. We do not guarantee that the transactions and events described will happen as described (or that they will happen at all). The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those set forth or contemplated in the forward-looking statements:
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• | Declines in advertising and general economic conditions; |
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• | Our inability to increase the number of digital advertising displays in our portfolio; |
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• | Our ability to implement our digital display platform and deploy digital advertising displays to our transit franchise partners; |
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• | Taxes, fees and registration requirements; |
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• | Our ability to obtain and renew key municipal contracts on favorable terms; |
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• | Decreased government compensation for the removal of lawful billboards; |
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• | Content-based restrictions on outdoor advertising; |
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• | Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; |
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• | Acquisitions and other strategic transactions that we may pursue could have a negative effect on our results of operations; |
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• | Dependence on our management team and other key employees; |
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• | The ability of our board of directors to cause us to issue additional shares of stock without stockholder approval; |
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• | Certain provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us; |
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• | Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited; |
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• | Our substantial indebtedness; |
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• | Restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness; |
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• | Incurrence of additional debt; |
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• | Interest rate risk exposure from our variable-rate indebtedness; |
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• | Our ability to generate cash to service our indebtedness; |
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• | Cash available for distributions; |
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• | Diverse risks in our Canadian business; |
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• | A breach of our security measures; |
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• | Changes in regulations and consumer concerns regarding privacy, information security and data, or any failure or perceived failure to comply with these regulations or our internal policies; |
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• | Asset impairment charges for our long-lived assets and goodwill; |
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• | Our failure to remain qualified to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”); |
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• | REIT distribution requirements; |
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• | Availability of external sources of capital; |
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• | We may face other tax liabilities even if we remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT; |
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• | Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to liquidate investments or forgo otherwise attractive opportunities; |
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• | Our ability to contribute certain contracts to a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”); |
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• | Our planned use of TRSs may cause us to fail to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT; |
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• | Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively; |
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• | Failure to meet the REIT income tests as a result of receiving non-qualifying income; |
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• | Even if we remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT, and we sell assets before July 17, 2019, we could be subject to tax on any unrealized net built-in gains in the assets held before electing to be treated as a REIT; |
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• | The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) may deem the gains from sales of our outdoor advertising assets to be subject to a 100% prohibited transaction tax; |
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• | Establishing operating partnerships as part of our REIT structure; and |
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• | U.S. federal tax reform legislation could affect us in ways that are difficult to anticipate. |
While forward-looking statements reflect our good-faith beliefs, they are not guarantees of future performance. All forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K apply as of the date of this report or as of the date they were made and, except as required by applicable law, we disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors of new information, data or methods, future events or other changes. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could impact our future results, performance or transactions, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties.
PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
OUTFRONT Media is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”), which provides advertising space (“displays”) on out-of-home advertising structures and sites in the United States (the “U.S.”) and Canada. We are one of the largest providers of advertising space on out-of-home advertising structures and sites across the U.S. and Canada. Our inventory consists of billboard displays, which are primarily located on the most heavily traveled highways and roadways in top Nielsen Designated Market Areas (“DMAs”), and transit advertising displays operated under exclusive multi-year contracts with municipalities in large cities across the U.S. and Canada. We also have marketing and multimedia rights agreements with colleges, universities and other educational institutions, which entitle us to operate on-campus advertising displays, as well as manage marketing opportunities, media rights and experiential entertainment at sports events. In total, we have displays in all of the 25 largest markets in the U.S. and approximately 140 markets in the U.S. and Canada. Our top market, high profile location focused portfolio includes sites such as the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, various locations along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, and sites in and around both Grand Central Station and Times Square in New York. The breadth and depth of our portfolio provides our customers with a range of options to address their marketing objectives, from national, brand-building campaigns to hyper-local campaigns that drive customers to the advertiser’s website or retail location “one mile down the road.”
In addition to providing location-based displays, we also focus on delivering audiences to our customers. Using Geopath, the out-of-home advertising industry’s audience measurement system, we provide advertisers with the size and demographic composition of the audience that is exposed to individual displays or a complete campaign. As part of our ON Smart Media platform, we are developing hardware and software solutions for enhanced demographic and location targeting, and engaging ways to connect with consumers on-the-go. Additionally, our OUTFRONT Mobile Network allows our customers to further leverage location targeting with interactive mobile advertising that uses geofence technology and other data to push mobile ads to consumers within a pre-defined radius around a corresponding billboard display or other designated advertising location. Further, our social influence add-on product allows our customers to leverage location targeting with social sharing amplification.
We believe out-of-home advertising continues to be an attractive form of advertising, as our displays are always viewable and cannot be turned off, skipped, blocked or fast-forwarded. Further, out-of-home advertising can be an effective “stand-alone” medium, as well as an integral part of a campaign to reach audiences using multiple forms of media, including television, radio, print, online, mobile and social media advertising platforms. We provide our customers with a differentiated advertising solution at an attractive price point relative to other forms of advertising. In addition to leasing displays, we provide other value-added services to our customers, such as pre-campaign category research, attribution, consumer insights, creative design support through OUTFRONT Studios, print production and post-campaign tracking and analytics, as well as use of a real-time mobile operations reporting system that facilitates proof of performance to customers for substantially all of our business.
We generally (i) own the physical billboard structures on which we display advertising copy for our customers, (ii) hold the legal permits to display advertising thereon and (iii) lease the underlying sites. These lease agreements have terms varying between one month and multiple years, and usually provide renewal options. We estimate that approximately 75% of our billboard structures in the United States are “legal nonconforming” billboards, meaning they were legally constructed under laws in effect at the time they were built, but could not be constructed under current laws. These structures are often located in areas where it is difficult or not permitted to build additional billboards under current laws, which enhances the value of our portfolio. We have a highly diversified portfolio of advertising sites. As of December 31, 2018, we had approximately 20,800 lease agreements with approximately 16,900 different landlords in the U.S. A substantial number of these lease agreements allow us to abate rent and/or terminate the lease agreement in certain circumstances, which may include where the structure is obstructed, where there is a change in traffic flow and/or where the advertising value of the sign structure is otherwise impaired, providing us with flexibility in renegotiating the terms of our leases with landlords in those circumstances.
We manage our operations through three operating segments—(1) U.S. Billboard and Transit, which is included in our U.S. Media reportable segment, (2) International and (3) Sports Marketing. International and Sports Marketing do not meet the criteria to be a reportable segment and accordingly, are both included in Other (see Item 8., Note 19. Segment Information to the Consolidated Financial Statements). Prior to April 1, 2016, our International segment included our advertising businesses in Canada and Latin America. On April 1, 2016, we sold all of our equity interests in certain of our subsidiaries (the “Disposition”), which held all of the assets of our outdoor advertising business in Latin America (see Item 8., Note 13. Acquisitions and Dispositions: Dispositions to the Consolidated Financial Statements).
History
Our corporate history can be traced back to companies that helped to pioneer the growth of out-of-home advertising in the United States, such as Outdoor Systems, Inc., 3M National, Gannett Outdoor and TDI Worldwide Inc. In 1996, a predecessor of CBS Corporation (“CBS”) acquired TDI Worldwide Inc., which specialized in transit advertising. Three years later, a predecessor of CBS acquired Outdoor Systems, Inc., which represented the consolidation of the outdoor advertising assets of large national operators such as 3M National, Gannett Outdoor (and its Canadian assets held in the name Mediacom) and Vendor (a Mexican outdoor advertising company) and many local operators in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2008, CBS acquired International Outdoor Advertising Holdings Co., which operated outdoor advertising assets in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
On April 2, 2014, the Company completed an initial public offering (the “IPO”) of its common stock under the name “CBS Outdoor Americas Inc.” On July 16, 2014, CBS completed a registered offer to exchange 97,000,000 shares of our common stock that were owned by CBS for outstanding shares of CBS Class B common stock (“the Exchange Offer”). In connection with the Exchange Offer, CBS disposed of all of its shares of our common stock and as of July 16, 2014, we were separated from CBS (the “Separation”) and were no longer a subsidiary of CBS. On July 16, 2014, in connection with the Separation, we ceased to be a member of the CBS consolidated tax group, and on July 17, 2014, we began operating as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
On October 1, 2014, we completed the acquisition of certain outdoor advertising businesses of Van Wagner Communications, LLC, for a total purchase price of approximately $690.0 million in cash, plus working capital adjustments (the “Acquisition”).
On November 20, 2014, the Company changed its legal name to “OUTFRONT Media Inc.”, and its common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “OUT.”
Acquisition and Disposition Activity
We regularly evaluate potential acquisitions, ranging from small transactions to larger acquisitions.
On April 1, 2016, we completed the Disposition and received $82.0 million in cash plus working capital, which was subject to post-closing adjustments.
On June 13, 2017, certain subsidiaries of OUTFRONT Media Inc. acquired the equity interests of certain subsidiaries of All Vision LLC (“All Vision”), which hold substantially all of All Vision’s outdoor advertising assets in Canada, and effectuated an amalgamation of All Vision’s Canadian business with our Canadian business (the “Transaction”). In connection with the Transaction, we paid approximately $94.4 million for the assets, comprised of $50.0 million in cash and $44.4 million, or 1,953,407 shares, of Class A equity interests of a subsidiary of the Company that controls its Canadian business (“Outfront Canada”), subject to post-closing adjustments (upward or downward) for the achievement of certain operating income before depreciation and amortization targets relating to the acquired assets in 2018, which is not expected to be material.
For additional information regarding our acquisition and disposition activity, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” and “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Tax Status
Our qualification to be taxed as a REIT is dependent on our ability to meet various complex requirements under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), related to, among other things, the sources of our gross income, the composition and values of our assets and the diversity of ownership of our shares. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT.” As long as we remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on REIT taxable income that we distribute to stockholders. To maintain REIT status, we must meet a number of organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that we annually distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement and qualify for taxation as a REIT but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined with the above modifications, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed net taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax if the amount that we actually distribute to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under U.S. federal tax laws. We intend to pay regular quarterly distributions to our stockholders in an amount not less than 100% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for dividends paid).
We believe we are organized in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code and that our manner of operation will enable us to continue to meet those requirements. If we fail to qualify to be taxed as a REIT in any taxable year and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates and will be precluded from re-electing REIT status for the subsequent four taxable years. Despite our status as a REIT, we will be subject to certain U.S. federal, state and local taxes on our income or property and the income of our taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRSs”) will be subject to taxation at regular corporate rates.
Growth Strategy
Continue Increasing the Number of Digital Displays in our Portfolio. Increasing the number of digital displays in prime audience locations is an important element of our organic growth strategy, as digital displays have the potential to attract additional business from both new and existing customers. We believe digital displays are attractive to our customers because they allow for the development of richer and more visually engaging messages, provide our customers with the flexibility both to target audiences by time of day and to quickly launch new advertising campaigns, and eliminate or greatly reduce production and installation costs. In addition, digital displays enable us to run multiple advertisements on each display. Digital billboard displays generate approximately four times more revenue per display on average than traditional static billboard displays. Digital billboard displays also incur, on average, approximately two to four times more costs, including higher variable costs associated with the increase in revenue than traditional static billboard displays. As a result, digital billboard displays generate higher profits and cash flows than traditional static billboard displays. The majority of our digital billboard displays were converted from traditional static billboard displays. In 2017, we commenced deployment of state-of-the-art digital transit displays in connection with several transit franchises and are planning to increase deployments significantly over the coming years. Once the digital transit displays have been deployed at scale, we expect that revenue generated on digital transit displays will be a multiple of the revenue generated on comparable static transit displays. We intend to incur significant equipment deployment costs and capital expenditures in the coming years to continue increasing the number of digital displays in our portfolio. See “—Renovation, Improvement and Development.”
