SAO PAULO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Shares in Brazilian shopping mall operator Multiplan rose on Wednesday after it reported its operational preview for the fourth quarter of 2021, noting that figures came in above pre-pandemic levels.

Multiplan Empreendimentos Imobiliarios SA, as the company is formally known, said in a securities filing that its quarterly same store rent jumped 41.4% from the same period of 2019, while same store sales rose 10.3%.

According to the company, sales were up 8.1% when compared with the last quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in Brazil. It said the figures were supported by a strong performance during the holiday season.

"December was a major highlight, as sales reached 110.1% of the sales seen in the same period of 2019 ... In the fourth quarter, sales were above 2019 levels for the first time in the year, totaling 5.6 billion reais ($1.01 billion)," Multiplan said.

Shares in the company soared 4.8% to 17.77 reais in early morning trading, making it the biggest gainer on the broader Bovespa index, which was up 1%.

Rivals BR Malls and Iguatemi were also among the top gainers on the Bovespa, jumping about 3.5% each.

($1 = 5.5678 reais) (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo Editing by Mark Potter)