Harbor Custom Development, Inc.

Q2 2022 Earnings Conference Call

8/15/2022

spk00: Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Harbor Custom Development, Inc. Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. A question and answer session from previously submitted questions will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to introduce today's presenters, Sterling Griffin, CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board, and Lance Brown, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Brown.
spk03: Thank you, operator. Thank you all for joining us today. Welcome to Harbor Custom Development's second quarter 2022 earnings conference call. During our discussion today, we will be referring to our earnings press release and presentation that were made available prior to the call. The release and presentation can be found in the investor relations section of the Harbor website at www.harborcustomhomes.com. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that today's call includes forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this earnings release or discussed today are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. specifically included our statements regarding our industry and our outlook for 2022. Please see our recent SEC filings, which identify the principal risks and uncertainties which could affect future performance. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. In addition, we will be discussing or providing certain non-GAAP financial measures today, including EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margin. Please see the appendix of our earnings presentation for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most direct comparable gap measure. I would now like to turn the call over to Sterling.
spk01: Thank you, Lance, and thanks to everyone for joining the call today. We appreciate your interest in Harbor Custom Development. I am thankful for our team's hard work and dedication during the second quarter. Despite results coming in below internal expectations, The primary drivers impacting Q2 results were the significant cost overruns on our fee-billed projects, primarily due to increase in material costs and record-setting rainfall in western Washington, which caused substantial delays. In addition, the cancellation of a high-margin entitled land sale in our Horizon subdivision that was previously under contract also had a substantial impact to our financial results. While these events impacted our financial results for the quarter, we made a number of accomplishments that position us well for the remainder of the year and into 2023. These accomplishments include the listing of six multifamily projects, totaling $278 million with Kidder Matthews, significantly progressing the construction of those projects, and continuing to close more Texas home sales at attractive prices and margins. As we enter a challenging macroeconomic environment, including a slowing economy, weakened consumer buying behavior, higher interest rates and inflation, we are staged and ready for the future. We expect that our distinct business plan, which is focused on serving multiple segments of the residential market within a 20 to 60 minute commute in some of the nation's fastest growing regions, will continue to provide us with a consistent stream of revenue generated from multifamily apartments, single family homes, land and lot sales. Our diversified product portfolio enables us to build to the demands of the different communities. As we continue to navigate a challenging and dynamic market environment, our unique model will allow us to meet the needs of our diverse customers. As we previously communicated, we began a strategic transition of our inventory to multifamily housing in 2021. We believe this transition occurred at the opportune time, as multifamily properties have historically fared very well in economic downturns. Furthermore, multifamily properties are a more affordable alternative than purchasing a single-family home, particularly now as the economy takes on inflation, rising mortgage rates, and continued low levels of housing inventory in our geographic markets. During Q2, we announced the listing of six multifamily properties in western Washington. Those projects are Pacific Ridge, Mills Crossing, Belfair View, Windstone, Meadowscape, formerly known as Tanglewild, and Bridgeview Trails. Our initial target was to have Mills Crossing, Pacific Ridge, Windstone, and Belfair Phase 1 sold during the fourth quarter of 2022, but one or more of these properties may close in 2023. Now I would like to transition the commentary to our single-family home segment. In Q2 of 2022, we closed on the sale of our final two homes in Soundview Estates. This was the last of our single family home projects in Washington. We also sold five single family homes in the Austin, Texas MSA. Texas home sale prices range from $1.3 million to $1.6 million, or approximately $400 per square foot, with average margins of approximately 23%. Although the second quarter did not meet our expectations, we have continued our growth story for the first half of the year, recognizing 38.9 million of revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2022. This is an increase of 10.9 million compared to the prior year period. As of June 30, 2022, our backlog of fully executed contracts for the sale of developed residential lots and single-family homes was 15 million, compared to 14.2 million as of June 30, 2021. Our fee bill backlog as of June 30, 2022 was $5.8 million compared to $5.5 million as of June 30, 2021. Our financial condition remains stable, and we continue to take a prudent approach in managing our financial health. We ended the second quarter with $22 million of unrestricted cash, an increase compared to the $12.8 million at the end of the second quarter of 2021. We continue to invest in our business. We've grown our real estate assets to $154.6 million as of June 30, 2022. The majority of our investment during the second quarter was allocated to the development and construction of our multifamily properties. Before I turn the call back to Lance, I want to address the timing of projects. As I mentioned earlier, at the end of the quarter, we had a customer withdraw from a previously contracted entitled land sale during the final stages, which impacted our revenue for the second quarter by approximately $5 million. It is worth remembering that the realization of revenue and gross profit related to unrealized sales has not disappeared. Rather, the property remains in our inventory for future sale and monetization. We will continue to take a diligent approach to our guidance practices and maintain open communication, sharing any key changes to our expected targets. I will now turn the conference call back to Lance Brown, our Chief Financial Officer, to further discuss our financial details.
