CBRE Group 10-Q 2024-09-30

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024

OR

For the transition period from _______________ to _______________

Commission File Number 001-32205

CBRE GROUP, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

___________________________________________________________

(214) 979-6100

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding at October 21, 2024 was 306,017,984.

FORM 10-Q

September 30, 2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

CBRE GROUP, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited)

(Dollars in millions, except share data)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

CBRE GROUP, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)

(Dollars in millions, except share and per share data)

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) provides the reader with management’s perspective on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect future results. The MD&A in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (Quarterly Report) for CBRE Group, Inc. for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K (2023 Annual Report) as well as the unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report.

In addition, the statements and assumptions in this Quarterly Report that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, including, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies and prospects as well as estimates of industry growth for the next quarter and beyond. For important information regarding these forward-looking statements, please see the discussion below under the caption “Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements.”

Business Environment

The operating environment for commercial real estate continued to improve in the third quarter of 2024. Most notably, office leasing activity accelerated in the third quarter as greater certainty about the economic outlook supports occupier decision making across primary and secondary markets, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. Increased liquidity, lower borrowing costs and improved investor sentiment resulted an increase in investment sales for the first time since 2022. As capital returns to real estate, opportunities to harvest gains from real estate development and investment management portfolios are expected to increase.

Capital Allocation

We used $62 million in the quarter for share repurchases, while maintaining substantial liquidity to finance future growth.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth items derived from our consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 (dollars in millions):

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The information in this section should be read in connection with the information on market risk related to changes in interest rates and non-U.S. currency exchange rates in Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” in our 2023 Annual Report.

Our exposure to market risk primarily consists of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations related to our international operations and changes in interest rates on debt obligations. We manage such risk primarily by managing the amount, sources, and duration of our debt funding and by using derivative financial instruments. We apply Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging,” when accounting for derivative financial instruments. In all cases, we view derivative financial instruments as a risk management tool and, accordingly, do not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes.

International Operations

We conduct a significant portion of our business and employ a substantial number of people outside the U.S. As a result, we are subject to risks associated with doing business globally. Our Real Estate Investments (REI) business segment has significant euro and British pound denominated assets under management (AUM), as well as associated revenue and earnings in Europe. In addition, our Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) business segment also derives significant revenue and earnings in foreign currencies, such as the euro and British pound sterling. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may continue to produce corresponding changes in our AUM, revenue and earnings.

Our foreign operations expose us to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. These fluctuations may impact the value of our cash receipts and payments in terms of our functional (reporting) currency, which is the U.S. dollar.

Our businesses could suffer from adverse effects of high interest rates, a rapid increase in interest rates, limited access to debt capital or liquidity constraints, downturns in general macroeconomic conditions, regulatory or financial market uncertainty, or unforeseen disruptions such as public health crises and geopolitical events like the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East (or the perception that such disruptions may occur).

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, approximately 42.3% and 43.6% of our revenue was transacted in foreign currencies, respectively. The following table sets forth our revenue derived from our most significant currencies (dollars in millions):

(1)Approximately 45 currencies comprise 7.1% and 7.9% of our revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Approximately 45 and 46 currencies comprise 7.5% and 7.7% of our revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Although we operate globally, we report our results in U.S. dollars. As a result, the strengthening or weakening of the U.S. dollar will positively or negatively impact our reported results. A hypothetical 10% adverse change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the British pound sterling during the nine months ended September 30, 2024, would have decreased pre-tax income by $1 million. A hypothetical 10% adverse change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the euro would have increased pre-tax income by $9 million. These hypothetical calculations estimate the impact of translating results into U.S. dollars and do not include an estimate of the impact that a 10% change in the U.S. dollar against other currencies would have had on our foreign operations.

Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may result in corresponding fluctuations in revenue and earnings as well as the assets under management for our investment management business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Due to the constantly changing currency exposures to which we are subject and the volatility of currency exchange rates, we cannot predict the effect of exchange rate fluctuations upon future operating results. In addition, fluctuations in currencies relative to the U.S. dollar may make it more difficult to perform period-to-period comparisons of our reported results of operations. Our international operations also are subject to, among other things, political instability and changing regulatory environments, which affect the currency markets and which as a result may adversely affect our future financial condition and results of operations. We routinely monitor these risks and related costs and evaluate the appropriate amount of oversight to allocate towards business activities in foreign countries where such risks and costs are particularly significant.

Interest Rates

We manage our interest expense by using a combination of fixed and variable rate debt. We have entered into interest rate swap agreements to attempt to hedge the variability of future interest payments due to changes in interest rates.

The estimated fair value of our senior term loans was approximately $748 million at September 30, 2024. Based on dealers’ quotes, the estimated fair values of our 5.950% senior notes, 5.500% senior notes, 4.875% senior notes and 2.500% senior notes were $1.1 billion, $522 million, $603 million and $437 million, respectively, at September 30, 2024.

We utilize sensitivity analyses to assess the potential effect on our variable rate debt. If interest rates were to increase 100 basis points on our outstanding variable rate debt at September 30, 2024, the net impact of the additional interest cost would be a decrease of $11 million on pre-tax income and cash provided by operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires that we conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report, and we have a disclosure policy in furtherance of the same. This evaluation is designed to ensure that all corporate disclosure is complete and accurate in all material respects. The evaluation is further designed to ensure that all information required to be disclosed in our SEC reports is accumulated and communicated to management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures and recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods and in the manner specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer supervise and participate in this evaluation, and they are assisted by members of our Disclosure Committee. Our Disclosure Committee consists of our General Counsel, our Chief Accounting Officer, our Senior Officers of significant business lines and other select employees.

We conducted the required evaluation, and our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined by Securities Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) were effective as of September 30, 2024 to accomplish their objectives at the reasonable assurance level.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II – OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

There have been no material changes to our legal proceedings as previously disclosed in our 2023 Annual Report.

There have been no material changes to our risk factors as previously disclosed in our 2023 Annual Report.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Open market share repurchase activity during the three months ended September 30, 2024 was as follows (dollars in millions, except per share amounts):

**(1)**In November 2021, our board of directors authorized a program for the company to repurchase up to $2.0 billion of our Class A common stock over five years, effective November 19, 2021 (the 2021 program). In August 2022, our board of directors authorized an additional $2.0 billion under this program, bringing the total authorized amount under the 2021 program to a total of $4.0 billion. During the third quarter of 2024, we repurchased an aggregate of $62 million of our common stock under the 2021 program. The remaining $1.4 billion in the table represents the amount available to repurchase shares under the 2021 program as of September 30, 2024.

Our stock repurchase program does not obligate us to acquire any specific number of shares. Under this program, shares may be repurchased in privately negotiated and/or open market transactions, including under plans complying with Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act. Our stock repurchases have been funded with cash on hand and we intend to continue funding future repurchases with existing cash. We may utilize our stock repurchase programs to continue offsetting the impact of our stock-based compensation program and on a more opportunistic basis if we believe our stock presents a compelling investment compared to other discretionary uses. The timing of any future repurchases and the actual amounts repurchased will depend on a variety of factors, including the market price of our common stock, general market and economic conditions and other factors.

During the three months ended September 30, 2024, our Chief Financial Officer, Emma E. Giamartino, entered into a Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plan (the “Trading Plan”) to sell shares of the company’s Class A common stock. The Trading Plan is intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c).

The table below provides certain information regarding Ms. Giamartino’s Trading Plan.

Trading under the Trading Plan may commence no sooner than November 15, 2024 and will end on the earlier of the applicable date set forth above and the date on which all the shares in the Trading Plan are sold. Ms. Giamartino’s Trading Plan was adopted during an authorized trading period and when she was not in possession of material non-public information. The transactions under Ms. Giamartino’s Trading Plan will be disclosed publicly through Form 144 and Form 4 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.