Intercontinental Exchange Inc. reported basically flat fourth-quarter revenue from its mortgage technology business.
However, ICE sees plenty of room for growth in the subsidiary as it continues the integration of Black Knight Inc., the Jacksonville-based mortgage tech company it bought in September 2023.
Atlanta-based ICE announced in December 2024 it will establish the headquarters of its mortgage technology business in Jacksonville.
ICE reported fourth-quarter mortgage technology revenue rose 1% to $508 million.
Since the fourth quarter of 2023 was the first full quarter after acquiring Black Knight, the fourth quarter of 2024 was the first time it reported comparable results for the mortgage segment.
Although the gain in revenue was minimal, ICE President Benjamin Jackson said in the company’s conference call with analysts the company is laying the groundwork for stronger growth.
Jackson said the company has already closed deals with a number of large financial institutions to use ICE’s home loan technology since acquiring Black Knight.
“It takes anywhere from 12 to 18 months for those clients to come online, get through all their testing,” he said, according to a company transcript of the call.
“Once they start to come online, they’ll roll it out division by division. So it takes time to make these changes happen,” he said.
“Because the deal closed about 18 months ago, we’re right now in that window where, in 2025, we are going to have a number of clients that we closed in those windows coming live as this year plays out. And I think you’re going to see it coming in and building as the year plays out,” Jackson said.
That would mean more revenue in the mortgage technology unit, which reported total revenue of $2.02 billion in 2024.
Before the merger, Black Knight dominated the market of providing processing services to lenders for existing mortgages, and ICE was a market leader in origination software for home loans.
Combining the businesses gives ICE an opportunity to offer lenders technology for the full life of a mortgage loan.
“We’ve constructed an unparalleled network that seamlessly connects key industry stakeholders within a single end-to-end digital ecosystem,” Jackson said.
“That kind of connectivity in network is a hallmark of the ICE business model and one that, combined with our leading solutions, gives us confidence that we can grow a business that, at $2 billion today, is only a fraction of the $14 billion addressable market that’s in the early days of an analog-to-digital conversion,” he said.
ICE is a technology and data company best known as the operator of the New York Stock Exchange.
The company’s total 2024 revenue grew 19% to $11.8 billion, with adjusted earnings rising by 45 cents to $6.07 a share.
The company announced plans in December to spend at least $173 million to locate its mortgage division headquarters in Jacksonville after City Council agreed to $21 million in property tax refunds and cash grants.
ICE said it will retain 1,500 jobs and add 500 more in Jacksonville.
ICE in January bought the 52.23-acre Merrill Lynch Deerwood Park North campus from Bank of America for $42 million to locate the headquarters office.
ICE did not mention the new mortgage technology offices in its fourth-quarter report and its annual report also filed Feb. 6 does not mention it.
The only reference to property in Jacksonville in the annual report is ICE’s ownership of the former Black Knight headquarters, a 327,000-square-foot office at 601 Riverside Ave.
Regency Centers Corp. reported higher fourth-quarter earnings and increased occupancy rates for its properties.
Jacksonville-based Regency operated 482 properties across the country at yearend, mainly grocery-anchored shopping centers.
“We set new record highs for our same property lease rate, ending the year at 96.7%, and our shop occupancy lease rate ended the year at 94.1%,” Chief Operating Officer Alan Roth said in Regency’s Feb. 7 conference call with analysts.
Regency reported core operating earnings rose by 5 cents a share to $1.04 in the fourth quarter and for the full year, core operating earnings rose by 18 cents to $4.13.
Same property data reflects properties that were operating since the fourth quarter of 2023. Regency said same property net operating income rose by an adjusted 4% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“Our operating fundamentals continue to benefit in part from a relative lack of new supply in our sector over the last 15 or so years,” CEO Lisa Palmer said in the call.
“At the same time, while supply growth has remained muted, Regency has found opportunities to create meaningful value through development,” she said.
Palmer said Regency met its target of $250 million or more in project starts last year and has close to $500 million in projects in process.
