Earnings Preview: Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group (SPG), a REIT, is expected to report Q2 earnings before market open Monday, July 28, with a conference call scheduled for 11:00 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for EPS of $1.49 on revenue of $884.98M. The consensus range for EPS is $1.46 to $1.54, while the consensus range for revenue is $814.15M to $917.30M, according to First Call.

Analyst Views

Simon Property recently announced that it had agreed to allow Ticketmaster to sell tickets at 50 of the REIT's retail properties in the U.S. However, the companies did not reveal the financial terms of the deal. During Simon Property's conference call, investors may be looking to determine how much the agreement will raise Simon's bottom line. Lehman Brothers recently initiated Simon Property with an Overweight rating. On the other hand, Wachovia recently reduced their space absorption assumption for all of the commercial property companies they cover. The firm believes that deteriorating property and leasing conditions will affect the companies' 2009-2010 results more than this year's. 

Comments

[2houndz]

I will be very surprised if 50 ticket outlets, even at huge rents, can make a difference with a portfolio the size of Simon's. I'm not sure there are very many REIT analysts who understand that business. I have worked at three major REIT's and most analyst opinion seems like noise to me.

[Undercat]

Malls here in Atlanta often allow businesses to operate free at lovcations within the mall. This is because they want to avoid empty places at all cost. I personally know people who have mall shops with their only rent being a small % of their profits. Simon not disclosing the terms of the Ticketmaster agreements sounds to me (IMHO) like they're looking to get some PR out of it like, "Hey, look, we have an inflow of new people."