U.S. expansion fuels RioCan's growth

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust's (REI.UN-T) quarterly funds from operations (FFO) beat market estimates by a cent, helped by the acquisitions it made in the quarter.

For the second quarter, FFO, a key measure of profitability for real estate companies was $89.3 million, or 36 cents a unit. That compares with $71.6 million, or 30 cents a unit, a year earlier.

Canada's biggest and oldest real estate investment trust said reasons for the FFO increase included an 18 percent rise in net operating income, due to acquisitions, as well as increase in lease cancellation fees of $4.5 million.

RioCan said it completed six acquisitions in Canada and 10 in the United States in the July-September quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to post FFO of 35 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

The REIT said it maintained an occupancy rate of 97.1 percent in the quarter.