HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/search?q=%24WRI&src=ctag” target=”_blank”gt;$WRIlt;/agt; lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NAREITFFO?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#NAREITFFOlt;/agt;–Weingarten Realty (NYSE: WRI) announced today the results of its
operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. The supplemental
financial package with additional information can be found on the
Company’s website under the Investor Relations tab.

First Quarter Operating and Financial Highlights

• Net income attributable to common shareholders (“Net Income”) for the
  quarter was $0.39 per diluted share (hereinafter “per share”) compared
  to $1.13 per share in the same quarter of 2018;
• Core Funds From Operations Attributable to Common Shareholders (“Core
  FFO”) for the quarter was $0.52 per share compared to $0.57 per share
  a year ago;
• Same Property Net Operating Income (“SPNOI”) including redevelopments
  increased 3.2% over the same quarter of the prior year;
• Investments in acquisitions of $20.3 million; and
• Dispositions for the quarter totaled $67 million.

Financial Results

The Company reported Net Income of $49.7 million or $0.39 per share for
the first quarter of 2019, as compared to $146.8 million or $1.13 per
share for the same period in 2018. This decrease was due primarily to
lower gains on sales of properties due to reduced disposition activity
during 2019.

Effective this quarter, the Company adopted the new standard issued by
the Financial Accounting Standards Board, ASU 2016-02, “Leases.” Among
the changes required under this new ASU are the following:

• Indirect, internally-generated leasing and legal costs are no longer
  capitalized which resulted in an increase in general and
  administrative expenses of approximately $2.3 million for the quarter;
• Real estate taxes paid directly by tenants are no longer included in
  revenues and expenses in the Company’s consolidated financial
  statements. Real estate taxes paid directly by tenants totaled $1.2
  million during the first quarter of 2018;
• Ground leases where the Company is the lessee were recorded on the
  balance sheet and were amortized accordingly to rent expense; and,
• New guidelines for assessing the collectability of accounts receivable
  and the related presentation were implemented.

This standard was adopted on a modified retrospective approach;
therefore, prior year amounts were not restated. Further details of
these issues are included on page 44 of our Supplemental.

Funds From Operations attributable to common shareholders in accordance
with the newly revised National Association of Real Estate Investment
Trusts definition (“NAREIT FFO”) was $67.3 million or $0.52 per share
for the first quarter of 2019 compared to $78.3 million or $0.60 per
share for 2018.

Core FFO for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 was the same as NAREIT FFO
at $67.3 million or $0.52 per share compared to $74.7 million or $0.57
per share for the same quarter of last year. Key factors that effected
this change of $0.05 per share from this year to last year are:

• Disposition activity of $0.03 per share;
• Increase of $0.02 per share for indirect leasing and legal costs
  expensed in accordance with the new leasing standard;
• Non-cash expense increase of $0.02 per share of compensation expense
  due to lower valuations of our restricted shares for incentive
  compensation purposes offset by other reductions in overhead; and,
• Increased SPNOI and other factors.

Effective this quarter, the Company adopted the updated definition of
NAREIT FFO and will exclude gains or losses on the sale of land parcels
and securities which were previously not adjusted in NAREIT FFO. Prior
period NAREIT FFO amounts have not been restated.

Reconciliations of Net Income to NAREIT FFO and Core FFO are included
herein.

Operating Results

For the period ending March 31, 2019, the Company’s operating highlights
were as follows:

A reconciliation of Net Income to SPNOI is included herein.

“Operationally, we had a solid quarter with strong Same Store results of
3.2%. However, rent growth for the quarter was below the recent norms.
Our new leases produced strong increases of 11.5%; however, our renewals
averaged only 2%. While shop renewals were a healthy 7%, a few box
renewals where the tenant had significant negotiating leverage led to a
decrease of 3% for boxes. Looking ahead to the rest of 2019, we expect
to produce rent growth in the mid-to-high single digits for the rest of
2019,” said Johnny Hendrix, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer.

Portfolio Activity

During the quarter, the Company purchased Madison Village in Central
Phoenix, Arizona at Seventh and Glendale for $20.3 million. The center
is anchored by a Safeway that produces extremely strong sales and is
located in a densely populated area of Phoenix with 140,000 people
within a three-mile radius. With 40,000 square feet of shop space,
focused leasing efforts to improve the tenancy should produce strong
growth over the next couple of years.

The Company closed $67 million of dispositions with the sale of three
shopping centers including Reynolds Crossing and Brookwood Marketplace,
both in suburban Atlanta, Georgia and Waterford Village in Leland, North
Carolina. The Company also sold one land parcel.

