CommonWealth REIT Q2 FFO/shr Misses Estimates

(RTTNews) - CommonWealth REIT (CWH), Wednesday reported an increase in Funds From Operations or FFO for the second quarter, mirroring higher rental income. However, on a per share basis, FFO decreased from last year on higher share count, and missed the Street estimates.

FFO available for CommonWealth REIT common shareholders was $74.40 million or $0.63 per share, compared with $66.9 million or $0.80 per share during the same quarter last year.

Normalised FFO for the three-month period was $74.5 million or $0.63 per share, compared with $69.8 million or $0.83 per share during the corresponding quarter previous year.

On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.64 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The number of outstanding shares at the end of the quarter was about 118 million compared with 83 million last year.

Including a loss of $4.6 million from asset impairment, and a gain of $2.1 million from the sale of properties, net income available for CommonWealth REIT common shareholders was $7.7 million or $0.07 per share, compared with $2.2 million or $0.03 per share last year. Rental income increased to $274.7 million, up from $249.7 million a year ago. Analysts expected the company to report revenues of $272.75 million for the quarter.