Kimco Realty beats second-quarter revenue estimates on strong leasing demand from grocers

July 27 (Reuters) - Kimco Realty Corp beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue on Thursday, benefiting from higher rental rates and resilient demand for space in its grocery-anchored shopping centers.

The commercial real estate investment trust has been able to protect its profits from the impact of higher borrowing costs as the increased rentals failed to quell demand for its properties.

The company's reported funds from operations (FFO) per share came in at 39 cents, in-line with analysts' estimates, as per Refinitiv data.

Kimco has its shopping centres concentrated in high-barrier-to-entry markets and suburbs in major metropolitan cities, which has led to strong demand from grocers and retailers benefiting from stable markets for essential goods.

Occupancy rate rose by 70 basis points to 95.8% in the quarter ended June 30, compared with a year earlier.

Kimco also raised the low end of its full-year forecast for funds from operations to $1.55 to $1.57 per share, the mid-point of which meets Wall Street expectations. That compared to company's prior forecast range of $1.54 to $1.57 FFO per share.

Its total revenue of $442.8 million beat analysts' average estimate of $434.8 million. Net revenue from rental properties was $439 million in the second quarter.

Data from Placer.ai showed that grocery-anchored shopping centers have performed better than other shopping centers.

Shopping center REITs are less exposed to store closure threats from growing online sales, analysts at UBS said. (Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)