Exhibit 99.1
TO BUSINESS AND REAL ESTATE EDITORS:
U-STORE-IT TRUST ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2005 FINANCIAL RESULTS
First Quarter 2005 Highlights:
* Total revenues increased 44.8% to $29.7 million over the first
quarter of 2004
* Completed acquisition of 14 self-storage facilities in four states
for $65.2 million
* Entered definitive agreements to acquire 67 self-storage facilities
from National Self Storage for $217.0 million
CLEVELAND, May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- U-Store-It Trust (the "Company")
(NYSE: YSI), a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust
focused primarily on self-storage facilities, announced today results for the
three months ended March 31, 2005.
U-Store-It Trust was formed on October 21, 2004 in conjunction with a series
of transactions leading to the completion of its initial public offering.
Financial statements included in this release include the results of operations
of the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2005, and the results of
operations of Acquiport/Amsdell, the Company's predecessor (the "Predecessor"),
for the three months ended March 31, 2004. Internally, the Company uses combined
reporting to evaluate its operating performance and believes that this
presentation will provide investors with additional insight into its financial
results. At March 31, 2005 and 2004, the Company/Predecessor owned interests in
213 and 155 self-storage facilities, respectively.
Robert J. Amsdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We had solid
revenue growth in the first quarter attributable to our expanded portfolio of
self-storage facilities. The closing of several of the acquisitions that we
announced in March 2005 demonstrates our continued focus on the execution of our
industry consolidation strategy. The integration of acquired self-storage
facilities is on track and we are realizing meaningful synergies as we
transition these facilities into our operating philosophy."
Financial and Operating Results
Total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2005 increased 44.8% to
$29.7 million, compared to total revenues of $20.5 million for the Predecessor
for the same period in 2004. Revenues increased primarily due to the acquisition
of 46 facilities acquired in the fourth quarter of 2004, the acquisition of 14
facilities in the first quarter of 2005 and an increase in the Company's
same-store revenues.
Total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2005 increased
to $21.8 million, compared to $13.5 million for the same period in 2004. The
increase in operating expenses is primarily due to the acquisition of 46
facilities in the fourth quarter of 2004, the acquisition of 14 facilities in
the first quarter of 2005 and the addition of general and administrative costs.
General and administrative costs began with the Company's initial public
offering and replaced management fees previously incurred by the Predecessor.
General and administrative costs include expenses related to being a public
company such as regulatory fees, audit fees, consulting fees, independent
director compensation and professional service fees, including Sarbanes-Oxley
compliance consultation.
Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2005 was $1.6 million,
compared to net income of $3.1 million for the Predecessor for the same period
in 2004. The decrease in net income for the three months ended March 31, 2005
was primarily attributable to an increase in depreciation associated with the
increase in the number of facilities in the portfolio and an increase in
interest expense due to a higher amount of outstanding debt that was incurred in
connection with the Company's formation transactions and higher interest rates
in the first quarter of 2005.
Average occupancy for the twelve months ended March 31, 2005 for the total
portfolio was 83.6%.
The weighted average number of shares outstanding for the three months ended
March 31, 2005 was 37,477,920.
Same-Store Operations
Total same-store revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2005, which
reflected a portfolio of 154 facilities, increased 6.2% to $21.8 million,
compared to $20.5 million for the same period in 2004. Approximately $0.5
million of this increase was attributable to increased occupancy and $0.8
million of this increase was attributable to increased rental rates.
Same-store property operating expenses for the three months ended March 31,
2005 increased 0.8% to $7.8 million, from $7.7 million for the same period in
2004. This increase was primarily attributable to increased property taxes.
Same-store portfolio is defined to consist of only those facilities owned at
the beginning and at the end of the applicable periods presented. The Company
considers the following same-store presentation to be useful to investors in
evaluating its performance, as it provides information relating to changes in
facility-level operating performance without taking into account the effects of
acquisitions, developments or dispositions. The following table sets forth
operating data for the same-store portfolio for the periods presented.
