EastGroup Properties Announces First Quarter 2008 Results

JACKSON, MS - EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE-EGP) announces the results of its operations for the three months ended March 31, 2008.

Commenting on EastGroup’s funds from operations (FFO) per share for the quarter, David H. Hoster II, (top right photo) President and CEO, stated, “We are pleased with the solid operating results achieved during the first quarter of 2008 in spite of the slowing of the U.S. economy.

"We were able to combine good property operating results with a number of one-time items to exceed the high point of our first quarter guidance. We continued to generate growth in FFO per share with the first quarter of 2008 representing our 15th consecutive quarter of increased FFO per share compared to the previous year’s quarter.

It was also the 19th consecutive quarter of same property net operating income growth both with and without the straightlining of rents.”

(EastGroup's 1.78-million-SF World Houston International Business Park is shown at left below).

For a detailed copy of the news release, please contact David Hoster or N. Keith McKey, chief financial officer, at 601 354 3555 or e-mail investor@eastgroup.net.

(Photo of EastGroup's 592,000-SF Riverbend Business Park in New Orleans, LA is show at right below)

First-quarter highlights include:

• Funds from Operations of $19.8 Million or $.83 Per Share, an Increase of 15.3%

• Net Income Available to Common Stockholders of $7.4 Million or $.31 Per Share

• Same Property Net Operating Income Growth of 2.6%, 2.7% Before Straight-Line Rent Adjustments

• $68 Million Invested in Development and Acquisitions During the Quarter

• 20 Development Projects with Estimated Costs of $128 Million Under Construction or In Lease-Up at Quarter-End

• 94.9% Leased, 94.4% Occupied

• Paid 113th Consecutive Quarterly Dividend – $.52 Per Share, an Increase of 4% Compared to the Previous Quarterly Dividend

• Debt-to-Total Market Capitalization of 37.1% at Quarter-End with a Stock Price of $46.46 Per Share

• Interest Coverage of 3.8x and Fixed Charge Coverage of 3.5x

OUTLOOK FOR REMAINDER OF 2008

FFO per share for 2008 is estimated to be in the range of $3.26 to $3.36 ($.06 per share more than our previous estimate). The midpoint was increased from $3.25 per share to $3.31 per share. (EastGroup's 537,000-SF Westside Distribution Center in Jacksonville is shown in right photo below.)

Diluted EPS for 2008 is estimated to be in the range of $1.07 to $1.17. Guidance was increased due to strong property results as well as the following transactions recorded in the first quarter:

• Gains on sales of securities of $435,000
• Termination fees, net of bad debt, of $287,000
• Gain on involuntary conversion of $175,000