Drive Enhanced Revenue Management. We focus heavily on inventory management and advertising rate to improve average revenue per display (yield) over time across our portfolio of advertising structures and sites. By carefully managing our pricing on a market-by-market and display-by-display basis, we aim to improve profitability. We believe that closely monitoring pricing and improving pricing discipline will provide strong potential revenue enhancement. We also explore alternative uses of our billboard locations as they arise to drive site profitability, including wireless attachment placement opportunities on our leased and owned assets.
Mobile Technology and Social Media Engagement. We believe there is potential for growth in the reach, effectiveness and amplification of-out-home advertising through mobile technology and social media engagement. For example, the OUTFRONT Mobile Network creates opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audience by enabling them to bundle geofenced mobile advertising with an out-of-home advertising display campaign. Consumer dependence on mobile devices, especially while out-of-home, makes out-of-home advertising displays and mobile advertising a natural fit for advertiser brand messaging, allowing consumer mobile activities such as search, social and e-commerce to be primed by the out-of-home advertising display. Additionally, we offer a social influence add-on product to amplify our out-of-home advertising display campaigns.
Consider Selected Acquisition Opportunities. As part of our growth strategy, we frequently evaluate strategic opportunities to acquire new businesses and assets. Consistent with this strategy, we regularly evaluate potential acquisitions, ranging from small transactions to larger acquisitions. See “—Acquisition and Disposition Activity.” There can be no assurances that any transactions currently being evaluated will be consummated or, if consummated, that such transactions would prove beneficial to us. Further, our national footprint in the United States and significant presence in Canada provide us with an attractive platform on which to add additional advertising structures and sites. Our scale gives us advantages in driving additional revenues and reducing operating costs from acquired billboards. We believe that there is significant opportunity for additional industry consolidation, and we will evaluate opportunities to acquire additional out-of-home advertising businesses and structures and sites on a case-by-case basis.
Continued Adoption & Refinement of Audience Measurement Systems; Utilization of Data/Analytics. We believe the continued adoption and refinement of the out-of-home advertising industry’s audience measurement system, Geopath, will enhance the value of the out-of-home medium by providing customers with improved audience measurement and the ability to target by gender, age, ethnicity and income. New refinements, including the impact of speed (i.e. how quickly the audience passes an individual billboard unit), and the inclusion of transit metrics, are making the measurement system more robust. Additionally, as part of our ON Smart Media platform, we are developing hardware and software solutions for enhanced demographic and
location targeting. By providing a consistent and standardized audience measurement metric, and overlaying increasingly available and reliable third-party data, we will be able to help advertisers target increasingly mobile audiences with effective media plans in the out-of-home environment for both static and digital displays.
Our Portfolio of Outdoor Advertising Structures and Sites
Diversification by Customer
For the year ended December 31, 2018, no individual customer represented more than 2.4% of U.S. Media segment revenues. Therefore, we do not consider detailed information about any individual customer to be meaningful.
Diversification by Industry
The following table sets forth information regarding the diversification of U.S. Media segment revenues earned among different industries for 2018, 2017 and 2016. For 2018, as a result of our diverse base of customers in the United States, no single industry contributed more than 9% of our U.S. Media segment revenues.
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| | Percentage of Total U.S. Media Segment Revenues for the Year Ended December 31, |
Industry | | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 |
Retail | | 9 | % | | 9 | % | | 9 | % |
Computers/Internet | | 8 |
| | 7 |
| | 6 |
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Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals | | 8 |
| | 8 |
| | 7 |
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Television | | 7 |
| | 7 |
| | 7 |
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Entertainment | | 7 |
| | 7 |
| | 6 |
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Professional Services | | 7 |
| | 7 |
| | 6 |
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Restaurants/Fast Food | | 5 |
| | 5 |
| | 6 |
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Financial Services | | 5 |
| | 4 |
| | 4 |
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Automotive | | 4 |
| | 5 |
| | 6 |
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Beer/Liquor | | 4 |
| | 4 |
| | 4 |
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Casinos/Lottery | | 4 |
| | 4 |
| | 4 |
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Telecom/Utilities | | 4 |
| | 4 |
| | 4 |
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Movies | | 4 |
| | 4 |
| | 5 |
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Education | | 3 |
| | 3 |
| | 3 |
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Travel/Leisure | | 3 |
| | 4 |
| | 4 |
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Food/Non-Alcoholic Beverages | | 3 |
| | 4 |
| | 4 |
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Real Estate Brokerage | | 2 |
| | 2 |
| | 2 |
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Government Agencies | | 2 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 |
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Other(a) | | 11 |
| | 10 |
| | 11 |
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Total | | 100 | % | | 100 | % | | 100 | % |
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(a) | No single industry in “Other” individually represents more than 2% of total revenues. |
Diversification by Geography
Our advertising structures and sites are geographically diversified across 33 states, Washington D.C. and Canada. The following table sets forth information regarding the geographic diversification of our advertising structures and sites, which are listed in order of contributions to total revenue.
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| | Percentage of Total Revenues for the Year Ended December 31, 2018 | | Number of Displays as of December 31, 2018(a) |
Location (Metropolitan Area) | | Billboard | | Transit and Other | | Total | | Billboard Displays | | Transit and Other Displays | | Total Displays | | Percentage of Total Displays |
New York, NY | | 10 | % | | 45 | % | | 21 | % | | 604 |
| | 261,214 |
| | 261,818 |
| | 51 | % |
Los Angeles, CA | | 16 |
| | 11 |
| | 15 |
| | 4,625 |
| | 41,093 |
| | 45,718 |
| | 9 |
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Miami, FL | | 5 |
| | 4 |
| | 5 |
| | 999 |
| | 17,748 |
| | 18,747 |
| | 4 |
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San Francisco, CA | | 4 |
| | 3 |
| | 4 |
| | 1,259 |
| | 17,996 |
| | 19,255 |
| | 4 |
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State of New Jersey | | 5 |
| | — |
| | 3 |
| | 3,652 |
| | 90 |
| | 3,742 |
| | <1 |
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Washington D.C. | | 1 |
| | 9 |
| | 3 |
| | 20 |
| | 44,498 |
| | 44,518 |
| | 9 |
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Houston, TX | | 4 |
| | <1 |
| | 3 |
| | 1,125 |
| | 188 |
| | 1,313 |
| | <1 |
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Boston, MA | | 1 |
| | 7 |
| | 3 |
| | 240 |
| | 38,465 |
| | 38,705 |
| | 8 |
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Atlanta, GA | | 3 |
| | 3 |
| | 3 |
| | 2,091 |
| | 19,208 |
| | 21,299 |
| | 4 |
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Chicago, IL | | 4 |
| | <1 |
| | 3 |
| | 1,055 |
| | 806 |
| | 1,861 |
| | <1 |
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Dallas, TX | | 3 |
| | 1 |
| | 3 |
| | 732 |
| | 571 |
| | 1,303 |
| | <1 |
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Detroit, MI | | 3 |
| | 1 |
| | 2 |
| | 2,142 |
| | 11,776 |
| | 13,918 |
| | 3 |
|
Tampa, FL | | 3 |
| | — |
| | 2 |
| | 1,551 |
| | — |
| | 1,551 |
| | <1 |
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Phoenix, AZ | | 2 |
| | 1 |
| | 2 |
| | 1,628 |
| | 815 |
| | 2,443 |
| | <1 |
|
Orlando, FL | | 2 |
| | — |
| | 2 |
| | 1,347 |
| | — |
| | 1,347 |
| | <1 |
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All other United States | | 28 |
| | 1 |
| | 18 |
| | 19,055 |
| | 3,086 |
| | 22,141 |
| | 4 |
|
Sports marketing and other | | — |
| | 11 |
| | 3 |
| | — |
| | 1,635 |
| | 1,635 |
| | <1 |
|
Total United States | | 94 |
| | 97 |
| | 95 |
| | 42,125 |
| | 459,189 |
| | 501,314 |
| | 98 |
|
Canada | | 6 |
| | 3 |
| | 5 |
| | 5,256 |
| | 4,000 |
| | 9,256 |
| | 2 |
|
Total | | 100 | % | | 100 | % | | 100 | % | | 47,381 |
| | 463,189 |
| | 510,570 |
| | 100 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total revenues (in millions) | | $ | 1,112.4 |
| | $ | 493.8 |
| | $ | 1,606.2 |
| | | | | | | | |
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(a) | All displays, including those reserved for transit agency use. |
The New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas contributed 47% and 12%, respectively, of total transit and other revenues in 2017 and 51% and 13%, respectively, of total transit and other revenues in 2016. Los Angeles contributed 16% of total billboard revenues in 2017 and 15% of total billboard revenues in 2016. New York contributed 10% of total billboard revenues in 2017 and 12% of total billboard revenues in 2016.
For additional information regarding revenues for our billboard displays and transit and other displays, by segment, for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Renovation, Improvement and Development
The following table sets forth information regarding our digital displays.
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| | Digital Revenues (in millions) for the Year Ended | | Number of Digital Displays(a) as of |
Location | | Digital Billboard | | Digital Transit and Other | | Total Digital Revenues | | Digital Billboard Displays | | Digital Transit and Other Displays | | Total Digital Displays |
December 31, 2018: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
United States | | $ | 189.9 |
| | $ | 59.4 |
| | $ | 249.3 |
| | 957 |
| | 2,854 |
| | 3,811 |
|
Canada | | 26.2 |
| | 0.2 |
| | 26.4 |
| | 183 |
| | 58 |
| | 241 |
|
Total | | $ | 216.1 |
| | $ | 59.6 |
| | $ | 275.7 |
| | 1,140 |
| | 2,912 |
| | 4,052 |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
December 31, 2017: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
United States | | $ | 159.1 |
| | $ | 44.8 |
| | $ | 203.9 |
| | 822 |
| | 871 |
| | 1,693 |
|
Canada | | 14.6 |
| | 0.2 |
| | 14.8 |
| | 160 |
| | 63 |
| | 223 |
|
Total | | $ | 173.7 |
| | $ | 45.0 |
| | $ | 218.7 |
| | 982 |
| | 934 |
| | 1,916 |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
December 31, 2016: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
United States | | $ | 149.0 |
| | $ | 38.0 |
| | $ | 187.0 |
| | 713 |
| | 712 |
| | 1,425 |
|
Canada | | 6.5 |
| | 0.2 |
| | 6.7 |
| | 68 |
| | 64 |
| | 132 |
|
Latin America | | 0.4 |
| | — |
| | 0.4 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Total | | $ | 155.9 |
| | $ | 38.2 |
| | $ | 194.1 |
| | 781 |
| | 776 |
| | 1,557 |
|
| |
(a) | Digital display amounts (1) include displays reserved for transit agency use and (2) exclude: (i) all displays under our multimedia rights agreements with colleges, universities and other educational institutions; (ii) 1,649 MetroCard vending machine digital screens in 2018, 1,650 in 2017 and 1,601 in 2016; and (iii) in-train advertising displays of 317 in each of 2017 and 2016 which were scheduled to be taken out of service permanently. Our number of digital displays is impacted by acquisitions, dispositions, management agreements, the net effect of new and lost billboards, and the net effect of won and lost franchises in the period. |
Most of our non-maintenance capital expenditures are directed towards new revenue-generating projects, such as the conversion of traditional static billboard displays to digital, the building of new digital displays and the enhancement of our billboard structures to enable us to charge premium rates. In 2017, we commenced deployment of state-of-the-art digital transit displays in connection with several transit franchises and are planning to increase deployments significantly over the coming years. We intend to incur significant equipment deployment costs and capital expenditures in coming years to continue increasing the number of digital displays in our portfolio. See “—Growth Strategy.”
