Operating Results:   --  Revenues, net earnings and FFO available to common stockholders:                                                           Quarter Ended                                                         March 31,                                                     2009        2008                                                     ----        ----                                                      (in thousands,                                                  except per share data)    Revenues                                       $57,963     $54,009    Net earnings available to common    stockholders                                  $25,108     $30,543   Net earnings per common share (diluted)          $0.32       $0.42    FFO available to common stockholders           $35,056     $36,160   FFO per common share (diluted)                   $0.45       $0.50     --  NNN paid cash dividends to its common shareholders of $0.375 per share       during the quarter ended March 31, 2009.    --  Investment Portfolio occupancy was 96.7% at March 31, 2009.    Investments and Dispositions for the quarter ended March 31, 2009:   --  Investments:       --  $7.6 million of development funding in the Investment Portfolio           with an aggregate 105,000 square feet of gross leasable area       --  $2.2 million of development funding in the Inventory Portfolio   --  Dispositions:       --  Three Investment properties with an aggregate 61,000 square feet           of gross leasable area, with net proceeds of $4.1 million,           resulting in a gain of $1.0 million        --  One Inventory property with net proceeds of $4.9 million    Capital transactions for the quarter ended March 31, 2009:   --  Issued 602,112 shares of common stock generating $8,852,000 of net       proceeds pursuant to the Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan   --  Repurchased $8.8 million of the Company's outstanding 3.95%       convertible senior notes due September 2026, which notes provide       holders with a 2011 put option, for a discounted purchase price of       $7.0 million    --  Repurchased $8.5 million of the Company's outstanding 5.125%       convertible notes due June 2028, which notes provide holders with a       2013 put option, for a discounted purchase price of $6.5 million    

National Retail Properties also announced revised 2009 FFO guidance from $1.70 to $1.80 per share to $1.65 to $1.75 per share. This guidance includes non-cash interest expense of approximately 7 cents per share due to changes required in accounting for convertible debt interest for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008. This equates to net earnings before any gains or losses from the sale of investment properties of $1.14 to $1.24 per share plus $0.51 per share of expected real estate related depreciation and amortization. This guidance is based on current plans and assumptions and subject to the risks and uncertainties more fully described in this press release and the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Craig Macnab, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Despite the uncertain economic times and weak retail environment, our first quarter results were in line with expectations. While 2009 will be a year focused on controlling expenses and maintaining occupancy, our solid results and strong balance sheet puts us on track to make this NNN's 20th consecutive year of increased cash dividends per share."

National Retail Properties invests primarily in high-quality retail properties subject generally to long-term, net leases. As of March 31, 2009, the company owned 1,002 Investment properties in 44 states with a gross leasable area of approximately 11.3 million square feet. NNN is one of only four publicly traded REITs and 156 publicly traded companies in America to have increased its annual dividends for 19 or more consecutive years. For more information on the company, visit http://www.nnnreit.com/.

Management will hold a conference call on May 5, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. EDT to review these results. The call can be accessed on National Retail Properties, Inc. web site live at http://www.nnnreit.com/. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available on the company's web site. In addition, a summary of any earnings guidance given on the call will be posted to the company's web site.

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, which may cause the company's actual future results to differ materially from expected results. These risks include, among others, general economic conditions, local real estate conditions, changes in interest rates, increases in operating costs, the availability of capital, and the profitability of the company's taxable subsidiary. Additional information concerning these and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings, including, but not limited to, the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K. Copies of each filing may be obtained from the company or the SEC. Consequently, such forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as reflections of the company's current operating plans and estimates. Actual operating results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in this press release. National Retail Properties undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date these statements were made.

The reported results are unaudited and there can be no assurance that the results will not vary from the final information for the quarter ended March 31, 2009. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of these reported results have been made.

Funds From Operations, commonly referred to as FFO, is a relative non-GAAP financial measure of operating performance of an equity REIT in order to recognize that income-producing real estate historically has not depreciated on the basis determined under GAAP. FFO is defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and is used by the company as follows: net earnings (computed in accordance with GAAP) plus depreciation and amortization of assets unique to the real estate industry, excluding gains (or including losses) on the disposition of real estate held for investment, and the company's share of these items from the company's unconsolidated partnerships.

FFO is generally considered by industry analysts to be the most appropriate measure of performance of real estate companies. FFO does not necessarily represent cash provided by operating activities in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered an alternative to net earnings as an indication of the company's performance or to cash flow as a measure of liquidity or ability to make distributions. Management considers FFO an appropriate measure of performance of an equity REIT because it primarily excludes the assumption that the value of the real estate assets diminishes predictably over time, and because industry analysts have accepted it as a performance measure. The company's computation of FFO may differ from the methodology for calculating FFO used by other equity REITs, and therefore, may not be comparable to such other REITs.

The company has determined that there are earnings from discontinued operations in each of its segments, real estate held for investment and real estate held for sale. All property dispositions from the company's held for investment segment are classified as discontinued operations. In addition, certain properties in the company's held for sale segment that have generated revenues before disposition are classified as discontinued operations. The results of operations for prior periods for these properties now classified as discontinued operations have been restated to reflect the results in earnings from discontinued operations for comparability purposes. These adjustments resulted in a decrease in the company's reported total revenues and total and per share earnings from continuing operations and an increase in the company's earnings from discontinued operations. However, the company's total and per share FFO and net earnings available to common stockholders are not affected.

                       National Retail Properties, Inc.