Colonial Properties Trust, a commercial real estate developer, said its fourth-quarter funds from operations climbed 45 percent on several factors including lower costs and gains on a sale and a settlement.

FFO rose to $75.8 million, or $1.33 per share, from $52.3 million, or 93 cents per share, in the prior year.

Analysts were looking for FFO of $1.28 per share, according to a Thomson Financial survey.

FFO, a widely used gauge of real estate operating performance, adds depreciation and amortization expenses, as well as other non-operating items, back to net income.

On a per-share basis, the company logged gains of 35 cents on the sale of Colonial Pinnacle at Tutwiler Farm, 6 cents on a land sale and 5 cents on a settlement of a forward starting interest rate swap. The gains were partially offset by a decline of 13 cents in net operating income due to 5 cents in property dispositions and other miscellaneous items.

Earnings surged 73 percent to $132.2 million, or $2.85 per share, from $76.3 million, or $1.69 per share, in the year-ago period, primarily on higher gains on asset sales.

Revenue for the quarter rose 5 percent to $126 million from $119.5 million in the previous year.

Full-year 2006 FFO climbed 21 percent to $215.5 million, or $3.80 per share, from $177.9 million, or $3.62 per share, in 2005.

Full-year earnings fell 8.5 percent to $180.4 million, or $3.92 per share, versus $197.3 million, or $5.13 per share, in the previous year.

Revenue for the year increased 20 percent to $496.1 million from $414.3 million.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Real Estate. Tags: Colonial Properties Colonial Properties Trust Pinnacle Property Real Estate real estate developer Thomson Financial . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.