We have built or converted 57 digital billboard displays in the United States and 26 in Canada in 2018, compared to 65 digital billboard displays in the United States and 21 in Canada in 2017, and 65 digital billboard displays in the United States and 11 in Canada in 2016. Additionally, in 2018, we installed 56 small-format digital displays and entered into marketing arrangements to sell advertising on 18 third-party digital billboard displays in the U.S. with a net decrease of three third-party digital billboard displays in Canada. In 2018, we have built, converted or replaced 1,646 digital transit and other displays in the United States. Our total number of digital displays is impacted by acquisitions, dispositions, management agreements and the net effect of new and lost billboards and the net effect of won and lost franchises. As of December 31, 2018, our average initial investment required for a digital billboard display is approximately $240,000.
In 2016, we initiated a multi-year project to improve the quality of the illumination of our static billboard displays and to reduce our utility costs through the use of the most current LED lighting technology. As of December 31, 2018, we completed 36 out of 51 locations (metropolitan areas) planned for conversion to the most current LED lighting technology.
We routinely invest capital in the maintenance and repair of our billboard and transit structures. This includes safety initiatives and replaced displays, as well as new billboard components such as panels, sections, catwalks, lighting and ladders. Our maintenance capital expenditures were $18.6 million in 2018, $19.9 million in 2017 and $18.5 million in 2016.
In the opinion of management, our outdoor advertising sites and structures are adequately covered by insurance.
Contract Expirations
We derive revenues primarily from providing advertising space to customers on our advertising structures and sites. Our contracts with customers generally cover periods ranging from four weeks to one year and are generally billed every four weeks. Since contract terms are short-term in nature, revenues by year of contract expiration are not considered meaningful.
Our transit businesses require us to periodically obtain and renew contracts with municipalities and other governmental entities. When these contracts expire, we generally must participate in highly competitive bidding processes in order to obtain or renew contracts. For further information about municipal transit contracts, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
For information about the property lease contracts relating to our advertising structures and sites, see “Item 2. Properties.”
Competition
The outdoor advertising industry is fragmented, consisting of a few companies operating on a national basis, including our company, Clear Channel Outdoor, Lamar, JCDecaux and Intersection, as well as hundreds of smaller regional and local companies operating a limited number of displays in a single or a few local geographic markets. We compete with these companies for both customers and structure and display locations. We also compete with other media, including online, mobile and social media advertising platforms and traditional advertising platforms (such as television, radio, print and direct mail marketers). In addition, we compete with a wide variety of out-of-home media, including advertising in shopping centers, airports, movie theaters, supermarkets and taxis. Advertisers compare relative costs of available media, including average cost per thousand impressions or “CPMs”, particularly when delivering a message to customers with distinct demographic characteristics. In competing with other media, the outdoor advertising industry relies on its ability to reach specific markets, geographic areas and/or demographics and its relative cost efficiency.
Seasonality
Our revenues and profits may fluctuate due to seasonal advertising patterns and influences on advertising markets. Typically, our revenues and profits are highest in the fourth quarter, during the holiday shopping season, and lowest in the first quarter, as advertisers adjust on spending following the holiday shopping season. We expect this trend to continue in the future.
Employees
As of December 31, 2018, we had 2,305 employees, of which 828 were sales and sales-related personnel in the U.S. and 84 were Canadian sales and sales-related personnel. As of December 31, 2018, 2,268 of our employees were full-time employees and 37 were part-time employees. Some of these employees are represented by labor unions and are subject to collective bargaining agreements.
Regulation
The outdoor advertising industry is subject to governmental regulation and enforcement at the federal, state and local levels in the United States and Canada. These regulations have a significant impact on the outdoor advertising industry and our business. The descriptions that follow are summaries and should be read in conjunction with the texts of the regulations described herein, which are subject to change. The descriptions do not purport to describe all present and proposed regulations affecting our businesses.
In the United States, the federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965 (the “HBA”) establishes a framework for the regulation of outdoor advertising on primary and interstate highways built with federal financial assistance. As a condition to federal highway assistance, the HBA requires states to restrict billboards on such highways to commercial and industrial areas, and imposes certain size, spacing and other requirements associated with the installation and operation of billboards. The HBA also requires the development of state standards, promotes the expeditious removal of illegal signs and requires just compensation for takings, on affected roadways. These state restrictions and standards, or their local and municipal counterparts, may be modified over time in response to legal challenges or otherwise, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Municipal and county governments generally also have sign controls as part of their zoning laws and building codes, and many have adopted standards more restrictive than the federal requirements. Some state and local government regulations prohibit
construction of new billboards and some allow new construction only to replace existing structures. Other laws and regulations throughout the United States and Canada limit or prohibit the ability to modify, relocate, rebuild, replace, repair, maintain and upgrade advertising structures, particularly those structures that are “legal nonconforming” (i.e., that conformed with applicable regulations when built but which no longer conform to current regulations), and impose restrictions on the construction, repair, maintenance, lighting, operation, upgrading, height, size, spacing and location of outdoor structures generally and/or on the surrounding land and vegetation, as well as on the use of new technologies such as digital signs. In addition, from time to time, third parties or local governments commence proceedings in which they assert that we own or operate structures that are not properly permitted or otherwise in strict compliance with applicable law.
Governmental regulation of advertising displays also limits our installation of additional advertising displays, restricts advertising displays to governmentally controlled sites or permits the installation of advertising displays in a manner that could benefit our competitors disproportionately, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Although state and local government authorities from time to time use the power of eminent domain to remove billboards, U.S. law requires payment of compensation if a state or political subdivision compels the removal of a lawful billboard along a primary or interstate highway that was built with federal financial assistance. Additionally, many states require similar compensation (or relocation) with regard to compelled removals of lawful billboards in other locations, although the methodology used to determine such compensation varies by jurisdiction. Some local governments have attempted to force removal of billboards after a period of years under a concept called amortization. Under this concept the governmental body asserts that just compensation has been earned by continued operation of the billboard over a period of time. In Canada, billboards may be expropriated for public purposes with compensation (or relocation) determined on a case-by-case basis. Thus far, we have generally been able to obtain satisfactory compensation for our billboards purchased or removed as a result of governmental action, although there is no assurance that this will continue to be the case in the future.
A number of federal, state and local governments in the United States and Canada have implemented, or introduced legislation to impose, taxes (including taxes on revenues from outdoor advertising or for the right to use outdoor advertising assets), fees and registration requirements in an effort to decrease or restrict the number of outdoor advertising structures and sites or raise revenues, or both. Several jurisdictions have already imposed taxes based on a percentage of our outdoor advertising revenue in those jurisdictions. In addition, some jurisdictions have taxed our personal property and leasehold interests in outdoor advertising locations using various other valuation methodologies. We expect the United States and Canada to continue to try to impose such laws as a way of increasing their revenue and restricting outdoor advertising.
Further, these laws may affect prevailing competitive conditions in our markets in a variety of ways, including reducing our expansion opportunities, or increasing or reducing competitive pressure on us from other members of the outdoor advertising industry. No assurance can be given that existing or future laws or regulations, and the enforcement thereof, will not materially and adversely affect the outdoor advertising industry. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations—Taxes, fees and registration requirements may reduce our profits or expansion opportunities.” However, we contest laws and regulations that we believe unlawfully restrict our constitutional or other legal rights and may adversely impact the growth of our outdoor advertising business.
Restrictions on outdoor advertising of certain products, services and content are or may be imposed by federal, state and local laws and regulations, as well as contracts with municipalities and transit franchise partners. For example, tobacco products have been effectively banned from outdoor advertising in all of the jurisdictions in which we currently do business.
As the owner or operator of various real properties and facilities, we must comply with various federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the United States and Canada. We and our properties are subject to such laws and regulations related to the use, storage, disposal, emission and release of hazardous and nonhazardous substances and employee health and safety. Historically, with the exception of safety upgrades, we have not incurred significant expenditures to comply with these laws.
We intend to expand the deployment of digital billboards that display digital advertising copy from various advertisers that change up to several times per minute. We have encountered some existing regulations in the United States and Canada that restrict or prohibit these types of digital displays. Furthermore, as digital advertising displays are introduced into the market on a large scale, existing regulations that currently do not apply to digital advertising displays by their terms could be revised to impose specific restrictions on digital advertising displays due to alleged concerns over, among other things, aesthetics or driver safety.
We are subject to numerous federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules and regulations as well as industry standards and regulations regarding privacy, information security, data and consumer protection, among other things. Many of these laws and industry standards and regulations are still evolving and changes in the nature of the data that we purchase and/or collect, and the ways that data is permitted to be collected, stored, used and/or shared may negatively impact the way that we are able to conduct business. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations—Changes in regulations and consumer concerns regarding privacy, information security and data, or any failure or perceived failure to comply with these regulations or our internal policies, could negatively impact our business” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations—If our security measures are breached, our services may be perceived as not being secure, users and customers may curtail or stop using our services, and we may incur significant legal and financial exposure.”
Policies with Respect to Certain Activities
The following is a discussion of certain of our investment, financing and other policies. We intend to conduct our business in a manner such that we are not treated as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. In addition, we intend to conduct our business in a manner that is consistent with maintaining our qualification to be taxed as a REIT. These policies may be amended or revised from time to time at the discretion of our board of directors without a vote of our stockholders.
Investment Policies
Investment in Real Estate or Interests in Real Estate. Our investment objective is to maximize after-tax cash flow. We intend to achieve this objective by developing our existing advertising structures and sites, including through the digital modernization of such advertising structures and sites, and by building and acquiring new advertising structures and sites. We currently intend to invest in advertising structures and sites located primarily in major metropolitan areas. Future development or investment activities will not be limited to any specific percentage of our assets or to any geographic area or type of advertising structure or site. While we may diversify in terms of location, size and market, we do not have any limit on the amount or percentage of our assets that may be invested in any one property or any one geographic area. In addition, we may purchase or lease properties for long-term investment, improve the properties we presently own or other acquired properties, or lease such properties, in whole or in part, when circumstances warrant.
We may enter into multi-year contracts with municipalities and transit operators for the exclusive right to display advertising copy on the interior and exterior of rail and subway cars, buses, benches, trams, trains, transit shelters, street kiosks and transit platforms. We may also enter into marketing and multimedia rights agreements with colleges, universities and other educational institutions, which entitle us to operate on-campus advertising displays, as well as manage marketing opportunities, media rights and experiential entertainment at sports events. In addition, we may participate with third parties in property ownership through joint ventures or other types of co-ownership.
Investments in acquired advertising structures and sites, directly or in connection with joint ventures, may be subject to existing mortgage financing and other indebtedness or to new indebtedness that may be incurred in connection with acquiring or refinancing these properties. We do not currently have any restrictions on the number or amount of mortgages that may be placed on any one advertising site or structure. Debt service on such financing or indebtedness will have a priority over any distributions with respect to our common stock.
Investments in Securities of or Interests in Persons Primarily Engaged in Real Estate Activities and Other Issuers. We have and may in the future invest in securities or interests of other issuers, including REITs and entities engaged in real estate activities, directly or in connection with joint ventures or other strategic transactions. However, because we must comply with various requirements under the Code in order to maintain our qualification to be taxed as a REIT, including restrictions on the types of assets we may hold, the sources of our income and accumulation of earnings and profits, our ability to engage in certain acquisitions, such as acquisitions of C corporations, may be limited. We have not and do not currently anticipate investing in securities of other issuers for the purpose of exercising control over such entities, acquiring any investments primarily for sale in the ordinary course of business, or holding any investments with a view to making short-term gains from their sale, but we may engage in these activities in the future.
Investments in Other Securities. We may in the future invest in additional securities such as bonds, preferred stock and common stock. We have no present intention to make any such investments, except for investments in cash equivalents in the ordinary course of business. Future investment activities in additional securities will not be limited to any specific percentage of our assets or to any specific type of securities or industry group.