Same-Store Facility Results
Three months
ended
March 31,
--------------------- Percent
2005 2004 Change
--------- --------- ---------
($ in thousands)
Same-store revenues $ 21,795 $ 20,524 6.2%
Same-store property
operating expenses 7,756 7,698 0.8%
Non same-store revenues 7,920 --
Non same-store property
operating expenses 3,040 --
Total revenues 29,715 20,524
Total property
operating expenses 10,796 7,698
Number of facilities
included in same-store
analysis 154
Funds from Operations ("FFO")
FFO for the three months ended March 31, 2005 was $9.4 million, or $0.25 per
share. A reconciliation of net income to FFO is provided in the financial
statement section of this press release.
Given the nature of its business as a real estate owner and operator, the
Company considers FFO a key measure of its operating performance that is not
specifically defined by accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States ("GAAP"). The Company believes that FFO is useful to investors as a
starting point in measuring its operational performance because it excludes
various items included in net income that do not relate to or are not indicative
of its operating performance such as gains (or losses) from sales of property
and depreciation and amortization, which can make periodic and peer analyses of
operating performance more difficult.
Acquisition Activities
On March 3, 2005, the Company announced its entrance into a series of
definitive agreements to acquire 99 self-storage facilities consisting of 4.9
million rentable square feet for an aggregate purchase price of $309.5 million.
The Company has completed the acquisition of 36 of the self-storage facilities
to date.
The remaining 67 self-storage facilities comprise a portfolio that the
Company has agreed to acquire from National Self Storage for $217.0 million. The
facilities total approximately 3.6 million rentable square feet and are located
in the Company's existing markets in Southern California, Arizona and Tennessee
and in new markets in Texas, Northern California, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.
The Company expects to complete the acquisition on or before June 30, 2005,
although there can be no assurance that the transaction with be completed.
During the first quarter of 2005, the Company increased the number of
facilities owned and managed to 213 by completing the acquisition and
consolidation of the following facilities:
* Acquisition of Option Facility. On January 5, 2005, the Company exercised
its option to purchase the San Bernardino VII, California facility from
Rising Tide Development (a related party).
* Acquisition of Self-Storage Zone Facility. On January 14, 2005, the
Company acquired one self-storage facility from Airpark Storage LLC in
Gaithersburg, Maryland for the purchase price of $10.7 million,
consisting of $4.3 million in cash and $6.4 million of indebtedness.
* Acquisition of Ford Storage Facilities. On March 1, 2005, the Company
acquired five self-storage facilities, located in central Connecticut,
from Ford Storage for an aggregate purchase price of $15.5 million in
cash.
* Acquisition of A-1 Self-Storage Facilities. On March 15, 2005, the
Company acquired five self-storage properties, located in Connecticut,
from A-1 Self Storage for an aggregate purchase price of $21.7 million in
cash. The Company plans to operate two of these facilities as one
facility.
* Acquisition of Option Facilities. On March 18, 2005, the Company
exercised its option to purchase the Orlando II, Florida and the Boynton
Beach II, Florida facilities from Rising Tide Development (a related
party).
Thus far in the second quarter of 2005, the Company has increased the number
of facilities owned and managed to 235 by completing the acquisition and
consolidation of the following facilities:
* Acquisition of Liberty Self-Stor Facilities. In April 2005, the Company
acquired 18 self-storage facilities from Liberty Self-Stor Ltd., a
subsidiary of Liberty Self-Stor, Inc., for an aggregate purchase price of
$34.0 million. The facilities total approximately 863,000 rentable square
feet and are located in Ohio and New York.
* Acquisition of Individual Storage Facilities. In April 2005, the Company
acquired three facilities from two parties for an aggregate purchase
price of $14.9 million. The facilities total approximately 200,000
rentable square feet and are located in Texas (2 properties) and Florida
(1 property).