“Our development platform is, and will continue to be, a meaningful differentiator for us,” she said.
Despite the difficulties of some retailers in recent years, Regency said its credit loss outlook is just 0.75% to 1% of total revenue.
“Our credit loss forecast for 2025 is in line with our historical average, which is impressive if you consider the level of retail tenant bankruptcies we’ve seen in the last few months,” Roth said.
“Our exposure to credit risk tenants is very manageable, a direct result of our deliberate long-term approach to strategic merchandising and intense asset management.”
Rayonier Inc. reported higher fourth-quarter earnings and projected net income to grow in 2025.
The timber and real estate company said adjusted earnings rose by 10 cents a share to 27 cents.
Those earnings excluded the sale of 200,000 acres of timberland in the quarter for $495 million, which lifted total revenue to $726.3 million.
CEO Mark McHugh said in Rayonier’s Feb. 6 conference call that trends are positive heading into 2025.
“Overall, as we move into the new year, we are cautiously optimistic that timber prices will gradually improve along with end market demand,” he said.
“In addition, we expect another strong contribution from our real estate platform this year, given the continued favorable demand trends for our rural HBU (highest and best use) and development properties.”
Rayonier’s development properties include the Wildlight community in Nassau County, where the company is headquartered.
McHugh said he is also encouraged by opportunities related to “solar and carbon capture and storage, which we expect will drive meaningful cash flow growth in the coming years.”
Rayonier is projecting 2025 earnings of 51 cents to 64 cents a share, excluding any more asset sales, up from adjusted 2024 earnings of 47 cents.
After the fourth quarter land sales, Rayonier owns or leases about 2.5 million acres of timberland in the Southern and Northwest U.S. and New Zealand.
The company announced an initiative in November 2023 to target $1 billion in asset sales and when it announced the fourth-quarter sales, Rayonier said it had reached $737 million of that target.
“Looking ahead, we remain optimistic that an undersupplied U.S. housing market and an expected recovery in repair and remodel demand will translate into improving end market conditions,” McHugh said.
“Further, we anticipate the potential constraints on the supply of Canadian lumber into the U.S. market from continued production cuts, higher duty rates and the prospect of new tariffs may likewise translate to improving operating conditions as more North American lumber production shifts into the U.S.”
Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc., or RYAM, said President Donald Trump’s proposed 25% tariff on Canadian shipments to the U.S. would have a monthly impact of up to $3.5 million on its business.
The Jacksonville-based maker of cellulose specialty products, which split up with Rayonier in 2014, said about 11% of its 2024 revenue was generated from Canadian paperboard exports to the U.S.
“The Company has been proactively pursuing mitigation actions since late 2024 to partially offset these impacts,” RYAM said in a Feb. 3 news release.
“Even with these potential tariffs at currently announced levels, the Company expects to cover all fixed charges, including maintenance capital and interest expenses,” it said.
RYAM said preliminary results show 2024 revenue fell by $4 million to $1.639 billion, and the company had a loss from continuing operations of $43 million, which would be its sixth straight annual loss.
Treace Medical Concepts Inc.’s stock dropped sharply in May 2024 after a disappointing revenue forecast but one analyst sees improvement this year.
BTIG analyst Ryan Zimmerman upgraded the Ponte Vedra-based company, which makes products for bunion surgery and other foot issues, from “buy” to “neutral” in a Feb. 4 report.
“We had moved to Neutral on Treace shares in May 2024 after a disappointing guide following 1Q24 results where competition was disrupting Treace’s growth,” Zimmerman said in his report.
“Management learned a tough lesson at that time around guidance and have since approached guidance to the Street in a far more conservative manner which sets the company up to beat and raise,” he said.
“This alone isn’t sufficient enough to compel us to upgrade even at a reasonable valuation though.”
Other factors supporting the stock include new product launches from Treace and a more favorable reimbursement environment for bunion procedures, he said.
Zimmerman set a $16 price target for the stock, which was trading at $10.03 at the time of his report.