Acquisitions and Dispositions. From time to time in the ordinary course of business, we have both acquired and disposed of advertising structures and sites in order to optimize our portfolio, and we intend to continue to do so in the future. See “—Acquisition and Disposition Activity” and “—Growth Strategy.”
Investments in Real Estate Mortgages. We have not invested in, nor do we have any present intention to invest in, real estate mortgages, although we are not prohibited from doing so.
Financing and Leverage Policy
We may, when appropriate, employ leverage and use debt as a means to finance growth in our business, refinance existing debt, to provide additional funds to distribute to stockholders, and/or for corporate purposes. On January 31, 2014, our subsidiaries, Outfront Media Capital LLC (“Finance LLC”) and Outfront Media Capital Corporation (“Finance Corp.” and together with Finance LLC, the “Borrowers”) borrowed $800.0 million under a term loan due in 2021, and entered into a $425.0 million revolving credit facility maturing in 2019. On January 31, 2014, the Borrowers also issued $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.250% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2022 and $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.625% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2024 (together, the “Formation Notes”) in a private placement. In addition, on October 1, 2014, the Borrowers issued $150.0 million aggregate principal amount of additional 5.250% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2022 and $450.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2025 (together, the “Acquisition Notes”) in a private placement. On March 30, 2015, the Borrowers issued $100.0 million aggregate principal amount of additional 5.625% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2024 (the “Add-on Notes” and, collectively, with the Formation Notes and the Acquisition Notes, the “Notes”) in a private placement. On March 16, 2017, the Company, along with the Borrowers, and other guarantor subsidiaries party thereto, entered into an amendment (the “Amendment”) to its credit agreement and its related security agreement, each dated January 31, 2014 (together, and as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified, the “Credit Agreement”) providing for, among other things, (i) the extension of the maturity date of the Borrowers’ existing revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) from January 31, 2019, to March 16, 2022, (ii) the extension of the maturity date of the Borrowers’ existing term loan (the “Term Loan” and together with the Revolving Credit Facility, the “Senior Credit Facilities”) from January 31, 2021, to March 16, 2024, (iii) an increase to the Revolving Credit Facility by $5.0 million to $430.0 million, and (iv) the incurrence of a $10.0 million incremental term loan primarily to cover transaction fees and expenses. In addition, on June 30, 2017, certain subsidiaries of the Company entered into a $100.0 million three-year revolving accounts receivable securitization facility (the “AR Facility”) and on September 6, 2018, (i) extended the term of the AR Facility for one year so that it will now terminate on June 30, 2021, unless further extended; and (ii) entered into a 364-day $75.0 million structured repurchase facility (the “Repurchase Facility” and together with the AR Facility, the “AR Securitization Facilities”). We have, and from time to time we may, draw funds from the Revolving Credit Facility and/or the AR Securitization Facilities for specific or general corporate purposes. For more information, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.” Other than as described above, we have not borrowed any money from third parties during the past three years.
The Company’s Charter (our “charter”) and the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws (our “bylaws”) do not limit the amount or percentage of indebtedness that we may incur, nor have we adopted any policies addressing this. The Credit Agreement, the agreements governing the AR Securitization Facilities and the indentures governing the Notes contain, and any future debt agreements may contain, covenants that place restrictions on us and our subsidiaries. Our board of directors may limit our debt incurrence to be more restrictive than our debt covenants allow and from time to time may modify these restrictions in light of then-current economic conditions, relative costs of debt and equity capital, market values of our properties, general conditions in the market for debt and equity securities, fluctuations in the market price of our common stock, growth and acquisition opportunities and other factors. If these restrictions are relaxed, we could become more highly leveraged, resulting in an increased risk of default on our obligations and a related increase in debt service requirements. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations.”
Lending Policies
We do not intend to engage in significant lending activities, although we do not have a policy limiting our ability to make loans to third parties. We may consider offering purchase money financing in connection with the sale of properties. Other than loans to joint ventures in which we participate and loans to joint venture partners, subject to applicable laws, which we have made, and may continue to make, we have not made any loans to third parties.
Company Securities Policies
In the future, we may issue debt securities (including senior securities), offer common stock, preferred stock, convertible securities or options to purchase common stock in exchange for property, and/or repurchase or otherwise reacquire our common
stock or other securities in the open market or otherwise. Except in connection with the Notes and related exchanges of publicly registered Notes for privately issued Notes, equity private placements relating to a license and development agreement, the Transaction, the ATM Program (as defined in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources”) and stock-based employee compensation, in the past four years, we have not offered or issued debt securities, common stock, preferred stock, convertible securities, options to purchase common stock or any other securities in exchange for property or any other purpose. Our board of directors has the authority, without further stockholder approval, to amend our charter to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock or preferred stock and to authorize us to issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock, in one or more series, including senior securities, in any manner, and on the terms and for the consideration it deems appropriate, subject to applicable laws and regulations. We have not engaged in trading, underwriting or agency distribution or sale of securities of other issuers and do not intend to do so.
We make available to our stockholders our Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our audited financial statements, and other required periodic reports filed with the SEC. See “—Available Information.”
Conflict of Interest Policies
Policies Applicable to All Directors and Officers. The Company has adopted a Code of Conduct that applies to all executive officers, employees and directors of the Company. In addition, the Company has adopted a Supplemental Code of Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer and controller or persons performing similar functions. The Code of Conduct and Supplemental Code of Ethics are designed to promote honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between our employees, officers and directors and us. However, there can be no assurance that these policies or provisions of law will always be successful in eliminating the influence of such conflicts.
Interested Director and Officer Transactions. Pursuant to the Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”), a contract or other transaction between us and any of our directors or between us and any other corporation or other entity in which any of our directors is a director or has a material financial interest is not void or voidable solely on the grounds of such common directorship or interest, the presence of such director at the meeting of the board of directors or committee of the board of directors at which the contract or transaction is authorized, approved or ratified or the counting of the director’s vote in favor thereof, provided that: (1) the fact of the common directorship or interest is disclosed or known to our board of directors or a committee of our board, and our board or committee authorizes, approves or ratifies the transaction or contract by the affirmative vote of a majority of disinterested directors, even if the disinterested directors constitute less than a quorum; (2) the fact of the common directorship or interest is disclosed or known to our stockholders entitled to vote thereon, and the transaction or contract is authorized, approved or ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote other than the votes of shares owned of record or beneficially owned by the interested director or corporation, firm or other entity; or (3) the transaction or contract is fair and reasonable to us.
Available Information
Our website address is www.outfrontmedia.com. We are subject to the informational requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and file or furnish reports, proxy statements, and other information with the SEC, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Such reports and other information filed by the Company with the SEC are available free of charge in the Investor Relations section of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The contents of the websites referred to above are not incorporated into this filing.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
You should carefully consider the following risks, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” before investing in the Company. The occurrence of any of the following risks might cause you to lose all or a part of your investment. Certain statements in the following risk factors constitute forward-looking statements. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”
Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
Our business is sensitive to a decline in advertising expenditures, general economic conditions and other external events beyond our control.
We derive our revenues from providing advertising space to customers on out-of-home advertising structures and sites. A decline in the economic prospects of advertisers, the economy in general or the economy of any individual geographic market or industry, particularly a market or industry in which we conduct substantial business and derive a significant portion of our revenues, such as the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, and the retail, computers/internet and healthcare/pharmaceuticals industries, could alter current or prospective advertisers’ spending priorities. See “Item 1. Business—Our Portfolio of Outdoor Advertising Structures and Sites.” In addition, disasters, acts of terrorism, hostilities, political uncertainty, extraordinary weather events, technological changes and power outages could interrupt our ability to display advertising on our advertising structures and sites and/or lead to a reduction in economic certainty and advertising expenditures. Any reduction in advertising expenditures could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Further, advertising expenditure patterns may be impacted by any of these factors; for example, advertisers’ expenditures may be made with less advance notice and may become difficult to forecast from period to period.
We operate in a highly competitive industry.
The outdoor advertising industry is fragmented, consisting of a few companies operating on a national basis, such as our company, Clear Channel Outdoor, Lamar, JCDecaux and Intersection, as well as hundreds of smaller regional and local companies operating a limited number of displays in a single or a few local geographic markets. We compete with these companies for both customers and display locations. If our competitors offer advertising displays at rates below the rates we charge our customers, we could lose potential customers and could be pressured to reduce our rates below those currently charged to retain customers, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. A majority of our display locations are leased, and a significant portion of those leases are month-to-month or have a short remaining term. If our competitors offer to lease display locations at rental rates higher than the rental rates we offer, we could lose display locations and could be pressured to increase rental rates above those we currently pay to site landlords, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, installation of advertising displays, especially digital advertising displays, by us or our competitors at a pace that exceeds the ability of the market to derive new revenues from those displays could also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We also compete with other media, including online, mobile and social media advertising platforms and traditional platforms (such as television, radio, print and direct mail marketers). In addition, we compete with a wide variety of out-of-home media, including advertising in shopping centers, airports, movie theaters, supermarkets and taxis. Advertisers compare relative costs of available media, including the average cost per thousand impressions or “CPM,” particularly when delivering a message to customers with distinct demographic characteristics. In competing with other media, the outdoor advertising industry relies on its relative cost efficiency and its ability to reach specific markets, geographic areas and/or demographics. If we are unable to compete on these terms, we could lose potential customers and could be pressured to reduce rates below those we currently charge to retain customers, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, as digital advertising technology continues to develop, our competitors may be able to offer products that are, or that are seen to be, substantially similar to or better than ours. This may force us to compete in different ways and incur additional costs, become subject to additional governmental regulations, and/or expend resources in order to remain competitive. If our competitors are more successful than we are in developing digital advertising products or in attracting and retaining customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Government regulation of outdoor advertising may restrict our outdoor advertising operations and our ability to increase the number of advertising displays in our portfolio.
The outdoor advertising industry is subject to governmental regulation and enforcement at the federal, state and local levels in the United States and Canada. These regulations have a significant impact on the outdoor advertising industry and our business. See “Item 1. Business—Regulation.” If there are changes in laws and regulations affecting outdoor advertising at any level of government, if there is an increase in the enforcement of regulations or allegations of noncompliance or if we are unable to resolve allegations, our structures and sites could be subject to removal or modification. If we are unable to obtain acceptable arrangements or compensation in circumstances in which our structures and sites are subject to removal or modification, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, governmental regulation and enforcement of advertising displays, especially digital advertising displays, may limit our ability to install new advertising displays, restrict advertising displays to governmentally controlled sites or permit the installation of advertising displays in a manner that could benefit our competitors disproportionately, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, as digital advertising displays are introduced into the market on a large scale, new or revised regulations could impose specific restrictions on the installation or use of digital advertising displays.
For example, in January 2013, Scenic America, Inc., a nonprofit membership organization, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration alleging, among other things, that the Federal Highway Administration exceeded its authority when, in 2007, the Federal Highway Administration issued guidance to assist its division offices in evaluating state regulations that authorize the construction and operation of digital billboards. That case has reached a final, non-appealable decision, but if the Federal Highway Administration guidance is ever vacated as a result of a similar challenge or revised by the Federal Highway Administration, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Implementing our digital display platform and the deployment of digital advertising displays to our transit franchise partners, may be more difficult, costly or time consuming than expected and the anticipated benefits may not be fully realized.
The success of the digital display platform we are currently developing for our customers and the deployment of digital advertising displays to our transit franchise partners, such as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (the “MTA”), and the realization of any anticipated benefits, will depend, in part, on our ability to finalize and demonstrate the value-added capabilities of our digital display platform to our customers, and our ability to deliver and install digital displays to our transit franchise partners in satisfaction of our contractual obligations, including delivery and installation to scale and within complex transit infrastructures, such as the MTA. If we fail to satisfy our contractual obligations and any such failures cannot be resolved, and/or the digital display platform and/or the digital advertising displays that we provide to our customers and transit franchise partners do not meet their expectations or are found to be defective, or if we are unable to realize the anticipated benefits of these products due to reduced market demand for these products or digital advertising generally, then we may incur financial liability, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.
