PS Business Parks, Inc. Reports Results for the Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2020

PS Business Parks, Inc. PSB reported operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2020.

Operating Results for the Three Months and Year Ended December 31, 2020

Net income allocable to common shareholders for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020 was $26.9 million, or $0.98 per diluted common share, and $124.6 million, or $4.52 per diluted common share, respectively. Net operating income ("NOI") attributable to the Company's Same Park portfolio (defined below) was $68.0 million and $270.8 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, representing decreases of 3.0% and 0.6% over the same periods in 2019, respectively.

The Company also reports NOI on a cash basis, which excludes non-cash rental income such as amortization of deferred rent receivable and other non-cash items, and also excludes rents that have been deferred or abated during the period. Same Park Cash NOI was $69.2 million and $267.4 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, representing decreases of 0.5% and 0.9% over the same periods in 2019, respectively. The decrease in Same Park Cash NOI for the three months ended December 31, 2020 was primarily driven by lower weighted average occupancy in the fourth quarter of 2020, which was 92.0% versus 94.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019. The decrease in Same Park Cash NOI for the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily driven by lower weighted average occupancy, which was 92.4% in 2020 versus 94.5% in 2019, and $2.4 million of rent deferrals, net of repayments and $1.3 million of rent abatement granted to customers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company noted that Same Park Cash Rental Income per occupied square foot increased by 2.4% during the year, from $15.65 in 2019 to $16.03 in 2020. Excluding the effect of the aforementioned rent deferrals and rent abatement, Same Park Cash Rental Income per occupied square foot increased 3.4%, from $15.65 in 2019 to $16.18 in 2020.

Further detail on the change in Same Park rental income for the three months and years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 are provided in the table below (in thousands):

Additional detail on Same Park NOI and Same Park Cash NOI for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020 is provided in the Property Operations–Same Park Portfolio section below.

Funds from Operations ("FFO"), Core FFO, and Funds Available for Distribution ("FAD")

FFO for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020 was $1.66 per share and $6.51 per share, respectively, representing increases of 23.9% and 0.6% from the same periods in 2019, respectively. FFO is a non-GAAP measure defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and generally represents GAAP net income before (i) real estate depreciation and amortization expense, (ii) gains or losses on sales of operating properties, and (iii) land and impairment charges on real estate assets.

Core FFO, which the Company defines as FFO excluding the impact of (i) charges related to the redemption of preferred stock and (ii) other nonrecurring income or expense items as appropriate, was $1.66 and $6.57 per share for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, representing an increase of 0.3% and a decrease of 3.2% from the same periods in 2019. There were no differences between FFO and Core FFO for the three months ended December 31, 2020. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company excluded in its presentation of Core FFO accelerated amortization of $1.7 million of stock compensation expense as a result of the retirement of its President and Chief Executive Officer, Maria Hawthorne, and non-capitalizable demolition costs of $0.3 million related to its multifamily development in Tysons, Virginia, due to the nonrecurring nature of these expenses. For the three months and year ended December 31, 2019, the Company excluded from its presentation of Core FFO a non-cash charge of $11.0 million related to the redemption of preferred stock (Series U and V) incurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2019. Additional information on these items is included on the Company's annual report on Form 10‑K.

FAD for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020 was $48.0 million and $190.1 million, respectively, representing an increase of 6.7% and a decrease of 2.4%, respectively, from the same periods in 2019. The three month increase in FAD is primarily attributable to lower preferred distributions and recurring capital expenditures in the three months ended December 31, 2020 versus 2019, partially offset by lower interest income. The decrease in FAD for the year ended December 31, 2020 is attributable to lower Same Park Cash NOI driven by rent deferrals (net of amounts repaid) and abatements incurred in 2020, as well as lower Cash NOI from assets sold, partially offset by lower preferred distributions and recurring capital expenditures. FAD is a non-GAAP measure that represents Core FFO adjusted to (i) deduct recurring capital improvements and capitalized tenant improvements and lease commissions and (ii) remove certain non-cash income or expenses, such as amortization of deferred rent receivable and stock compensation expense.

FFO, Core FFO, and FAD are not substitutes for GAAP net income. Other real estate investment trusts ("REITs") may compute FFO, Core FFO, and FAD differently, which could inhibit comparability. The Company believes its presentations of FFO, Core FFO, and FAD assist investors and analysts in analyzing and comparing the operating and financial performance between reporting periods.

Lease Production

During the three months and year ended December 31, 2020, the Company executed leases on 1.9 million and 7.5 million square feet, respectively, compared to 2.1 million and 7.4 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2019, respectively. The Company also reported that in December 2020 it entered into a five-year lease agreement for a 138,000 square foot suite at its Wiegman Distribution property in Hayward, California, with cash rental rate growth of 41.1% over the outgoing rent. With this lease, coupled with a lease agreement the Company executed in the second quarter of 2020 for a 180,000 square foot suite, the Company has backfilled 70% of the 460,000 square foot building the Company received back in January 2020 after a long-term tenant vacated the property at the end of its lease term.

