Exhibit 99.1
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PRESS RELEASE | Franklin Street Properties Corp. |
401 Edgewater Place ● Suite 200 ● Wakefield, Massachusetts 01880 ● (781) 557-1300 ● www.fspreit.com
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Contact: Georgia Touma (877) 686-9496 | For Immediate Release |
Franklin Street Properties Corp. Announces
Second Quarter 2021 Results
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Maintains 2021 Disposition Guidance
Anticipates Aggregate Gross Proceeds of Approximately $350 Million to $450 Million
Sale Proceeds to be Primarily Used for Repayment of Debt
FSP Remains Committed to its Sunbelt and Mountain West Market Focus
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Wakefield, MA—August 3, 2021—Franklin Street Properties Corp. (the “Company”, “FSP”, “we” or “our”) (NYSE American: FSP), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced its results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021.
George J. Carter, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented as follows:
“As the second half of 2021 begins, FSP remains focused on its two previously stated primary objectives for full year 2021: strengthening the balance sheet through debt reduction and leasing progress.
From the perspective of strengthening the balance sheet, during the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, we sold four properties for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $237 million and used the proceeds primarily to repay debt: We repaid approximately $155 million of term loan indebtedness and all of the approximately $47.5 million that had been drawn under our revolving line of credit. As of June 30, 2021, our full $600 million revolving line of credit was available for use and we had approximately $24 million in cash on our balance sheet.
From a leasing perspective, we continue to see increasing exploratory activity by existing and new prospective tenants at our properties. Converting prospective tenant interest and activity into actual, signed leases is generally taking longer than has historically been the case. We believe that this is primarily due to tenant uncertainty regarding the strength and durability of the post-COVID-19 economy and, as a consequence, delayed decision making regarding the amount and configuration of office space needed to accommodate employees. Discussions with prospective tenants have convinced us that businesses will have better clarity on these subjects by Fall 2021.
At this time, we are reaffirming our previously announced 2021 disposition guidance to be in the range of $350 million to $450 million in aggregate gross proceeds, inclusive of the $237 million of gross proceeds in 2021 realized to date. We are also continuing our suspension of Net Income and FFO guidance due primarily to uncertainty surrounding the timing and amount of proceeds from further property dispositions. Proceeds from additional property dispositions will continue to be used primarily for debt reduction. However, the prices achieved in our dispositions have confirmed our belief that our stock price may at times not be fully reflective of the value of our underlying assets. As a result, we may use a portion of proceeds from asset sales for the repurchase of up to $50 million of our outstanding common shares as market conditions warrant pursuant to our previously announced stock repurchase program.
We expect to make continued progress in achieving our objectives over the balance of 2021.”