Implementing our digital display platform and deploying digital advertising displays to our transit franchise partners in satisfaction of our contractual obligations requires the Company to incur significant costs, which the Company may not be able to recover from its customer sales or transit franchise partners. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.” Any costs currently anticipated may significantly increase if we incur cost overruns due to technical difficulties, the increased costs of data, digital displays, materials and labor, delays in construction caused by us, our subcontractors and/or our transit franchise partners, insurance, bonding and litigation expenses or other factors beyond our control, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including cash flow timing and negative publicity. We currently expect to utilize third-party financing to fund these costs, which could subject the Company to additional costs, liabilities and risks. See —“Despite our substantial indebtedness level, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantially more indebtedness, including secured indebtedness. This could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above.”
Further, we rely on third parties to manufacture and transport digital displays, and if we are not able to engage third parties on reasonable pricing or other terms, due to the insufficient capacity of a particular manufacturer, market-wide supply shortages¸ logistics disruptions or otherwise, or if the third parties that we engage fail to meet their obligations to us, we may be unable to deploy digital advertising displays to our transit franchise partners in a timely manner or at all, and may fail to satisfy our contractual obligations, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may incur material losses and costs as a result of product liability, warranty, and recall and intellectual property claims that may be brought against us.
We may be exposed to product liability and warranty claims in the event that our digital displays actually or allegedly fail to perform as expected, or the use of our digital displays results, or is alleged to result, in death, bodily injury, and/or property damage, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if any of our digital displays become subject to a recall, our customers may hold us responsible for some or all of the repair or replacement costs of these digital displays under our contractual obligations, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including negative publicity.
Further, we face the risk of claims that we have infringed third parties’ intellectual property rights with respect to our digital display platform, digital displays and/or any other new products we develop, which could be expensive and time consuming to defend, could require us to alter our digital display platform, digital displays and/or any new products prevent us from selling advertising on and/or using our digital display platform, digital displays and/or any new products, and/or could require us to pay license, royalty or other fees to third parties in order to continue using our digital display platform, digital displays and/or any new products.
Taxes, fees and registration requirements may reduce our profits or expansion opportunities.
A number of federal, state and local governments in the United States and Canada have implemented or initiated taxes (including taxes on revenue from outdoor advertising or for the right to use outdoor advertising assets), fees and registration requirements in an effort to decrease or restrict the number of outdoor advertising structures and sites or raise revenue, or both. For example, a tax was imposed on the outdoor advertising industry in Toronto. These laws may affect prevailing competitive conditions in our markets in a variety of ways, including reducing our expansion opportunities, or increasing or reducing competitive pressure on us from other members of the outdoor advertising industry. See—“We operate in a highly competitive industry.” These efforts may continue, and, if we are unable to compete and/or pass on the cost of these items to our customers, the increased imposition of these measures could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The success of our transit advertising business is dependent on obtaining and renewing key municipal contracts on favorable terms.
Our transit businesses require us to obtain and renew contracts with municipalities and other governmental entities. All of these contracts have fixed terms and generally provide for payments to the governmental entity of a revenue share and/or a guaranteed minimum annual payment, and some may require us to incur capital expenditures. When these contracts expire, we generally must participate in highly competitive bidding processes in order to obtain a new contract. Our inability to successfully obtain or renew these contracts on favorable economic terms or at all could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Overview—Business Environment.” In addition, the loss of a key municipal contract in one location could adversely affect our ability to compete in other locations by reducing our scale and ability to offer customers multi-regional and national advertising campaigns. These factors could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Government compensation for the removal of lawful billboards could decrease.
Although federal, state and local government authorities from time to time use the power of eminent domain to remove billboards, U.S. law requires payment of compensation if a government authority compels the removal of a lawful billboard along a primary or interstate highway that was built with federal financial assistance. Additionally, many states require similar compensation (or relocation) with regard to compelled removals of lawful billboards in other locations, although the methodology used to determine such compensation varies by jurisdiction. Some local governments have attempted to force removal of billboards after a period of years under a concept called amortization. Under this concept, the governmental body asserts that just compensation has been earned by continued operation of the billboard over a period of time. Thus far, we have generally been able to obtain satisfactory compensation for our billboards purchased or removed as a result of governmental action, although there is no assurance that this will continue to be the case in the future, and, if it does not continue to be the case, there could be an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Content-based restrictions on outdoor advertising may further restrict the categories of customers that can advertise using our structures and sites.
Restrictions on outdoor advertising of certain products, services or other content are or may be imposed by federal, state and local laws and regulations, as well as contracts with municipalities and transit franchise partners. For example, tobacco products have been effectively banned from outdoor advertising in all of the jurisdictions in which we currently do business. In addition, state and local governments in some cases limit outdoor advertising of alcohol, which represented 4% of our U.S. Media segment revenues in each of 2018, 2017 and 2016. Further, certain municipalities and transit franchise partners limit issue-based outdoor advertising. Content-based restrictions could cause a reduction in our revenues from leasing advertising space on outdoor advertising displays that display such advertisements and a simultaneous increase in the available space on the existing inventory of displays in the outdoor advertising industry, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations may limit or restrict some of our operations.
As the owner or operator of various real properties and facilities, we must comply with various federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the United States and Canada. We and our properties are subject to such laws and regulations related to the use, storage, disposal, emission and release of hazardous and nonhazardous substances and employee health and safety. Historically, with the exception of safety upgrades, we have not incurred significant expenditures to comply with these laws. However, additional laws that may be passed in the future, or a finding of a violation of or liability under existing laws, could require us to make significant expenditures and otherwise limit or restrict some of our operations, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operating results are subject to seasonal variations and other factors.
Our business has experienced and is expected to continue to experience seasonality due to, among other things, seasonal advertising patterns and seasonal influences on advertising markets. Typically, our revenues and profits are highest in the fourth quarter, during the holiday shopping season, and lowest in the first quarter, as advertisers adjust their spending following the holiday shopping season. The effects of such seasonality make it difficult to estimate future operating results based on the previous results of any specific quarter, which may make it difficult to plan capital expenditures and expansion, could affect operating results and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Acquisitions and other strategic transactions that we may pursue could have a negative effect on our results of operations.
We frequently evaluate strategic opportunities both within and outside our existing lines of business. We expect from time to time to pursue additional acquisitions of business and/or assets and other strategic transactions, including technology investments and/or the disposition of certain businesses and/or assets. These acquisitions or transactions could be material, and involve numerous risks, including:
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• | acquisitions or other strategic transactions may prove unprofitable and fail to generate anticipated cash flows or gains; |
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• | integrating acquired businesses and/or assets may be more difficult, costly or time consuming than expected and the anticipated benefits and costs savings of such acquisitions or transactions may not be fully realized, for example: |
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◦ | we may need to recruit additional senior management, as we cannot be assured that senior management of acquired businesses and/or assets will continue to work for us, and we cannot be certain that our recruiting efforts will succeed; |
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◦ | unforeseen difficulties could divert significant time, attention and effort from management that could otherwise be directed at developing existing business; |
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◦ | we may encounter difficulties expanding corporate infrastructure to facilitate the integration of our operations and systems with those of acquired businesses and/or assets, which may cause us to lose the benefits of any expansion; and/or |
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◦ | we may lose billboard leases, franchises or advertisers in connection with such acquisitions or transactions, which could disrupt our ongoing businesses; |
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• | we may not be aware of all of the risks associated with any acquired businesses and/or assets and certain of our assumptions with respect to these acquired businesses and/or assets may prove to be inaccurate, which could result in unexpected litigation or regulatory exposure, unfavorable accounting treatment, unexpected increases in taxes due, a loss of anticipated tax benefits or other adverse effects on our business, operating results or financial condition; |
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• | we may not be able to obtain financing necessary to fund potential acquisitions or strategic transactions; |
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• | we may face increased competition for acquisitions of businesses and assets from other outdoor advertising companies, some of which may have greater financial resources than we do, which may result in higher prices for those businesses and assets; |
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• | we may enter into markets and geographic areas where we have limited or no experience; and |
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• | because we must comply with various requirements under the Code in order to maintain our qualification to be taxed as a REIT, including restrictions on the types of assets we may hold, the sources of our income and accumulation of earnings and profits, our ability to engage in certain acquisitions or strategic transactions, such as acquisitions of C corporations, may be limited. See “—Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT—Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to liquidate investments or forgo otherwise attractive opportunities.” |
Further, acquisitions and dispositions by us may require antitrust review by U.S. federal antitrust agencies and may require review by foreign antitrust agencies under the antitrust laws of foreign jurisdictions. We can give no assurances that the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission or foreign antitrust agencies will not seek to bar us from the acquisition or disposition of additional advertising businesses in any market.
We are dependent on our management team, and the loss of senior executive officers or other key employees could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We believe our future success depends on the continued service and skills of our existing management team and other key employees with experience and business relationships within their respective roles, including landlord and customer relationships. The loss of one or more of these key personnel could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations because of their skills, knowledge of the market, years of industry experience and the difficulty of finding qualified replacement personnel. If any of these personnel were to leave and compete with us, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our board of directors has the power to cause us to issue additional shares of stock without stockholder approval.
Our charter authorizes us to issue additional authorized but unissued shares of common or preferred stock. In addition, our charter permits a majority of our entire board of directors to, without stockholder approval, amend our charter to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue. Our charter also permits our board of directors to classify or reclassify any unissued shares of common or preferred stock and set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our board of directors will be able to establish a series of shares of common or preferred stock that could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for outstanding shares of stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
Certain provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us.
Certain provisions of the MGCL may have the effect of delaying or preventing a transaction or a change in control of us that might involve a premium price for shares of our stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders, including:
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• | “business combination” provisions that, subject to certain exceptions, prohibit certain business combinations between a Maryland corporation and an “interested stockholder” (defined generally as any person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock or an affiliate or associate of a corporation who, at any time during the two-year period immediately 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) or an affiliate of such an interested stockholder for five years after the most recent date on which the stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, and thereafter imposes two super-majority stockholder voting requirements on these combinations; and |
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• | “control share” provisions that provide that, subject to certain exceptions, holders of “control shares” of a Maryland corporation (defined as voting shares of stock that, if aggregated with all other shares of stock owned or controlled by the acquirer, would entitle the acquirer to exercise voting power in the election of directors within one of three increasing ranges) acquired in a “control share acquisition” (defined as the direct or indirect acquisition of issued and outstanding “control shares,” subject to certain exceptions) have no voting rights except to the extent approved by its stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding all interested shares. |
Additionally, under Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the MGCL, our board of directors is permitted, without stockholder approval and regardless of what is provided in our charter or bylaws, to implement certain takeover defenses.
Our board of directors has by resolution exempted from the provisions of the Maryland Business Combination Act, as described above, all business combinations between us and any other person, provided that such business combination is first
approved by our board of directors (including a majority of our directors who are not affiliates or associates of such person). In addition, our bylaws contain a provision opting out of the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act, as described above. Moreover, our charter provides that vacancies on our board may be filled only by a majority of the remaining directors, and that any directors elected by the board to fill vacancies will serve for the remainder of the full term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred and until a successor is elected and qualifies. Our charter provides that, subject to the rights, if any, of holders of any class or series of preferred stock to elect or remove one or more directors, members of our board of directors may be removed only for cause (as defined in our charter), and then only by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors. Our bylaws provide that our board of directors has the exclusive power to adopt, alter or repeal any provision of our bylaws and to make new bylaws. There can be no assurance that these exemptions or provisions will not be amended or eliminated at any time in the future.
Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited.
