By Angela Chen
Prologis Inc. (PLD) said its earnings increased sharply as
revenue climbed, boosted by higher rents and occupancy.
The San Francisco-based real-estate investment trust also said
it will raise its annualized dividend level by 11% to $1.60 and
raised the bottom end of its guidance for funds from operations--a
key industry metric.
For the year, the company now expects core FFO of $2.18 to $2.22
per diluted share, up from its previous range of $2.16 to $2.22. It
expects net earnings of $1.12 to $1.16 a share. Analysts had called
for earnings of $1.14 a share.
The current Prologis was formed in June 2011, when the nation's
two biggest publicly traded warehouse owners--Prologis and AMB
Property Corp.--merged in one of the largest real-estate deals
since the recession. The company has continued to benefit from a
rental rebound that has raised occupancy rates and profits on its
U.S. warehouses.
Overall, Prologis reported a profit of $141.9 million, compared
with a year-earlier profit of $81.2 million. On a per-share basis,
which reflects the impact of preferred dividend payments, the
profit was 27 cents, up from 13 cents.
Core funds from operations improved to 52 cents a share from 48
cents. Revenue grew to $510 million from $460 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected per-share
earnings of 13 cents and revenue of $434 million.
Tenant retention was 79% and rental rates on leases signed
during the quarter were 14% higher than prior rents, an increase
the company said was a record. As of the end of the quarter, the
occupancy rate was 95.4%, edging up 0.8% from the year earlier.
Shares, inactive premarket, have been up 67% this year through
Monday's close.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@wsj.com
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