Sun Communities, Inc. Reports 2016 First Quarter Results

                                                                                                                       
NEWS RELEASE
April 26, 2016

Southfield, Michigan, April 26, 2016 -  Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE: SUI) (the "Company"), a real estate investment trust ("REIT") that owns and operates manufactured housing ("MH") and recreational vehicle ("RV") communities, today reported its first quarter results.

Highlights:  Three Months Ended March 31, 2016

• Funds from operations ("FFO")⁽¹⁾ excluding certain items was $0.90 per diluted share and OP unit ("Share") for the three months ended March 31, 2016.
   
• Home sales increased by 40.9 percent as compared to the first quarter of 2015.
   
• Revenue producing sites increased by 592 sites for the quarter bringing total portfolio occupancy to 95.5 percent. 
   
• Same community Net Operating Income ("NOI")⁽²⁾ increased by 6.4 percent as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2015.
   
• Completed the purchase of two communities for $37.8 million.
   
• Announced the agreement to purchase Carefree Communities, Inc. ("Carefree") for $1.68 billion.
   
• Raised net proceeds of $385.3 million through the sale of 6,037,500 shares of common stock.

"Our performance during the first quarter continues to demonstrate the strength of the Sun Communities portfolio and the attractive fundamentals of our business," said Gary A. Shiffman, Chairman and CEO.  "We delivered yet another quarter of impressive NOI growth as we grew occupancy, converted RV transient sites to annual leases, and continued to fill expansion sites.  This consistently strong performance is proving out our strategy of owning well located high quality communities while providing superior amenities and customer service.  I am also particularly excited to further accelerate this growth with the integration of Carefree in the second half of the year.  This highly complementary, best-in-class portfolio further enhances our geographic diversity, deepens our presence in key coastal markets, and extends the contribution from age-restricted communities."

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
(amounts in thousands)

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS

Community Occupancy

Total portfolio occupancy increased to 95.5 percent at March 31, 2016 from 92.9 percent at March 31, 2015 from a combination of occupancy gains and the disposition of properties with higher vacancy.  During the first quarter of 2016, revenue producing sites increased by 592 sites, as compared to 499 revenue producing sites gained in the first quarter of 2015.

Same Community Results

For the 219 communities owned throughout 2016 and 2015, first quarter 2016 total revenues increased 6.6 percent and total expenses increased 7.2 percent, resulting in an increase in NOI⁽²⁾ of 6.4 percent over the first quarter of 2015. 

Rent increases in the same community portfolio were 3.4 percent. Same community occupancy increased by 2.5 percent to 96.1 percent at March 31, 2016 as compared to the same period last year.   

Home Sales

Total home sales were 765 for the first quarter as compared to 543 homes sold during the first quarter of 2015, a 40.9 percent increase, driven by the sale of an additional 222 pre-owned homes.

Rental homes sales, which are included in total home sales, were 294 and 181 for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, a 62.4 percent increase. The percentage of portfolio occupancy represented by home renters is 13.6 percent, compared to 14.0 percent for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.

Acquisitions ⁽⁴⁾

The Company acquired one MH  and one RV community during the quarter comprised of 740 sites, for  total consideration of $37.8 million. The communities are located in Texas and Michigan and were funded from the 1031 exchange completed in November of 2015 leaving $87.1 million in escrow.

The Company has entered into an agreement to acquire the high quality, 103 community manufactured housing and recreational vehicle Carefree portfolio for $1.68 billion, which is comprised of over 27,000 total sites. This portfolio is located in prime coastal markets and 51 percent of the sites are age restricted. The acquisition is expected to close in or before July 2016.

The consummation of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. As a result, there can be no assurances as to the actual closing or the timing of the closing.

BALANCE SHEET AND CAPITAL MARKETS ACTIVITY

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had approximately $2.3 billion of debt outstanding. The weighted average interest rate was 4.98 percent and the weighted average maturity was 8.2 years. The Company had $410.4 million  of unrestricted cash on hand and $392.0 million available on its credit facility. Additionally, the Company had $87.1 million of restricted cash on the balance sheet as a result of the assets sold in November 2015. At period-end the Company's net debt to trailing twelve month EBITDA⁽³⁾ ratio was 5.5 times.

