Monday, April 21, 2008

Fitch: Liberty Property Trust’s Conservative Leverage Levels Support Ratings

(Comcast Center, a 58-story, 1.25-million-sf, 975-foot tall, class A office location at 1701 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in downtown Philadelphia, is a Liberty Property Trust asset.)


NEW YORK, NY-- Liberty Property Trust’s (Liberty) leverage, risk-adjusted capital and unencumbered asset coverage ratios remain at levels commensurate with a ‘BBB+’ Issuer Default Rating (IDR), but are balanced by Liberty’s weakening coverage ratios, according to the latest credit analysis update by Fitch Ratings.

Fitch affirmed Liberty's 'BBB+' IDR on March 12 with a Stable Outlook. Fitch’s current Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) for Liberty are as follows: Liberty Property Trust --IDR ‘BBB+’. Liberty Property Limited Partnership --IDR ‘BBB+’.
Primary credit strengths include the following:

--Solid unencumbered asset coverage;
--Manageable debt maturity and lease expiration schedules;
--Conservative leverage and adequate risk-adjusted capitalization; and
--Solid, albeit weakening, same-store operating performance Primary credit concerns include the following:
--Adjusted funds from operations payout ratio in excess of 100%;
--Declining trend in coverage ratios;
--Concentration of net rental income from Pennsylvania / New Jersey region; and
--Lease-up risk from development pipeline.

Fitch's latest credit analysis update on Liberty, which was published on April 15, provides more detail supporting Fitch’s ratings, and is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at http://www.fitchratings.com/.

Contact:

Steven Marks
+1-212 908-9161 or

Janice Svec
+1-212-908-0304,
New York.

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