Ladder Capital Corp

Good morning and welcome to Ladder Capital Corp's earnings call for the first quarter of 2026. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. This morning, Ladder released its financial results for the quarter ended March 31st, 2026. Before the call begins, I'd like to call your attention to the customary safe harbor disclosure in our earnings release regarding forward-looking statements. Today's call may include forward-looking statements and projections, and we refer you to our most recent Form 10-K for important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements and projections. We do not undertake any obligation to update our forward-looking statements or projections unless required by law. In addition, LADRR will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call which management believes are relevant to assessing the company's financial performance. The company's presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. These measures are reconciled to GAAP figures in our earnings supplement presentation, which is available in the investor relations section of our website. We also refer you to our Form 10-K and earnings supplement presentation for definitions of certain metrics, which we may cite on today's call. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Ladder's President, Pamela McCormick.

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. Lata had a strong first quarter with robust origination activity and earnings growth. We generated distributable earnings of $28 million or 22 cents per share. Our near-term strategy is straightforward. Grow distributable earnings and deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to shareholders across cycles. Since March 31st, 2025, we've grown the loan portfolio by nearly 60%. Balance sheet loans now account for 46% of total assets and leverage is moving back towards three times. The rotation is underway and the earnings power of the company grows with every dollar deployed into the loan portfolio. That growth has come against the backdrop of elevated payoffs over the past two years, which were a net positive. They replaced legacy exposures with newly originated loans at attractive loans value ratios on reset basis and are a key reason our book value has remained stable. With payoffs now normalizing, net portfolio growth is accelerating, and we expect that trajectory to continue. As the portfolio grows, we anticipate returns will strengthen and dividend coverage will expand with credit discipline unchanged. First quarter deployment and early second quarter development. In the first quarter, we deployed approximately $900 million in new investments, over $620 million in new loans with a weighted average spread of 300 basis points, and $264 million in securities with a weighted average yield of 5.22%. We remain focused on middle market income-producing collateral, primarily multifamily and industrial properties, where we see the best risk-adjusted returns. At the same time, the recent increase in macro market volatility is creating selective opportunities in other asset classes, including office, where dislocation is allowing us to lend against high-quality credit at wider spreads without compromising our underwriting standards. Origination momentum carried into the second quarter. Through mid-April, we've closed over $370 million in new loans. Aside from one large payoff Brian will discuss, we expect loan payoffs for the remainder of the year to be limited, supporting continued portfolio growth and revenue expansion. Securities portfolio. Our $2.1 billion securities portfolio, representing 36% of total assets, is predominantly AAA rated and will serve as a primary source of capital as our loan origination activity continues to ramp. Each dollar redeployed from securities into loans generates meaningful incremental yield, and we expect the securities portfolio to shrink as loan originations accelerate. Book value and credit quality. Our book value has remained stable reflecting underwriting quality and credit discipline. Our loans are originated at conservative loan-to-value ratios against income-producing collateral, and we actively manage positions to protect principal across cycles. We don't stretch on credit, and our balance sheet is positioned for growth, not repair. Real estate portfolio. Our $1 billion real estate portfolio generated $15.9 million of net operating income in the first quarter, and we continue to see opportunities to unlock value above our cost basis in select assets. Capital structure and liquidity. We ended the quarter with adjusted leverage at a modest 2.3 times. In the first quarter, we secured $675 million in new unsecured capital commitments. And with over a billion dollars in underrun capacity, we have significant liquidity to fund our growing pipeline. Paul will walk through the details. In closing, we are executing our plan, deploying capital into newly originated loans and growing distributable earnings from a position of strength. Modest leverage, full access to the investment-grade capital markets, and the credit discipline that has always defined Ladder. Management and the board remain Ladder's largest shareholder group. We are fully aligned on growing earnings, supporting the dividend, and creating long-term value, and we are well-positioned to capitalize on opportunities amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. With that, I'll turn the call over to Paul.

