Simon Property Group has posted its third quarter report which shows a 9.7% drop in profits, but this has beaten the estimates made by analysts by a substantial margin and, in light of the new development, the owner of the country's largest shopping mall, has raised the lower end of its earnings forecast for the current fiscal year.

The firm reported figures which revealed a profit of $112.1 Million, or 38 cents a share. This was lower than the figures posted for the same period last year, which stood firm at $124.1 million, or 50 cents a share. FFO, on the other hand, dropped to $1.38 per share from $1.61 per share. This has, nonetheless, managed to beat estimates made by Wall Street analysts who pegged the price of each share at $1.32.

The revenue figure of $924.9 million, although down by 1.1% as compared to last year, also beat forecasts which put estimated revenue at $892 Million.

"This is a company... that under promises, but over delivers," said Alexander Goldfarb, an analyst with Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP. With the new development, the company is now looking at posting even better profits for the coming year.