spk03: Thank you, Sterling. During the second quarter, sales decreased by 27.2% to 10.3 million as compared to 14.1 million for the prior year period. The decrease in sales is mostly driven by a decrease in entitled land sales of 9.3 million, primarily offset by an increase in home sales of 5.3 million. The entitled land sales in Q2 2021 did not recur in Q2 2022. Our gross loss for the second quarter 2022 was 1.9 million compared to gross profit of $3.3 million for the second quarter of 2021. We had a gross margin loss of 18.8% for the three months into June 30, 2022, compared to 23.5% gross margin for the three months into June 30, 2021. The $5.3 million decrease in gross profit and 42.3% decrease in gross margin was primarily due to significant cost overruns on our fee-billed projects and the non-recurrence of higher-margin entitled land sales. Our fee bill cost overruns, which were primarily attributable to inflation and record-setting rainfall in western Washington, resulted in a 3.2 million gross loss and 212.9% gross margin loss in the second quarter of 2022 as compared to 0.2 million gross profit and 11.8% gross margin in the second quarter of 2021. The entitled land sales in the second quarter of 2021 provided 2.4 million gross profit dollars at a gross margin of 25.5%. that did not recur in the second quarter of 2022. Our operating expenses increased to $3.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022, as compared to $2.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021. This anticipated increase in total operating expenses is primarily attributable to increases associated with our continued investment in public company infrastructure and our future growth plans. 0.8 million increase in payroll-related costs was the largest contributor of our operating expense increases. Less significant increases in professional fees, marketing and advertising, insurance expense, investor relations, right-of-use expense for a new corporate office, and depreciation expense also contributed to the increase over the prior year period. In the second quarter of 2022, operating expenses as a percentage of sales increased to 35.5% compared to 16% for the second quarter of 2021. The increase in operating expenses as a percentage of sales is primarily due to the increase in public company infrastructure expenses and cost to support our growth plans that were previously mentioned and lower sales in Q2 2022 compared to Q2 2021. We believe we are now sufficiently staffed to fully support our public company reporting requirements and meet our near-term growth plans. We expect operating expenses as a percentage of sales to decline as sales increased from selling our multifamily properties. Net loss was 4.5 million for the three months ended June 30th, 2022, as compared to net income of 1.1 million for the three months ended June 30th, 2021. The decrease in net income was primarily attributable to decreases in sales, cost of sales overruns, and increased operating expenses in the second quarter of 2022. For the three months ended June 30th, 2022, we had a loss per share of 46 cents compared to earnings per share of six cents for the three months ending June 30th, 2021. EBITDA loss for the second quarter of 2022 was 4.9 million compared to 2 million of EBITDA income in the second quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA loss in the second quarter of 2022 was 4.8 million compared to 2.1 million of adjusted EBITDA income in the second quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA loss as a percentage of sales was negative 46.5% for the second quarter of 2022 compared to 14.7% for the second quarter of 2021. Net cash used in operating activities for the quarter ended June 30th, 2022 was 26.1 million compared to cash used by operating activities of 44.6 million for the quarter ended June 30th, 2021. The primary use of cash during the quarter were related to the development of construction of our real estate assets, the majority of which were focused on our multifamily projects. Our real estate assets have continued to increase to $154.6 million as of June 30, 2022, from $122.1 million as of December 31, 2021. As of June 30, 2022, our real estate assets were levered approximately 45%. Now turning to year-to-date results. Sales for the first half of 2022 increased by 38.8% to $38.9 million, compared to $28 million for the first half of 2021. Sales improvement in 2022 was primarily due to increases in home sales of $10.7 