Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated

Welcome to Community Health Care Trust 2023 Second Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. On the call today, the company will discuss its 2023 second quarter financial results. It will also discuss progress made in various aspects of its business. Following the remarks, the phone lines will be open for a question and answer session. The company's earnings release was distributed last evening and has also been posted on its website www.chct.reit. The company wants to emphasize that some of the information that may be discussed on this call will be based on information as of today, August 2, 2023, and may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainty. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in such statements. For discussion of these risks and uncertainties, you should review the company's disclosures regarding forward-looking statements and its earnings release. as well as its risk factors and MD&A in its SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as the result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law. During this call, the company will discuss GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation between the two is available in its earnings release, which is posted on its website. The call participants are advised that this conference call is being recorded for playback purposes. An archive of the call will be made available on the company's investor relations website for approximately 30 days and is the property of the company. This call may not be recorded or otherwise reproduced or distributed without the company's prior written permission. Now I would like to turn the conference over to Dave Dupuy, CEO of Community Healthcare Trust.

Thanks, Jason, and good morning. Thank you for joining us today for our 2023 second quarter conference call. On the call with me today is Bill Monroe, our new chief financial officer, Leanne Stack, our chief accounting officer, and Tim Meyer, our EVP of asset management. As previously disclosed, Bill joined CHCT from Truist Securities on June 1st and spent his first full week on the job meeting many of our analysts, investors, and bankers at the NAREIT REIT Week Conference in New York City. We are excited to welcome Bill to the team where he brings a wealth of experience from his days as managing director responsible for both healthcare services and healthcare REIT investment banking at Truist. Our earnings announcement and supplemental data report were released last night and filed with an 8K. Our quarterly report on Form 10Q was filed last night. In addition, an updated investor presentation was posted to our website last night. Before I discuss more normal topics, I wanted to provide more details on a couple of items we disclosed in our 10Q. First, one of our tenants, Genesis Care, filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on June 1. Genesis Care, which operates 440 cancer care clinics globally, has secured commitments for debtor and possession financing to support its business operations while exploring the separation of its U.S. business from its businesses in Australia, Spain, and the U.K. On June 27, 2023, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved Genesis Care's request to reject certain unexpired real property leases, including one lease of approximately 11,000 square feet with CHCT in Asheville, North Carolina. At June 30, 2023, Genesis Care was the sole tenant in seven of our properties and a tenant in two of our multi-tenanted properties, representing approximately 3.1% of our gross real estate properties, or approximately 119,000 square feet. Other than the one rejected lease in Asheville, Genesis Care has met substantially all of its lease payment obligations to the company through July 2023. We have engaged counsel to monitor the Genesis Care bankruptcy progress and any additional potential impacts to the company. Second, we incurred property damage due to vandalism at a vacant property in Houston, Texas, which was covered by our insurance policies. We estimate the amount of the casualty loss was approximately 1.6 million and received insurance proceeds totaling 2.3 million resulting in a net casualty gain of approximately 700,000. Now back to our core business. The second quarter was busy from an operations standpoint, but slowed slightly from an acquisition perspective as a couple of acquisitions anticipated to close in the second quarter slipped into the third quarter. Occupancy increased slightly from 91.6 to 91.7%, and we continue to see good leasing activity. Our weighted average remaining lease term declined slightly from 7.4 to 7.1 years. During the quarter, we acquired three properties in one land parcel with a total of approximately 76,000 square feet for a purchase price of $15.7 million. The properties were 98.3% leased with leases running through 2033 and anticipated annual returns of approximately 9.1 to 9.7%. Subsequent to June 30th, we acquired three medical office buildings and one inpatient rehab facility in two separate transactions for a purchase price of $35.6 million. The properties were 100% leased with leases running through 2038 And I am proud to announce that with the closing of these new acquisitions, we have surpassed a billion dollars in gross real estate properties. This is an important achievement in our company's history and a milestone we have celebrated with our team over the last week. We're not resting on our past success, however, as the company has three properties under definitive purchase agreements for an aggregate expected purchase price of $16.1 million. and expected returns of approximately 9.2 to 10.3 percent. The company is currently performing due diligence and expects to close these properties in the third quarter. Also, the company has eight properties to be acquired after completion and occupancy for an aggregate expected investment of $191 million. The expected return on these investments should range from 9.1 to 9.75 percent. We currently expect to close on one of these properties in late 2023 and the remaining throughout 2024 and 2025. We continue to have many properties under review and have term sheets out on several properties with indicative returns of 9 to 10%. We anticipate having enough availability on our credit facilities and through our bank relationships to fund our acquisitions. and we expect to continue to opportunistically utilize the ATM to strategically access the equity markets. Also, we declared our dividend for the second quarter and raised it to 45.25 cents per common share. This equates to an annualized dividend of $1.81 per share, and we're proud to have raised our dividend every quarter since our IPO. That takes care of the items I wanted to cover, so I'll hand things off to Bill to discuss the numbers. Thank you, Dave, and let me first say how excited I am to be joining the Community Healthcare Trust team. In my prior role as a healthcare investment banker covering the sector, it was always an honor to work alongside Tim Wallace, you, and the entire CHCT team. I look forward to helping build upon our company's foundation as Chief Financial Officer. I will now provide more details on our second quarter financial performance. I'm pleased to report that total revenue grew from $24 million in the second quarter of 2022 to $27.8 million in the second quarter of 2023, representing 15.6% annual growth over the same period last year. When compared to our $27.2 million of total revenue in the first quarter of 2023, we achieved 2.3% total revenue growth quarter over quarter. And on a pro forma basis, if the acquisitions we completed during the second quarter of 2023 had occurred on the first day of the second quarter, our total revenue would have increased by an additional $308,000 to a pro forma total of $28.1 million in the second quarter. From an expense perspective, property operating expenses declined by approximately $100,000 quarter over quarter to $4.8 million. General and administrative expenses decreased from $16.2 million in the first quarter of 2023 to $3.8 million in the second quarter of 2023. The $12.4 million decrease quarter over quarter was driven primarily by the accelerated amortization of stock-based compensation, totaling $11.8 million, recognized in the first quarter upon the passing of our former CEO and president. as well as a reduction in the second quarter's deferred compensation amortization due to the above-mentioned accelerated amortization in the first quarter, offset partially by a one-time increase in employer Medicare taxes paid in the second quarter from the vesting of our former CEO and President's shares. Interest expense increased from $4 million in the first quarter of 2023 to $4.1 million in the second quarter of 2023 due to a small increase in borrowings under our revolving credit facility to fund acquisitions, as well as higher interest rates under our revolving credit facility. Moving to funds from operations, FFO grew from $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2023 to $15.9 million in the second quarter of 2023. On a per diluted common share basis over these periods. FFO grew from $0.09 to $0.62 per share, but it's important to remember first quarter FFO was negatively impacted by the $11.8 million or $0.47 per share of non-cash amortization expenses related to the passing of our former CEO and president. Whereas our second quarter FFO includes a $700,000 or $0.03 per share net casualty gain from insurance proceeds received related to one property that was vandalized, as Dave mentioned earlier. Adjusted funds from operations, or AFFO, which adjusts for straight-line rent, stock-based compensation, and the net casualty gain in the second quarter, totaled $16 million in the second quarter of 2023, which compares to $15 million in the second quarter of 2022, or 7% growth year over year. On a per diluted common share basis, AFFO increased from 62 cents in the second quarter of 2022 to 63 cents in the second quarter of 2023. AFFO for the first quarter of 2023 was $15.6 million, so our AFFO grew by 2.8% quarter over quarter. And finally, on a pro forma basis, if the acquisitions we completed during the second quarter of 2023 had occurred on the first day of the second quarter, AFFO would have increased by approximately $169,000 to a pro forma total of $16.2 million, or 63 cents per diluted common share. That concludes our prepared remarks. Jason, we are now ready to begin the question and answer session.

