Weingarten Realty Investors (WRI) Tops Q4 EPS by 8c, Revenues Beat

Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) reported Q4 EPS of $0.18, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $0.10. Revenue for the quarter came in at $112.08 million versus the consensus estimate of $106.17 million.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year Operating and Financial Highlights

• Net income attributable to common shareholders (“Net Income”) for the fourth quarter was $0.18 per diluted share (hereinafter “per share”) compared to $0.20 per share in the third quarter of 2020 and $0.58 per share in the same quarter of 2019;
• Core Funds From Operations Attributable to Common Shareholders ("Core FFO") for the quarter was $0.43 per share compared to $0.44 per share in the third quarter of 2020 and $0.53 per share in the same quarter of 2019;
• Common dividend per share will increase 67% to $0.30 per quarter;
• Cash collections of rent and billable expenses were 94% of the total billed for the fourth quarter;
• Leasing production was the highest fourth quarter production in annualized base minimum rents since 2015. The Company executed 81 new leases and 91 renewals representing $14.6 million in base minimum rent;
• Dispositions in the quarter were $96 million bringing the year-to-date total to $248 million; and,
• Acquisition of the remaining 42% of the Village Plaza at Bunker Hill center not previously owned, which is one of the best properties in the portfolio.

“We appreciate your understanding the rescheduling of our press release and conference call but the loss of electricity, water and internet connectivity from the severe cold experienced in Texas last week resulted in very difficult working conditions for our team that made this delay necessary. Our Texas properties have held up well. We had minimal power and water outages, but all of our properties are open and operating.

We are pleased with our solid fourth quarter results. Our focus continues on the safety and well-being of our associates, working with our tenants and all of our stakeholders including the broader community. Uncertainty remains, but solid cash collection metrics, a very stable base of essential tenants and the acceleration of leasing activity makes us cautiously optimistic about 2021. A full recovery to pre-pandemic operating results will likely not occur for many months but our transformed portfolio of grocery anchored, open-air centers located in the southern and western U.S. that provide basic goods and services gives us great confidence as we continue our recovery,” said Drew Alexander, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

2021 Guidance

The Company is providing initial guidance for its 2021 fiscal year. As discussed above, there remains significant uncertainty regarding the impact of the pandemic going forward and the related economic outlook for the year. This guidance is based on an expected gradual improvement in the economy and the retail environment as the country moves through the vaccination process during the remainder of the year. The Company anticipates that bad debt expense/uncollectible revenue will decrease from 2020 levels, but this benefit will be largely offset by tenant fallout and terminations, both fallout that has occurred and additional fallout anticipated. Additionally, the guidance does not anticipate taking any new tenants to cash basis or additional straight line rent write-offs, so this along with a normalized straight line rent forecast anticipates a benefit of $.12 per share to 2021. The new development program will contribute approximately $.01 per share composed of net operating income coming on line of $.08, offset by a reduction in interest capitalized of $0.05 per share and capitalized overhead of $.02 per share. Also included in this FFO guidance is the impact of $100 to $150 million of dispositions which is front-end loaded and $50 to $100 million of acquisitions which is back-end loaded. The net impact of these projected transactions on FFO is a decrease $.05 per share. Additionally, the impact of 2020 dispositions will further reduce 2021 FFO by $.07 per share.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Weingarten Realty Investors (WRI) click here.

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