Chicago-based shopping mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. said Wednesday that second-quarter earnings increased as the company raised store rents.
Net income jumped to $34.1 million, or 13 cents a share, from $8.39 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier. But funds from operations, a measure of cash flow used by real estate investment trusts, fell short of analysts’ estimates.
General Growth’s funds from operations rose to $228 million, or 71 cents a share, from $210.3 million, or 71 cents, a year earlier. The company was forecast to have funds from operations of 73 cents a share, according to analysts’ average estimate.
The company reported second-quarter results after the close of regular trading. Its shares fell 16 cents, to $30.09, during Wednesday’s session. They have dropped 27 percent this year, compared with a 2.8 percent decline in the Bloomberg REIT Index.
Revenue in the quarter rose 10 percent, to $815.6 million. Revenue from minimum rents increased 14 percent, General Growth said.
Equity Residential: The largest U.S. REIT that owns and operates apartment buildings said second-quarter profit fell after year-earlier gains on property sales were not repeated.
Net income dropped to $132.6 million, or 47 cents a share, from $282.4 million, or 95 cents a share, the Chicago-based company said. Funds from operations, a cash flow measure used by REITs, was 64 cents a share, exceeding analysts’ estimates.
Equity Residential is slowing asset sales in less expensive markets in states such as Texas and Minnesota because tightening credit standards have made it more difficult for prospective buyers to purchase property.
“We will produce good results for the year, with same-store revenue growth of 3 percent to 3.5 percent, which is modestly short of our original expectations as many of our markets are feeling the impact of job losses,” Chief Executive David Neithercut said in a statement.
The report came after the close of regular stock market trading, during which shares slipped 32 cents, to $43.39.
