Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc.

during this time, simply press star and the number one on your telephone keypad. Simply press star one again if you'd like to withdraw your question. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jordan Jennings, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to today's call to review results for Braymar Hotels and Resorts, the first quarter 2024, and to update you on recent developments. On the call today will be Richard Sutton, President and Chief Executive Officer. Derek Eubanks, Chief Financial Officer, and Chris Nixon, Executive Vice President and Head of Asset Management. The results as well as notice of accessibility of this conference call on a listen-only basis over the internet were distributed yesterday in a press release. At this time, let me remind you that certain statements and assumptions in this conference call contain or are based upon forward-looking information and are being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities regulations. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions uncertainties, and known or unknown risk which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These factors are more fully discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this call are only made as of the date of this call and the company is not obligated to publicly update or revise them. Statements made during this call do not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Securities will only offered by means of a registration statement and prospectus, which can be found at www.sec.gov. In addition, certain terms used in this call are non-GAAP financial measures, reconciliations of which are provided in the company's earnings release and in company tables or schedules, which have been filed in Form 8K with the SEC on May 8, 2024, and may also be accessed at the company's website at www.bhreit.com. Each listener is encouraged to review those reconciliations provided in the earnings release together with all other information provided in the release. Also, unless otherwise stated, all reported results discussed in this call compare the first quarter ended March 31st, 2024 with the first quarter ended March 31st, 2023. I will now turn the call over to Richard Stockton. Please go ahead, Richard.

Good morning and welcome to our 2024 first quarter earnings conference call. I'll begin today's call by providing an overview of our business, an update on our portfolio, and our recently announced plans to create additional shareholder value. Then Derek will provide a review of our financial results, and Chris will provide an update on our asset management activity. Afterwards, we'll open the call for Q&A. We have several key themes for today's call. First, we're pleased to report that while our overall REVPAR performance for the quarter was essentially equivalent to last year, our luxury resort portfolio had positive REVPAR growth in the first quarter. Second, our last two acquisitions, the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach and the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, are each performing well and continue to exceed our original underwriting. Third, as we continue to diligently work through our refinancing program, we have refinanced, extended, or paid down almost all of our 2024 debt maturities. And fourth, we are excited to have announced a shareholder value creation plan. which comprises selling select assets in order to repurchase common and preferred shares to improve our capital structure and opportunistically arbitrage the gap between our share price and net asset value per share. Let me first turn to our results. We're pleased with our portfolio's first quarter performance in light of challenging year-over-year comparisons at our Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale, which benefited from demand related to the Super Bowl and the Phoenix Open occurring in the same week last year. We reported comparable rev par of $368, which was essentially equivalent to the prior year quarter and hotel EBITDA of $71 million. We were very encouraged by the overall performance of our luxury resort portfolio, which posted positive year-over-year growth in both rev par and hotel EBITDA. Taking a closer look at our luxury portfolio, many of our hotels are well-located in attractive high barrier to entry leisure markets. 10 of our 16 hotels are considered resort destinations, And this luxury resort portfolio continues to deliver strong performance with combined hotel EBITDA of $65 million during the quarter. Regarding our urban assets, REVPAR for the quarter was down slightly and hotel EBITDA was significantly impacted by a $2.2 million property tax refund in the prior year quarter at the Sofitel Chicago, which made for a challenging comparison. Looking ahead, we remain very encouraged by the continued momentum for this segment of our portfolio. Next, our last acquisition, the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at True North, continues to exceed our expectations. A great addition to our portfolio, it was acquired in December 2022 and fits perfectly with our strategy of owning high rev par luxury hotels and resorts. It delivered a strong first quarter performance with hotel EBITDA up almost $800,000 despite rev par being down 1.4% due to difficult same quarter comps from last year. The property team did a fantastic job of securing group business with significant food and beverage revenue for the property during the quarter. We continue to be very excited about the prospects for this hotel. Raymar's other 2022 acquisition, the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach, also continues to perform very well. For the first quarter, red par for this iconic luxury asset was $2,162 based on 65% occupancy and an ADR of $3,302. This REMPAR result reflected growth of 23.4% over the prior year quarter. Over the trailing 12 months, the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach achieved a 10.7% yield on cost, while the Four Seasons Scottsdale achieved a 7.6% yield on cost. These luxury assets have both outpaced our underwriting and, looking ahead to the next several quarters, we remain very encouraged about the prospects for these wall position properties. Looking at Framar's capital position, We continue to emphasize balance sheet flexibility. During the first quarter and subsequent to year end, or to quarter end, we refinanced, extended, or paid off almost all of our 2024 debt maturities. Derek will discuss these in more detail momentarily, but taking a quick look, we recently paid off the loan secured by the Cameo Beverly Hills, we extended the loan secured by the Pier House Resort and Spa, and we also extended the loan secured by the Ritz Carlton St. Thomas. Additionally, after refinancing the capital Hilton, the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines remains encumbered by the original mortgage loan, which now has been paid down to a remaining balance of $66.6 million. With the recently announced sale of the property, which we will discuss in greater detail, we will extinguish the last of our 2024 debt maturities. During the quarter, we also closed on a property-level mortgage financing for the 96-room Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico. Earlier this week, we announced a shareholder value creation plan, which has four components. They are, one, the planned sale of the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines and possibly two other hotels between this year and next. Two, the repayment of our remaining 2024 debt maturities. Three, a $50 million preferred share redemption program. And four, a $50 million common share buyback authorization. Regarding the sale of the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, the company has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the hotel for $165 million. We have received a $6 million hard deposit, which is non-refundable other than being subject to a groundless or consent that is to be provided by the City of San Diego within the next several weeks. Inclusive of planned capital expenditures, the sales price equates to a trailing 12-month NOI capitalization rate of 7.2%. We expect the sale to be completed by the end of August at the latest. We believe these announcements reflect our commitment to maximize value for our shareholders and look forward to providing more updates in the coming weeks and months as we work through our plan. In summary, Braemar has a unique wall position portfolio and a solid liquidity position. As we look ahead to the remainder of 2024, we believe Braemar is on firm footing to perform well in both the near and long term. I will now turn the call over to Derek to take you through our financials in more detail.