CHICAGO >> General Growth Properties Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit rose 19 percent as the second-largest U.S. shopping-mall owner expanded the amount of space it owns or manages. Ala Moana parent’s
earnings gain 19 percentBloomberg News
Funds from operations at the Chicago-based real estate investment trust rose to $125 million, or $1.60 a share, from $105.4 million, or $1.39, a year earlier, said Beth Coronelli, a company spokeswoman. Revenue rose to $328.9 million from $319 million. Retailers closed stores at a record pace in 2001 as the economy entered its first recession in a decade and consumer confidence fell.
The more than 100 retail chains tracked by Banc of America Securities, closed 4,585 stores last year, almost double the number in 2000. General Growth's expansion has cushioned lower retail sales.
"The upside to the record levels of closings is that the list of weak retailers has been thinned, leaving a stronger retail universe remaining," Bank of America real estate analyst Lee Schalop said in a note to clients before General Growth's report.
General Growth owns or manages 145 malls in 39 states with 125 million square feet, including Hawaii's Ala Moana, one of the best performing malls in the U.S. based on sales. Acquisitions, including the March purchase of stakes in three properties for $271 million, and developments increased the amount of square feet the company owns from 116 million a year ago. General Growth's results topped analysts' estimates of $1.59.