Prologis Inc (NYSE: PLD) stock rose over 3% on 20th April, 2021 (as of 12:37:07 UTC-4 · USD; Source: Google finance) as the company posted better than expected results for the first quarter of FY 21 and has raised its net earnings and core funds from operations outlook for the full-year 2021. During the first quarter, PLD and its co-investment ventures issued $3.5 billion of debt at a weighted average interest rate of 0.96 percent and a weighted average term of about 11 years. This activity includes $2.6 billion in global bond raises, as well as a €500 million green bond. At the end of March, 2021, debt as a percentage of total market capitalization was 18.6 percent, and the company’s weighted average interest rate on its share of total debt was 1.8 percent with a weighted average term of 10.6 years. The aggregate investment capacity of PLD and its open-ended vehicles, at levels in line with their current credit ratings, is now at $14 billion.
Meanwhile, through few transactions during the first quarter of 2021, the company had reduced the weighted average interest rate by 20 basis points and effectively addressed the unsecured bond maturities through 2026. In addition, the company has built on the company’s excellent liquidity position, which collectively has set the company up well for this incredibly strong operating environment.
PLD in the first quarter of FY 21 has reported the adjusted funds from operations (FFO) per share of 97 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 83 cents, according to Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company had reported the adjusted revenue of $1.02 billion in the first quarter of FY 21, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue by 2.69%. The company’s year-over-year Core FFO growth, excluding promotes, is sector-leading at 12 percent at the midpoint, while generated $1.25 billion of free cash flow after dividends.
For fiscal 2021, the company now expects net earnings to be in a range of $2.80 to $2.90 per share, core funds from operation or core FFO to be in a range of $3.96 to $4.02 per share and core FFO, excluding net promote expense, to be in a range of $3.98 to $4.04 per share. While, on average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings to be of $1.74 per share for the year.