Franklin Street Properties Corp. Announces First Quarter 2019 Results

Franklin Street Properties Corp. (the “Company”, “FSP”, “we” or “our”) (NYSE American: FSP), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.

George J. Carter, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented as follows:

“Leasing activity within our property portfolio of 32 operating and 3 redevelopment properties continued at a strong pace during the first quarter of 2019, setting an FSP record for the amount of first quarter square footage leased. In addition, the price of crude oil increased during the first quarter of 2019 and we believe that a continuation of this trend could provide support to many businesses and their expansion plans within our energy-influenced markets of Houston and Denver. Prospective new tenant activity at our 3 redevelopment properties located in Miami, Minneapolis and Charlotte was robust during the first quarter of 2019. We expect to make meaningful leasing progress with these assets during the remainder of 2019. With over $568 million of available capital liquidity as of March 31, 2019, we are confident that we have the financial resources needed to maximize our leasing and redevelopment value-add opportunities.”

Highlights

• Net Loss was $1.2 million or $0.01 per basic and diluted share for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019. Funds From Operations (FFO) was $22.1 million or $0.21 per basic and diluted share for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.
• Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO) was $0.06 per basic and diluted share for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.
• During the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, we effectively fixed interest rates on two of our term loans via interest rate swap transactions. As of March 31, 2019, approximately 91% of our indebtedness had fixed interest rates or were effectively fixed via interest rate swap transactions. As of March 31, 2019, the 30-Day LIBOR rate was approximately 2.49% and all of the base LIBOR rates that we fixed via interest rate swap transactions were below the 30-day LIBOR rate.
  • On February 20, 2019, we executed interest rate swap transactions that fixed the base LIBOR rate on both tranches of our $220 million term loan with Bank of Montreal as administrative agent at 2.385% per annum from August 26, 2020 until the loan matures on January 31, 2024.
  • On March 7, 2019, we executed interest rate swap transactions that fixed the base LIBOR-based rate on a $100 million portion of our $150 million term loan with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as administrative agent at 2.44% per annum from March 29, 2019 until the loan matures on November 30, 2021.

Leasing Update

• Our directly owned real estate portfolio of 32 operating properties (excluding 3 redevelopment properties) totaling approximately 9.5 million square feet was approximately 88.5% leased as of March 31, 2019.
• During the quarter ended March 31, 2019, we leased approximately 460,000 square feet, of which approximately 95,000 was with new tenants. The leasing total represents a first quarter record high for FSP, the average first quarter leasing total for the prior five years was approximately 176,000 square feet.
• The weighted average GAAP base rent achieved on leasing activity during the first quarter was $32.32 per square foot and the portfolio weighted average rent per occupied square foot increased from $29.01 as of December 31, 2018 to $29.60 as of March 31, 2019.

Dividend Update

On April 5, 2019, the Company announced that its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend for the three months ended March 31, 2019 of $0.09 per share of common stock that will be paid on May 9, 2019 to stockholders of record on April 19, 2019.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

A reconciliation of Net income (loss) to FFO, AFFO and Sequential Same Store NOI and our definitions of FFO, AFFO and Sequential Same Store NOI can be found on Supplementary Schedules H and I.

Real Estate Update

Supplementary schedules provide property information for the Company’s owned and managed real estate portfolio as of March 31, 2019. The Company will also be filing an updated supplemental information package that will provide stockholders and the financial community with additional operating and financial data. The Company will file this supplemental information package with the SEC and make it available on its website at www.fspreit.com.

FFO Guidance

We are maintaining our full year net income or loss guidance for 2019, which is estimated to be in the range of a net loss of approximately $0.03 to net income of $0.03 per basic and diluted share, and are introducing guidance for the second quarter of 2019, which is estimated to be in the range of a net loss approximately $0.02 to $0.00 per basic and diluted share. We are maintaining our full year FFO guidance for 2019, which is estimated to be in the range of approximately $0.81 to $0.87 per basic and diluted share, and introducing guidance for the second quarter of 2019, which is estimated to be in the range of approximately $0.19 to $0.21 per basic and diluted share. This guidance (a) excludes the impact of future acquisitions, developments, dispositions, debt financings or repayments or other capital market transactions; (b) reflects estimates from our ongoing portfolio of properties, other real estate investments and general and administrative expenses; and (c) reflects our current expectations of economic conditions. We will update guidance quarterly in our earnings releases. There can be no assurance that the Company’s actual results will not differ materially from the estimates set forth above.

A reconciliation of the guidance for net income (loss) per share to the guidance for FFO per share is provided as follows:

Today’s news release, along with other news about Franklin Street Properties Corp., is available on the Internet at www.fspreit.com. We routinely post information that may be important to investors in the Investor Relations section of our website. We encourage investors to consult that section of our website regularly for important information about us and, if they are interested in automatically receiving news and information as soon as it is posted, to sign up for E-mail Alerts.

Earnings Call
A conference call is scheduled for May 1, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss the first quarter 2019 results. To access the call, please dial 1-800-464-8240. Internationally, the call may be accessed by dialing 1-412-902-6521. To access the call from Canada, please dial 1-866-605-3852. To listen via live audio webcast, please visit the Webcasts & Presentations section in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website (www.fspreit.com) at least ten minutes prior to the start of the call and follow the posted directions. The webcast will also be available via replay from the above location starting one hour after the call is finished.

About Franklin Street Properties Corp.