In addition, the Company invested $44 million in new developments and
redevelopments during the first quarter. The majority of the investment
is in its two projects in the Washington D.C. area and its 30-story
residential tower at its River Oaks Shopping Center in Houston.

“We are pleased to begin 2019 with the acquisition of a solid grocery
anchored center with outstanding sales and great upside. Our two
mixed-use developments in D.C. area are progressing nicely and will be
successful, valuable real estate projects and our significantly
transformed existing portfolio produced outstanding same property NOI of
3.2%. All of these factors should contribute to solid gains for our
shareholders,” said Drew Alexander, Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer.

Balance Sheet

The Company continues to maintain one of the strongest balance sheets in
its sector and proceeds from the Company’s recent dispositions were used
to further strengthen its financial position. Net Debt to Core EBITDAre
was a strong 5.3 times and Debt to Total Market Capitalization was 31.9%
at quarter end.

“Both Moody’s and S&P completed full credit analyses and confirmed our
ratings of Baa1/BBB during the first quarter. With the strongest credit
metrics we have had in many years, we are poised to take advantage of
whatever opportunities may arise. Low leverage provides the flexibility
to react quickly as market conditions change,” said Steve Richter,
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

2019 Guidance

As to earnings guidance, the Company affirms NAREIT FFO and Core FFO per
share of a range from $2.09 to $2.17. All of the details of our guidance
are included on page 10 of our Supplemental.

Dividends

The Board of Trust Managers declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.395
per common share payable on June 14, 2019 to shareholders of record on
June 7, 2019.

Conference Call Information

The Company also announced that it will host a live webcast of its
quarterly conference call on April 30, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time.
The live webcast can be accessed via the Company’s website at www.weingarten.com.
Alternatively, if you are not able to access the call on the web, you
can listen live by phone by calling (888) 771-4371 (conference ID #
47857841). A replay will be available through the Company’s website
starting approximately two hours following the live call.

About Weingarten Realty Investors

Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) is a shopping center owner,
manager and developer. At March 31, 2019, the Company owned or operated
under long-term leases, either directly or through its interest in real
estate joint ventures or partnerships, a total of 177 properties which
are located in 17 states spanning the country from coast to coast. These
properties represent approximately 34.6 million square feet of which our
interests in these properties aggregated approximately 22.6 million
square feet of leasable area. To learn more about the Company’s
operations and growth strategies, please visit www.weingarten.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included herein that state the Company’s or Management’s
intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future
are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 which by their nature, involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual results,
performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed
or implied by such statements. Reference is made to the Company’s
regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for
information or factors that may impact the Company’s performance.

Projections involve numerous assumptions such as rental income
(including assumptions on percentage rent), interest rates, tenant
defaults, occupancy rates, volume and pricing of properties held for
disposition, volume and pricing of acquisitions, expenses (including
salaries and employee costs), insurance costs and numerous other
factors. Not all of these factors are determinable at this time and
actual results may vary from the projected results, and may be above or
below the ranges indicated. The above ranges represent management’s
estimate of results based upon these assumptions as of the date of this
press release. Accordingly, there is no assurance that our projections
will be realized.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Certain aspects of our key performance indicators are considered
non-GAAP financial measures. Management uses these measures along with
our Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) financial
statements in order to evaluate our operating results. Management
believes these additional measures provide users of our financial
information additional comparable indicators of our industry, as well
as, our performance.

Funds from Operations Attributable to Common
Shareholders

Effective January 1, 2019, the National Association of Real Estate
Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) defines NAREIT FFO as net income (loss)
attributable to common shareholders computed in accordance with GAAP,
excluding gains or losses from sales of certain real estate assets
(including: depreciable real estate with land, land, development
property and securities), change in control, and interests in real
estate equity investments and their applicable taxes, plus depreciation
and amortization related to real estate and impairment of certain real
estate assets and in substance real estate equity investments, including
our share of unconsolidated real estate joint ventures and partnerships.
The Company calculates NAREIT FFO in a manner consistent with the NAREIT
definition.

Management believes NAREIT FFO is a widely recognized measure of REIT
operating performance which provides our shareholders with a relevant
basis for comparison among other REITs. Management uses NAREIT FFO as a
supplemental internal measure to conduct and evaluate our business
because there are certain limitations associated with using GAAP net
income by itself as the primary measure of our operating performance.
Historical cost accounting for real estate assets in accordance with
GAAP implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes
predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have
historically risen or fallen with market conditions, management believes
that the presentation of operating results for real estate companies
that uses historical cost accounting is insufficient by itself. There
can be no assurance that NAREIT FFO presented by the Company is
comparable to similarly titled measures of other REITs.