Thank you. We'll now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then 1 on your touchtone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. At this time, we'll pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Alexander Goldfarb from Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning. And, Bill, welcome to sitting on the public side of REIT land. So, fun times for you. Just a question, and Dave, certainly appreciate the upfront. disclosure on the Genesis filing. Maybe just a little bit more color. I mean, clearly one rejection out of, I think you said you have seven or eight total, you know, seems pretty good. So first, has Genesis, are they completely through the rejection period? And then two, yeah, 11,000 square feet, not a big space, but you still have to ask the perfunctory, you know, what are your thoughts on backfill?

Hey, Alex. Thanks for the question. Sure. As it relates to Genesis Care, you know, they still have the opportunity to reject leases, is our understanding, and that can happen all the way up to when the deadline for submission of bids actually occurs. So, and that deadline just so, and this is all publicly available information, submission of bids is September 22nd. And, you know, ultimately, we should hear that first week in October who the actually winning bidder is if the schedule as laid out holds. So, you know, as it relates to the nine leases we have in place, this is one of nine. In fact, we were actually already talking to Genesis Care about an early termination of this lease, and we're having discussions with potential tenants who could backfill the space. And so those, you know, obviously because of the Genesis Care bankruptcy issue, We've got a lease rejection claim, although we're not expecting to get much from that. But ultimately, we're just in dialogue with potential tenants. We think it's an attractive space. And so our plan would either be to release it or potentially explore selling it, if that makes more sense.

