CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., reported a first-quarter loss Wednesday but said the business of selling and leasing buildings was picking up. The Los Angeles-based company said it had a net loss of $6.6 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a loss of $36.7 million, or 14 cents, in the same period a year ago. With posted adjusted earnings of 1 cent a share after deducting one-time charges mostly related to cost-cutting measures and write-downs of impaired assets, the brokerage met Wall Street analysts’ predictions. Chief Executive Brett White said market conditions were getting better, especially in Asia. Read more…
wall street
REITs Are Poised to Pick Up the Pieces
The Wall Street Journal reports: Overleveraged private real-estate funds are gasping for money, but public property companies have been chugging down cash from the capital markets. Now, they are poised to emerge as more-dominant players when the commercial-property-market starts to recover.
REITs (real-estate investment trusts) are poised once again to pick up the pieces from the commercial-property bust. This year, they have tapped the stock market for nearly $15 billion in new equity and, this month have raised $2 billion in unsecured debt. The equity deals diluted shareholders’ ownership stakes, but positioned many REITs — such as mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. and warehouse landlord ProLogis — to avoid loan defaults and have buying power when distress hits the market. Read more at Real Capital Analytics.
