STELLARTON, N.S. - Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:CRR.UN) reported its first quarter net profits rose to $4.2 million from $2.8 million.
Three-month revenues increased 42.2 per cent to $53 million from $37.3 million in the year-ago period, the property owner said Thursday.
Earnings per trust unit increased to 15 cents from 13 cents.
Meanwhile, funds from operations, a measure of profitability for publicly traded real estate companies, rose to $20.7 million from $13.8 million a year earlier.
That improvement was due to the acquisition of 61 retail properties from subsidiaries of Empire Company Ltd. (TSX:EMP.A) and a purchase of a property in Saskatoon.
''We are pleased with the results for the first quarter of 2009 given the uncertainty in the economic conditions in Canada and globally,'' said Stuart Blair, Crombie's president and CEO.
''We continue to be cautious with our outlook for the remainder of 2009 and we will maintain our focus on achieving consistent results from our existing portfolio."
Crombie owns or has stakes in 113 retail, office and mixed-use properties in Canada, including the Amherst Centre Mall.
