Company Provides Business Update Regarding COVID-19
NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Office Properties Income Trust (Nasdaq:OPI) today announced a regular quarterly cash dividend on its common shares of $0.55 per share ($2.20 per share per year), maintaining its previous dividend level. This dividend will be paid to OPI’s common shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 13, 2020 and distributed on or about May 21, 2020.
David Blackman, President and Chief Executive Officer provided the following business update:
“OPI is carefully monitoring the developments of the COVID-19 outbreak. We have been keenly focused on the health and safety of our manager The RMR Group LLC’s employees, our tenants and their businesses throughout this evolving situation. We anticipate that leasing activity may slow and that some tenants may seek temporary rent relief, but we also believe that overall tenant retention levels may increase. We believe our company will benefit from the 63% of our annual rental income paid by investment grade tenants, the majority of which is made up of government tenants, and the diversity of our tenant base, both geographically and by industry.
“Today’s dividend declaration underscores the Board of Trustees’ confidence in OPI’s liquidity and capital position. With approximately $400 million of availability under our $750 million credit facility, we believe that we are well positioned to weather the present disruptions facing the real estate industry. In addition, we anticipate that our G&A expenses will be reduced because of the lower fees we will pay to our manager as a result of the decline in our stock price since this crisis began. We have no significant debt maturities until 2022, we expect our 2020 cash available for distribution coverage to remain reasonably consistent with our target of 75% and expect that the dividend will remain unchanged. Given the current market conditions, we are carefully considering our capital allocation strategy and we hope to be in a position to opportunistically deploy capital in the future.”
Office Properties Income Trust is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on owning, operating and leasing properties primarily leased to single tenants and those with high credit quality characteristics like government entities. OPI is managed by the operating subsidiary of The RMR Group Inc. (Nasdaq:RMR), an alternative asset management company that is headquartered in Newton, MA.
Warning Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other securities laws. Also, whenever OPI uses words such as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “estimate”, “will”, “may” and negatives or derivatives of these or similar expressions, OPI is making forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon OPI’s present intent, beliefs or expectations, but forward-looking statements are not guaranteed to occur and may not occur. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by OPI’s forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond OPI's control. For example:
The information contained in OPI’s filings with the SEC, including under “Risk Factors” in OPI’s periodic reports, or incorporated therein, identifies other important factors that could cause OPI’s actual results to differ materially from those stated in or implied by OPI’s forward-looking statements. OPI’s filings with the SEC are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
You should not place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements.
Except as required by law, OPI does not intend to update or change any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
A Maryland Real Estate Investment Trust with transferable shares of beneficial interest listed on the Nasdaq. No shareholder, Trustee or officer is personally liable for any act or obligation of the Trust.
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Olivia Snyder, Manager, Investor Relations (617) 219-1410
Source: Office Properties Income Trust