* Acquisition of A-1 Self -Storage Facility. In May 2005, the Company
acquired one self-storage facility from A-1 Self Storage for $6.4
million. The facility totals approximately 48,000 rentable square feet
and is located in New York.
In addition to these acquisition activities, we also have options to
purchase 15 self-storage facilities from Rising Tide Development as of March 31,
2005 as detailed below:
Detailed Schedule showing each option facility:
Rising Tide
Acquisition
Option Facility Location Date/ Rentable
Facilities in Service: Opening Date Square Feet Occupancy Units
- ------------------------------ ---------------- ------------ --------- ---------
(1) (2)
Escondido, CA October 2003 143,465 71.3% 609
Fort Lauderdale II, FL November 2004 65,510 50.6% 658
Jacksonville I, FL October 2003 65,429 71.1% 728
Jacksonville II, FL March 2004 82,196 56.3% 766
Jacksonville III, FL November 2004 70,000 33.9% 720
Kendall, FL November 2004 73,785 50.6% 723
Royal Palm Beach II, FL November 2004 81,510 64.6% 807
Tampa III, FL March 2003 83,788 66.1% 812
Medford, MA May 2003 59,155 61.9% 670
Strongsville, OH October 2004 46,194 20.9% 446
Subtotal/Weighted Average
-- Placed into Service 771,032 57.4% 6,939
Facilities under Development:
Riverside IV, CA May 2005 74,440
Temecula III, CA May 2005 84,290
Jacksonville IV, FL August 2005 82,500
Sarasota II, FL August 2005 80,000
Suwanee, GA May 2005 79,700
Subtotal -- Under Development 400,930
Total 1,171,962
(1) Represents either the date of acquisition by Rising Tide Development,
LLC, if the facility is already placed in service, or the projected opening
date, if the facility is under development.
(2) Represents occupied square feet divided by total rentable square feet,
as of March 31, 2005.
Conference Call
Management will host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. ET on May 16, 2005 to
discuss first quarter 2005 financial results. A live Web cast of the conference
call will be available online from the investor relations page of the Company's
corporate Web site at http://www.u-store-it.com. The dial-in numbers are (800)
289-0569 for domestic callers, and (913) 981-5542 for international callers. The
passcode for both is 2854781. After the live Web cast, the call will remain
available on the Company's Web site until June 16, 2005. In addition, a
telephonic replay of the call will be available until May 30, 2005. The replay
dial-in number is (888) 203-1112 for domestic callers and (719) 457-0820 for
international callers and the passcode for both is 2854781.
About U-Store-It Trust
U-Store-It Trust is a self-administered and self-managed real estate
investment trust focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and
development of self-storage facilities in the United States. The Company's
self-storage facilities are designed to offer affordable, easily-accessible and
secure storage space for residential and commercial customers. According to the
Self-Storage Almanac, U-Store-It Trust is the sixth largest owner and operator
of self-storage facilities in the United States.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release that are not historical fact may
constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
the actual results of the Company to differ materially from historical results
or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements,
including without limitation: national and local economic, business, real estate
and other market conditions; the competitive environment in which the Company
operates; the execution of the Company's business plan; financing risks; the
Company's ability to maintain its status as a REIT for federal income tax
purposes; acquisition and development risks; potential environmental and other
liabilities; and other factors affecting the real estate industry generally or
the self-storage industry in particular. The Company refers you to the documents
filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, specifically the section titled "Business-Risk Factors" in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, which discuss these and other risks and
factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from
any forward-looking statements.
