Realogy Holdings Corp., a global leader in residential real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation, and title and settlement services, recently reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013, including the following highlights:
• Realogy’s net revenue for full year 2013 was $5.3 billion, a 13 percent increase compared to 2012.
• Realogy’s Adjusted EBITDA for 2013 was $796 million, an increase of 18 percent year-over-year.
• Net income for full year 2013 was $438 million, which includes an income tax benefit of $242 million that was primarily due to a $341 million release of the domestic deferred tax valuation allowance offset by approximately $100 million for current year book tax expense.
• Basic earnings per share was $3.01 for the full year.
• Realogy free cash flow totaled $421 million for the full year, or $2.89 per share.
• The Company reduced its annualized run-rate cash interest expense to approximately $240 million and decreased its total net debt to trailing 12-month Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio to 4.6 times as of December 31, 2013.
“Realogy posted strong revenue and Adjusted EBITDA gains in 2013,” said Richard A. Smith, Realogy’s chairman, chief executive officer and president. “This past year, we continued to position the Company for growth by adding franchisees to our brands and closing and successfully integrating accretive acquisitions, while closely managing operating expenses and reducing our debt by approximately $460 million since December 31, 2012.”
For 2013, combined full-year home-sale transaction volume (transaction sides times average sale price) increased by 18 percent, as compared to 2012. The Realogy Franchise Group (RFG), our franchise segment, and NRT, the operator of our company-owned brokerage offices, reported closed home-sale transaction gains of 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in 2013. Average home-sale price improved 9 percent at RFG and 6 percent at NRT compared to the prior year. NRT’s 2013 average home-sale price of approximately $471,000 is nearly double the national average of $245,500.
“For the first quarter of 2014, we expect to see our home-sale transaction volume increase by 8 percent to 12 percent,” says Anthony E. Hull, Realogy’s executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. “Based on closed activity in January and month-to-date in February, along with January and February open contracts, we expect home-sale sides to be down 3 percent to 5 percent year-over-year for RFG and NRT combined this quarter due primarily to inventory constraints and the impact of weather in certain markets, and average sale price to be up 13 percent to 15 percent on a combined basis.”
For more information, visit www.realogy.com.