Okay, so Dave, just so I understand and forgive me, they outright rejected one, so not paying on one. They're still paying on the other eight. But there's a potential that other operators will buy those through the bankruptcy auction process. And presumably, once we get to, I think, the end of September when that bid period stops, I think you said, then you'll know definitively if what they're keeping, what other operators bought, or if, in fact, others are sold. But overall, you feel pretty comfortable if you get any more that you know, there's sufficient demand that the downtime would be minimal.

Yeah, I mean, we're doing work right now. The asset management team is looking at those local markets and evaluating what the market rents are. We feel for that type of medical use, we feel like we've got, you know, competitive rates. And so we're doing those market studies now so that we're prepared when the actual winning bidder comes and we can evaluate whether we want to move forward under their structure or whether we want to look and potentially evaluate another tenant to fill those spaces. But, you know, it's our thought that, you know, given the provision of health care that's had in many of most of these spaces, that there's going to be, there is going to be a buyer and that buyer is going to want these spaces. So we're not anticipating any additional rejections, but obviously that could happen in a bankruptcy process. So we're monitoring that as we go forward.

Okay. Switching topics, the vandalism, not something that we typically see in In REIT land, I mean, outside of a few years ago when there were some of the riots. So is this something like urban unrest related or was this a disgruntled employee? Like, you know, a million six for one of your, I mean, your properties tend to be, you know, sort of out in the outer suburbs, not in the inner city. So just a little bit more color. And is this something that you think could occur at other facilities?

You know, this is unusual. Look, I think in our eight years, this is by far the biggest sort of vandalism issue that we've had. You know, you are a little bit more at risk for that type of vandalism. you know, when the facility is vacant versus when it is occupied. And this was a vacant facility. It's now held for sale. We intend to sell the facility. It's frankly, it's one of our IPO properties. It's been empty for a couple years. And so, you know, it's, I don't think it's anything, you know, I think it's just one of those bad luck type of things that happened to us. And But we are very focused whenever we have an empty building. We have a process of putting up security cameras and making sure that there is sufficient, you know, security for that space to prevent this type of thing. These vandals just were very sophisticated in their approach and did a significant amount of damage to the building.

Good luck. Thank you.

Thanks, Alex. Appreciate your questions.

The next question comes from Rob Stevenson from Jenny. Please go ahead.

Good morning, guys. I guess a question on the Genesis stuff is, you know, competitors that might be interested in that business, I mean, where are they sort of in that type of business on a rent coverage basis? Are they materially better than where Genesis is? Was Genesis, you know, for the assets that you guys have about average in that space? how should we be thinking about that in terms of the potential for credit upgrade, credit neutral, credit downgrade from an acquisition of the U.S. business there?

You know, my thought process here is it would be a credit neutral to a credit improvement. You know, a lot of Genesis Care's problems stem from the fact that the whole co-level, they way over levered the business. And so a lot of The issue that we're seeing with Genesis Care is the reality of putting a lot of debt on the business, and that debt more than likely wasn't hedged, creating significant issues for the operating companies to amortize and pay off that debt. So we don't think that the underlying assets are as much a problem as actually the original capital structure. And there are a number of regional cancer operators. A lot of those are not-for-profit companies that I think are very stable, very good credit tenants. And so our view is this would be neutral to an improvement related to uh, to credit, but, you know, keep in mind, I think a lot of the problems that Genesis care just, just relates to the capital structure that they put on the parent.

Okay. That's helpful. And then how extensive beyond Genesis is your credit watch list or sort of week 10, however you want to characterize it, um, week tenant list, et cetera. Um, and anybody else of concern at this point in terms of not paying rent?

You know, we always, Rob, have a list, a watch list that we watch and talk about as a team on a monthly basis and, you know, have ever since I've been here. So there's always going to be anywhere from six to 12 tenants that, for a variety of reasons, we're working with them and dealing with potential issues. But we're not seeing anything, you know, out of the ordinary or unusual in that watch list and how it's evolved over the last six to six to 12 months it's been a you know with some we we have issues we deal with those issues and then you know there's there's another tenant uh that that we'll we'll focus on after resolving the the issues of the tenant that we dealt with before so we've got a watch list we we manage and work that watch list very very closely But look, we've got, I don't know, roughly 250 tenants. And at any one time, it wouldn't be surprising to have eight to 10 of those that we're working through.

Okay, that's helpful. And then last one for me. When you guys look at financing the acquisition pipeline, what's the cost of for incremental debt these days? Is there any debt available through term loans, et cetera, that would be cheaper than I think the revolver is now probably up to 7% or so with where SOFR's gone?

