OAK BROOK, IL-The Inland Real Estate Corporation released its first quarter results yesterday, showing that the investment trust, which owns and operates retail centers in the Midwest, has continued to improve its performance.

First quarter highlights include:

• Reported Funds from Operations (FFO) per common share was $0.21 and, when adjusted for non-cash items net of taxes, was $0.22, or increases of 5% and 10%, respectively, over the first quarter of 2012.
• Consolidated same store net operating income for the first quarter rose 3.2% over the first quarter of 2012.
• Total portfolio leased occupancy hit 94.1% and financial occupancy was 91.6% as of March 31, 2013, both increases of 140 basis points over the end of last year's first quarter.
• The company completed 97 leases for 607,506-square-feet, an increase of 62.1 percent over first quarter of last year, and the largest amount leased in a single quarter since the final one of 2010.

“The results we reported for the first quarter of 2013 demonstrate that our operating platform continues to exhibit solid performance,” said Mark Zalatoris, Inland's president and chief executive officer, in a statement. “Our team executed robust leasing volumes that outpaced activity in every quarter since the fourth quarter of 2010, with double-digit increases in average base rents for new and renewal leases executed in the quarter.”

The results continue a good run for Inland. A few months ago, the trust reported their final numbers for 2012, and found that their consolidated same store NOI for the full year rose by 3.2 percent over the prior year. Their total portfolio leased occupancy was 94.0% and financial occupancy was 91.6 percent, or increases of 80 and 70 basis points, respectively, over the previous year.