JACKSON,
Miss., Feb. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- EastGroup
Properties, Inc. (NYSE: EGP) (the "Company", "we", "our",
"us" or "EastGroup") announced today its recent business
activity.
As of February 27,
2025, EastGroup's portfolio was 97.1% leased and 95.8%
occupied. During the first quarter of 2025 to date, 1,438,000
square feet of new and renewal leases were signed with rental rate
increases averaging 45.0% on a straight-line basis and 30.9% on a
cash basis.
Also, since our earnings release dated February 6, 2025, the Company executed three
leases on development properties totaling approximately 151,000
square feet.
As previously announced, in Charlotte, Conn's Inc. rejected
their lease of 300,000 square feet effective October 31, 2024, as part of the Chapter 11
bankruptcy proceedings. EastGroup has leased the entire space for
7.5 years, commencing March 31, 2025,
with a rental rate increase of approximately 20%.
During the first quarter of 2025 to date, EastGroup entered
into forward equity sale agreements with respect to 611,956
shares of common stock with an initial weighted average forward
price of $180.27 per share and
approximate gross sales proceeds of $110,000,000, based on the initial forward price.
The Company did not receive any proceeds from the sale of common
shares by the forward purchasers at the time it entered into
forward equity sale agreements. Also, during the first quarter of
2025 to date, the Company settled outstanding forward equity sale
agreements that were previously entered into under its continuous
common equity offering program by issuing 214,138 shares of common
stock in exchange for net proceeds of approximately $37,005,000.
Management is scheduled to present at the Citi 2025
30th Annual Global Property CEO Conference on
March 4, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The webcast will be
broadcast live and is accessible through a link on the investor
relations page of the Company's website at investor.eastgroup.net.
During the conference, EastGroup executives may discuss the
Company's transaction activity, leasing environment, market trends
and conditions, financial matters and other business that may be
affecting the Company. Presentation materials that may be
referenced during the EastGroup presentations are available on the
"Investor Relations" page of the Company's website.
Commenting on the Company's activity, Marshall Loeb, CEO,
stated, "We are pleased to see the occupancy and leasing trends we
experienced late last year continuing thus far into 2025. Occupancy
is trending in line to slightly ahead of our forecast. We look
forward to speaking with many of you next week at the Citi
conference and for those we'll miss, we're available for any
questions."
About EastGroup Properties, Inc.
EastGroup, a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 2000
Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust
focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial
properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the
states of Texas, Florida, California, Arizona, and North
Carolina. The Company's goal is to maximize shareholder
value by being a leading provider in its markets of functional,
flexible and quality business distribution space for location
sensitive customers (primarily in the 20,000 to 100,000 square foot
range). The Company's strategy for growth is based on ownership of
premier distribution facilities generally clustered near major
transportation features in supply-constrained submarkets.
EastGroup's portfolio, including development projects and value-add
acquisitions in lease-up and under construction, currently includes
approximately 63.1 million square feet. EastGroup Properties, Inc.
press releases are available at www.eastgroup.net.
Forward-Looking Information
The statements and certain other information contained herein,
which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology
such as "may," "will," "seek," "expects," "anticipates,"
"believes," "targets," "intends," "should," "estimates," "could,"
"continue," "assume," "projects," "goals," "plans" or variations of
such words and similar expressions or the negative of such words,
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are
subject to the safe harbors created thereby. These forward-looking
statements reflect the Company's current views about its plans,
intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects, which are based
on the information currently available to the Company and on
assumptions it has made. Although the Company believes that its
plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects as
reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements are
reasonable, the Company can give no assurance that such plans,
intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or
achieved. Furthermore, these forward-looking statements should be
considered as subject to the many risks and uncertainties that
exist in the Company's operations and business environment. Such
risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected. These uncertainties include, but
are not limited to: international, national, regional and local
economic conditions; the competitive environment in which the
Company operates; fluctuations of occupancy or rental rates;
potential defaults (including bankruptcies or insolvency) on or
non-renewal of leases by tenants, or our ability to lease space at
current or anticipated rents, particularly in light of ongoing
interest rate uncertainty; disruption in supply and delivery
chains; increased construction and development costs, including as
a result of the recent inflationary environment; acquisition and
development risks, including failure of such acquisitions and
development projects to perform in accordance with our projections
or to materialize at all; potential changes in the law or
governmental regulations and interpretations of those laws and
regulations, including changes in real estate laws or real estate
investment trust ("REIT") or corporate income tax laws, potential
changes in zoning laws, or increases in real property tax rates,
and any related increased cost of compliance; our ability to
maintain our qualification as a REIT; natural disasters such as
fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or other extreme
weather events, which may or may not be caused by longer-term
shifts in climate patterns, could destroy buildings and damage
regional economies; the availability of financing and capital,
increases in or long-term elevated interest rates, and our ability
to raise equity capital on attractive terms; financing risks,
including the risks that our cash flows from operations may be
insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest,
and we may be unable to refinance our existing debt upon maturity
or obtain new financing on attractive terms or at all; our
ability to retain our credit agency ratings; our ability to comply
with applicable financial covenants; credit risk in the event of
non-performance by the counterparties to our interest rate swaps;
how and when pending forward equity sales may settle; lack of or
insufficient amounts of insurance; litigation, including costs
associated with prosecuting or defending claims and any adverse
outcomes; our ability to attract and retain key personnel or lack
of succession planning; risks related to the failure, inadequacy or
interruption of our data security systems and processes, including
security breaches through cyber attacks; pandemics, epidemics or
other public health emergencies, such as the coronavirus pandemic;
potentially catastrophic events such as acts of war, civil unrest
and terrorism; and environmental liabilities, including costs,
fines or penalties that may be incurred due to necessary
remediation of contamination of properties presently owned or
previously owned by us. All forward-looking statements should be
read in light of the risks identified in Part I, Item 1A. Risk
Factors within the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form
10-K, as such factors may be updated from time to time in the
Company's periodic filings and current reports filed with the SEC.
The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Contact: investor@eastgroup.net
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SOURCE EastGroup Properties
