By Tess Stynes
AvalonBay Communities Inc. said it expects that one of the
apartment buildings that burned in a recent blaze at its Edgewater,
N.J., complex suffered a total or near total loss.
The real-estate investment trust expects that the fire that
swept through the luxury apartment complex--located across the
Hudson River from Manhattan--will affect its 2015 funds from
operations by 10 cents a share.
The REIT also reported that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 43%
on lower real-estate sales and related gains.
For the year, AvalonBay expects per-share FFO--a key measure of
performance for REITs--of $7.25 to $7.55, compared with
expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $7.42.
The REIT said the fire that swept through a 240-unit apartment
building in the Edgewater complex left it uninhabitable. AvalonBay
also said it believes the other building in the complex, which has
168 units and has been reoccupied, suffered minimal damage.
AvalonBay reiterated that it expects losses related to the blaze
will be substantially covered by its insurance policies, subject to
deductibles and a self-insured portion of its property insurance,
for which AvalonBay is obligated for 12% of the first $50 million
in losses.
Overall, AvalonBay reported a profit of $142.6 million, or $1.08
a share, down from $252.2 million, or $1.95 a share, a year
earlier.
Per-share FFO, which strips out items such as gains or losses on
property sales, rose to $1.76 from $1.51. The company had projected
$1.74 to $1.80.
Revenue increased 10% to $440.7 million, above analysts'
expectations for $433 million.
For the current quarter, AvalonBay forecast per-share FFO of
$1.86 to $1.90, while analysts expected $1.78.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for AvalonBay Communities, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0534841012
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires