J.P Morgan Comments On Brandywine Realty Trust Following Earnings

Brandywine Realty Trust BDN reported 4Q FFO that was a penny above J.P Morgan's estimate and Bloomberg consensus. The quarter was largely as expected, with occupancy and rent spreads coming in slightly better than we anticipated. However, JPM notes that significant weakness in NJ/DE markets still remains, with occupancy slipping further in 4Q to 74.0%. Management raised the low end of its 2011 guidance, after announcing lower than expected 2011 guidance in 3Q. The investment activity announced in the quarter was in-line with BDN's guidance from the 3Q call. One other point on the positive side is that BDN has made good progress toward its 2011 leasing goals, which should reduce earnings risk this year. J.P Morgan views this quarter to be in line with expectations to a little ahead given the penny beat and knocking out some leasing risk in 2011, and believe BDN will trade in-line to slightly better than its peers tomorrow. JPM has a Neutral rating and $11 PT on BDN BDN closed Wednesday at $12.14