Manchester’s Shoppes at Buckland Hills parent General Growth Properties Inc., which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, said Tuesday that its funds from operations improved in the fourth quarter, The Associated Press reports.
The results beat Wall Street estimates.
The company’s funds from operations, or FFO, totaled $254.9 million, or 26 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with negative FFO of $413.9 million, or $1.29 a share, in the prior-year quarter.
The results trumped analysts’ consensus estimate for negative FFO of 56 cents a share, according to FactSet.
General Growth also owns Brass Mill Center in Waterbury.
Core FFO, which excludes the effects of certain discontinued operations, taxes and other special items, amounted to 25 cents a share, versus 73 cents a share a year earlier, the company said.
FFO, which adds such items as amortization and depreciation to net income, is considered key to measuring the financial performance of real estate investment trusts.
The nation’s second-largest shopping center owner posted a loss of $1.14 billion, compared with a loss of $612.4 million in the prior-year quarter.
The company did not break out the fourth-quarter loss on a per-share basis.
The latest quarter included a loss of $662.8 million related to the spinoff of certain assets into a separate company called The Howard Hughes Corp., as part of General Growth’s reorganization. It also included $326.6 million in interest expense and $228 million in reorganization costs.
Total revenue slipped to $726.1 million from $734.2 million in the prior-year quarter. Analysts were anticipating revenue of $706.8 million.
The company said tenant sales climbed to $446 per square foot, or 6.4 percent, versus the same period in 2009, while occupancy at its regional malls remained unchanged at 92.9 percent.
General Growth filed the largest real estate bankruptcy case in U.S. history in 2009 under the weight of nearly $28 billion in debt. It exited bankruptcy with the aid of $6.8 billion in equity commitments from an investor group led by Brookfield Asset Management and also restructured and extended some $15 billion in debt. It also worked out a way to pay all creditors in full — a rare outcome in bankruptcy cases.
As part of its restructuring, the company split into two separate companies. The new Howard Hughes Corp. owns General Growth’s portfolio of planned communities and other real estate development opportunities.
In January, former Vornado Realty Trust executive Sandeep Mathrani took over as chief executive.
General Growth’s mall portfolio is second only to that of Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. and includes Bridgewater Commons in N.J. and Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston.
Shares fell 41 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $15.51 in afternoon trading.
