HASI Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results, Dividend Increase, Record Closings, and New Three-Year Guidance

ANNAPOLIS, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. ("HASI," "we," "our" or the "Company") (NYSE: HASI), a leading investor in climate solutions, today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023.

Financial Highlights

• Delivered $1.42 GAAP EPS on a fully diluted basis in 2023, compared with $0.47 in 2022
• Delivered $2.23 Distributable EPS on a fully diluted basis in 2023, compared to $2.08 Distributable EPS in 2022, representing 7% year-on-year growth
• Grew Portfolio 44% in 2023 to $6.2 billion and managed assets 26% to $12.3 billion compared to the end of 2022
• Reported GAAP-based Net Investment Income of $58 million in 2023, compared to $45 million in 2022
• Increased Distributable Net Investment Income in 2023 by 21% year-on-year to $217 million, compared to $180 million in 2022
• Closed $2.3 billion of investments in 2023, compared to $1.8 billion in 2022
• Reported pipeline of greater than $5 billion as of the end of 2023, compared to greater than $4.5 billion as of the end of 2022
• Increased dividend to $0.415 per share for the first quarter of 2024, representing a 5% increase over the dividend declared in the fourth quarter of 2023
• Announced 2% discount on 2023 Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan for the first quarter of 2024

Guidance

• Established new guidance that annual distributable earnings per share is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 8% - 10% during the years 2024 to 2026 relative to the 2023 baseline of $2.23 per share
• Established guidance that our dividend per share is expected to be within a payout ratio range of 60% - 70% of distributable earnings per share during the years 2024 to 2026

2024 REIT Election

In December 2023, our Board of Directors approved a plan to revoke our Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) election and become a taxable C-Corporation, effective January 1, 2024. Our Board of Director’s decision was made after careful consideration of all relevant implications and is not expected to have any material impact on the Company’s business or operations. The Company expects its existing net operating losses ("NOLs") and other tax attributes will enable HASI to continue to operate in a tax efficient manner.

Sustainability and Impact Highlight

• Estimated that more than 760,000 metric tons of carbon emissions will be avoided annually by our transactions closed in 2023, equating to a CarbonCount^® score of 0.3 metric tons per $1,000 invested

"Driven by a record volume of closed transactions, HASI delivered another excellent year of financial performance in 2023, underscoring the strength and resilience of our non-cyclical and adaptable business model,” said Jeffrey A. Lipson, HASI President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our updated earnings and dividend guidance demonstrates continued confidence in our strategy over the next three years."

A summary of our results is shown in the table below:

Financial Results

"Our diversified funding platform facilitated record growth in the Portfolio," said Marc T. Pangburn, Chief Financial Officer. "Recent debt raises combined with our liquidity position provide a significant portion of our growth debt capital needs for 2024."

Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31, 2022

Total revenue increased by $80 million, or 33%. Interest and rental income increased by $68 million, or 42%, due to a larger portfolio and a higher average interest rate. Gain on sale and other income increased by $11 million, or 17%, primarily from a change in mix of assets being securitized. Securitization asset income increased by approximately $1 million, due to a larger volume of securitized assets under management.

Interest expense increased by $55 million, or 48%, due to a higher average interest rate on a larger average outstanding debt balance. Provision for loss on receivables decreased by $1 million compared 2022 as a result of the release of certain loan specific reserves, partially offset by provisions on new loans and loan commitments. Other expenses (compensation and benefits and general and administrative expenses) increased by $2 million primarily due to an increase in our employee headcount and compensation and additional investment in corporate infrastructure.

We recognized $141 million in income using the hypothetical liquidation at book value method (HLBV) for our equity method investments in 2023, compared to $31 million of HLBV income in 2022, primarily due to allocations of income in the current period related to tax credits allocated to other investors in a grid-connected utility-scale solar project.

We recognized income tax expense of $32 million in 2023, compared to an income tax expense of $7 million in 2022, driven primarily by deferred tax expense recognized in the current period associated with the Board’s 2023 approval of our decision to revoke our REIT status effective January 1, 2024.

GAAP net income in 2023 was $151 million, compared to $42 million in 2022, driven primarily by the equity method investment income change discussed above. Distributable earnings in 2023 was $232 million, or an increase of approximately $46 million from 2022 due primarily to an increase in distributable earnings from a larger portfolio.

