Office REIT Loses $2.8M in Q309

Real estate investment trust (REIT) Parkway Properties (PKY: 18.56 -0.48%) lost nearly $2.8m, or $0.13 per share, in Q309, compared to profit of $18.5m, $1.23 per diluted share, in Q308.

The Jackson, Miss.-based REIT specializes in acquiring, owning, operating and leasing office space, primarily in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States and Chicago. Parkway owns or has an interest in 65 office properties in 11 states, totaling about 13.4m square feet of leasable space.

The REIT’s loss from continued operations was $3.6m. Funds from operations (FFO) totaled $16.2m, $0.76 per share, in Q309, compared to $14m, $0.92 per share, in Q308.

“While the US is beginning its economic recovery, office leasing trends will continue to lag the overall economic recovery,” said president and CEO Steven Rogers. “We will continue to play good defensive ball while positioning our balance sheet for future growth.”

Year-to-date FFO through Q309 was $48.9m, $2.59 per diluted share, compared to $43.9m, $2.90 per diluted share, for the same period of 2008.

The REIT said it experienced an “unusual” gain of $742,000 on the partial recognition of an involuntary conversion resulting from Hurricane Ike.

Write to Austin Kilgore.