million, fee-billed revenues of $2.9 million, and developed lot sales of $2.1 million, partially offset by a decrease in entitled land sales of $4.8 million. Gross profit for the first half of 2022 was 4.1 million compared to 3.9 million for the first half of 2021. Gross margin for the first half of 2022 was 10.6% compared to 14% for the first half of 2021. The 0.2 million increase in gross profit in 2022 was primarily due to increases in home gross profit of 1.8 million and entitled land gross profit of 1.6 million which was partially offset by the decrease in fee bill gross profit of 3.2 million. The 3.4% decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by the significant cost overruns with our fee billed projects and was partially offset by the margins attained with the sale of entitled land in the first quarter of 2022. Our operating expenses for the first half of 2022 were 7.5 million compared to 4.3 million for the first half of 2021. This expected increase is primarily attributable to increases in the continued investment of public company infrastructure and personnel to support our future growth plans. Payroll-related cost and professional fees were the largest contributors to the increase in operating expenses at $1.6 million and $0.5 million respectively. Right-of-use expense for a new corporate office, depreciation expense, marketing and advertising, Stock compensation and director fees also contributed to the increase over the prior year period. Operating expenses as a percentage of sales for the first half of 2022 were 19.3% compared to 15.4% for the first half of 2021. The increase in operating expenses as a percentage of sales is primarily due to the increase in operating expenses as described earlier, which have increased faster than the increase in sales. Net loss for the first half of 2022 was 2.9 million compared to net loss of 0.5 million for the first half of 2021. The decline in net income was primarily attributable to cost of sales overruns with our fee billed projects and increased operating expenses in the first half of 2022. For the first half of 2022, we had a loss per share of 50 cents compared to a loss per share of 4 cents for the first half of 2021. EBITDA loss for the first half of 2022 was $1.4 million compared to EBITDA of $2.3 million for the first half of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the first half of 2022 was $0.9 million compared to $2.5 million of adjusted EBITDA for the first half of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of sales was negative 2.3% for the first half of 2022 compared to 8.9% for the first half of 2021. I will now turn the call back to Sterling.
spk01: Thank you, Lance. Looking forward to the remainder of 2022, we are confident in the momentum we have generated during the first six months of the year. As discussed earlier, we believe that the timing of certain multifamily projects factored into our prior full year 2022 outlook could move from Q4 2022 into 2023. Because of these factors, along with the previously mentioned headwinds, We are adjusting our outlook for the full year ended December 31st, 2022 to assume the following. Full year revenue in the range of 80 to 90 million and adjusted EBITDA, which is expected to be at or around break even. While our outlook assumes a degree of near-term uncertainty, primarily related to timing, we believe this updated guidance has room for upside. While the sales timing of our listed multifamily properties is uncertain, we are confident the monetization of these assets will drive future shareholder value. With that, I will turn it back to the operator.
spk02: We will now switch to the question and answer session. Prior to the call, inquiries were submitted to ir at harborcustomdev.com. I will now read the previously submitted questions for Mr. Griffin and Mr. Brown to respond to. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions. What is the construction pipeline of multifamily units and what are the cap rate trends for those projects?
spk01: We previously announced the listing of six properties with Kidder Matthews for $278 million. In our pipeline behind those listed properties, we have approximately 600 units in various stages of the due diligence process. Regarding cap rates, we've seen them rise from the 4% range for new construction in our target markets to 4.5 to 5%. Fortunately, We have also seen corresponding rises in rental rates that have helped offset the cap rate increases.