Our charter contains a provision that eliminates the liability of our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. In addition, our charter authorizes us, and our bylaws obligate us, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law in effect from time to time, to indemnify and, without requiring a preliminary determination of the ultimate entitlement to indemnification, pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to:
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• | any present or former director or officer who is made or threatened to be made a party to, or witness in, a proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity; and |
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• | any individual who, while a director or officer of our company and at our request, serves or has served as a director, officer, trustee or manager of another corporation, REIT, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or any other enterprise and who is made or threatened to be made a party to, or witness in, the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity. |
Our charter and bylaws also permit us to indemnify and advance expenses to any person who served a predecessor of ours in any of the capacities described above and to any employee of our company or a predecessor of our company.
The indemnification and payment or reimbursement of expenses provided by the indemnification provisions of our charter and bylaws shall not be deemed exclusive of or limit in any way other rights to which any person seeking indemnification, or payment or reimbursement of expenses may be or may become entitled under any statute, bylaw, resolution, insurance, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.
In addition, we have entered into separate indemnification agreements with each of our directors. Each indemnification agreement provides, among other things, for indemnification as provided in the agreement and otherwise to the fullest extent permitted by law and our charter and bylaws against judgments, fines, penalties, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees. The indemnification agreements provide for the advancement or payment of expenses to the indemnitee and for reimbursement to us if it is found that such indemnitee is not entitled to such advancement.
Accordingly, in the event that any of our directors or officers are exculpated from, or indemnified against, liability but whose actions impede our performance, we and our stockholders’ ability to recover damages from that director or officer will be limited.
We have substantial indebtedness that could adversely affect our financial condition.
As of December 31, 2018, we had total indebtedness of approximately $2.3 billion (consisting of the Term Loan, the Notes and the AR Securitization Facilities with outstanding aggregate principal balances of $670.0 million, $1.5 billion and $160.0 million, respectively), undrawn commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility of $430.0 million, excluding $66.0 million of letters of credit issued against the Revolving Credit Facility and borrowing capacity remaining under the AR Facility of $15.0 million. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”
Our level of debt could have important consequences, including:
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• | making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to the Notes and our other debt; |
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• | requiring us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of cash flow to fund acquisitions, working capital, capital expenditures, and strategic business development efforts and other corporate purposes; |
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• | increasing our vulnerability to and limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in the business, the industries in which we operate, the economy and governmental regulations; |
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• | restricting us from making strategic acquisitions or causing us to make non-strategic divestitures; |
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• | exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates as borrowings under the Senior Credit Facilities and the AR Facility are expected to be subject to variable rates of interest; |
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• | placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt; and |
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• | limiting our ability to borrow additional funds. |
The terms of the agreements governing our indebtedness restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to incur debt that we may need to fund initiatives in response to changes in our business, the industries in which we operate, the economy and governmental regulations.
The Credit Agreement and the indentures governing the Notes contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and our subsidiaries and limit our ability to engage in actions that may be in our long-term best interests, including restrictions on our and our subsidiaries’ ability to:
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• | incur additional indebtedness; |
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• | pay dividends on, repurchase or make distributions in respect of our capital stock (other than dividends or distributions necessary for us to maintain our REIT status, subject to certain conditions); |
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• | make investments or acquisitions; |
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• | sell, transfer or otherwise convey certain assets; |
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• | change our accounting methods; |
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• | enter into sale/leaseback transactions; |
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• | enter into agreements restricting the ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany transfers; |
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• | consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our or our subsidiaries’ assets; |
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• | enter into transactions with affiliates; |
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• | prepay certain kinds of indebtedness; |
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• | issue or sell stock of our subsidiaries; and |
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• | change the nature of our business. |
The agreements governing the AR Securitization Facilities also contain affirmative and negative covenants with respect to our wholly-owned SPV (as defined below) holding our accounts receivables.
In addition, the Credit Agreement (and under certain circumstances, the agreements governing the AR Securitization Facilities) has a financial covenant that requires us to maintain a Consolidated Net Secured Leverage Ratio (as described in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources”). Our ability to meet this financial covenant may be affected by events beyond our control.
As a result of all of these restrictions, we may be:
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• | limited in how we conduct our business; |
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• | unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns; or |
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• | unable to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities. |
These restrictions could hinder our ability to grow in accordance with our strategy or inhibit our ability to adhere to our intended distribution policy and, accordingly, may cause us to incur additional U.S. federal income tax liability beyond current expectations.
A breach of the covenants under the Credit Agreement or either of the indentures governing the Notes, as well as a breach of the covenants under the agreements governing the AR Securitization Facilities, including the inability to repay any amounts due and payable, could result in an event of default or termination event under the applicable agreement. Such a default or termination event would allow the lenders under the Senior Credit Facilities, the Purchasers (as defined below) under the AR Securitization Facilities and the holders of the Notes to accelerate the repayment of such debt and may result in the acceleration of the repayment of any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In the event our creditors accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness. An event of default or termination event under the Credit Agreement and the agreements governing the AR Securitization Facilities would also permit the applicable lenders, Purchasers and any other secured creditors to proceed against the collateral that secures such indebtedness, and terminate all other commitments to extend additional credit to us. Any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Despite our substantial indebtedness level, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantially more indebtedness, including secured indebtedness. This could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above.
We and our subsidiaries may incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, including secured indebtedness. Although the Credit Agreement, the indentures governing the Notes and the agreements governing the AR Securitization Facilities contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and additional liens, these restrictions will be subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and the additional indebtedness, including secured indebtedness, incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. If we incur any additional indebtedness that ranks equally with the our Senior Credit Facilities, the AR Securitization Facilities and/or the Notes, subject to collateral arrangements, the holders of that debt will be entitled to share ratably with existing holders of our debt in any proceeds distributed in connection with any insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution or other winding up of our business. This may have the effect of reducing the amount of proceeds paid to existing shareholders. These restrictions also will not prevent us from incurring obligations that do not constitute indebtedness. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the related risks that we now face would increase.
Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.
Borrowings under the Senior Credit Facilities and the AR Securitization Facilities are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness will increase even though the amount borrowed remains the same, and our net income and cash flows will correspondingly decrease. At our level of indebtedness, as of December 31, 2018, each 1/4% change in interest rates on our variable rate Term Loan and AR Securitization Facilities would have resulted in a $1.3 million and $0.4 million, respectively, change in annual estimated interest expense. Our aggregate annual estimated interest expense will increase if we make any borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility. We have, and may in the future, enter into interest rate swaps that involve the exchange of floating for fixed rate interest payments in order to reduce future interest rate volatility. However, we may not elect to maintain such interest rate swaps with respect to any of our variable rate indebtedness, and any swaps we enter into may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk. In addition, the transition away from the use of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) after 2021 to a new reference rate may have unanticipated effects on the agreements governing our indebtedness, our interest rate swaps and the credit markets generally, which we are not able to predict at this time.
To service our indebtedness, we require a significant amount of cash and our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control.
Our ability to make cash payments on and to refinance our indebtedness, including the Notes, and to fund planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate significant operating cash flow in the future. Our ability to generate such cash flow is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. In addition, our ability to generate cash flow may be affected by our REIT compliance obligations and any consequences of failing to remain qualified as a REIT. See “—Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT.”
Our business may not generate cash flow from operations in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness, including the Notes, or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we cannot service our indebtedness, we may have to take actions such as refinancing or restructuring our indebtedness, selling assets or reducing or delaying capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions and investments. Such actions, if necessary, may not be effected on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our ability to refinance or restructure our debt will depend on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition at the applicable time. Any refinancing of our debt could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations. Further, the Credit Agreement, the indentures governing the Notes and the agreements governing the AR Securitization Facilities restrict our ability to undertake, or use the proceeds from, such measures.
Our cash available for distribution to stockholders may not be sufficient to make distributions at expected levels, and we may need to borrow in order to make such distributions or may not be able to make such distributions in full.
Distributions that we make will be authorized and determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion out of funds legally available therefor. While we anticipate maintaining relatively stable distribution(s) during each year, the amount, timing and frequency of distributions will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will be declared based upon various factors, including, but not limited to: future taxable income, limitations contained in our debt instruments (such as restrictions on distributions in excess of the minimum amount required to maintain our status as a REIT and on the ability of our subsidiaries to distribute cash to the Company), debt service requirements, our results of operations, our financial condition, our operating cash inflows and outflows, including capital expenditures and acquisitions, limitations on our ability to use cash generated in the TRSs to fund distributions and applicable law. We may need to increase our borrowings in order to fund our intended distributions. See “Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Dividend Policy” and “—Despite our substantial indebtedness level, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantially more indebtedness, including secured indebtedness. This could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above.”
Hedging transactions could have a negative effect on our results of operations.
We have, and may in the future, enter into hedging transactions, including without limitation, with respect to interest rate exposure and foreign currency exchange rates and on one or more of our assets or liabilities. The use of hedging transactions involves certain risks, including: (1) the possibility that the market will move in a manner or direction that would have resulted in a gain for us had a hedging transaction not been utilized, in which case our performance would have been better had we not engaged in the hedging transaction; (2) the risk of an imperfect correlation between the risk sought to be hedged and the hedging transaction used; (3) the potential illiquidity for the hedging instrument used, which may make it difficult for us to close out or unwind a hedging transaction; (4) the possibility that our counterparty fails to honor its obligations; and (5) the possibility that we may have to post collateral to enter into hedging transactions, which we may lose if we are unable to honor our obligations. In addition, as a REIT, we have limitations on our income sources, and the hedging strategies available to us will be more limited than those available to companies that are not REITs. See “—Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT—Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively and may cause us to incur tax liabilities.”
We face diverse risks in our Canadian business, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our Canadian business contributed approximately $84.6 million to total revenues in 2018, approximately $73.2 million to total revenues in 2017 and approximately $67.3 million to total revenues in 2016. Inherent risks in our Canadian business activities could decrease our Canadian sales and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. These risks include potentially unfavorable Canadian economic conditions, political conditions or national priorities, Canadian government regulation and changes in such regulation, violations of applicable anti-corruption laws or regulations, potential expropriation of assets by the Canadian government, the failure to bridge cultural differences and limited or prohibited access
to our Canadian operations and the support they provide. We may also have difficulty repatriating profits or be adversely affected by exchange rate fluctuations in our Canadian business.
If our security measures are breached, our services may be perceived as not being secure, users and customers may curtail or stop using our services, and we may incur significant legal and financial exposure.
Although we have implemented physical and logical security measures, along with crisis management procedures, designed to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of our websites, digital assets and proprietary business information as well as consumer, business partner and advertiser personally identifiable information, no security measures are impenetrable and we remain subject to unauthorized access attempts to our networks and assets. Further, because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access and degrade or disable systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. A security breach could occur due to the acts or omissions of third parties, employee error, malfeasance, system errors or vulnerabilities, or otherwise. If an actual or perceived breach of our security occurs, we could lose competitively sensitive business information or suffer disruptions to our business operations. In addition, the public perception of the effectiveness of our security measures or services could be harmed, we could lose business partners and advertisers, and we could suffer significant legal and financial exposure in connection with remediation efforts, investigations and legal proceedings and changes in our security and system protection measures.
Changes in regulations and consumer concerns regarding privacy, information security and data, or any failure or perceived failure to comply with these regulations or our internal policies, could negatively impact our business.
