Larry Feldman, chairman, began a Dec. 21 conference call by apologizing for the delay in third quarter reporting and calling such a delay "unacceptable." Aspects of an ongoing re-structuring are expected to result in timely reporting, he said.
Among the changes are the closing of its office in Phoenix; the resignation of James Bourg, EVP, COO and director; and the out-sourcing of back-office functions. Feldman said, "transferring our back-office and accounting functions to the Brandywine organization should bring down the high costs of G&A and also help ensure timely reporting."
The locally based mall owner will incur a one-time severance charge of $1.3 million related to Bourg's departure. It is based on a contract struck prior to the company's IPO in 2004. "Maintaining liquidity is job number one," Feldman said.
"We are hard at work on the blocking and tackling related to construction and leasing of our properties," he continued. "Redeveloping all of our malls will take several years." He also said there would be another conference call "shortly" in which the company will provide a net asset value for the firm. "It won't be X per share, but enough information so shareholders can arrive at their own (assessment of) NAV."
This June, Feldman retained Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. to assist in exploring strategic alternatives, including the potential sale or merger of the company with another entity. During the third-quarter call, Feldman said the firm "remains committed to exploring strategic alternatives, but does not believe that a sale, merger or other strategic alternative is imminent under the current market conditions."
Asked what FBR was currently doing, and whether or not it would continue on the payroll, Feldman declined to comment "until the proxy is completed for the annual shareholder meeting," which will take place within weeks. "We're deferring the decision to retain FBR pending the stockholder vote."
At the close of the NYSE, following the conference call on Dec. 21, FMP common stock stood at $2.99 a share, down more than 10% for the day. The 52-week low of $2.42 a share occurred this Nov. 27, and the 52-week high of $13 a share was reached this April 9.
Feldman specializes in acquiring, renovating and repositioning enclosed regional malls. Currently its portfolio, including non-owned anchor tenants, includes seven such properties that aggregate seven million sf of which Feldman owns approximately 4.1 million sf.
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