Debt Transactions

In anticipation of the Carefree acquisition, the Company entered into rate lock agreements to replace $850.0 million of the $1.0 billion Carefree floating and short term debt with fixed rate debt carrying a weighted average maturity of 10.3 years.

Capital Transaction

In March 2016, the Company raised net proceeds of approximately $385.3 million through an offering of 6,037,500 shares of common stock at a price of $66.50 per share.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund a portion of the purchase price for the Carefree acquisition.  The consummation of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.  If for any reason the acquisition is not consummated, the Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to repay borrowings outstanding under the Company's revolving line of credit, to fund possible future acquisitions of properties and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

GUIDANCE 2016

The Company anticipates the second quarter 2016 FFO to be in the range of $0.79 to $0.81 per Share. The second quarter guidance incorporates the capital markets activity that has occurred to date. The Company expects a quarterly impact from the equity offering of approximately $.08 per Share until the capital is deployed. Guidance does not include transactions that have not yet closed or prospective acquisitions or capital markets activity. The Company intends to provide updated 2016 guidance after the Carefree transaction closes.

The estimates and assumptions presented above represent a range of possible outcomes and may differ materially from actual results.  The estimates and assumptions are forward looking based on the Company's current assessment of economic and market conditions, as well as other risks outlined below under the caption "Forward-Looking Statements."

EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL

A conference call to discuss first quarter operating results will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at 11:00 A.M. (ET). To participate, call toll-free 877-407-4018. Callers outside the U.S. or Canada can access the call at 201-689-8471. A replay will be available following the call through May 3, 2016 and can be accessed toll-free by calling 877-870-5176 or by calling 858-384-5517. The Conference ID number for the call and the replay is 13634168. The conference call will be available live on Sun Communities' website www.suncommunities.com. Replay will also be available on the website.

Sun Communities, Inc. is a REIT that currently owns and operates a portfolio of 233 communities comprising approximately 89,400 developed sites.

For more information about Sun Communities, Inc., please visit the website at www.suncommunities.com.

CONTACT

Please address all inquiries to our investor relations department at our website www.suncommunities.com, by phone (248) 208-2500, by email [email protected] or by mail Sun Communities, Inc. Investor Relations, 27777 Franklin Road, Ste. 200, Southfield, MI 48034.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains various "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Company intends that such forward-looking statements will be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "will," "may," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "believes," "intends," "should," "plans," "estimates," "approximate," "guidance," and similar expressions in this press release that predict or indicate future events and trends and that do not report historical matters.

These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors may cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include national, regional and local economic climates, the ability to maintain rental rates and occupancy levels, competitive market forces, the performance of recent acquisitions, the ability to integrate future acquisitions smoothly and efficiently, changes in market rates of interest, the ability of manufactured home buyers to obtain financing, the level of repossessions by manufactured home lenders and those risks and uncertainties referenced under the headings entitled "Risk Factors" contained in the Company's 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Quarter ended March 31, 2016, and the Company's other periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to provide public updates, revisions or amendments to any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect changes in the Company's assumptions, expectations of future events, or trends.

⁽¹⁾      Funds from operations attributable to Sun Communities, Inc. common stockholders and dilutive convertible securities ("FFO") is defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT") as net income (loss) (computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles "GAAP"), excluding gains (or losses) from sales of depreciable operating property, plus real estate-related depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. FFO is a non-GAAP financial measure that management believes is a useful supplemental measure of the Company's operating performance. Management generally considers FFO to be a useful measure for reviewing comparative operating and financial performance because, by excluding gains and losses related to sales of previously depreciated operating real estate assets, impairment and excluding real estate asset depreciation and amortization (which can vary among owners of identical assets in similar condition based on historical cost accounting and useful life estimates), FFO provides a performance measure that, when compared year over year, reflects the impact to operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental rates and operating costs, providing perspective not readily apparent from net loss. Management believes that the use of FFO has been beneficial in improving the understanding of operating results of REITs among the investing public and making comparisons of REIT operating results more meaningful. FFO is computed in accordance with the Company's interpretation of standards established by NAREIT, which may not be comparable to FFO reported by other REITs that do not define the term in accordance with the current NAREIT definition or that interpret the current NAREIT definition differently than the Company.

