Prime Outlets Reports FFO of $58 Mil, Down $26 Mil

BALTIMORE, MD-Prime Retail, a self-managed REIT with 47 outlet centers across the country and Puerto Rico, announced fourth-quarter funds from operation of $13.5 million and fiscal year 2000 FFO of $58 million. That compares to 1999 fourth-quarter figures of $3.1 million and 1999 fiscal year results of $84.2 million, according to the company.

However, company officials say those figures include some significant one-time transactions that impact the overall FFO. Not including those one-time items, the company reports its fourth quarter FFO was $13.5 million in 2000 and $25.6 million in 1999, and its fiscal year FFO was $60.5 million in 2000 and $106.7 million in 1999.

The one-time transactions in 2000 include a $2.5 million gain from selling land; $2.4 million in severance and compensation costs; $1.5 million in professional fees for refinancing; and $1.1 million in costs for terminating sales. In 1999, the FFO was impacted by a $16 million provision for abandoned development projects, $6.5 million in expenses when an option to buy a venture partner’s interest in Prime Outlets at New River expired, as well as costs for starting up the company’s former eOutlets.com subsidiary.