GGP's Quarterly Profit Rises, Helped by Joint Ventures; Revenue Falls Again

   By Maria Armental 
 

Debt-laden Mall owner GGP Inc., formerly known as General Growth Properties, on Monday reported higher profit in the latest quarter, the second consecutive increase, boosted by revenue from joint ventures.

Shares, which Monday set a 52-week low during regular trading, edged up 0.4% to $24.05 in after-hours trading.

This year, the Chicago real-estate investment trust expects to make $1.56 to $1.61 a share in funds from operations, a key performance metric in the sector, compared with the $1.53 a share it made in 2016 and analysts' projected $1.59 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

For the first quarter, it projects 35 cents to 37 cents a share in FFO, just below analysts' projected 38 cents a share.

Over all, fourth-quarter profit, before preferred dividends, rose 22% to $236.5 million, or 24 cents a share, while FFO remained roughly flat from the year-ago period at 43 cents a share.

Revenue fell 5% to $610 million.

GGP has now reported lower revenue in all but one of quarter over the past 2 years.

Analysts had projected profit of 16 cents a share and 43 cents in FFO on $610.9 million in revenue.

Rental rates for signed leases signed in the previous 12 months rose 10%, compared with rental rates for expiring leases, the company said, while tenant sales, excluding anchor stores, rose 0.9%, also on a trailing 12-month basis.

Meanwhile, the percentage of leased properties on a same-store basis improved to 97.2%, compared with 96.7% in the previous quarter and 96.9% in the year-ago period.

To stem the rising tide of mall vacancies and store closings, GGP has been buying some property, including teen apparel retailer Aéropostale in partnership with Simon Property Group Inc. and Authentic Brands Group LLC. GGP--whose largest shareholder remains Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM, BAM.A.T), which led the company's restructuring in 2010 the quarter with about $475 million in cash and $18 billion in debt.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2017 19:54 ET (00:54 GMT)

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