General Growth Boosts Dividends 11%

"In this low interest rate environment, more investors are looking for current yield in addition to capital appreciation," says General Growth Properties chief executive officer John Bucksbaum in a statement. "Compound growth in funds from operations has averaged over 15% during the last nine years, so double-digit dividend growth is warranted. While providing our shareholders a substantial dividend increase, we currently expect the ratio of our dividends paid to funds from operations in 2003 to remain under 50%."

Bucksbaum adds General Growth, which last week paid $72 million for Pecanland Mall in Monroe, LA, and recently joined with the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System to spend $634 million on four malls, expects to generate $250 million next year for additional buys and working capital.