The Company also presents Core FFO as an additional supplemental measure
as it is more reflective of the core operating performance of our
portfolio of properties. Core FFO is defined as NAREIT FFO excluding
charges and gains related to non-cash, non-operating assets and other
transactions or events that hinder the comparability of operating
results. Specific examples of items excluded from Core FFO include, but
are not limited to, gains or losses associated with the extinguishment
of debt or other liabilities and transactional costs associated with
development activities. NAREIT FFO and Core FFO should not be considered
as alternatives to net income or other measurements under GAAP as
indicators of operating performance or to cash flows from operating,
investing or financing activities as measures of liquidity. NAREIT FFO
and Core FFO do not reflect working capital changes, cash expenditures
for capital improvements or principal payments on indebtedness.

Same Property Net Operating Income

Management considers SPNOI an important additional financial measure
because it reflects only those income and expense items that are
incurred at the property level and when compared across periods,
reflects the impact on operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental
rates and operating costs. The Company calculates this most useful
measurement by determining our proportional share of SPNOI from all
owned properties, including the Company’s share of SPNOI from
unconsolidated joint ventures and partnerships, which cannot be readily
determined under GAAP measurements and presentation. Although SPNOI (see
page 1 of the supplemental disclosure regarding this presentation and
limitations thereof) is a widely used measure among REITs, there can be
no assurance that SPNOI presented by the Company is comparable to
similarly titled measures of other REITs. Additionally, the Company does
not control these unconsolidated joint ventures and partnerships, and
the assets, liabilities, revenues or expenses of these joint ventures
and partnerships, as presented, do not represent its legal claim to such
items.

Properties are included in the SPNOI calculation if they are owned and
operated for the entirety of the most recent two fiscal year periods,
except for properties for which significant redevelopment or expansion
occurred during either of the periods presented, and properties that
have been sold. While there is judgment surrounding changes in
designations, management moves new development and redevelopment
properties once they have stabilized, which is typically upon attainment
of 90% occupancy. A rollforward of the properties included in the
Company’s same property designation is as follows:

We calculate SPNOI using net income attributable to common shareholders
excluding net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, other
income (expense), income taxes and equity in earnings of real estate
joint ventures and partnerships. Additionally to reconcile to SPNOI, we
exclude the effects of property management fees, certain non-cash
revenues and expenses such as straight-line rental revenue and the
related reversal of such amounts upon early lease termination,
depreciation and amortization, impairment losses, general and
administrative expenses and other items such as lease cancellation
income, environmental abatement costs, demolition expenses and lease
termination fees. Consistent with the capital treatment of such costs
under GAAP, tenant improvements, leasing commissions and other direct
leasing costs are excluded from SPNOI. A reconciliation of net income
attributable to common shareholders to SPNOI is as follows (in
thousands):

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation
and Amortization for Real Estate

NAREIT defines EBITDAre as net income computed in accordance with GAAP,
plus interest expense, income tax expense (benefit), depreciation and
amortization and impairment of depreciable real estate and in substance
real estate equity investments; plus or minus gains or losses from sales
of certain real estate assets and interests in real estate equity
investments; and adjustments to reflect our share of unconsolidated real
estate joint ventures and partnerships for these items. The Company
calculates EBITDAre in a manner consistent with the NAREIT definition.

As mentioned above, NAREIT FFO is a widely recognized measure of REIT
operating performance which provides our shareholders with a relevant
basis for comparing earnings performance among other REITs based upon
the unique capital structure of each REIT. However as a basis of
comparability that is independent of a company’s capital structure,
management believes that since EBITDA is a widely known and understood
measure of performance, EBITDAre will represent an additional
supplemental non-GAAP performance measure that will provide investors
with a relevant basis for comparing REITs. There can be no assurance
that EBITDAre as presented by the Company is comparable to similarly
titled measures of other REITs.

The Company also presents Core EBITDAre as an additional supplemental
measure as it is more reflective of the core operating performance of
our portfolio of properties. Core EBITDAre is defined as NAREIT EBITDAre
excluding charges and gains related to non-cash and non-operating
transactions and other events that hinder the comparability of operating
results.

Contacts

Michelle Wiggs, Phone: (713) 866-6050

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