NEW YORK — Brookfield Properties Corp. has reported first-quarter profit of $53-million or 20 cents per share, up from a year-ago profit of $49-million or 21 cents per share.
Revenue rose to $641-million from $394-million, and funds from operations increased to $129-million from $103-million.
Operating profit advanced to $317-million from $170-million in commercial property operations, and to $42-million from $25-million on residential real estate.
The North American property manager and developer, controlled and 49 per cent owned by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. of Toronto, said Friday it leased 1.6 million square feet of space during the quarter at an average of $22 per square foot, while 1.8 million square feet of leases expired at an average of $17 per square foot.
The company ended the quarter with an occupancy rate of 95 per cent.
Brookfield Properties is splitting its stock three-for-two effective May 4 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and May 23 on the New York Stock Exchange. It also is increasing its quarterly dividend by 11 per cent to 14 cents (U.S.) per share on a post-split basis.
The company said it has achieved 38 per cent pre-leasing at its Bay Adelaide Centre development in downtown Toronto. The 1.1-million-square-foot building, on a prime site where construction was aborted by previous property-market busts, it to be completed in 2009.
During the first quarter Brookfield Properties — which has interests in 113 office properties including the World Financial Center in Manhattan, BCE Place in Toronto, Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles and Bankers Hall in Calgary — sold the Atrium on Bay in Toronto and 2200 and 2204 Walkley Road in Ottawa, booking a gain of $47-million.
“With increasing rental rates and decreasing vacancy rates in all of our markets, we are well positioned to take advantage of market conditions through the lease-up of the portfolio as well as the recapture and re-letting of under-utilized space,†stated CEO Ric Clark.
“With five developments under construction and another strong quarter from our residential operations, Brookfield Properties is off to a solid start in 2007.â€