(Updates to add results from AMB and background on merger,
updates stock quotes)
ProLogis's (PLD) fourth-quarter loss widened, though a key gauge
of profit for the real-estate investment trust rose on an adjusted
basis to top analysts' forecasts. Meanwhile, merger partner AMB
Property Corp. (AMB) said it swung to a profit.
The company also forecast core funds from operations--that key
profitability gauge--for the new year totaling 62 cents to 66 cents
a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect 68 cents of
core FFO.
"During the fourth quarter, leasing velocity in our portfolio
increased more than 25% over the third quarter, and the overall
U.S. market experienced its third straight quarter of positive
growth absorption--17 million square feet," said Chief Executive
Walter Rakowich.
ProLogis's losses have widened of late, though it also has
improved its core results. In December, ProLogis said it reached an
agreement to sell its Catellus name and a portfolio of U.S. assets
to private-equity company TPG Capital for about $505 million.
ProLogis reported a loss of $1.17 billion, or $2.17 a share,
from a year-earlier loss of $408.5 million, or 86 cents a share, a
year earlier. The company's funds from operations totaled a
per-share loss of $2.38 from a loss of 65 cents. On an adjusted
basis, core FFO rose to 18 cents from 16 cents.
Revenue jumped 11% to $242.7 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast a
loss of 3 cents on $234 million in revenue and FFO of 16 cents.
Meanwhile, ProLogis's merger partner AMB said Thursday it swung
to a profit for the most recent quarter. Earnings were $9.2
million, or 3 cents a share, from a year-earlier loss of $13.1
million, or 5 cents a share. Core FFO was flat at 32 cents. Revenue
rose 3.4% to $165.1 million.
Analysts had expected a loss of a penny on $154 million in
revenue and core FFO of 31 cents.
The company also forecast core FFO for the fourth quarter of 33
cents a share and $1.30 to $1.40 a share for the year. Analysts
expected 31 cents and $1.36, respectively.
The two companies--the biggest publicly traded warehouse owners
in the U.S.--said earlier this week that they planned to merge in
one of the biggest real-estate deals since the recession. The
merger is an all-stock deal that the companies have billed as a
"merger of equals."
Shares of ProLogis recently fell 2.2% to $14.45 in light
premarket trading. AMB's shares were inactive premarket and closed
on Wednesday at $32.95.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855;
nathan.becker@dowjones.com
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