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Simon Property Group Inc. on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter that beat Wall Street expectations.
The real estate investment trust, based in Indianapolis, said it had funds from operations of $1.05 billion, or $2.96 per share, in the period. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for FFO of $2.95 per share.
FFO is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes profit and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.
The company said it had a profit of $510.2 million, or $1.66 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $712.8 million, or $2.30 per share, in the same quarter of 2018. Results from the latest quarter included a 33 cent per-share reduction for the extinguishment of debt.
The shopping mall giant posted revenue of $1.49 billion in the period, which also beat Wall Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.47 billion. Revenue was up from $1.46 billion a year ago.
Simon reported retailer sales per square foot of $693, an increase of 4.8% over the trailing 12 months ended Dec. 31.
Occupancy at Simon malls was 95.1% as of Dec. 31.
For the year, the company reported FFO of $4.27 billion, or $12.04 per share. Revenue was reported as $5.76 billion.
Simon expects full-year FFO to be $12.25 to $12.40 per share.
Shares in Simon were up 2.2% Tuesday morning, to $135.51 each.
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