Good morning, and thank you, Pamela. During the first quarter, Ladder generated distributable earnings of $28 million, or $0.22 per share. As Palma discussed, in the first quarter, Ladder raised $675 million in new unsecured capital commitments, first securing a $400 million full accordion expansion of our unsecured revolving credit facility to $1.25 billion, adding three new banks to our syndicate, And second, securing a new unsecured delayed draw term loan facility of $275 million with an accordion feature for a total capacity of up to $500 million. Our expanded use of unsecured capital provides latter further financial flexibility with access to same day capital and attractive cost. The $275 million term loan is priced at 140 basis points over SOFR with steps down upon credit rating upgrades. and maintains a February 2030 fully extended maturity. We anticipate fully drawing on the term loan in the second quarter to fund loan origination. In the first quarter, we were pleased to receive an upgrade to our credit rating by S&P to BB+, just one notch below the investment grade ratings we benefit from with Moody's and Fitch. We are hopeful that the ratings momentum with S&P continues as we deploy our capital prudently and further demonstrate our access to the broader investment-grade capital markets. As of quarter end, our adjusted leverage ratio was 2.3 times as we continue to expand our balance sheet. We maintain robust liquidity of $1.1 billion, including same-day capacity on our unsecured revolver and undrawn term loan. Our unencumbered asset pool represented 73% of total assets as of March 31st, of which 85% was comprised of first mortgage loans, investment grade securities, and unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, providing significant balance sheet flexibility. As of March 31st, Ladder's underappreciated book value per share was $13.42, which is net of 37 cents per share of CECL Reserve we established. In the first quarter, we repurchased 13.4 million of common stock or 1.3 million shares at a weighted average share price of $10.15. As of March 31st, $77 million remained outstanding on Ladder's stock repurchase program. Subsequent to quarter end in April, Ladder's board of directors approved an increase to Ladder's share buyback authorization back to $100 million. In the first quarter, Ladder declared a 23 cent per share dividend, which was paid on April 15th, 2026. As our loan portfolio continues to scale and an interest income grows, we endeavor to expand dividend coverage, positioning us for potential dividend growth as we approach full deployment. Turning to credit quality. In the first quarter, we added no new non-accrual loans and just one $51 million loan on non-accrual status. During the quarter, we resolved three non-accrual loans through foreclosure. The first, a loan with a $62 million carrying value collateralized by a three-property, 158-unit multifamily portfolio in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City built between 2017 and 2020 that is currently 88% occupied. The second, a loan with a $12 million carrying value collateralized by a 150-room Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Canton, Ohio, where we successfully extended an existing Marriott franchise agreement by 15 years to a new 17-year term contemporaneous with foreclosure. And third, a loan with a $6 million carrying value collateralized by an office property in Portland, Oregon with a basis of $85 per square foot. Our plan is to continue to stabilize these assets and maximize value for potential sale in the future. As of March 31st, our CECL reserve remains steady at $47 million or 37 cents per share. Taking into consideration the current state of our loan portfolio and the macroeconomic backdrop in the U.S., including the impact of ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, we believe this reserve level is sufficient to cover potential loan losses. As of March 31st, our securities portfolio totaled $2.1 billion with a weighted average yield of 5.3%. Notably, 99% of the portfolio was investment grade. and 96% was AAA rated, underscoring its high credit quality. As of quarter end, approximately 50% or $1 billion of our securities portfolio remained unencumbered, complementing our $1.1 billion of same-day liquidity. This combined firepower reinforces the strength of our balance sheet and positions ladder to organically fund loan origination that will drive future earnings growth. Our $1 billion real estate segment continued to generate stable net operating income. The portfolio includes 149 net lease properties comprised of primarily investment grade credits committed to long-term leases with an average remaining lease term of 6.5 years. For further details on our first quarter 2026 operating results, please refer to our earnings supplements presentation available on our website and our quarterly report on Form 10Q, which we expect to file in the coming days. With that, I will turn the call over to Brian.