B.F. Saul Real Estate Investment Trust
7501 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, Md. 20814
Year founded: 1892 Industry: Real estate Revenue: $1.04 Billion Net Income/Loss: $45.89 Million Earnings per share: $8.40 Dividend: n/a Stockholder equity: $168.68 Million Auditor: Ernst & Young LLP Assets: $12.21 Billion Market capitalization: n/a 52-week high: n/a 52-week low: n/a Chairman and CEO: B. Francis Saul II EVP and CFO: Stephen R. Halpin Jr. Employees: 0 Local employees: 0 Description: B.F. Saul Real Estate Investment Trust dates to the late 19th century and is still run by members of the founding Saul family. The trust invests in hotels, office buildings and raw land and holds a controlling 80 percent interest in Chevy Chase Bank, the region's largest locally owned bank. It also owns about 20 percent of Saul Centers, a public company that owns and develops office and retail property. Developments: It was a good year for B.F. Saul. Last fiscal year, ending in September, earnings rose by $20 million, to $46 million, as increasing banking profits offset a slight decline in real estate income. Revenue from banking and real estate was $1 billion. Though private, because the company has sold debt in the public markets it must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and disclose its numbers. Saul Centers earnings decreased 1.6 percent to $19.2 million on revenue of $97.9 million. A Saul Centers public offering netted the real estate investment trust $96.3 million to pay down debt and fund new developments. Chevy Chase Bank's earnings increased 45 percent to $79.6 million in the fiscal year ended in September. An 80 percent increase in mortgage loan originations pushed the bank's loan portfolio to $9 billion fueling the jump in income. On the real estate front, the company added to its portfolio last year by acquiring 13 acres in Frederick, Md. where it is building a 102,000-square-foot shopping center. The company also bought two grocery store anchored shopping centers in Boca Raton, Fla., and Loudon County, Va., and a 3.4-acre swath of land it plans to develop in Gaithersburg, Md. B.F. Saul II, whose father founded the company in 1892, is founder of Chevy Chase Bank. Saul has a net worth of $790 million, according to Forbes magazine. The trust has no employees of its own but it is managed by a separate operating company. In the Washington area, B.F. Saul Co.'s hotel division also owns the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn near National Airport; the Courtyard by Marriott and Holiday Inn at Tysons Corner; the Hampton Inn and TownePlace Suites at Dulles International Airport. Tourism officials have said they expect hotel occupancy in the Washington region this summer to reach its highest levels since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks rocked the local hospitality industry. Hotel occupancy increased to 69.2 percent last year, up from 67.2 percent in 2002. B.F. Saul's hotel portfolio actually underperformed the city average, with only 61 percent of the rooms booked.
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