Corporate Office Properties: 4Q Earnings Snapshot

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) _ Corporate Office Properties Trust (OFC) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Columbia, Maryland, said it had funds from operations of $64.2 million, or 56 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 54 cents per share.

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

The company said it had net income of $81.7 million, or 73 cents per share.

The real estate investment trust specializing in suburban office properties posted revenue of $164 million in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $158.2 million.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $241.4 million, or $2.12 per share. Revenue was reported as $609.4 million.

For the current quarter ending in April, Corporate Office Properties expects its per-share funds from operations to range from 54 cents to 56 cents.

The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $2.16 to $2.22 per share.

The company's shares have increased slightly more than 5% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $27.46, a drop of slightly more than 9% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on OFC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/OFC