Boston Properties Raises 2016 Guidance

   By Maria Armental 
 

Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) on Wednesday raised its projections for 2016 as revenue beat projections, even as profit declined in the December quarter.

The real-estate investment trust now projects $5.78 to $5.93 a share in funds from operations, compared with its earlier view of $5.50 to $5.70 a share. In 2015, FFO were $5.36 a share.

Meanwhile for the current quarter, it expects FFO of $1.59 to $1.61 a share, compared with analysts' projected $1.35 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Boston Properties defines funds from operations as net income less real-estate-related depreciation and amortization along with impairment losses or gains or losses from sales.

The Boston-based company, which focuses on office space, has said it expects results to benefit from the expansion of the life sciences and technology industry in the Boston area.

Over all, Boston Properties reported a profit of $166.7 million, or 90 cents a share, compared with $211.4 million, or $1.14 a share, a year earlier. FFO were $1.28 a share, compared with $1.26 a share a year earlier, in line with analysts' projections but below its projected $1.39 to $1.41, which the company attributed to a $22 million charge for paying off debt early.

Revenue rose 1.7% to $624.2 million, compared with analysts' projected $619.3 million.

The percentage of leased properties in its portfolio was 91.4%, compared with 91.3% in the previous quarter and 91.7% a year earlier.

The percentage of leased property in San Francisco, where a tech boom is fueling demand and adding pressure to the city's cap on office-space development under Proposition M, improved to 93.8%, from 88.6% in the previous quarter and 88.3% a year earlier.

Shares, inactive in late trading, closed Wednesday at $117.73, down 19% over the past 12 months.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2016 19:20 ET (00:20 GMT)

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