PS Business Parks, Inc. Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter Ended December 31, 2013 and Increases Quarterly Common Dividend by 13.6% to $0.50 Per Share

PS Business Parks, Inc. (NYSE:PSB) reported operating results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013.

Funds from operations (“FFO”) were $41.9 million, or $1.26, as adjusted, per share for the three months ended December 31, 2013, a 1.6% per share increase from the three months ended December 31, 2012 of $39.3 million, or $1.24, as adjusted, per share. FFO was $159.4 million, or $4.95, as adjusted, per share for the year ended December 31, 2013, a 1.9% per share increase from the year ended December 31, 2012 of $154.2 million, or $4.86, as adjusted, per share. The increase in adjusted FFO per share for the three months and year ended December 31, 2013 over the same periods in 2012 was due to the increase in net operating income partially offset by an increase in preferred equity distributions as the Company replaced short-term debt with perpetual preferred equity combined with an increase in share count as a result of the November, 2013 common equity offering.

At the beginning of 2012, the Company put in place a Long-Term Equity Incentive Plan (“LTEIP”) designed to grant restricted stock units to management based on the Company’s ability to achieve certain defined goals over a four-year period. While the Company has continued to see improved operating metrics and delivered strong total shareholder returns over the past two years, the original targets under the LTEIP were based on an assumption of a strong economic recovery starting in 2012. Given the current pace of the economic recovery, management has determined that it is not probable that the targets under the LTEIP will be met. As such, the Company stopped recording amortization as of September 30, 2013 and recorded a reversal of all previously recorded LTEIP amortization of $6.9 million during the three months ended December 31, 2013. Additionally, to present comparative results, the reversal and all amounts originally expensed in prior periods in either cost of operations (for field leadership) or general and administrative expenses (for executive management) have been reflected as adjustments in the FFO and Property Operations tables below.

In order to provide meaningful period-to-period comparisons of FFO derived from the Company’s ongoing business operations, the following table reconciles reported FFO to adjusted FFO, which excludes the LTEIP amortization adjustments, certain lease buyout payments, gain on sale of ownership interest in Stor-RE Mutual Insurance Company, Inc. ("Stor-RE"), acquisition transaction costs and the impact of non-cash distributions related to the redemption of preferred equity for the three months and years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012:

The following are adjustments to reconcile adjusted FFO to reported FFO as noted above. The reversal of LTEIP amortization was $6.9 million and $3.9 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2013, respectively. The $1.0 million and $3.9 million originally expensed for the three months and year ended December 31, 2012, respectively, have been added back for comparative purposes. The excluded lease buyout payments were $2.3 million and $1.8 million for the three months and years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. During the three months ended December 31, 2013, the Company sold its ownership interest in Stor-RE, an insurance captive primarily owned by Public Storage, resulting in a gain of $1.1 million. Acquisition transaction costs were $701,000 and $192,000 for the three months ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and $854,000 and $350,000 for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Non-cash distributions related to the redemption of preferred equity of $17.3 million were included in net income allocable to preferred shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Excluding the two lease buyout payments noted above, rental income increased $3.7 million, or 4.3%, from $87.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2012 to $91.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2013 as a result of a $3.3 million increase in rental income from Non-Same Park facilities, and a $421,000 increase from the Same Park portfolio. Excluding the two lease buyout payments noted above, rental income increased $12.2 million, or 3.5%, from $344.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 to $357.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 as a result of an $8.8 million increase in rental income from Non-Same Park facilities combined with a $3.5 million increase from the Same Park portfolio. The Same Park increases were due to an increase in occupancy and rental rates while the increases in Non-Same Park were due to a combination of an increase in occupancy and the acquisition of additional parks. In December, 2013, the Company received a net lease buyout payment of $2.3 million in connection with the termination of a 75,000 square foot lease in Beaverton, Oregon. The space was immediately re-leased with no down time.

Net income allocable to common shareholders increased $7.9 million, or 81.2%, from $9.8 million, or $0.40 per share, for the three months ended December 31, 2012 to $17.7 million, or $0.68 per share, for the three months ended December 31, 2013. Net income allocable to common shareholders increased $24.0 million, or 121.4%, from $19.8 million, or $0.81 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2012 to $43.9 million, or $1.77 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2013. These increases were due to the net impact of preferred equity transactions in 2013 and 2012 and the reversal of the LTEIP amortization combined with an increase in net operating income in 2013 and a decrease in interest expense. The three-month increase was also impacted by the gain on the sale of the Company’s ownership interest in Stor-RE of $1.1 million.

All per share amounts noted above are presented on a diluted basis.

Property Operations

To evaluate the performance of the Company’s portfolio over comparable periods, management analyzes the operating performance of properties owned and operated throughout both periods (herein referred to as “Same Park”). The Same Park portfolio includes all operating properties owned or acquired prior to January 1, 2011. Operating properties that the Company acquired subsequent to January 1, 2011 are referred to as “Non-Same Park.” For the three months and years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Same Park facilities constitute 21.4 million rentable square feet, representing 72.0% of the 29.7 million square feet in the Company’s portfolio as of December 31, 2013.

The following table presents the operating results of the Company’s properties for the three months and years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 in addition to other income and expense items affecting income from continuing operations (unaudited, in thousands, except per square foot amounts):

Common Stock Offering

On November 7, 2013, the Company closed the sale of 1,495,000 shares of common stock in a public offering and concurrently sold 950,000 shares of common stock to Public Storage. The aggregate net proceeds were $192.3 million.

Property Acquisitions

On December 20, 2013, the Company acquired Bayshore Corporate Center, an eight-building, 340,000 square foot, office park in San Mateo, California, for $60.5 million. The occupancy for the park was 81.8% at the time of acquisition.

During the fourth quarter, the Company also acquired, in two separate transactions, four multi-tenant flex parks and a four-acre parcel of land aggregating 804,000 square feet of single-story flex buildings located in Dallas, Texas, for a combined purchase price of $40.3 million. The combined occupancy for the parks was 75.6% at the time of acquisition.

Financial Condition

The following are key financial ratios with respect to the Company’s leverage at and for the three months ended December 31, 2013:

Distributions Declared

On February 18, 2014, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per common share, an increase of 13.6%, from $0.44 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 listed below. Distributions are payable March 31, 2014 to shareholders of record on March 14, 2014.

Company Information

PS Business Parks, Inc., a member of the S&P SmallCap 600, is a self-advised and self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) that acquires, develops, owns and operates commercial properties, primarily multi-tenant flex, office and industrial space. The Company defines “flex” space as buildings that are configured with a combination of office and warehouse space and can be designed to fit a number of uses (including office, assembly, showroom, laboratory, light manufacturing and warehouse space). As of December 31, 2013, the Company wholly owned 29.7 million rentable square feet with approximately 5,050 customers located in eight states, concentrated in California (11.5 million sq. ft.), Texas (4.7 million sq. ft.), Virginia (4.0 million sq. ft.), Florida (3.7 million sq. ft.), Maryland (2.3 million sq. ft.), Washington (1.5 million sq. ft.), Oregon (1.3 million sq. ft.) and Arizona (0.7 million sq. ft.).

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 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 conditions upon rental rates and occupancy levels at the Company’s facilities; 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 Internet. The Company’s website is www.psbusinessparks.com.

A conference call is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. (PST) to discuss the fourth quarter results. The toll free number is (888) 299-3246; the conference ID is 31383721. 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 February 26, 2014 at (855) 859-2056. A replay of the conference call will also be available on the Company’s website.

Additional financial data attached.