Duke Realty exceeds expectations with third quarter results

Duke Realty Corp. on Wednesday reported quarterly results that exceeded analyst expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Indianapolis, said it had funds from operations, or FFO, of $111 million, or 31 cents per share, in the third quarter. That was up from 27 cents a year ago.

FFO is a closely watched performance measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for FFO of 30 cents per share.

The company posted revenue of $206.8 million in the period, up from $200.9 million a year ago. The revenue figured exceeded the average prediction of $203.8 million by six analysts surveyed by Zacks.

The company reported a quarterly profit of $111.4 million, or 32 cents per share, up from $75.8 million, or 22 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2015.

Duke Realty slightly raised its lower-end guidance for full-year FFO to the range of $1.18 to $1.20 per share, up from the range of $1.16 to $1.20 per share.

Duke said in-service occupancy of its properties exceeded 97 percent for the first time in company history.

We also completed significant office property dispositions during the quarter, selling eleven suburban office properties in Indianapolis,” CEO Jim Connor said in a written statement. “We are on track to execute additional suburban office sales during the fourth quarter and early next year that will essentially complete our exit from that product type.”

Eight of those buildings were sold in the $162.9 million acquisition of Parkwood Crossing by Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Partners and Strategic Capital Partners of Indianapolis.

Duke shares were down 9 cents in late-morning trading, to $25.39 each. The company's shares have increased 21 percent since the beginning of the year.