The North Miami Beach-based real estate investment trust reported net income of $3 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, on revenue of $9.8 million for the three months ended March 31, compared with net income of $2.6 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenue of $8.1 million for the same period in 2000.

"We experienced significant operating improvements in the first quarter, including a 5.5% increase in same property net operating income, an increase in overall commercial occupancy from 94.6% to 95.3% and particularly strong percentage rent revenues," Chaim Katzman, Equity One chairman and chief executive officer, says in a prepared statement.

The company disclosed it now owns 33 commercial properties and manages 28 others primarily in Florida and Texas. It recently completed and leased a 24,000-sf expansion at the Shops at Skylake in North Miami Beach and is about to begin work on a 45,000-sf addition to a shopping center in the Central Florida community of Lake Mary.