Duke Realty beats market expectations in first quarter

Duke Realty Corp. on Wednesday reported financial results that exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $115.4 million, or 32 cents per share, in the period.

That topped the average FFO estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research of 29 cents per share.

FFO is a key measure of financial performance for the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

Duke said it had profit of $70.2 million, or 20 cents per share, in the quarter, compared with $43.3 million, or 12 cents per share, a year ago.

The real estate development company posted revenue of $227.3 million in the period, up from $225 million last year.

Its adjusted revenue was $217.9 million, also beating Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $204 million.

Duke Realty said it expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $1.24 to $1.30 per share.

The company said total in-service occupancy of its properties as of March 31 was at an all-time high of 97.7 percent.

Duke's shares closed at $27.43 Wednesday. They have risen slightly more than 3 percent since the beginning of the year and 23 percent in the last 12 months.