Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) reported strong third quarter 2009 results with FFO (funds from operations) of $234.2 million or $1.25 per share, compared to $159.8 million or 97 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. Funds from operations, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income. After adjusting items for comparability, FFO during the quarter was $1.18 per share, compared to $1.17 in the prior year quarter. Vornado is the largest publicly traded office REIT in the New York region. The core properties of the company are still performing at a high level and it is maintaining strong occupancies in its NYC office and retail portfolios. The company is also increasing rents in most property formats. We believe this puts the company well ahead of many competitors who have ...

Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), recently announced the sale of an office property in the CBD of Washington DC. However, Vornado will continue to manage the property on behalf of the new owner.   The property spanning 25,000 square feet of space was sold to an institutional investor for $207.8 million or $830 per square foot at a cap rate of 6.3%. Vornado realized a net profit of approximately $41 million from the sale, and received net proceeds of $90 million after the repayment of the existing construction loans.   The property was 100% pre-leased to Mayer Brown LLC, a leading global law firm with offices in key business centers across the Americas, Asia and Europe. The new office building was designed by Helmut Jahn, a German-American architect and designer of dozens of major buildings throughout the world. The property also had LEED-CS ...

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Thursday August 27, 2009

PennyOmega.com Stock Report!

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G. Willi-Food International Ltd. (NASDAQ: WILC), one of Israel’s largest food importers and a single-source supplier of one of the world’s most extensive range of quality kosher food products, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter and for first six months ended June 30, 2009.

CPI Corp. (NYSE: CPY) today announced it will release fiscal 2009 second-quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. The news release will be followed by a conference call at 10 a.m. CT with management. To participate in the call, please dial 800-706-7745 or 617-614-3472 and reference passcode 43794844

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Highwoods Properties, Inc. (HIW), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently been selected to develop a 171,000 square feet Class A office building in Charlotte, North Carolina for the FBI.   The building would be developed by the joint venture between Highwoods and USAA Real Estate Company, the real estate investment arm of USAA – a premier financial services company in the US. Highwoods would have a 10% stake in the JV, and would also receive fees for developing the building.   Construction work on the project is expected to start from the first quarter of 2010 and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2011. The building would be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED") – an internationally recognized green building certification system aimed at increasing energy savings and reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.   Highwoods owns or has management ...

Vornado contemplates floating own private equity fund

According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal, Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), a real estate investment trust (REIT), is considering plans to create its own private equity fund. The company intends to float the fund to acquire bargain-basement properties, primarily in the markets where it already has a presence.

Based in New York, Vornado acquires, owns, and leases office properties, retail space, and temperature-controlled logistics and refrigerated warehouses. The company owns and manages approximately 100 million square feet of real estate (including pro-rata share of partially owned properties and joint-ventures).

Geographically, Vornado has over 34 million square feet of office space in New York and DC, 22.2 million square feet of retail space in 21 states in the US and Puerto Rico, and 8.9 million square feet of Merchandise Mart space. Besides its properties, the company also has investments in other REITs, industrial

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Highlights include General Motors Corp. (GM), Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) and Regions Financial (RF).Below is a long excerpt from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's prepared remarks for today's testimony before the joint economic committee. I intersperse my comments and interpretation between paragraphs.Unlike his predecessor, Bernanke actually speaks in language that most people can understand. However, there are a number of things that deserve further explanation."The U.S. economy has contracted sharply since last autumn, with real gross domestic product (GDP) having dropped at an annual rate of more than 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of this year. Among the enormous costs of the downturn is the loss of some 5 million payroll jobs over the past 15 months."The most recent information on the labor market -- ...

Jacksonville, Florida-based Regency Centers Corporation (REG), a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), is one of the leading owners, operators, and developers of grocery-anchored retail shopping centers in the US. Currently, the company owns or has interests in 443 retail properties, including properties held in joint venture, spanning approximately 59 million square feet.Retail-focused REITs will face a much more difficult operating environment in the coming quarters. Consumer spending patterns are weakening across the country and large chains are curtailing expansion plans.We would be careful of the strip retail sector, although we still rate REG a Buy. The current yield is now near 8%.We expect REG to hold up better than many retail competitors who are saddled with more debt. REG has a diversified portfolio of retail centers in good long-term markets. We also favor grocery-anchored retail operators in a recessionary ...