Leverage

The calculation of our fixed-rate debt and leverage ratios as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 are shown in the table below:

Portfolio

Our balance sheet portfolio totaled approximately $6.2 billion as of December 31, 2023, which included approximately $3.0 billion of behind-the-meter assets and approximately $2.3 billion of grid-connected assets, with the remainder invested in fuels, transportation, and nature assets. The following is an analysis of the performance of our portfolio as of December 31, 2023:

Guidance

The Company expects that annual distributable earnings per share will grow at a compounded annual rate of 8% to 10% from 2024 to 2026, relative to the 2023 baseline of $2.23 per share, which is equivalent to a 2026 midpoint of $2.89 per share. The Company also expects distributions of annual dividends per share from 2024 to 2026 to be set at a payout ratio of 60-70% of annual distributable earnings per share. This guidance reflects the Company’s judgments and estimates of (i) yield on its existing portfolio; (ii) yield on incremental portfolio investments, inclusive of the Company’s existing pipeline; (iii) the volume and profitability of transactions; (iv) amount, timing, and costs of debt and equity capital to fund new investments; (v) changes in costs and expenses reflective of the Company’s forecasted operations; and (vi) the general interest rate and market environment. In addition, distributions are subject to approval by the Company’s Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. The Company has not provided GAAP guidance as discussed in the Forward-Looking Statements section of this press release.

Dividend

The Company is announcing today that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.415 per share of common stock. This dividend will be paid on April 19, 2024, to stockholders of record as of April 5, 2024.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Hannon Armstrong will host an investor conference call today, Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing 1-877-407-0890 (Toll-Free) or +1-201-389-0918 (toll). Participants should inform the operator you want to be joined to the HASI call. The conference call will also be accessible as an audio webcast with slides on our website. A replay after the event will be accessible as on-demand webcast on our website.

About HASI

HASI (NYSE: HASI) is a leading climate positive investment firm that actively partners with clients to deploy real assets that facilitate the energy transition. With more than $12 billion in managed assets, our vision is that every investment improves our climate future. For more information, please visit hasi.com

Forward-Looking Statements:

Some of the information contained in this press release is forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) that are subject to risks and uncertainties. For these statements, we claim the protections of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in such Sections. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans and objectives. When we use the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “continue,” “intend,” “should,” “may” or similar expressions, we intend to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words or similar expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. All statements that address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include those discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in other periodic reports that we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances, including, but not limited to, unanticipated events, after the date on which such statement is made, unless otherwise required by law. New factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all of such factors, nor can it assess the impact of each such factor on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained or implied in any forward-looking statement.

The Company has not provided GAAP guidance as forecasting a comparable GAAP financial measure, such as net income, would require that the Company apply the HLBV method to these investments. In order to forecast under the HLBV method, the Company would be required to make various assumptions related to expected changes in the net asset value of the various entities and how such changes would be allocated under HLBV. GAAP HLBV earnings over a period of time are very sensitive to these assumptions especially in regard to when a partnership transaction flips and thus the liquidation scenarios change materially. The Company believes that these assumptions would require unreasonable efforts to complete and if completed, the wide variation in projected GAAP earnings based upon a range of scenarios would not be meaningful to investors. Accordingly, the Company has not included a GAAP reconciliation table related to any distributable earnings guidance.

Estimated carbon savings are calculated using the estimated kilowatt hours, gallons of fuel oil, million British thermal units of natural gas and gallons of water saved as appropriate, for each project. The energy savings are converted into an estimate of metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions based upon the project’s location and the corresponding emissions factor data from the U.S. Government and International Energy Agency. Portfolios of projects are represented on an aggregate basis.

EXPLANATORY NOTES
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Distributable Earnings

We calculate distributable earnings as GAAP net income (loss) excluding non-cash equity compensation expense, provisions for loss on receivables, amortization of intangibles, non-cash provision (benefit) for taxes, losses or (gains) from modification or extinguishment of debt facilities, any one-time acquisition related costs or non-cash tax charges and the earnings attributable to our non-controlling interest of Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (our “operating partnership”). We also make an adjustment to our equity method investments in the renewable energy projects as described below. We will use judgment in determining when we will reflect the losses on receivables in our distributable earnings, and will consider certain circumstances such as the time period in default, sufficiency of collateral as well as the outcomes of any related litigation. In the future, distributable earnings may also exclude one-time events pursuant to changes in GAAP and certain other adjustments as approved by a majority of our independent directors.

We believe a non-GAAP measure, such as distributable earnings, that adjusts for the items discussed above is and has been a meaningful indicator of our economic performance in any one period and is useful to our investors as well as management in evaluating our performance as it relates to expected dividend payments over time. We believe that our investors also use distributable earnings, or a comparable supplemental performance measure, to evaluate and compare our performance to that of our peers, and as such, we believe that the disclosure of distributable earnings is useful to our investors.

