MGM Growth Properties LLC Class A common shares representing limited liability company interests

To the Vici Properties fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Please note that this conference call is being recorded today, February 23rd, 2024. I will now turn the call over to Samantha Gallagher, General Counsel with Vici Properties.

Thank you, Operator, and good morning. Everyone should have access to the company's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings release and supplemental information. The release and supplemental information can be found in the investor section of the Vici Properties website at www.viciproperties.com. Some of our comments today will be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements, which are usually identified by the use of words such as will, believe, expect, should, guidance, intends, outlook, projects, or other similar phrases, are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we expect. Therefore, you should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on them. I refer you to the company's SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of the risks that could impact future operating results and financial conditions. During the call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP measures, which we believe can be useful in evaluating the company's operating performance. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is available on our website in our fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings release, our supplemental information, and our filings with the SEC. For additional information with respect to non-GAAP measures of certain tenants and or counterparties discussed on this call, please refer to the respective company's public filings with the SEC. Hosting the call today, we have Ed Petoniak, Chief Executive Officer, John Payne, President and Chief Operating Officer, David Kieske, Chief Financial Officer, Gabe Wasserman, Chief Accounting Officer, and Moira McCluskey, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets. Ed and team will provide some opening remarks, and then we will open the call to questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ed.

Thank you, Samantha, and good morning, everyone. I'll start this morning with a few words about 2023 VG accomplishments and the way forward. John Payne will share our 2024 growth approach, and David Kuski will discuss our 2023 financial results and our 2024 guidance. Last night, we announced final 2023 AFFO per share of $2.15, representing year-over-year per share growth of 11.8%. VG's 2023 AFFO growth will likely make VG one of the 2023 income growth leaders among the 29 S&P 500 REITs that report AFFO per share. There are 30 S&P 500 REITs overall, representing approximately 90% of the U.S. REIT equity market capitalization at year end. VG's 2023 growth is largely the result of work we did in 2022 forging new relationships and new investments in both gaming and non-gaming, both property acquisitions and property credit investments. I'm proud of our 2023 AFFO per share growth, but I'm also proud of what the VG team did in 2023 to continue to produce growth for 2024 and beyond. Our investment activities in 2023 produce growth in our portfolio quality, geographic diversity, tenant diversity, and income. Indeed, when it comes to 2024 income growth, as David will discuss in a moment regarding our 2024 guidance, we expect our projected 2024 AFFO per share growth should put VG well into the top half of the S&P 500 REIT 2024 AFFO per share growth table. It wasn't easy to produce future growth in 2023. It was tough to navigate in 2023. Most days in 2023, and frankly most days in 2024 so far, remind me of my days living and working in Whistler, British Columbia, where our very challenging coastal mountain environment could result in days so foggy and whited out that we'd describe such days as skiing inside a milk bottle. But even amidst this low visibility, The Vici team kept pioneering in 2023. We invested in new geographies, including three new countries, and through our Bolero acquisition in U.S. non-commercial gaming states such as Texas, California, and North Carolina. We invested in new categories such as family recreation and youth sports. We expanded our partnerships with pilgrimage brands like Cabot and Canyon Ranch. We acquired the primary leasehold interest in New York's incomparable Chelsea Piers. Through our position as the leading owner of real estate on the Las Vegas Strip, we continue to work with our Las Vegas partners to capitalize on Las Vegas' leadership position in global entertainment and hospitality. I strongly believe VG's investment in Las Vegas is one of the most compelling investments in the current global commercial real estate investing landscape. Period. False stop. As we set out in our earnings release last night, in 2023, we announced and closed $1.8 billion of capital acquisitions and investments within the year. Note that these figures do not include the $2.8 billion closing of our Mandalay Bay MGM Grand Joint Venture, in early January 2023, which we announced in early December 2022, including our assumption of the remaining $1.5 billion of CMBS debt. Of fundamental importance, our 2023 investing in gaming and non-gaming was accretive. Our announced 2023 capital investments were made at a blended initial unlevered investment yield of 7.7%. Our 2023 investing was also balance sheet enhancing. We funded this $1.8 billion of investment with approximately $1.6 billion of cash and equity and only about $200 billion of incremental debt, achieving an equity to debt funding ratio on that investment activity of 8 to 1, demonstrating our commitment to our long-range net leverage target of 5.0 to 5.5 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA. As we look ahead within 2024, despite the continued cloudy macroeconomic conditions and outlook, we begin 2024 with approximately $1.2 billion of cash and forward equity resources to deploy into continuing accretive growth. Needless to say, in a macro environment of constrained capital conditions, we believe our capital resources can and will be attractive to gaming and experiential operators who want to grow and or need liquidity. Finally, in 2024, we will continue to build a portfolio of quality. You've heard me say before that I believe Vici is the pioneer in bringing Class A real estate to net lease. By Class A, we mean real estate of great scale, great quality, and high mission criticality. And Vici enables investors to own Class A real estate within the strong economic transparency and integrity of the net lease model. What we can, must, and will do is continue to enable existing and potential VG investors to understand fully the scale, quality, and mission criticality of our Class A real estate. To that end, we are proud to announce that we're launching today the VG Properties Photo Book, a digital coffee table style book that brings to life the magnificence of the real estate owned by VG. You can view this book online at our website, www.vichyproperties.com. And I thank Hayes Honey of our team for her great work in producing and publishing this book. I strongly encourage you to give this book a good viewing. If you're a Vichy shareholder, I believe the book will give you great pride in what you own. And with that, I'll now turn the call over to John.