Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc., a publicly traded office real estate investment trust with most of its portfolio in Honolulu, yesterday reported a net loss of $1.16 million, or 38 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended Dec. 31.

The report marked Pacific Office's third complete fiscal quarter since the Los Angeles-based company was formed by Honolulu-based Shidler Group last March, so there are no performance comparisons to a year earlier.

In one important measure of company performance, Pacific Office said it had "funds from operations" of $1.33 million, or 8 cents per share.

Funds from operations exclude such things as gains or losses from property sales, higher or lower real estate values and tenant allowances. The measure is regarded by the industry as a better reflection of the health of real estate investment trusts than net income.

Pacific Office said it was able to improve property leasing from 84 percent on Sept. 30 to 85.2 percent on Dec. 31 despite the weakening economy.

"We are very pleased to have improved our occupancy rate this quarter despite such a challenging economic environment," Dallas Lucas, company president and CEO, said in a statement.

Pacific Office owns 40 office buildings with 4.3 million leasable square feet of space, including properties co-owned with institutional partners.

Seven Pacific Office properties — including the Davies Pacific Center, the Pan Am Building and Waterfront Plaza — are in Honolulu, representing about 60 percent of company investments and 70 percent of operating income.

Honolulu, according to industry reports, is one of the stronger office markets in the United States, which has helped the performance of Pacific Office.

Pacific Office, managed by an affiliate of the Shidler Group, said it has no debt maturing this year, and has $66 million in mortgage debt maturities next year. The company said it is moving forward with a long-term growth plan to use stock sales, credit and other liquidity to pursue attractive property acquisitions.

Shares of lightly traded Pacific Office yesterday closed at $4.60, down 40 cents from Tuesday, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Share prices have ranged between a low of $2.52 in December and a high around $7 as the company was being formed last March.