QTS Realty Announces Q4 and Annual Earnings as “Strongest Year”

Data center developer QTS, with 26 facilities located throughout the United States, announced its fourth quarter and annual earnings yesterday afternoon. 

“QTS delivered our strongest year of performance in 2020, including closing out the year with the largest quarterly leasing performance in our history. We continue to experience strong execution against our long-term strategy, capitalizing on core differentiators to win market share at attractive returns and deliver consistent growth in shareholder value,” said Chad Williams, Chairman and CEO of QTS.

Williams said, “Our performance during 2020 is a testament to the strength of the QTS culture. I’d like to thank our QTS employees for their continued resiliency and commitment to delivering world-class service to our customers and surrounding communities. As we head into 2021 with a record booked-not-billed backlog and capital plan that is largely funded, QTS is well-positioned to drive continued growth and consistent performance.” 

Highlights included:

• Recognized total consolidated revenues of $143.9 million and $539.4 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, an increase of 16.3 percent and 12.2 percent compared to the same periods in 2019. Total consolidated revenues do not include QTS’ pro rata share of revenue attributable to its unconsolidated joint venture.
• Reported Adjusted EBITDA of $83.7 million and $299.3 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, an increase of 26.3 percent and 19.5 percent compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $66.3 million and $250.4 million for the same periods in 2019.
• Reported Operating FFO available to common stockholders and OP unit holders of $56.7 million and $199.0 million for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, an increase of 23.9 percent and 20.1 percent compared to Operating FFO available to common stockholders and OP unit holders of $45.7 million and $165.7 million for the same periods in 2019.
• Reported Operating FFO per fully diluted share of $0.78 for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, an increase of 13.0 percent compared to Operating FFO per fully diluted share of $0.69 in the same period of 2019. 
• Reported Operating FFO per fully diluted share of $2.84 for the full year ended December 31, 2020, an increase of 8.0 percent compared to Operating FFO per fully diluted share of $2.63 in the same period of 2019.
• Signed new and modified renewal leases during the fourth quarter of 2020 aggregating to $40.3 million of incremental annualized rent, net of downgrades, representing the highest quarterly performance in company history.
• Reported a company record high annualized booked-not-billed monthly recurring revenue (“MRR”) balance of $154.4 million as of December 31, 2020, compared to $130.6 million as of September 30, 2020 and $93.1 million as of December 31, 2019.
•  Adjusting booked-not-billed revenue for the effects of revenue which had begun recognition via straight line rent, the company’s annualized booked-not-billed balance was $87.1 million as of December 31, 2020, compared to $76.6 million as of September 30, 2020 and $60.7 million as of December 31, 2019.
• Through incremental sales of common stock sold on a forward basis as of the date of this report, the company had access to approximately $587.6 million of undrawn net proceeds from forward sales.