Federal Realty Investment Trust tops quarterly expectations on leasing demand

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Federal Realty Investment Trust topped market expectations for third-quarter revenue and funds from operations (FFO), helped by strong leasing demand at its grocery-anchored shopping centers as well as mixed-use properties.

Demand for rental spaces has been healthy despite higher borrowing rates, and with availability shrinking, commercial real estate investment trusts have been able to maintain higher rental prices as well.

Federal Realty has also benefited from lesser exposure to tenants facing the brunt of a slowdown in discretionary spend, as well as its pricing power, analysts have said.

Its portfolio occupancy rose 20 basis points year-over-year to 92.3%, as of Sept. 30.

The company reported third-quarter diluted FFO of $1.65 per share. Analysts on average had expected FFO per share of $1.62, as per LSEG data.

Federal Realty raised the lower end of its annual FFO forecast, and now expects $6.50 to $6.58 per share, compared with its earlier forecast of $6.46 and $6.58.

Third-quarter revenue of $286.6 million also topped market expectations of $283.8 million.

(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)