April 30 (Reuters) - Real estate investment trust Public Storage reported first-quarter funds from operations (FFO) below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, hurt by a decline in occupancy at its self-storage facilities.
The company, which leases out storage spaces for both personal and business use on a monthly basis, reported core FFO of $4.03 per share for the quarter ended March 31, missing analysts' estimate of $4.09 per share, according to LSEG data.
A weak freight environment and softer home sales are now squeezing demand for storage space after companies enjoyed a surge in demand during the pandemic, crimping revenues at storage facility providers.
While higher rent helped Public Storage report a near 6% increase in total revenues to $1.16 billion, edging previous estimates of $1.15 billion, the company's profits took a hit from higher costs tied to depreciation and amortization of assets.
Its net income allocable to shareholders stood at $459.2 million, or $2.60 per share, down from $467.6 million, or $2.65 per share, a year earlier.
Same-store facilities revenue, a performance metric used to evaluate the total sales at the company's existing locations over a given period of time, was roughly flat from last year at $913.1 million.
Shares of the Glendale, California-based company were down about 1% in extended trading.
(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))
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