FFO, which gauges a property company’s ability to generate
cash, was $166.9 million, or $1.12 a share, compared with $160
million, or $1.12, a year earlier, the Boston-based company said
yesterday in a statement. Analysts expected FFO of $1.13 a
share, the average of 18 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

“The explosion of social media companies” should help
Boston Properties fill pending vacancies in its San Francisco
Bay Area offices, Omotayo Okusanya, an analyst at New York-based
Jefferies Co., wrote on April 23. The company, led by Mortimer Zuckerman, its billionaire chairman, has 18 buildings there,
including four in San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center.

“Strong leasing demand is beginning to creep into downtown
San Francisco,” wrote Okusanya, who has a hold rating on the
company. “New York City also appears to be weathering the
economic climate better than we expected. We feel good about the
2012 earnings outlook for Boston Properties, even if first-
quarter leasing velocity is somewhat slow.”

Retrenching financial firms helped drive down demand for
offices in Manhattan, where the company is marketing space at
510 Madison Ave., a new building it purchased in 2010 when it
was almost vacant, and 250 West 55th St., a tower under
construction near Eighth Avenue.

Bank of America

Rental revenue in the first quarter increased to $432.7
million from $403.8 million a year earlier.

The company raised its full-year FFO forecast to $4.83 to
$4.93 a share from $4.65 to $4.78, mostly because of income
expected from 100 Federal St. in downtown Boston, which it
acquired during the quarter.

Boston Properties bought the 37-story office tower from
Bank of America Corp. for $615 million. The bank leased back
787,000 square feet (73,000 square meters) at the 1.3 million-
square-foot building.

Earnings were announced after the close of regular U.S.
trading yesterday. Boston Properties rose 1.4 percent to $109.75
in New York yesterday. The shares have gained 10 percent this
year, compared with a 13 percent advance in the 17-member
Bloomberg REIT Office Property Index. (BBREOFPY)

The company’s holdings include such skyscrapers as New
York’s General Motors Building and Boston’s John Hancock Tower
and Prudential Center.

To contact the reporter on this story:
David M. Levitt in New York at
dlevitt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Kara Wetzel at
kwetzel@bloomberg.net

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Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-01/boston-properties-ffo-rises-4-4-as-revenue-from-rents-climbs.html