Brookfield Properties 1Q results improves slightly

Brookfield Properties Corp., a real estate investment trust, said Friday that its first-quarter funds from operations improved slightly on some new leases and lease renewals.

For the period ended March 31, funds from operations edged up to $127 million, or 32 cents per share. That compares with $126 million, or 32 cents per share, a year earlier.

Funds from operations, a widely used gauge of real estate operating performance, adds depreciation and amortization expenses, as well as other non-operating items, to net income.

Analysts expected funds from operations, or FFO, of 35 cents per share, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

During the quarter Brookfield obtained a 10-year lease renewal from Target Corp. for a Minneapolis location and also signed a 10-year lease renewal with The Bay/Hudson's Bay Co. for a Toronto site. The REIT's new leases include two in Los Angeles for Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Seyfarth Shaw LLP and one in New York with Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell.

Earnings rose to $38 million, or 10 cents per share, from $23 million, or 6 cents per share. Income from continuing operations climbed to $35 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with $22 million, or 6 cents per share.

Revenue declined to $592 million from $651 million.

Shares of Brookfield Properties added 13 cents to $7.60 in morning trading. Over the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $4.11 to $22.10.