Taubman Centers first quarter earnings rise, beat Street expectations

NEW YORK - Taubman Centers Inc raised its full-year forecast on Thursday and posted first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations as rent and occupancy at its luxury malls rose and sales grew 13.3 percent.

Taubman's Beverly Center, Los Angeles / Photo: Taubman Centers

Taubman said first-quarter funds from operations were $44.8 million, or 75 cents a share, compared with $39.2 million, or 69 cents per share, a year ago. The prior year's results excluded the properties The Pier Shops and Regency Square, which it handed over to special servicers.

Analysts, on average, had expected 69 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Funds from operations (FFO) is a real estate investment trust performance measure that usually excludes gains or losses from property sales and removes the effect depreciation has on earnings.

Sales at its luxury properties, which include The Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey and Beverly Center in Los Angeles, rose to $659 per square foot compared with $581 a year ago.

For properties the company has owned at least a year, occupancy rose to 92 percent from 90.5 percent a year earlier. Average rent per square foot rose to $46.14 from $45.20. Net operating income, an indicator of how well the properties are managed, was up 9.3 percent, excluding income from lease cancellations.

The company, based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, raised its forecast for 2012 to FFO in the range of $3.18 per share to $3.25 per share from its earlier forecast of $3.14 to $3.24 per share. Analysts, on average, estimate $3.20 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Taubman shares closed at $77.56, up 8 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.