spk02: Do you still expect the sale of apartment units to contribute to a substantial portion of your top line for 2022 and 2023?
spk03: Based on our updated guidance, we do not expect the sale of our multifamily projects to contribute a substantial portion of our 2022 revenues, as we think several of those projects could slide into 2023. For 2023, we expect our multifamily segment to be the largest contributor to our top-line sales.
spk02: What is the anticipated full-year mix of developed lots, entitled land, fee bills, and home sales, and the resulting growth margins?
spk03: It is hard to predict the exact sales mix that each of the segments will contribute at 2022 due to the unknown timing of the closings. However, we have a pipeline for all of our segments and expect each segment to further contribute to overall sales during the remainder of the year. As far as margins go, they tend to be project specific. In general, margins are declining based on current market conditions. We expect entitled land sales to provide the highest gross margins of all of our segments. Our multifamily property sales in Washington and single family home sales in Texas could generate gross margins on average in the low to mid 20% range. As we discussed on the call, we have encouraged cost overruns on the fee bill projects, and as a result, we expect future margins to be at or near breakeven for that segment.
spk02: What is your forecast of normalized annual operating expenses for 2022?
spk03: We are estimating operating expenses for 2022 to be in the 16 million to 17 million range. We believe that we are now sufficiently staffed to fully support our public company reporting requirements and meet our near-term growth plans. We expect operating expenses as a percentage of sales to decline in future years.
spk02: For the multifamily projects listed, are they one, under construction, two, completed but unoccupied, or three, occupied to some degree? Which do you prefer in a sale, or do all three stages work?
spk01: For the six multifamily projects we have listed with Kidder Matthews for $278 million, all are under construction at this time. One of those projects, Mills Crossing, is currently in the rent-up stage. Our objective is to sell each multifamily project at the earliest possible opportunity. In the current market, newly constructed projects typically need to achieve a certain level of occupancy ranging from 70% to 90% before a buyer will close.
spk02: Would it ever be a viable plan or option to hold slash own the multifamily properties for the rental income revenue stream?
spk01: Yes. In the future, it is our objective to hold some of our multifamily projects. The company would benefit both from the monthly revenue created by the project while adding an appreciating asset to the balance sheet.
spk02: What does site work mean exactly for the Florida condo project?
spk01: Site work typically refers to horizontal development. Regarding Punta Gorda, when we refer to site work, it is the beginning of construction and refers to the clearing of the land, installation of roads, underground utilities, and building pad preparation.
spk02: Can you give an update on the Austin area real estate market, which some say has become very difficult?
spk01: Like most single-family markets in the U.S., the Austin market has also slowed down. We will continue to assess the Austin market dynamics and use our unique business model to monetize our real estate assets at the most opportune stage.
spk02: Since there still appears to be a nationwide housing shortage, is there still going to be a focus on single-family home development over the long term?
spk01: There does continue to be a nationwide housing shortage. Our focus today is on multifamily housing, which also has a significant shortage across the U.S. and we believe multifamily housing provides better opportunities for the company long term.
spk02: Will you please provide an update on your Dark Horse property in California and your plans for that project?
spk01: We are currently working to sell the remaining 63 lots in the Dark Horse development and at this time we do not plan on building any single family homes in the subdivision.
spk02: This concludes the question and answer session. I will now turn the call back to Mr. Griffin for closing remarks.
spk01: Thank you, everyone, for participating on today's call. We look forward to providing additional updates soon. You can find more information about the presentation and future events on our investor relations page under the tab events on our website, harborcustomhomes.com. For the most recent updates on company news, we encourage you to sign up for email notifications on the investor resources tab of our website. If anyone has further questions, we can be reached at 866-744-0974 or at ir.harborcustomdev.com. Thank you again for joining us today. We appreciate your time.
spk00: This does conclude this conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day.
Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

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