Weingarten Income, FFO Drops; Occupancy Up

HOUSTON-Weingarten Realty, a REIT with about 70 million square feet of retail and industrial properties, posted a net income drop in the first quarter to $10.2 million, from $33.1 million in Q1 2009, and funds from operations totaling $48.9 million in the first quarter, compared to $67.2 million for the same period a year ago. However, there was positive news for the company , increasing occupancy to 92.2% from 91.8% in Q4 2009.

During a conference call Friday, company officials were upbeat about the high occupancy, a war chest of $100 million in available cash a high level of renewals. “(We) weathered the economic downturn very effectively,” said Drew Alexander, president and CEO, during the call. “We are pleased with our operations progress. Recently, we have seen activity pick up as assets were slowly trickling into the market. We evaluated many assets and portfolios, and have some deals working. We expect deal flows to increase toward the end of the year, and in the next year, we have talented human resources focused on approximately 10 major markets that we are targeting for growth.”