Archstone-Smith Sales to Top $1B in 2003

These proceeds have been used in part to pay down the company's outstanding debt. Since the third quarter of 2002, the company has reduced its outstanding debt by more that $500 million and reduced its ratio of debt-to-undepreciated book capitalization from 47.4% to 43.3%, which includes the impact of consolidating Ameriton Properties Inc., the company's taxable REIT subsidiary.

Currently, the company has only $50 million outstanding on its $800 million of credit facilities, and has $62 million of cash on hand in tax-deferred exchange accounts.

Year-to-date, Archstone-Smith has acquired $257.4 million of assets, representing 1,483 units. Based on the company's current projections and anticipated acquisition volume of $400 million to $700 million for 2003, Archstone-Smith does not currently anticipate paying a special dividend in excess of its 2003 annual dividend of $1.71 per share.

"Management continues to believe our current share price represents a significant discount to our net asset value," says R. Scot Seller, chairman and CEO of Archstone-Smith. "Therefore, we are reiterating that we have no plans to issue common equity by way of an underwritten public offering or direct placement at our current share price. Rather, we believe the ongoing execution of our capital recycling program is a much more appropriate source of capital and further concentrates our portfolio in protected markets."

Approximately 88% of the company's portfolio is now concentrated in its eight core markets including the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, Boston and Southeast Florida. Seller is looking forward to an eventual economic recovery that should substantially improve apartment fundamentals. To that end, Archstone Smith is actively pursuing new value-added development opportunities.

This year, the company debuted at 994 on the Fortune 1000 list, and ranked 348 on the Forbes Super500 list. With a current total market capitalization of approximately $9.8 billion, Archstone-Smith owns or has an ownership position in 252 apartment communities, representing 88,624 apartment units, including units under construction.