U-STORE-IT TRUST AND SUBSIDIARIES (THE "COMPANY")
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
March 31, 2005 and December 31, 2004
($ in Thousands)
March 31, 2005 December 31, 2004
--------------- -----------------
ASSETS
Storage facilities - net $ 791,131 $ 729,155
Cash 8,251 28,485
Other assets 19,291 18,234
TOTAL $ 818,673 $ 775,874
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Loans payable $ 421,400 $ 380,496
Other liabilities 27,232 24,936
Minority interest 19,327 11,062
Shareholders' equity 350,714 359,380
TOTAL $ 818,673 $ 775,874
U-STORE-IT TRUST AND SUBSIDIARIES (THE "COMPANY") AND
ACQUIPORT/AMSDELL (THE "PREDECESSOR")
CONSOLIDATED AND COMBINED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
($ in thousands, except per share data)
THE THE
COMPANY PREDECESSOR
Three Months Three Months
Ended March 31, Ended March 31,
2005 2004
--------------- ---------------
REVENUES:
Rental income $ 27,597 $ 19,491
Other property related income 2,118 1,033
Total revenues 29,715 20,524
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Property operating expenses 10,796 7,698
Depreciation 8,021 4,728
General and administrative 3,025 --
Management fees-related party -- 1,102
Total operating expenses 21,842 13,528
OPERATING INCOME 7,873 6,996
OTHER EXPENSE:
Interest expense 5,807 3,739
Loan procurement amortization expense 373 173
Other 16 --
Total other expense 6,196 3,912
INCOME BEFORE MINORITY INTEREST 1,677 3,084
MINORITY INTEREST (60) --
NET INCOME $ 1,617 $ 3,084
Basic income per share $ 0.04
Diluted income per share $ 0.04
Weighted-average basic common shares
outstanding 37,477,920
Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding 37,483,309
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES -- COMPUTATION OF
FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS ("FFO") (1)
THE THE
COMPANY PREDECESSOR
Three months ended March 31,
2005 2004
------------ ------------
($ in thousands)
Net income $ 1,617 $ 3,084
Plus:
Depreciation 8,021 4,728
Minority interest 60 --
FFO -- Operating Partnership $ 9,698 $ 7,812
FFO -- Allocable to minority
interest $ 348
FFO -- attributable to common
shareholders $ 9,350
FFO per unit -- operating
partnership $ 0.25
FFO per share -- basis and diluted
-- attributable to
common shareholders $ 0.25
(1) Funds from Operations ("FFO"), is a widely used performance measure
for real estate companies and is provided here as a supplemental
measure of operating performance. The Company calculates FFO in
accordance with the best practices described in the April 2002
National Policy Bulletin of the National Association of Real Estate
Investment Trusts (the "White Paper"). The White Paper defines FFO as
net income (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains (or
losses) from sales of property, plus depreciation and amortization,
and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint
ventures.
Given the nature of its business as a real estate owner and operator,
the Company believes that FFO is helpful to investors as a starting
point in measuring its operational performance because it excludes
various items included in net income that do not relate to or are not
indicative of its operating performance such as gains (or losses) from
sales of property and depreciation and amortization, which can make
periodic and peer analyses of operating performance more difficult.
FFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income
(determined in accordance with GAAP) as an indicator of its financial
performance, is not an alternative to cash flow from operating
activities (determined in accordance with GAAP) as a measure of its
liquidity, and is not indicative of funds available to fund its cash
needs, including its ability to make distributions. The Company's
computation of FFO may not be comparable to FFO reported by other
REITs that do not define the term in accordance with the White Paper
definition or that interpret the White Paper definition differently
than the Company does.
Contact: Investors/Media:
U-Store-It Trust The Ruth Group
Steven G. Osgood Stephanie Carrington/Jason Rando
President & Chief Financial Officer (646) 536-7017 / 7025
(440) 234-0700 scarrington@theruthgroup.com
jrando@theruthgroup.com
SOURCE U-Store-It Trust
-0- 05/16/2005
/CONTACT: Steven G. Osgood President & Chief Financial Officer of
U-Store-It Trust, +1-440-234-0700; Investors: Stephanie Carrington,
+1-646-536-7017, scarrington@theruthgroup.com, or Media: Jason Rando,
+1-646-536-7025, jrando@theruthgroup.com, both of The Ruth Group for
U-Store-It Trust/
/Web Site: http://www.u-store-it.com /
(YSI)