NEW YORK CITY, February 16, 2016 — Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT) (the “Company”), a real estate investment trust with office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, today announced that it has successfully renewed and extended its leases with Univision Television Group, Inc. (Univision) from their current expirations in 2016 and 2018 to a new expiration in December 2025. Three existing broadcast tenants, CBS Broadcasting Inc. (NYSE: CBS), NBC Universal Media LLC, a subsidiary of Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), and THIRTEEN (WNET) have notified the Company that they have committed to move to One World Trade Center and will vacate the Empire State Building at the end of their current lease terms in 2017 and 2018.
The non-renewing leases with CBS, NBC and WNET generated approximately $6.0 million in aggregate revenue (inclusive of expense reimbursements) over the twelve months ended September 30, 2015. For the same time period, revenue from Univision totaled approximately $2.8 million (inclusive of expense reimbursements). Commencing as of January 2016, annual revenue from Univision will adjust to an initial amount of $1.9 million, and is subject to escalations. The Company’s trailing twelve month total revenue for the period ended September 30, 2015 was $662.8 million. Due to the relatively small size of the broadcasting business within Empire State Realty Trust, neither the extension of nor non-renewal of broadcast leases has or is expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial results. The Company intends to provide additional disclosure related to the broadcast business in its quarterly supplemental package and filings, as appropriate.
“We continue negotiations for renewal agreements with our broadcast tenants. As we have previously disclosed, some may choose to move locations when existing agreements expire, and we may see a reduction in revenue and a requirement for capital expenditures,” stated John B. Kessler, Empire State Realty Trust’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “Our goal is to achieve terms which make sense for our broadcast partners and provide attractive returns to our shareholders. We remain focused on the successful execution of our strategic plan to unlock embedded, de-risked growth within our portfolio as we consolidate, redevelop and re-lease space at industry leading spreads, and this dwarfs any impact of any outcome from our broadcasting business. With our low-levered, fortress balance sheet, we believe we will continue to create meaningful value from our portfolio of assets and drive the highest returns for our shareholders.”
About Empire State Realty Trust
Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, including the Empire State Building, the world’s most famous building. Headquartered in New York, New York, the Company’s office and retail portfolio covers 10.1 million rentable square feet, as of September 30, 2015, consisting of 9.4 million rentable square feet in 14 office properties, including nine in Manhattan, three in Fairfield County, Connecticut and two in Westchester County, New York; and approximately 720,000 rentable square feet in the retail portfolio.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward looking statements”. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “pro forma,” “estimates,” “contemplates,” “aims,” “continues,” “would” or “anticipates” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those set forth or contemplated in the forward-looking statements: the factors included in (i) the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, including those set forth under the headings “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Business,” and “Properties” and (ii) in future periodic reports filed by the Company under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. While forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s good faith beliefs, they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, or new information, data or methods, future events or other changes after the date of this press release, except as required by applicable law. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could impact the Company’s future results, performance or transactions, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and other risks described in documents subsequently filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are based only on information currently available to the Company (or to third parties making the forward-looking statements).
