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NORTH MIAMI BEACH-Equity One Inc., a large shopping center owner, developer and operator based here, had a 17.2% increase in funds from operations and a 78% rise in net income for the third quarter, compared with the same quarter last year, company officials report. FFO were $28.1 million in Q3, up from $23.9 million for the same 2003 period, and FFO per diluted share rose 5.4%, or 2 cents, to 39 cents in the most recent quarter.

Net income grew from $17.2 million to $30.7 million, while net income per diluted share rose 59.3% from 27 cents to 43 cents. The company also experienced an increased average occupancy rate in its core shopping center portfolio, from 92.5% at June 30 to 93.8%--a figure Equity One chairman and CEO Chaim Katzman calls strong.

Other Q3 highlights include:

• Equity One saw its average rental rate rise 3.9% to $14.50 per sf on 105 lease renewals totaling 201,594 sf;

• the company executed 104 new leases of 288,341 sf combined at a $12.31 per-sf average rental rate; and

• the firm sold eight properties for a total of $48.9 million plus an outparcel for $1.5 million, generating $12.4 million in gains on sales.

"Our third quarter results reflect a continuation of our strong performance in 2004," Katzman said in a statement. Year to date, funds from operations were up 31% to $83.3 million, compared with $63.6 million for the same period in 2003, and FFO per diluted share rose 7.4% to $1.16 from $1.08 last year. Net income was up 51.2% to $69.5 million YTD compared with $45.9 million last year, and net income per diluted share was up 24.1% to 98 cents from 79 cents.