Kite Realty reports higher revenue, bigger loss

Kite Realty Group Trust Inc. reported higher revenue and a bigger loss during its fiscal third quarter, a busy period during which the company raised $60 million from a share offering, bought one Florida shopping center and sold another.

The Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust said Thursday evening that it lost $3.04 million, or 5 cents per share, on revenue of $25.4 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compares to a loss of $643,584, or 1 cent per share, on revenue of $23.5 million during the third quarter in 2011.

The company blamed the higher loss on an increase in depreciation expense of $3 million, partially offset by a $2.1 million increase in income from property operations.

Kite reported third-quarter funds from operations, or FFO, of $7.14 million, or 11 cents per share, compared with $7.05 million, also 11 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Funds from operations is a common measure of REIT performance.

The FFO figure matched the average of analyst estimates, but the revenue total came up about $1 million short.

The company, which owns interests in 58 retail properties totaling 8.7 million square feet, said the properties were 93.5-percent leased as of Sept. 30, compared with 93 percent at the end of the third quarter in 2011.

During the quarter, Kite raised $60 million by selling more than 12 million shares at a price of $5.20 apiece, using the proceeds to pay down a revolving credit line. The company also closed on more than $60 million in loans for development projects in Seattle and Raleigh, N.C.

The company paid $15.2 million for a Publix-anchored shopping center in Vero Beach, Fla., and sold a center in Coral Springs, Fla., for $8.7 million.

Net loss attributable to common shareholders was $5.8 million for the first nine months of 2012, compared with a net loss in the prior year of $3.9 million.

Kite’s shares were down about 1 percent in early trading Friday, at $5.42.