We collect and utilize demographic and other information from and about consumers, business partners, advertisers and website users. We are subject to numerous federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules and regulations as well as industry standards and regulations regarding privacy, information security, data and consumer protection, among other things. Many of these laws and industry standards and regulations are still evolving and changes in the nature of the data that we purchase and/or collect, and the ways that data is permitted to be collected, stored, used and/or shared may negatively impact the way that we are able to conduct business. In addition, changes in consumer expectations and demands regarding privacy, information security and data may result in further restrictions on the nature of the data that we purchase and/or collect, and the ways we collect, use, disclose and derive economic value from data that we purchase and/or collect, and may limit our ability to offer targeted advertising opportunities to our business partners and advertisers. Although we monitor regulatory changes and have implemented internal policies and procedures designed to comply with all applicable laws, rules, industry standards and regulations, any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with applicable regulatory requirements or our internal policies related to privacy, information security, data and/or consumer protection could result in a loss of confidence, a loss of goodwill, damage to our brand, loss of business partners and advertisers, adverse regulatory proceedings and/or civil litigation, which could negatively impact our business.
We could suffer losses due to impairment in the carrying value of our long-lived assets and goodwill.
A significant portion of our assets are long-lived assets and goodwill. We test for long-lived asset impairment whenever there is an indication that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. If business conditions or other factors cause our results of operations and/or cash flows to decline, we may be required to record a non-cash asset impairment charge. We test goodwill for impairment during the fourth quarter of each year and between annual tests if events or circumstances require an interim impairment assessment. A downward revision in the estimated fair value of a reporting unit could result in a non-cash goodwill impairment charge. For example, as a result of an impairment analysis performed during the second quarter of 2018, we determined that the carrying value of our Canadian reporting unit exceeded its fair value and we recorded an impairment charge of $42.9 million on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Any such impairment charges could have a material adverse effect on our reported net income. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Policies”
Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT
If we fail to remain qualified as a REIT, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax as a regular corporation and could face a substantial tax liability, which would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Qualification to be taxed 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 failure to comply with these provisions could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our ability to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. In addition, our ability to satisfy the requirements to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT may depend in part on the actions of third parties over which we have no control or only limited influence.
In addition, the rules dealing with U.S. federal income taxation are continually under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”). Although the IRS has issued a private letter ruling with respect to certain issues relevant to our ability to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, no assurance can be given that the IRS will not challenge our qualification to be taxed as a REIT in the future. Changes to the tax laws or interpretations thereof, or the IRS’s position with respect to our private letter ruling, with or without retroactive application, could materially and negatively affect our ability to qualify to be taxed as a REIT.
If we were to fail to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and dividends paid to our stockholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Any resulting corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to holders of our common stock, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the value of our common stock and may require us to incur indebtedness or liquidate certain investments in order to pay such tax liability. Unless we were entitled to relief under certain Code provisions, we would also be disqualified from re-electing to be taxed as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we failed to qualify to be taxed as a REIT.
REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan.
To maintain REIT status, we must meet a number of organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that we annually distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement and qualify for taxation as a REIT but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and including any net capital gains, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed net taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax if the amount that we actually distribute to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under U.S. federal tax laws. We intend to pay regular quarterly distributions to our stockholders in an amount not less than 100% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for dividends paid).
From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our cash flow as a result of differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash or the effect of nondeductible capital expenditures, the creation of reserves or required debt or amortization payments. If we do not have other funds available in these situations, we could be required to borrow funds on unfavorable terms, sell assets at disadvantageous prices or distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may impact our ability to grow, which could adversely affect the value of our common stock.
To fund our growth strategy and refinance our indebtedness, we may depend on external sources of capital, which may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
As a result of the REIT organizational and operational requirements described above, we may not be able to fund future capital needs, including any necessary acquisition financing, solely from operating cash flows. Consequently, we expect to rely on third-party capital market sources for debt or equity financing to fund our business strategy. In addition, we will likely need third-party capital market sources to refinance our indebtedness at or prior to maturity. Turbulence in the United States or international financial markets and economies could adversely impact our ability to replace or renew maturing liabilities on a timely basis or access the capital markets to meet liquidity and capital expenditure requirements and may result in adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As such, we may not be able to obtain financing on favorable terms or at all. Our access to third-party sources of capital also depends, in part, on:
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• | the market’s perception of our growth potential; |
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• | our then-current levels of indebtedness; |
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• | our historical and expected future earnings, cash flows and cash distributions; and |
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• | the market price per share of our common stock. |
In addition, our ability to access additional capital may be limited by the terms of our outstanding indebtedness, which may restrict our incurrence of additional debt. See “—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations—Despite our substantial indebtedness level, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantially more indebtedness, including secured indebtedness. This could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above.” If we cannot obtain capital when needed, we may not be able to acquire or develop properties when strategic opportunities arise or refinance our debt, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if we remain qualified to be taxed 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 U.S. federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets, including taxes on any undistributed income and state or local income, property and transfer taxes. For example, in order to meet the REIT qualification requirements, we may hold some of our assets or conduct certain of our activities through one or more TRSs or other subsidiary corporations that will be subject to foreign, federal, state and local corporate-level income taxes as regular C corporations. In addition, we may incur a 100% excise tax on transactions with a TRS if the transactions are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distribution to holders of our common stock.
Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to liquidate investments or forgo otherwise attractive opportunities.
To remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must ensure that, at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and “real estate assets” (as defined in the Code), including certain mortgage loans and securities. The remainder of our investments (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a TRS) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our total assets (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a TRS) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 20% of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more TRSs. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate or forgo otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to holders of our common stock.
In addition to the assets tests set forth above, to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our stock. We may be unable to pursue investments that would be otherwise advantageous to us in order to satisfy the source-of-income or asset-diversification requirements for qualifying to be taxed as a REIT. Accordingly, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make certain attractive investments.
Complying with REIT requirements may depend on our ability to contribute certain contracts to a taxable REIT subsidiary.
Our ability to satisfy certain REIT requirements may depend on us contributing to a TRS certain contracts, or portions of certain contracts, with respect to outdoor advertising assets that do not qualify as real property for purposes of the REIT asset tests. Moreover, our ability to satisfy the REIT requirements may depend on us properly allocating between us and our TRS the revenue or cost, as applicable, associated with the portion of any such contract contributed to the TRS. There can be no assurance that the IRS will not determine that such contribution was not a true contribution between us and our TRS or that we did not properly allocate the applicable revenues or costs. Were the IRS successful in such a challenge, it could adversely impact our ability to qualify to be taxed as a REIT or our effective tax rate and tax liability.
Our planned use of taxable REIT subsidiaries may cause us to fail to qualify to be taxed as a REIT.
The net income of our TRSs is not required to be distributed to us, and income that is not distributed to us generally will not be subject to the REIT income distribution requirement. However, there may be limitations on our ability to accumulate earnings in our TRSs and the accumulation or reinvestment of significant earnings in our TRSs could result in adverse tax treatment. In particular, if the accumulation of cash in our TRSs causes the fair market value of our securities in our TRSs and certain other non-qualifying assets to exceed 20% of the fair market value of our assets, we would fail to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The ownership limitations that apply to REITs, as prescribed by the Code and by our charter, may inhibit market activity in the shares of our common stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.
In order for us to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, not more than 50% in value of the outstanding shares of our stock may be owned, beneficially or constructively, 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 the first year for which we elect to qualify to be taxed as a REIT. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year (other than the first taxable year for which we elect to be taxed as a REIT). Subject to certain exceptions, our charter authorizes our board of directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification to be taxed as a REIT. Our charter also provides that, unless exempted by the board of directors, no person may own more than 9.8% in value or in number, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock or 9.8% in value of the aggregate outstanding shares of all classes and series of our stock. A person that did not acquire more than 9.8% of our outstanding stock may nonetheless become subject to our charter restrictions in certain circumstances, including if repurchases by us cause a person’s holdings to exceed such limitations. The constructive ownership rules are complex and may cause shares of stock owned directly or constructively by a group of related individuals to be constructively owned by one individual or entity. These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control of our company that might involve a premium price for shares of our stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively and may cause us to incur tax liabilities.
The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our assets and liabilities. Any income from a hedging transaction that we enter into primarily to manage risk of interest rate changes or to manage risk of currency fluctuations with respect to borrowings made or to be made or to acquire or carry real estate assets does not constitute “gross income” for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income tests that apply to REITs, provided that certain identification requirements are met. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions or fail to properly identify such a transaction as a hedge, the income is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both of the gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may be required to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement those hedges through a TRS. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because our TRS may be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates that we would otherwise choose to bear. In addition, losses in our TRS will generally not provide any tax benefit, except that such losses could theoretically be carried back or forward against past or future taxable income in the TRS.
If we fail to meet the REIT income tests as a result of receiving non-qualifying rental income, we would be required to pay a penalty tax in order to retain our REIT status.
Certain income we receive could be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of the REIT requirements. Even if we have reasonable cause for a failure to meet the REIT income tests as a result of receiving non-qualifying income, we would nonetheless be required to pay a penalty tax in order to retain our REIT status.
Even if we remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT, we could be subject to tax on any unrealized net built-in gains in the assets held before electing to be treated as a REIT.
Following our REIT election, we owned appreciated assets that were held by a C corporation and were acquired by us in a transaction in which the adjusted tax basis of the assets in our hands was determined by reference to the adjusted tax basis of the assets in the hands of the C corporation. If we dispose of any such appreciated assets in a taxable transaction during the 5-year period following our acquisition of the assets from the C corporation (i.e., during the 5-year period ending July 17, 2019), we will be subject to tax at the highest corporate tax rates on any gain from such assets to the extent of the excess of the fair market value of the assets on the date that they were acquired by us (i.e., at the time that we became a REIT) over the adjusted tax basis of such assets on such date, which are referred to as built-in gains. We would be subject to this tax liability even if we maintain our status as a REIT. Any recognized built-in gain will retain its character as ordinary income or capital gain and will
be taken into account in determining REIT taxable income and our distribution requirement for the year such gain is recognized. Any tax on the recognized built-in gain will reduce REIT taxable income. We may choose not to sell in a taxable transaction appreciated assets that we might otherwise sell during the 5-year period in which the built-in gain tax applies in order to avoid the built-in gain tax. However, there can be no assurances that such a taxable transaction will not occur. If we sell such assets in a taxable transaction, the amount of corporate tax that we will pay will vary depending on the actual amount of net built-in gain present in those assets as of the time we became a REIT. The amount of tax could be significant.
The IRS may deem the gains from sales of our outdoor advertising assets to be subject to a 100% prohibited transaction tax.
From time to time, we may sell outdoor advertising assets. The IRS may deem one or more sales of our outdoor advertising assets to be “prohibited transactions” (generally, sales or other dispositions of property that is held as inventory or primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business). If the IRS takes the position that we have engaged in a “prohibited transaction,” the gain we recognize from such sale would be subject to a 100% tax. We do not intend to hold outdoor advertising assets as inventory or for sale in the ordinary course of business; however, whether property is held as inventory or “primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business” depends on the particular facts and circumstances and there is no assurance that our position will not be challenged by the IRS especially if we make frequent sales or sales of outdoor advertising assets in which we have short holding periods.
We may establish operating partnerships as part of our REIT structure, which could result in conflicts of interests between our stockholders and holders of our operating partnership units and could limit our liquidity or flexibility.
As part of our REIT structure, we have established a “DownREIT” operating partnership, and we may in the future establish an “UPREIT” and additional “DownREIT” operating partnerships, whereby we acquire certain assets by issuing units in an operating partnership (or a subsidiary) in exchange for an asset owner contributing such assets to the partnership (or subsidiary). If we enter into such transactions, in order to induce the contributors of such assets to accept units in our operating partnerships, rather than cash, in exchange for their assets, it may be necessary for us to provide them additional incentives. For instance, the operating partnership’s limited partnership or limited liability company agreement may provide that any unitholder of the operating partnership may be entitled to receive cash or equity distributions on its units, as well as exchange units for cash equal to the value of an equivalent number of shares of our common stock or, at our option, for shares of our common stock on a one-for-one basis. We may also enter into additional contractual arrangements with asset contributors under which we would agree to repurchase a contributor’s units for shares of our common stock or cash, at the option of the contributor, at set times.