Franklin Street Properties Corp., based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is focused on infill and central business district (CBD) office properties in the U.S. Sunbelt and Mountain West, as well as select opportunistic markets. FSP seeks value-oriented investments with an eye towards long-term growth and appreciation, as well as current income. FSP is a Maryland corporation that operates in a manner intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. To learn more about FSP please visit our website at www.fspreit.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this press release that state FSP’s or management’s intentions, beliefs, expectations, or predictions for the future may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release may also contain forward-looking statements, such as our ability to lease space in the future, expectations for FFO and net income (loss) in future periods, expectations for operating performance, expectations for crude oil prices and their impact on the Houston and Denver markets in future periods, rates of return and value creation/enhancement in future periods, expectations for operating cash flow in future periods, expectations for growth, leasing and acquisition and disposition activities in future periods, expectations regarding the timing, leasing and economic results of our redevelopment properties, and prospects for long-term sustainable growth, that are based on current judgments and current knowledge of management and are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that our forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation, economic conditions in the United States, including the level of interest rates, disruptions in the debt markets, economic conditions in the markets in which we own properties, risks of a lessening of demand for the types of real estate owned by us, changes in government regulations and regulatory uncertainty, uncertainty about governmental fiscal policy, geopolitical events and expenditures that cannot be anticipated such as utility rate and usage increases, delays in construction schedules, unanticipated repairs, additional staffing, insurance increases and real estate tax valuation reassessments. See the “Risk Factors” set forth in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as the same may be updated from time to time in subsequent filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, acquisitions, dispositions, performance or achievements. We will not update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform them to actual results or to changes in our expectations that occur after such date, other than as required by law.

Franklin Street Properties Corp. Earnings Release
Supplementary Schedule H
Reconciliation and Definitions of Funds From Operations (“FFO”) and
Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”)

A reconciliation of Net income (loss) to FFO and AFFO is shown below and a definition of FFO and AFFO is provided on Supplementary Schedule I. Management believes FFO and AFFO are used broadly throughout the real estate investment trust (REIT) industry as measurements of performance. The Company has included the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) FFO definition as of May 17, 2016 in the table and notes that other REITs may not define FFO in accordance with the current NAREIT definition or may interpret the current NAREIT definition differently. The Company’s computation of FFO and AFFO may not be comparable to FFO or AFFO reported by other REITs or real estate companies that define FFO or AFFO differently.

Funds From Operations (“FFO”)

The Company evaluates performance based on Funds From Operations, which we refer to as FFO, as management believes that FFO represents the most accurate measure of activity and is the basis for distributions paid to equity holders. The Company defines FFO as net income or loss (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains (or losses) from sales of property, hedge ineffectiveness, acquisition costs of newly acquired properties that are not capitalized and lease acquisition costs that are not capitalized plus depreciation and amortization, including amortization of acquired above and below market lease intangibles and impairment charges on properties or investments in non-consolidated REITs, and after adjustments to exclude equity in income or losses from, and, to include the proportionate share of FFO from, non-consolidated REITs.

FFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income or loss (determined in accordance with GAAP), nor as an indicator of the Company’s financial performance, nor as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP), nor as a measure of the Company’s liquidity, nor is it necessarily indicative of sufficient cash flow to fund all of the Company’s needs.

Other real estate companies and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, or NAREIT, may define this term in a different manner. We have included the NAREIT FFO as of May 17, 2016 in the table and note that other REITs may not define FFO in accordance with the current NAREIT definition or may interpret the current NAREIT definition differently than we do.

We believe that in order to facilitate a clear understanding of the results of the Company, FFO should be examined in connection with net income or loss and cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities in the consolidated financial statements.

Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”)

The Company also evaluates performance based on Adjusted Funds From Operations, which we refer to as AFFO. The Company defines AFFO as (1) FFO, (2) excluding our proportionate share of FFO and including distributions received, from non-consolidated REITs, (3) excluding the effect of straight-line rent, (4) plus the amortization of deferred financing costs and (5) less recurring capital expenditures that are generally for maintenance of properties, which we call non-investment capex or are second generation capital expenditures. Second generation costs include re-tenanting space after a tenant vacates, which include tenant improvements and leasing commissions.

We exclude development/redevelopment activities, capital expenditures planned at acquisition and costs to reposition a property. We also exclude first generation leasing costs, which are generally to fill vacant space in properties we acquire or were planned for at acquisition.

AFFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income or loss (determined in accordance with GAAP), nor as an indicator of the Company’s financial performance, nor as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP), nor as a measure of the Company’s liquidity, nor is it necessarily indicative of sufficient cash flow to fund all of the Company’s needs. Other real estate companies may define this term in a different manner. We believe that in order to facilitate a clear understanding of the results of the Company, AFFO should be examined in connection with net income or loss and cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities in the consolidated financial statements.

Franklin Street Properties Corp. Earnings Release
Supplementary Schedule I
Reconciliation and Definition of Sequential Same Store results to property Net Operating Income (NOI) and Net Income (Loss)

Net Operating Income (“NOI”)

The Company provides property performance based on Net Operating Income, which we refer to as NOI. Management believes that investors are interested in this information. NOI is a non-GAAP financial measure that the Company defines as net income or loss (the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure) plus general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, including amortization of acquired above and below market lease intangibles and impairment charges, interest expense, less equity in earnings of nonconsolidated REITs, interest income, management fee income, hedge ineffectiveness, gains or losses on the sale of assets and excludes non-property specific income and expenses. The information presented includes footnotes and the data is shown by region with properties owned in the periods presented, which we call Sequential Same Store. The comparative Sequential Same Store results include properties held for the periods presented and exclude properties that are redevelopment properties, which include properties being developed, redeveloped or where redevelopment is complete but are in lease-up and are not stabilized, dispositions and significant nonrecurring income such as bankruptcy settlements and lease termination fees. NOI, as defined by the Company, may not be comparable to NOI reported by other REITs that define NOI differently. NOI should not be considered an alternative to net income or loss as an indication of our performance or to cash flows as a measure of the Company’s liquidity or its ability to make distributions. The calculations of NOI and Sequential Same Store are shown in the following table:

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