Armada Hoffler Properties Announces Further Corporate Governance Enhancements

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Feb. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH) today announced additional corporate governance changes adopted by its Board of Directors and management, as described below.

Sustainability Committee

The Company established a Sustainability Committee, a new a cross-functional management committee formed to support the Company’s ongoing commitment to environmental, workplace health and safety, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and other sustainability matters. Members of the Sustainability Committee are appointed by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and are required to report quarterly to the CEO and annually to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors.

The Sustainability Committee’s 2019 Report has been published and can be accessed through the Sustainability page of the Company’s website, ArmadaHoffler.com/Sustainability.

New Corporate Governance Policies

The Board adopted the following corporate governance policies:

• Environmental Policy – emphasizes the Company’s commitment to incorporating leading environmental practices into its business strategy and operations and fostering environmental awareness and responsibility among the Company’s employees, vendors, suppliers, and other interested parties. The Environmental Policy memorializes the Company’s commitment to conserving natural resources, minimizing waste, recycling, and ensuring compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
   
• Human Rights Policy – provides direction and guidance to the Company’s employees to ensure that all practices and processes support the fundamental principles of basic human rights, and are developed and implemented in a manner that complies with the Company’s core values around human rights and respects the inherent value of each individual. Among other things, the human rights policy:
   
  • prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labor or child labor;
  • expressly acknowledges the Company’s employees’ rights to lawfully associate or not to associate with groups of their choosing without fear of retaliation; and
  • reinforces the Company’s commitment to maintaining a healthy and safe work environment that is free from violence, harassment, discrimination, and other unsafe or disruptive conditions.
    
    
• Vendor Code of Business Conduct – sets forth the basic requirements expected of the Company’s vendors, suppliers, and trade contractors with whom the Company directly does business, with respect to, among other topics, conflicts of interest, environmental stewardship, anti-corruption, the use of conflict minerals, the conservation of assets, and the protection of whistleblowers.
   
• Incentive Compensation Clawback Policy – provides that the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors may require that an executive officer reimburse or forfeit any incentive compensation awards paid or granted in circumstances where the payment, grant, or vesting of the award was based on the achievement of financial results that were subsequently the subject of an accounting restatement of the Company’s financial statements resulting from any material non-compliance with any financial reporting requirements under applicable securities laws.
   
• Anti-Hedging Policy – prohibits the Company’s directors, officers, or employees from entering into any transactions that are designed to hedge (i.e., eliminate or reduce) the risks of ownership of Company securities. The Company’s Anti-Hedging Policy specifically prohibits the purchase or sale of puts, calls, options, or other derivative securities based on the Company’s securities and also prohibits hedging or monetization transactions, such as forward sale contracts, in which the stockholder owns the underlying Company security without all the risks of ownership.

The full text of the foregoing policies is available through the Investors page of the Company’s website found here.

Louis Haddad, President & CEO, said, “Together with the Board’s recent decision to opt out of MUTA, the actions taken by the Board demonstrate our ongoing commitment to enhanced transparency and accountability. We believe that regularly reviewing our policies relating to environmental, social, and governance practices supports our efforts to drive long-term value. We also recognize the importance of sustainability to our investors, employees, tenants, and the communities in which we live and work. Throughout our 40-year history, our focus has always been long-term durability when it comes to environmental, social, and governance practices. We are pleased to announce the establishment of our Sustainability Committee and encourage all of our stakeholders to review the Sustainability Committee’s 2019 Report now available on our website.”

About Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc.

Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH) is a vertically-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with four decades of experience developing, building, acquiring, and managing high-quality, institutional-grade office, retail, and multifamily properties located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. In addition to developing and building properties for its own account, the Company also provides development and general contracting construction services to third-party clients. Founded in 1979 by Daniel A. Hoffler, the Company has elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For more information, visit ArmadaHoffler.com.

Contact:
Michael P. O’Hara
Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc.
Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Secretary
Email: MOHara@ArmadaHoffler.com
Phone: (757) 366-6684