In connection with these transactions, persons holding operating partnership units (or similar securities) may have the right to vote on certain amendments to the partnership agreements of such operating partnerships, as well as on certain other matters. Unitholders holding these voting rights may be able to exercise them in a manner that conflicts with the interests of our stockholders. As the sole member of the general partner of the operating partnerships or as the managing member, we would have fiduciary duties to the unitholders of the operating partnerships that may conflict with duties that our officers and directors owe to the Company.
In addition, if a holder of operating partnership units (or similar securities) received cash distributions on its units and/or required us to repurchase the units for cash, it would limit our liquidity and thus our ability to use cash to make other investments, distributions to stockholders, debt service payments, or satisfy other obligations. Moreover, if we were required to repurchase units for cash at a time when we did not have sufficient cash to fund the repurchase, we might be required to sell one or more assets to raise funds to satisfy this obligation. Furthermore, we might agree that if distributions the holder of operating partnership units (or similar securities) received did not provide them with a defined return, then upon redemption of the units, we would pay the holder an additional amount necessary to achieve that return. Such a provision could further negatively impact our liquidity and flexibility. Finally, in order to allow a contributor of assets to defer taxable gain on the contribution of assets to our operating partnerships, we might agree not to sell a contributed asset for a defined period of time or until the contributor exchanged its operating partnership units (or similar securities) for cash or shares. Such an agreement would prevent us from selling those properties, even if market conditions made such a sale favorable to us.
U.S. federal tax reform legislation could affect REITs, trading of our stock, the markets in which we operate, and our business, financial condition and results of operations, in ways that are difficult to anticipate.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was signed into law making significant changes to the Code, including corporate and individual tax rates and the calculation of taxes, as well as international tax rules. While the changes in the Tax Act generally appear to be favorable with respect to REITs, the extensive changes to non-REIT provisions in the Code
may have unanticipated effects on REITs, the Company and/or our stockholders. At this point, certain guidance on the changes made in the Tax Act have been issued but it is unlikely that legislative clarifications will be issued for some time.
Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Tax Act, or any future tax legislation, will not have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
Our principal executive offices, which we lease, are located at 405 Lexington Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10174. We and our subsidiaries also own and lease office and warehouse space throughout the United States and Canada. We consider our properties adequate for our present needs, and adequately covered by insurance.
In the United States and Canada, we primarily lease our outdoor advertising sites, but, in a few cases, we own or hold permanent easements on our outdoor advertising sites. These lease agreements have terms varying between one month and multiple years, with an average term of nine years, and usually provide renewal options. Our lease agreements generally allow us to use the land for the construction, repair and relocation of outdoor advertising structures, including all rights necessary to access and maintain the site. Approximately 68% of our outdoor advertising site leases will expire or be subject to renewal in the next 5 years, 22% will expire or be subject to renewal in 6 to 10 years and 10% will expire or be subject to renewal in more than 10 years. There is no significant concentration of outdoor advertising sites under any one lease or with any one landlord. An important part of our business activity is to manage our lease portfolio and negotiate suitable lease renewals and extensions. For further information regarding our outdoor advertising sites and structures, see “Item 1. Business—Our Portfolio of Outdoor Advertising Structures and Sites” and “Item 1. Business—Renovation, Improvement and Development.”
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
On an ongoing basis, we are engaged in lawsuits and governmental proceedings and respond to various investigations, inquiries, notices and claims from national, state and local governmental and other authorities (collectively, “litigation”). Litigation is inherently uncertain and always difficult to predict. Although it is not possible to predict with certainty the eventual outcome of any litigation, in our opinion, none of our current litigation is expected to have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
None.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Shares of our common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) on March 28, 2014, under the ticker symbol “CBSO.” On November 20, 2014, in connection with our rebranding, shares of our common stock began trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “OUT”. Prior to March 28, 2014, there was no public market for our common stock.
Holders
As of February 26, 2019, we had 222 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividend Policy
To maintain REIT status, we must annually distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement and qualify for taxation as a REIT but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined with the above modifications, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed net taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax if the amount that we actually distribute to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under U.S. federal tax laws. We intend to pay regular quarterly distributions to our stockholders in an amount not less than 100% of our REIT taxable income (determined before the deduction for dividends paid). See “Item 1. Business—Tax Status.”
Distributions that we make will be authorized and determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion out of assets legally available therefor. While we anticipate maintaining relatively stable distribution(s) during each year, the amount, timing and frequency of distributions will be at the sole discretion of the board of directors, and distributions will be declared based upon various factors, including but not limited to: future taxable income, limitations contained in our debt instruments (such as restrictions on distributions in excess of the minimum amount required to maintain our status as a REIT and on the ability of our subsidiaries to distribute cash to the Company), debt service requirements, our results of operations, our financial condition, our operating cash inflows and outflows, including capital expenditures and acquisitions, limitations on our ability to use cash generated in the TRSs to fund distributions and applicable law. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” and “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” We may need to increase our borrowings in order to fund our intended distributions. We expect that our distributions may exceed our net income, due, in part, to noncash expenses included in net income (loss).
We anticipate that our distributions generally will be taxable as ordinary income to our stockholders, although we may designate a portion of the distributions as qualified dividend income or capital gain dividends or a portion of the distributions may constitute a return of capital or be taxable as capital gain. We furnish annually to each of our stockholders a statement setting forth distributions paid during the preceding year and their characterization as ordinary income dividends, return of capital, qualified dividends, income or capital gain dividends or non-dividend distributions. Approximately 86.1% of the dividends we distributed in 2018 should be considered ordinary income by our stockholders for tax purposes, approximately 1.4% should be considered a capital gain, and approximately 12.5% should be considered a return of capital. The capital gain distribution is subject to certain recapture provisions for both individual and corporate shareholders.
Performance Graph
The information in this section, including the performance graph, shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.
The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return on OUTFRONT Media Inc.’s common stock to the cumulative total return of Lamar Advertising Company, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index (“S&P 500”), the S&P 500 Media Industry Index, and the FTSE National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) All Equity REITs Index.
The performance graph assumes $100 invested on March 28, 2014, in OUTFRONT Media Inc.’s common stock, Lamar Advertising Company’s common stock, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.’s common stock, the S&P 500, the S&P 500 Media Industry Index, and the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index, including the reinvestment of dividends, through the calendar year ended December 31, 2018.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Mar. 28, 2014 | | Dec. 31, 2014 | | Dec. 31, 2015 | | Dec. 31, 2016 | | Dec. 31, 2017 | | Dec. 31, 2018 |
OUTFRONT Media Inc. | | $ | 100.00 |
| | $ | 110.12 |
| | $ | 94.82 |
| | $ | 114.66 |
| | $ | 113.74 |
| | $ | 95.43 |
|
Lamar Advertising Company | | 100.00 |
| | 108.99 |
| | 127.89 |
| | 150.48 |
| | 174.01 |
| | 170.65 |
|
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. | | 100.00 |
| | 123.81 |
| | 65.36 |
| | 91.96 |
| | 101.01 |
| | 115.94 |
|
S&P 500 | | 100.00 |
| | 112.56 |
| | 114.12 |
| | 127.77 |
| | 155.66 |
| | 148.83 |
|
S&P 500 Media Industry Index(a) | | 100.00 |
| | 115.65 |
| | 110.68 |
| | 127.97 |
| | 138.47 |
| | 128.00 |
|
FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index | | 100.00 |
| | 118.77 |
| | 122.12 |
| | 132.66 |
| | 144.17 |
| | 138.34 |
|
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(a) | As of December 31, 2018, the S&P 500 Media Industry Index consists of the following companies: CBS Corporation; Charter Communications, Inc.; Comcast Corporation; Discovery Communications, Inc.; DISH Network Corporation; Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.; News Corporation; Omnicom Group Inc. |
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
None.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer
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| | Total Number of Shares Purchased | | Average Price Paid Per Share | | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Programs | | Remaining Authorizations |
October 1, 2018 through October 31, 2018 | | — |
| | $ | — |
| | — |
| | — |
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November 1, 2018 through November 30, 2018 | | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
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December 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 | | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
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Total | | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
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Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
The following table sets forth our selected historical consolidated financial data for the periods presented. The selected historical consolidated statements of operations and cash flow data for each of the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 and the selected historical consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements for such years, which are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected historical consolidated statements of operations and cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 and the selected historical consolidated balance sheet information as of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 have been derived from our audited historical consolidated financial statements, which are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
You should read the following information together with “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
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| | Year Ended December 31, |
(in millions, except per share amounts) | | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016(a) | | 2015 | | 2014 |
Statement of Operations data: | | | | | | | | | | |
Revenues | | $ | 1,606.2 |
| | $ | 1,520.5 |
| | $ | 1,513.9 |
| | $ | 1,513.8 |
| | $ | 1,353.8 |
|
| | | | | | | | | | |
Adjusted OIBDA(c) | | $ | 479.5 |
| | $ | 444.1 |
| | $ | 449.0 |
| | $ | 437.6 |
| | $ | 413.4 |
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Less: | | | | | | | | | | |
Stock-based compensation(d) | | 20.2 |
| | 20.5 |
| | 18.0 |
| | 15.2 |
| | 10.4 |
|
Restructuring charges | | 2.1 |
| | 6.4 |
| | 2.5 |
| | 2.6 |
| | 9.8 |
|
Acquisition costs | | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 10.4 |
|
Loss on real estate assets held for sale(b) | | — |
| | — |
| | 1.3 |
| | 103.6 |
| | — |
|
Net (gain) loss on dispositions | | (5.5 | ) | | (14.3 | ) | | (1.9 | ) | | 0.7 |
| | (2.5 | ) |
Impairment charge(e) | | 42.9 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Depreciation | | 85.9 |
| | 89.7 |
| | 108.9 |
| | 113.7 |
| | 107.2 |
|
Amortization | | 99.1 |
| | 100.1 |
| | 115.3 |
| | 115.4 |
| | 95.0 |
|
Operating income | | $ | 234.8 |
| | $ | 241.7 |
| | $ | 204.9 |
| | $ | 86.4 |
| | $ | 183.1 |
|
Interest expense, net | | $ | (125.7 | ) | | $ | (116.9 | ) | | $ | (113.8 | ) | | $ | (114.8 | ) | | $ | (84.8 | ) |
Benefit (provision) for income taxes | | $ | (4.9 | ) | | $ | (4.1 | ) | | $ | (5.4 | ) | | $ | (5.4 | ) | | $ | 206.0 |
|
Net income (loss) | | $ | 107.9 |
| | $ | 125.8 |
| | $ | 90.9 |
| | $ | (29.4 | ) | | $ | 306.9 |
|
Net income (loss) per weighted average shares outstanding(f): | | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | | $ | 0.76 |
| | $ | 0.90 |
| | $ | 0.66 |
| | $ | (0.21 | ) | | $ | 2.69 |
|
Diluted | | $ | 0.75 |
| | $ | 0.90 |
| | $ | 0.66 |
| | $ | (0.21 | ) | | $ | 2.67 |
|
Dividends declared per common share | | $ | 1.44 |
| | $ | 1.44 |
| | $ | 1.36 |
| | $ | 1.42 |
| | $ | 5.67 |
|
Funds from operations (“FFO”)(g) | | $ | 301.0 |
| | $ | 277.3 |
| | $ | 280.4 |
| | $ | 272.2 |
| | $ | 483.9 |
|
Adjusted FFO (“AFFO”)(g) | | $ | 299.7 |
| | $ | 277.6 |
| | $ | 294.5 |
| | $ | 268.1 |
| | $ | 235.7 |
|
Balance sheet data (at period end): | | | | | | | | | | |
Property and equipment, net | | $ | 652.9 |
| | $ | 662.1 |
| | $ | 665.0 |
| |
|