Rob, you're right. That is how we look at our marginal cost of debt right now with where daily SOFR is and revolver rates. Obviously, we benefit as you look at our overall cost of debt capital, you know, the hedges that we have in place. And so, you know, on a total weighted average cost of debt, it's more like 4.4%. But we are cognizant as we think about our marginal borrowing cost that it is that 6, you know, it was 6.8% at 630%. You know, we continue to monitor markets and look at different options. I think right now the support we have from our lenders and obviously the returns we're able to generate from our properties, you know, we're comfortable with our capital structure, but we will continue to evaluate that.

Okay. Thanks. Again, if you have a question. I'm sorry. Again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. Our next question comes from Wes Galladay from Baird. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning, guys. I just had a question on the Genesis that was rejected. Did anything stand out to you? Was there just too much competition in the sub-market? Was the rent level too high, coverage low? Just trying to get a, I guess, a feel for how isolated this one would be, assuming a successful reorg.

Yeah, I mean, all I can tell you is, like I said, we were actually already working with them on a termination related to this particular space. I think they had just determined that this was not a market that they wanted to, you know, to operate in. They may not have had a, you know, as deep a group in this market to compete effectively. This is adjacent to the Mission Hospital affiliated with HCA. And the only thing I can guess is perhaps HCA had a radiation oncology presence that this group was not affiliated with. But again, I think this is an isolated situation. It's good real estate, so we feel good about being able to release it. But we don't view this as something that's indicative of the rest of our portfolio for sure.

Got it. And then when you look at the acquisition pipeline, you know, we're hearing a lot of sectors where there's just not a lot of competition. It's really down year over year. Are you seeing the same thing? I guess what's driving the volume that you're seeing now? Is it more volume? Is it a higher close rate, a little of everything? There's kind of a little bit of a snapshot of the competitive landscape today versus maybe a year ago.

Yeah, it's listen, I think that we've got a little bit of a tailwind in our business from an acquisition standpoint, Wes. I mean, you know, you think about our goal has always been to drive that high single digit cap rate. And back when money was free during COVID, it was really tough to find those attractive real estate acquisition opportunities in that yield framework. Today, we're seeing a much different case where, you know, all of a sudden those high single-digit cap rates are really market. And the other thing we're seeing, too, because historically, based on the size of the assets that we were acquiring, you know, to the extent we did have any acquisition, any competition, it was very little competition. But it was usually 1040 exchange buyers, and those buyers really are having difficulty getting any of their deals financed. And so anyway, I wouldn't point to one thing, but I think in general, we're seeing more opportunities for the type of real estate that we like and less competition. for those acquisition opportunities. So it's been a nice overall tailwind to the business.

Got it. Then if I could squeeze in one more, it looks like CapEx is up a little bit year over year. Is that function of the leasing that you're doing? And then do you have an outlook for the second half of the year?

Yeah, we don't provide any sort of guidance with regard to CapEx, but yeah, I think some of that additional CapEx, it's a variety of things. I think, you know, Obviously, we're looking to make improvements in some of our facilities, and often we'll do that around some of the redevelopment projects that we have on the books. And so I think you're seeing a little bit of additional CapEx as it relates to some of those. Those redevelopment projects, by the way, you know, are around long-term leases. And in general, we're looking to get our yield on top of a good portion of that CapEx. So, anyway, I would say it's that and just, you know, kind of the complexion of our assets today. And so, anyway, we're not going to provide any guidance related to it, but I think it's kind of, you know, just some of those issues that I just outlined.

Okay, and a quick follow-up on that. So, you do have some redevelopment going on, and I assume that comes when the facility opens, so you may have some I guess, pent up NOI coming maybe in 3Q or 4Q for the spend that you did in the first half. Is that a fair assessment?

I think that's right. I think that's right. Those projects are coming in over time. But, yeah, we hope that those will come online. We've had one of those projects come online in June, and we expect to have other ones come online throughout the rest of the year. Great.

Thanks for the time, everyone.

Thank you.

The next question comes from Jim Kamert from Evercore. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you. I hate to dwell on Genesis, but help educate me. I apologize. In the event a new tenant takes over, a new operator, they don't have any ability to tweak the existing ongoing lease terms between yourselves and them, do they? There's no way for them to cram down a new lease kind of parameter on you?

No, there's no ability for them to do that, Jim.

Great, great. And then, again, on the same topic, but I'm sure your team has been out there looking at the other eight locations with Genesis. Would you characterize sort of the utilization? I know you seem confident in their quality, the real estate location, but are patients coming into these properties? Is it a viable cancer treatment? I'm just trying to get a sense of what's happening at the operational level, if you have any color on that.

Yeah, we actually, our asset management team specifically made sure that we went out and did some visuals on each of the buildings. And, yes, where they're providing health care, it appears as though they're open for business as usual. So we take, obviously, we take comfort associated with that.

That's helpful. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Jim.

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dave Dupuy for any closing remarks.

Thanks, Jason, and thanks, everybody, for their support, and look forward to talking to everybody next time. Have a good week. Thank you.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.