AvalonBay Communities Inc. announced earnings results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2014. The company reported net income attributable to common stockholders for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 of $142,642,000. This resulted in earnings per share diluted of $1.08 for the three months ended December 31, 2014, compared to $1.95 per share for the comparable period of 2013. The decrease in EPS for the three months ended December 31, 2014 from the prior year period is due primarily to a decrease in real estate sales and related gains, partially offset by increases in Net Operating Income (NOI) from newly developed and operating communities. Funds from operations attributable to common stockholders - diluted per share for the three months ended December 31, 2014 increased 16.6% to $1.76 from $1.51 for the comparable period of 2013. For the company, including discontinued operations, total revenue increased by $40,654,000, or 10.2%, to $440,656,000. This increase is primarily due to growth in revenue from development communities and growth in Established Community revenue. Funds from Operations attributable to common stockholders were $233.484 million against $195.344 million a year ago. EBITDA was $314.045 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $282.567 million. Net debt was $5,843.053 million. Core FFO was $230,273,000 or $1.74 per share against $209,412,000 or $1.62 per share for the same period in the last year.

For the year ended December 31, 2014, EPS was $5.21 compared to EPS of $2.78 for the year ended December 31, 2013, an increase of 87.4%. The increase in EPS for the year ended December 31, 2014 over the prior year is due primarily to an increase in joint venture income resulting from the gains on sales of communities in various ventures, including the company's promoted interests; increases in NOI from newly developed and acquired communities; a decrease in depreciation expense related to in-place leases acquired as part of the Archstone acquisition; a decrease in expensed acquisition costs related to the Archstone acquisition; and a loss on a forward interest rate contract in 2013 not present in 2014. These increases are partially offset by a decrease in real estate sales and related gains in 2014 as compared to prior year. FFO per share for the year ended December 31, 2014 increased 43.6% to $7.25 from $5.05 for the comparable period of 2013. Funds from Operations attributable to common stockholders were $951.035 million against $642.814 million a year ago. Net income attributable to common stockholders were $683.567 million against $353.141 million a year ago. Core FFO was $890,081,000 or $6.78 per share against $792,888,000 or $6.23 per share for the same period in the last year.

The expected impact to the company's projected FFO per share is approximately $0.10 and is composed of casualty and operating losses in equal amounts. The company expects projected EPS to be within a range of $4.65 to $4.95 for the full year 2015. The company expects 2015 projected FFO per share to be in the range of $7.25 to $7.55. Adjusting for non-routine items, the company expects 2015 projected core FFO per share to be in the range of $7.20 to $7.50. The company expects same-store revenue growth to average 3.5% to 4.5 %, led once again by the West Coast in the 5% to 8% range with Northern California again setting the pace.

For the first quarter of 2015, the Company expects projected EPS within a range of $1.57 to $1.61. The company expects projected FFO per share in the first quarter of 2015 within a range of $1.86 to $1.90. Adjusting for non-routine items, the company expects Projected Core FFO per share in the first quarter of 2015 to be in the range of $1.71 to $1.75.