Because FFO excludes significant economic components of net income (loss) including depreciation and amortization, FFO should be used as an adjunct to net income (loss) and not as an alternative to net income (loss). The principal limitation of FFO is that it does not represent cash flow from operations as defined by GAAP and is a supplemental measure of performance that does not replace net income (loss) as a measure of performance or net cash provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity. In addition, FFO is not intended as a measure of a REIT's ability to meet debt principal repayments and other cash requirements, nor as a measure of working capital. FFO only provides investors with an additional performance measure.

⁽²⁾      Investors in and analysts following the real estate industry utilize NOI as a supplemental performance measure. NOI is derived from revenues minus property operating expenses and real estate taxes. NOI does not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered to be an alternative to net income (loss) (determined in accordance with GAAP) as an indication of the Company's financial performance or to be an alternative to cash flow from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP) as a measure of the Company's liquidity; nor is it indicative of funds available for the Company's cash needs, including its ability to make cash distributions. The Company believes that net income (loss) is the most directly comparable GAAP measurement to NOI. Net income (loss) includes interest and depreciation and amortization which often have no effect on the market value of a property and therefore limit its use as a performance measure. In addition, such expenses are often incurred at a parent company level and therefore are not necessarily linked to the performance of a real estate asset. The Company believes that NOI is helpful to investors as a measure of operating performance because it is an indicator of the return on property investment, and provides a method of comparing property performance over time. The Company uses NOI as a key management tool when evaluating performance and growth of particular properties and/or groups of properties. The principal limitation of NOI is that it excludes depreciation, amortization, interest expense, and non-property specific expenses such as general and administrative expenses, all of which are significant costs, and therefore, NOI is a measure of the operating performance of the properties of the Company rather than of the Company overall.

⁽³⁾      EBITDA is defined as NOI plus other income, plus (minus) equity earnings (loss) from affiliates, minus general and administrative expenses.  EBITDA includes EBITDA from discontinued operations.

⁽⁴⁾    The consideration amounts presented with respect to acquired communities represent the economic transaction and do not contemplate the fair value purchase accounting required by GAAP.

Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands, except per share amounts)

Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share amounts)

Reconciliation of Net Income to FFO⁽¹⁾
(in thousands, except per share amounts)

⁽⁶⁾ The effect of certain anti-dilutive convertible securities is excluded from these items.

Statement of Operations - Same Community
(in thousands except for Other Information)

⁽⁷⁾  Includes manufactured housing and annual/seasonal recreational vehicle sites and excludes transient recreational vehicle sites.
⁽⁸⁾  Occupancy %  excludes recently completed but vacant expansion sites.
⁽⁹⁾  Monthly base rent per site pertains to annual/seasonal RV sites and excludes transient RV sites.
⁽¹⁰⁾  Occupancy reflects current year gains from expansion sites and the conversion of transient RV guests to annual/seasonal RV contracts as vacant in 2015.

Rental Program Summary
(amounts in thousands except for *)

Homes Sales Summary
(amounts in thousands except for *)

Acquisition Summary - Properties Acquired in 2015 and 2016
(amounts in thousands except for statistical data)

⁽⁹⁾  Monthly base rent per site pertains to annual/seasonal recreational vehicle sites and excludes transient recreational vehicle sites.
⁽¹¹⁾   Includes manufactured housing and annual/seasonal recreational vehicle sites, and excludes transient recreational vehicle sites, which   are included in total developed sites.

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