Getty Realty Corporation

Good morning and welcome to Get Realty's earnings conference call for the third quarter 2022. This call is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Prior to the starting of the call, Joshua Dicker, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the company, will read a safe harbor statement and provide information about the non-GAAP financial measures. Please go ahead, Mr. Dicker.

Thank you, Operator. I would like to thank you all for joining us for Getty Realty's third quarter earnings conference call. Yesterday afternoon, the company released its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. The form 8K and earnings release are available in the investor relations section of our website at gettyrealty.com. Certain statements made in the course of this call are not based on historical information and may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to trends, events, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include our 2022 guidance and may also include statements made by management in their remarks and in response to questions, including regarding the company's future company operations, future financial performance, and the company's acquisition or redevelopment plans and opportunities. We caution you that such statements reflect our best judgment based on factors currently known to us and that actual events or results could differ materially. I refer you to the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and our other filings made with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of the risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made today. not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our view only as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements that may be made in the course of this call. Also, please refer to our earnings release for a discussion of our use of non-GAAP financial measures, including our updated definition of adjusted funds from operations or AFFO and our reconciliation of those measures to net earnings. With that, let me turn the call over to Christopher Constance, our Chief Executive Officer. Thank you, Josh.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our earnings call for the third quarter of 2022. Joining us on the call today are Mark O'Lear, our Chief Operating Officer, and Brian Dickman, our Chief Financial Officer. I will lead off today's call by providing commentary on the quarter's financial results and investment activities, and offer some observations and perspectives on the company's strong position despite unsettled market conditions which are impacting companies and consumers across the country. As usual, Mark will then take you through our portfolio, and Brian will discuss our financial results in more detail. We are pleased with the performance of our retail net lease platform in the third quarter. Our in-place portfolio continues to perform well, generating stable cash flows and rent coverage, and we continue to execute on our growth strategy with a positive earnings trajectory and an increased investment pipeline. For the quarter, our base rental income grew 7.7%, our adjusted funds from operations for AFFO increased 6.7%, and our AFFO per share grew to 54%. Year-to-date, the company has invested more than $80 million, including approximately $21 million in the third quarter and subsequent to quarter end, in high-quality C&G and car wash properties located in attractive growth markets such as Austin, Charleston, and San Antonio. The dedicated efforts of our team have led to a net increase in our committed investment pipeline to more than $150 million for the acquisition and development of new industry convenience stores, auto service centers, and car wash properties, which we expect to fund over the next year or so. Equally important, our strong liquidity position and select capital raising activities will allow us to lock in attractive investment spreads, and accretively fund these transactions. Brian will elaborate further in his remarks, but we have already raised or identified funding for approximately 75% of this transaction activity at costs, meaningfully inside of prevailing market rates. And we've done so while maintaining low leverage in an undrawn revolver to provide capacity to fund the balance of this activity and further grow. Our team continues to underwrite opportunities across all of our target asset classes, and we remain disciplined in our approach as we navigate an evolving marketplace. Our strategy continues to emphasize owning high-quality real estate and partnering with growing regional and national operators across the convenience and automotive retail sectors. With our relationships, underwriting expertise, and expanding opportunity set, We are confident in our ability to continue executing on our investment strategy and further diversifying our portfolio while remaining disciplined in an environment where asset pricing is currently undergoing significant change. Given our performance year-to-date and expected future growth, our board approved an increase of 4.9% in our recurring quarterly dividend to $0.43 per share. This represents the ninth straight year we have grown the dividend alongside our earnings growth. Our board believes this annual increase is appropriate as it maintains a stable payout ratio and reflects the company's growth prospects for 2023. Additionally, as a result of our year-to-date investment and capital activities, we are raising our 2022 AFFO guidance to a range of $2.12 to $2.13 per share. I want to reiterate, despite the challenging macro environment, we are open for business. Our teams continue to work diligently to source and underwrite accretive investment opportunities and to raise long-term permanent capital to finance that growth. We believe Getty is very well positioned for the current environment, given the essential nature of our assets, the operating strength of our institutional tenant base, and our well-positioned balance sheet, including low leverage and ample liquidity. We remain confident in our ability to create shareholder value through earnings growth and portfolio diversification as we move through the end of 2022 and into 2023. With that, I will turn the call over to Mark to discuss our portfolio and investment activities.