"The major components of our growth included a strong performance from our core, the contributions of our new centers and the impact of lower interest rates," Taubman adds. "In addition, we recognized a $0.025 pershare increase from land sale gains in the quarter due to a transaction that had been anticipated for the fourth quarter."

The company had a diluted net loss per share of $0.03 for thenine months ended Sept. 30 against a $0.17 loss in the first nine months of 2001.

Occupancy for all centers was 85.2% up 2.2 percentage points from Sept. 30, 2001.

Taubman says that while sales per square foot improved slightly from the second quarter's performance, the retail environment remains difficult. "However, we are encouraged by the lower level of retail bankruptcies and unscheduled lease terminations this year, both of which have contributed to our occupancy gains," he adds.

Based on the third quarter results, the company expects FFO per share in 2002 to be in the range of $1.66 to $1.68, a 15% to 17% increase over last year's $1.44 per share.

"While there is uncertainty regarding the retail environment and interest rates, we are estimating 2003 FFO per share to be in the range of $1.73 to $1.77," Taubman says.