Artis REIT increases Q1 funds from operations 140.2%, increases per unit results

    WINNIPEG, May 14 /CNW/ - Today Artis Real Estate Investment Trust
("Artis" or "Artis REIT") issued its financial results and achievements for
the three month period ended March 31, 2007.

    FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

    -  Q1 revenues increased 88.2% over Q1-06 to $17.6 million

    -  Q1 net operating income ("NOI") increased 102.6% over Q1-06 to
       $11.6 million

    -  Q1 distributable income ("DI") increased 130.6% over Q1-06 to
       $5.9 million

    -  Q1 funds from operations ("FFO") increased 140.2% to $5.4 million

    -  Occupancy increased to 96.3% (97.8% including committed space)

    -  Debt-to-gross book ("GBV") value decreased to  51.6%

    -  $193.0 million in acquisitions completed year-to-date(*)


    SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (unaudited)                                   Three Months  Three Months
    $000's, except per unit amounts                Ended March   Ended March
                                                      31, 2007      31, 2006
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Revenues                                      $     17,609  $      9,357
    NOI                                                 11,629         5,740
    DI                                                   5,908         2,562
    FFO                                                  5,403         2,249

    DI per unit (basic)                                   0.31          0.29
    FFO per unit (basic)                                  0.28          0.25
    Distributions                                         0.26          0.26

    Weighted average units
      REIT Units                                    18,468,086     8,918,795
      Including Class B limited parnership units    19,189,433     8,918,795
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                                                      March 31,  December 31,
                                                          2007          2006

    GBV                                           $    729,543  $    523,081
    Mortgage debt                                      376,498       272,341
    Debt-to-GBV                                          51.6%         52.1%
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "First quarter financial results continue to demonstrate the
effectiveness of our internal and external growth strategies," said Armin
Martens, President and Chief Executive Officer of Artis. "The strength and
caliber of our portfolio improved significantly in this quarter. Our key
metrics have all improved as well. We are particularly pleased to report an
increase in FFO per unit of 12.0%, with a corresponding decrease in the FFO
payout ratio, as well as further reduction in our debt ratio since
December 31, 2006."

    (*) Including the MTS Call Centre, acquired subsequently on April 1/07

    Significant growth in key measures:

    On-going acquisition activity has driven substantial growth in revenues,
property NOI, DI and FFO, key performance measures for the REIT. Q1-07
revenues and Property NOI grew $8.3 million and $5.9 million, respectively,
compared to Q1-06. Q1-07 DI and FFO grew $3.3 million and $3.2 million,
respectively, over Q1-06.

    $92.0 million in new equity raised:

    On January 18, 2007, Artis announced it had entered into a bought-deal
arrangement with a syndicate of underwriters for the sale of 5,050,000 trust
units ("units") at a price of $15.85 per unit. The offering closed on
February 8, 2007, for aggregate gross proceeds of $80.0 million. On
February 20, 2007, the underwriting syndicate exercised their over-allotment
option and a further 757,500 units were issued for aggregate gross proceeds of
$12.0 million.

    Name changed effective February 15, 2007:

    Effective February 15, 2007, the name of the REIT was changed from
Westfield Real Estate Investment Trust to Artis Real Estate Investment Trust.
In conjunction with the name change, the REIT's stock symbols changed from
WFD.UN, WFD.DB.A, WFD.DB.B and WFD.DB.C to AX.UN, AX.DB.A, AX.DB.B and
AX.DB.C, respectively.

    Artis reduces mortgage debt-to-GBV ratio while increasing the asset base:

    As at March 31, 2007, Artis has increased the size of its portfolio
(measured by GBV) by $206.5 million, or 39% over the December 31, 2006
balance. Over the same period, the ratio of mortgage debt to GBV has declined
from 52.1% at December 31, 2005 to 51.6% at December 31, 2006.

