Federal Realty raises annual core profit forecast on strong leasing demand

• The company expects annual core funds from operations, a key performance measure for REITs, to be between $7.48 and $7.56 per share, compared with its prior forecast of $7.46 to $7.55 per share.
• Core funds from operations rose 6.8% to $1.88 per diluted share in the quarter ended June 30 from $1.76 a year earlier.
• Federal Realty's quarterly revenue rose to $335.7 million, from $311.5 million a year ago.
• Revenue from rental income rose 7.7% to $325.9 million during the quarter.
• Portfolio occupancy, or percentage of rentable space occupied by tenants, was 93.8% as of June 30, up 20 basis points from a year earlier, while its leased rate increased 70 basis points to 96.1%.

July 31 (Reuters) - Federal Realty Investment Trust FRT.N on Friday raised its annual core profit forecast after posting better-than-expected second-quarter results on strong leasing demand and rent growth across its shopping-center portfolio.