Cedar Realty net income rises, revenue dips

Cedar Realty Trust, a Port Washington-based real estate investment trust, reported higher net income and slightly lower revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31.

Cedar, an owner of grocery-store-anchored shopping centers in the Northeast, reported net income attributable to the company of $5.5 million in the fourth quarter, up from $3.1 million in the year earlier period.

The higher net income was primarily due to “early extinguishment of debt costs, impairment charges, and preferred stock dividends” incurred in the year-earlier quarter, the company said in release.

Net income attributable to Cedar rose sharply for the full year, rising to $19.1 million from $9 million.

Funds from operations, a commonly used measure of real estate investment trust earnings that excludes property sales, rose to $12.4 million — 13 cents per share — from $9.3 million, or 11 cents per share. Funds from operations for the year dipped slightly to $40 million from $41.1 million.

Revenue for the quarter dipped to $37.1 million from $37.2 million. Full-year financial statements show that revenue for the fiscal year fell to $146 million from $151.1 million.

Real estate investment trusts, or REITs, must return a majority of profits to investors, and some are publicly traded. Shares of Cedar, which reported earnings Thursday, closed at $4.51 on Friday.