    2007 Acquisition highlights:

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Property              Location           Acquisition Date     Type
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1. CDI College        280 Main Street,   January 12, 2007     Office
       Building           Winnipeg, MB
    2. Keewatin           959-989 Keewatin   January 31, 2007     Industrial
       Distribution       Street,
       Centre             Winnipeg, MB       February 1, 2007     Retail
    3. Clareview Town     50th Street &
       Centre             137th Avenue,
                          Edmonton, AB
    4. Centre 70(1)       7015 Macleod       February 28, 2007    Office
                          Trail SW &
                          555-69th St SW,
                          Calgary, AB
    5. Honeywell          2840-2nd Avenue    February 28, 2007    Industrial
       Building           SE,
                          Calgary, AB
    6. Millennium Centre  4909-49th St. &    February 28, 2007    Office
                          4902-48th St.,
                          Red Deer, AB
    7. Bower Centre       2319 Taylor Dr. &  March 1, 2007        Industrial
                          2310 Gaetz Ave.,
                          Red Deer, AB
    8. Britannia          703-6th Ave SW,    March 31, 2007       Office
       Building(2)        Calgary, AB
    9. Sierra Place(2)    706-7th Ave SW,    March 31, 2007       Office
                          Calgary, AB

    (1)  Artis REIT acquired an 85% ownership interest in Centre 70
    (2)  Britannia Building & Sierra Place were acquired together as the Dome
         Brittania Portfolio
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Artis acquired the above nine properties, increasing the gross leasable
area ("GLA") across the portfolio to over 3.9 million square feet. On April 1,
2007, Artis acquired one more property, known as the MTS Call Centre. Readers
are invited to view more details on these properties on the Artis web site at
www.artisreit.com.

    Occupancy levels continue to increase:

    As a result of acquisitions and on-going leasing and renewal activity,
Artis increased its overall portfolio occupancy to 96.3% at March 31, 2007.
Including committed space, the occupancy ratio increases to 97.8%.

    Artis is a growth-oriented real estate investment trust focused
exclusively on commercial properties located in primary and growing secondary
markets in western Canada, particularly in Alberta. The REIT's goal is to
provide unitholders the opportunity to invest in high-quality western Canadian
office, retail and industrial properties, as well as to provide monthly cash
distributions that are stable, tax efficient, and growing over time. To date,
Artis has acquired approximately $660 million of commercial property;
approximately 19.6% in Manitoba, 11.6% in Saskatchewan, 67.9% in Alberta, and
0.9% in B.C. Artis owns 46 properties, comprising over 3.9 million square feet
of leasable area (36.1% retail, 53.8% office and 10.1% industrial).

    The REIT's Distribution Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP") allows Unitholders to
have their monthly cash distributions used to purchase trust units without
incurring commission or brokerage fees, and receive bonus units equal to 4% of
their monthly cash distributions. More information can be obtained at
www.artisreit.com.

    Non-GAAP Performance Measures

    DI, Property NOI and FFO are non-GAAP measures commonly used by Canadian
income trusts as an indicator of financial performance. Management uses DI,
Property NOI and FFO to analyze operating performance. DI, Property NOI and
FFO may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.
Neither DI nor FFO are intended to represent operating profits for the period
or from a property nor should either be viewed as an alternative to net
income, cash flow from operating activities or other measures of financial
performance calculated in accordance with GAAP.

    Cautionary Statements

    The comments and highlights herein should be read in conjunction with the
consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for
the same period. These documents are available on the SEDAR website at
www.sedar.com. They are also posted on the Artis web site at
www.artisreit.com.
    This press release contains forward-looking statements. For this purpose,
any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may
be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing,
the words "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "projects", and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
    Artis is subject to significant risks and uncertainties which may cause
the actual results, performance or achievements of the REIT to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied in these forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, but
are not limited to, risks associated with real property ownership,
availability of cash flow, general uninsured losses, future property
acquisitions, environmental matters, tax related matters, debt financing,
unitholder liability, potential conflicts of interest, potential dilution,
reliance on key personnel, changes in legislation and proposed changes in the
tax treatment of trusts. Artis cannot assure investors that actual results
will be consistent with any forward-looking statements and Artis assumes no
obligation to update or revise such forward-looking statements to reflect
actual events or new circumstances. All forward-looking statements contained
in this press release are qualified by this cautionary statement.

    The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
    responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information: Mr. Armin Martens, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the REIT, or Mr. Jim Green, Chief Financial Officer of
the REIT, at (204) 947-1250