AvalonBay Profit Rises 73%

   By Tess Stynes 
 

AvalonBay Communities Inc. said its third-quarter earnings rose 73% as the real-estate investment trust reported better-than-expected revenue and higher average rents.

Big apartment companies have benefited from rising rents in recent years, though the growth has been moderating as construction of new units has picked up.

For the year, the Arlington, Va., company narrowed its guidance for core per-share funds from operations--a key measure of performance for REITs--to $8.15 to $8.21, from its previous estimate for core FFO of $8.13 to $8.33.

For the current quarter, the company forecasted core FFO of $2.08 to $2.14 per share, mostly lower than expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for core FFO of $2.13.

Over all, AvalonBay reported a profit of $356.4 million, or $2.59 a share, up from $206.1 million, or $1.53 a share, a year earlier. AvalonBay had projected per-share earnings of $2.69 to $2.75.

Excluding items, core FFO improved to $2.07 from $1.93 per share, compared with company estimates of $2.05 to $2.11.

Revenue increased 8.6% to $516.2 million, while analysts expected revenue of $512.8 million.

Shares fell 1.9% to $165 in recent after-hours trading.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 24, 2016 16:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

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