6 Public Storage REITS Report Lower Profits

The six Public Storage Properties real estate investment trusts, all of which are based in Glendale, reported lower profits for their fiscal third quarters that ended June 30 compared with a year earlier. Their revenues were generally slightly higher.

The drop in earnings ranged from a 6.5% decline at Public Storage Properties VIII (to $892,000 from $955,000 a year earlier) to a 16% decline at Public Storage Properties X (to $560,000 from $667,000 a year earlier).

Revenues for the quarter inched up less than 3% at five of the trusts, while Public Storage Properties XII saw revenues grow 5% to $1.56 million from $1.49 million a year earlier.

Harvey Lenkin, Public Storage Properties president, attributed the lower earnings to costs associated with recently converting the companies from limited partnerships to REITS, which are investment vehicles that avoid paying income taxes at the corporate level because they distribute nearly all their profits to stockholders.

The REITS were organized by Public Storage Inc. in Glendale, the nation’s largest operator of self-storage warehouses.