Weighted average cash rental rate growth on leases executed during the three months and year ended December 31, 2020 was 5.3% and 5.8%, respectively, while average net effective rent¹ growth was 14.9% and 16.0% for the same periods, respectively. Average lease term of the leases executed during the three months ended December 31, 2020 was 3.3 years, with associated average transaction costs (tenant improvements and leasing commissions) of $2.92 per square foot. For comparative purposes, average lease term and transaction costs on leases executed in the same period of 2019 were 4.8 years and $4.08 per square foot, respectively.

Property Operations–Same Park Portfolio

The Company believes that evaluation of the Same Park portfolio, defined as all properties owned and operated as of December 31, 2020 that were acquired prior to January 1, 2018, provides an informative view of how the Company's portfolio has performed over comparable periods. As of December 31, 2020, the Same Park portfolio consisted of 25.7 million rentable square feet, or 92.8% of the Company's 27.7 million total rentable square feet, excluding the Company's 95.0% interest in a 395-unit multifamily property.

The following table presents the unaudited operating results of the Company's Same Park facilities for the three months and years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands, except per square foot amounts):

The following table summarizes unaudited selected quarterly financial data with respect to the Same Park facilities (in thousands, except per square foot amounts):

COVID-19 Pandemic/Rent Collections Update

The COVID-19 pandemic has had and is expected to continue to have a significant impact on the Company's operations and capital plans; however, the effect to the Company's financial and operating performance in the fourth quarter was less pronounced than the prior two quarters. During the three months ended December 31, 2020, the Company granted $0.2 million of deferred rent and less than $0.1 million of rent abatement. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company granted rent relief to 393 customers (approximately 11.0% of total customers based on rental income) including $5.7 million of rent deferral and $1.3 million of rent abatement. As of February 19, 2021, the Company collected $3.7 million, or 97.1%, of the scheduled repayments of COVID-19 related rent deferrals billed through February 1, 2021.

During the three months ended December 31, 2020, the Company wrote-off $0.2 million of accounts receivable, which is in-line with the $0.2 million written-off during the three months ended December 31, 2019. Also, during the three months ended December 31, 2020, the Company wrote-off deferred rent receivables of $0.4 million, which is slightly higher than the $0.1 million written-off during the three months ended December 31, 2019. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company wrote-off accounts receivable of $1.6 million, representing 41bps of Cash Rental Income, compared to $1.1 million, or 27bps of Cash Rental Income in 2019.

The table below represents percentages of billed revenue that the Company has collected, deferred, and abated/written-off, by product type, for the respective periods presented (percentages shown are all as of December 31, 2020). Notably, rent collection percentages in the fourth quarter were in-line with pre-COVID levels and new deferral and abatement activity during the quarter was insignificant.

As of February 19, 2021, the Company had open rent relief requests from approximately 1% of customers. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations–Overview, Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic" in its December 31, 2020 Form 10-K for more information.

Acquisition, Dispositions, and Development Update

As previously announced in our third quarter 2020 earnings release, the Company acquired Pickett Industrial Park, a 246,000 square foot infill multi-tenant industrial park located in Alexandria, Virginia, for a total purchase price of $46.3 million on October 28, 2020.

The Company has completed the development of its 83,000 square foot multi-tenant industrial property at its Freeport Business Park adjacent to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas, for a total development cost of $8.1 million (excluding land value). Separately, the Company reported that construction of Brentford at The Mile is progressing on schedule and in-line with the previous development cost estimate of $110 to $115 million, excluding land value.

Distributions Declared

On February 17, 2021, the Company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.05 per common share. Distributions were also declared on the various series of depositary shares, each representing 1/1,000 of a share of preferred stock. Distributions for both common shares and preferred stock will be payable on March 31, 2021 to shareholders of record on March 16, 2021.

Company Information

PS Business Parks, Inc., a member of the S&P MidCap 400, is a REIT that acquires, develops, owns, and operates commercial properties, primarily multi-tenant industrial, flex, and office space. As of December 31, 2020, the Company wholly owned 27.7 million rentable square feet with approximately 5,000 commercial customers in six states. The Company also held a 95.0% interest in a 395-unit apartment complex and a 98.2% interest in an entity developing a 411-unit multifamily apartment complex.

Forward-Looking Statements

When used within this press release, the words "may," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "seeks," "estimates," "intends," and similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results and performance of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our business and our customers; the impact of competition from new and existing commercial facilities which could impact rents and occupancy levels at the Company's facilities; the Company's ability to evaluate, finance, and integrate acquired and developed properties into the Company's existing operations; the Company's ability to effectively compete in the markets that it does business in; the impact of the regulatory environment as well as national, state, and local laws and regulations including, without limitation, those governing REITs; the impact of general economic and business conditions, including as a result of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic; rental rates and occupancy levels at the Company's facilities; and changes in these conditions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of permanent capital at attractive rates, the outlook and actions of rating agencies and risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K, and annual reports on Form 10-K.

Additional information about PS Business Parks, Inc., including more financial analysis of the fourth quarter operating results, is available on the Company's website at psbusinessparks.com.

A conference call is scheduled for Tuesday, February 23, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. EST) to discuss fourth quarter results. The Company will also be discussing its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects it has had on its customers and the operation of its properties. The toll free number is (877) 876-9176; the conference ID is PSBQ420. The call will also be available via a live webcast on the Company's website. A replay of the conference call will be available through March 9, 2021 at (800) 839‑9302, as well as via webcast on the Company's website.

Additional financial data attached.