Certain of our equity method investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects are structured using typical partnership “flip” structures where the investors with cash distribution preferences receive a pre-negotiated return consisting of priority distributions from the project cash flows, in many cases, along with tax attributes. Once this preferred return is achieved, the partnership “flips” and the common equity investor, often the operator or sponsor of the project, receives more of the cash flows through its equity interests while the previously preferred investors retain an ongoing residual interest. We have made investments in both the preferred and common equity of these structures. Regardless of the nature of our equity interest, we typically negotiate the purchase prices of our equity investments, which have a finite expected life, based on our underwritten cash flows discounted back to the net present value, based on a target investment rate, with the cash flows to be received in the future reflecting both a return on the capital (at the investment rate) and a return of the capital we have committed to the project. We use a similar approach in the underwriting of our receivables.

Under GAAP, we account for these equity method investments utilizing the HLBV method. Under this method, we recognize income or loss based on the change in the amount each partner would receive, typically based on the negotiated profit and loss allocation, if the assets were liquidated at book value, after adjusting for any distributions or contributions made during such quarter. The HLBV allocations of income or loss may be impacted by the receipt of tax attributes, as tax equity investors are allocated losses in proportion to the tax benefits received, while the sponsors of the project are allocated gains of a similar amount. The investment tax credit available for election in solar projects is a one-time credit realized in the quarter when the project is considered operational for tax purposes and is fully allocated under HLBV in that quarter (subject to an impairment test), while the production tax credit required for wind projects and electable for solar projects is a ten year credit and thus is allocated under HLBV over a ten year period. In addition, the agreed upon allocations of the project’s cash flows may differ materially from the profit and loss allocation used for the HLBV calculations in a given period. We also consider the impact of any OTTI in determining our income from equity method investments.

The cash distributions for those equity method investments where we apply HLBV are segregated into a return on and return of capital on our cash flow statement based on the cumulative income (loss) that has been allocated using the HLBV method. However, as a result of the application of the HLBV method, including the impact of tax allocations, the high levels of depreciation and other non-cash expenses that are common to renewable energy projects and the differences between the agreed upon profit and loss and the cash flow allocations, the distributions and thus the economic returns (i.e. return on capital) achieved from the investment are often significantly different from the income or loss that is allocated to us under the HLBV method in any one period. Thus, in calculating distributable earnings, for certain of these investments where there are characteristics as described above, we further adjust GAAP net income (loss) to take into account our calculation of the return on capital (based upon the underwritten investment rate) from our renewable energy equity method investments, as adjusted to reflect the performance of the project and the cash distributed. We believe this equity method investment adjustment to our GAAP net income (loss) in calculating our distributable earnings measure is an important supplement to the income (loss) from equity method investments as determined under GAAP for an investor to understand the economic performance of these investments where HLBV income can differ substantially from the economic returns in any one period.

We have acquired equity investments in portfolios of renewable energy projects which have the majority of the distributions payable to more senior investors in the first few years of the project. The following table provides results related to our equity method investments for the three months and years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

Distributable earnings does not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (determined in accordance with GAAP), or an indication of our cash flow from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP), or a measure of our liquidity, or an indication of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to make cash distributions. In addition, our methodology for calculating distributable earnings may differ from the methodologies employed by other companies to calculate the same or similar supplemental performance measures, and accordingly, our reported distributable earnings may not be comparable to similar metrics reported by other companies.

Reconciliation of our GAAP Net Income to Distributable Earnings

We have calculated our distributable earnings and provided a reconciliation of our GAAP net income to distributable earnings for the three months and year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 in the tables below.

Distributable Net Investment Income

We have a portfolio of debt and equity investments in climate change solutions. We calculate distributable net investment income by adjusting GAAP-based net investment income for those distributable earnings adjustments described above which impact investment income. We believe that this measure is useful to investors as it shows the recurring income generated by our portfolio after the associated interest cost of debt financing. Our management also uses distributable net investment income in this way. Our non-GAAP distributable net investment income measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. The following is a reconciliation of our GAAP-based net investment income to our distributable net investment income:

Managed Assets

As we both consolidate assets on our balance sheet and securitize assets, certain of our receivables and other assets are not reflected on our balance sheet where we may have a residual interest in the performance of the investment, such as servicing rights or a retained interest in cash flows. Thus, we present our investments on a non-GAAP “managed” basis, which assumes that securitized receivables are not sold. We believe that our Managed Asset information is useful to investors because it portrays the amount of both on- and off-balance sheet receivables that we manage, which enables investors to understand and evaluate the credit performance associated with our portfolio of receivables, investments, and residual assets in securitized receivables. Our non-GAAP Managed Assets measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The following is a reconciliation of our GAAP-based Portfolio to our Managed Assets as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022:

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Investor Contact:

Neha Gaddam
investors@hasi.com
410-571-6189

Media Contact:

Gil Jenkins
media@hasi.com
443-321-5753

Source: Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc.

Released February 15, 2024