LuxUrban Hotels Inc.

Thank you for standing by. My name is Cass, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Lux Urban Hotels Incorporated 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed in mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Devin Sullivan, Managing Director at the Equity Group. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Catherine. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Luxurban Hotels 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. Our speakers for today will be Brian Ferdinand, Chairman, and Chinook Katari, the company's co-CEO and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this call may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, set forth in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. These statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. Generally, the words anticipates, believes, continues, could, estimates, expects, intends, may, might, plans, possible, potential, predicts, should, would, and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may include, for example, statements with respect to the success of the company's collaboration with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, scheduled property opening, prospective closing of noted lease transactions, the company's ability to continue closing on property in the pipeline, as well as the company's anticipated ability to commercialize and efficiently and profitably operate these properties. These statements are based on current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the company, there can be no assurances that these future developments will be those that have been anticipated forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainty some of which are beyond the company's control or other assumptions that may cause results of performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied in these statements including those set forth under the caption risk factors in our public filings with the sec including an item 1a of our annual report on form 10k for the year ended december 31 2023 which was filed with the SEC on April 15, 2024, and any updates to those factors as set forth in subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or other public filing. Forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are made up to today's date, and the company does not undertake any update to any forward-looking information and or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities law. Management will also be discussing non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measures can be found in the company's press release. With that said, I'll now turn the call over to Brian Ferdinand. Brian, please go ahead.

Thank you, Devin. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. In 2022, we identified what we believe is a historic opportunity to acquire long-term operating rights to hotels and favorable economics. At that time, many of these properties were struggling in a post-pandemic travel environment. Today, rising interest rates and looming debt maturities are creating a new class of hotel owners who are facing a refinancing environment that is considerably less favorable than in recent years, with assets in this category having declined significantly. This presents owners and lenders with limited options. Lux Urban provides a much-needed solution to lease these hotels on a long-term basis which has created a significant pipeline of hotels available for lease, which Eluxurban intends to capture. For the better part of two years, we leveraged our first mover status to address this opportunity by playing a critical role in the current commercial real estate ecosystem as a potential long-term lease partner to these owners. We've expanded our portfolio of hotel properties curated a robust pipeline of opportunities in new and existing markets, and signed a collaboration agreement with Wyndham that provides financial brand and operating support to advance our growth objectives, who remains committed and supportive of our business and the opportunity in front of us. In less than two short years, Lux Urban has grown into an industry-recognized MLA provider, generating more than $113 million annually and generating well over $20 million in EBITDA with limited capital and resources to date. We believe the company's business model has redefined part of the hotel landscape and with a refined approach will reach its full potential in the coming years. We have also begun to mature as an organization, which is required for the next phase of our business, which will be focused on customer engagement and professional hotel operations that are up to industry standards. We have certainly faced several challenges and have acted with a sense of focus and urgency to address them. As you'll see in our 2023 results, we have confronted various legacy issues and taken steps to mitigate the effects of potential future headwinds. We have recently fortified our executive team and board with the additions of industry veterans, such as Elon Blettinger, and Kim Schafer to the Board of Directors and Robert Arrigo as Chief Operating Officer. You can expect to see more of these types of appointments in the coming months as we continue to shape the organization to fully capture the opportunity in front of us while acting with a sense of responsibility as we move forward. Our pipeline of opportunities remains incredibly strong. 2024 will be a period of measured but still significant expansion with a focus on acquiring the long-term operating rights to higher-end hotel properties once our commitment to improving our working capital, receivables, and cash flow profile are realized in the coming quarter. We will continue to focus on adding depth to our core New York City market and selectively expanding our presence in Miami, New Orleans, and Los Angeles while exploring new market opportunities in destination cities across the U.S. We acknowledge that our shareholders want to own a company they can look to for growth, predictability, and profitability. I agree. As Lux Urban's largest shareholder, I can assure you that I am committed to ensuring the company operates in a way that maximizes the financial benefits of our growth and executing a strategy that allows us to reach our full potential. My commitment is unwavering to help bring in the right executive team, directors, and capital partners to optimize and properly scale the business moving on from legacy relationships as the business evolves. Before I turn the call over to Shenu, I want to make it clear we are focused on rebuilding trust with our shareholder-based partners and being accountable for our missteps along the way. There are no excuses to make, and the only solution is to set the company on a better path with the initiatives outlined to capture the full opportunity in front of us. With a refined approach and seasoned industry veterans joining the team, The opportunity for Luxurban is more exciting than we could ever have foreseen when we started the business. With that, I'll turn it over to Shanubh Kothari. Thank you.