Tanger Inc.

Good morning. This is Ashley Curtis, and I would like to welcome you to the Tanger Factory Outlet Center's third quarter 2022 conference call. Yesterday evening, we issued our earnings release as well as our supplemental information package and investor presentation. This information is available on our investor relations website, investors.tangeroutlets.com. Please note that during this conference call, some of management's comments will be forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. We direct you to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties. During the call, we will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G, including funds from operations, or FFO, core FFO, same-center net operating income, adjusted EBITDA RE, and net debt. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and in our supplemental information. This call is being recorded for rebroadcast for a period of time in the future. As such, it is important to note that management's comments include time-sensitive information that may only be accurate as of today's date, November 3, 2022. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following management's prepared comments, the call will be opened for your questions. We request that everyone ask one question and one follow-up to allow as many of you as possible to ask questions. If time permits, we are happy for you to re-queue for additional questions. On the call today will be Steven Tanger, our Executive Chair, Steven Yaloff, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Doug McDonald, Senior Vice President, Finance and Capital Markets. In addition, other members of our leadership team will be available for Q&A. I will now turn the call over to Steve and Tanger. Please go ahead, Steve.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter 2022 earnings call. The hard work of the entire Tanger team is evident in our results as we continue to provide a compelling value proposition to both consumers and retailers. Thank you to all of our stakeholders for your ongoing support. I will now turn the call over to Stephen Yala. Thanks, Stephen. Good morning.

I'm pleased to announce another quarter of strong results. During the third quarter, we delivered solid cash flows, occupancy growth, and a sixth straight quarter of rent spread improvement. We executed our strategy of diversifying our tenant mix, adding new platform brands, digitally native retailers, and food and beverage concepts, that attract new shoppers, extend dwell times, and drive frequency of visits. We delivered new commercial activations that supported Tanger Club growth, marketing partnership revenues, and performance marketing initiatives. Based on our positive outlook, we're raising our full-year guidance, and we recently increased our annual dividend for the second time this year, bringing our year-to-date dividend growth to over 20%. We ended the third quarter at 96.5% occupancy, a 160 basis points sequential increase, and up 210 basis points year over year. We have recovered almost 500 basis points of occupancy since the trough we experienced during the pandemic. We have done so by curating our centers with popular brands, entertainment uses, and great local and national food and beverage outposts, all of which continue to enhance the Tanger shopping experience. With occupancy above 96%, we're optimizing the composition of our centers and repricing our space, driving growth in rent spreads and lease duration. We're increasing the stability of our cash flows by converting variable rents to permanent fixed rent while maintaining or driving higher than previous percentage rates, contributing to additional long-term upside. For the trailing 12 months ended September 30th, we achieved positive blended rent spreads of 5.7%, including an 18.6% spread on re-tenanted space. This is the sixth consecutive quarter of improvement with positive spreads for each quarter this year. We have also extended lease terms with an average term of 8.5 years for new leases. We continue to diversify and elevate our portfolio with new-to-platform brands and categories, including digitally native brands who recognize the importance of the value channel in their retail ecosystems. Such brands that have opened or will be opening soon across our platform include Serena & Lilly, Thermosalt, Regatta, Mack Weldon, Hey Dude, and AllBirds. additionally this quarter we welcomed ulta beauty to our center in rehoboth beach delaware we have also converted a number of high quality national brands and popular local and regional tenants from temporary or pop-up stores for long-term leases after they've enjoyed sales success and new customer acquisitions in our centers traffic in the third quarter was in line with our expectations relatively flat for the total portfolio compared to the prior year, as we comped a particularly strong quarter last year. Our performance marketing programs provide targeted interaction with new and existing shoppers, and we've had great success converting these new shoppers to our paid Tanger Club program, where enrollment was up 25% this quarter and continues to build. Average tenant sales productivity was also relatively flat for the quarter at $446 per square foot for the 12 months ended September 30th, 2022, compared to $448 per square foot in the prior year period. We attribute flat sales to a higher level of promotional activity in the stores compared to a year ago, particularly in our moderate categories as retailers leverage the outlet channel to clear access inventory. Additionally, The more aspirational brands in our portfolio continue to see strong sales performance with less promotion. Retailers On Center promotional activity facilitated by our marketing partnerships team enable participating brands to further drive in-store traffic through paid media, activations, and Tanger digital promotions. We have had immediate impact at our partnership property in Palm Beach. Over the past 90 days, We've rebranded the asset Tanger Outlets Palm Beach, completed transactions with new national brands, and stood up our marketing partnership, customer service, and Tanger Club programs, which all contribute to elevating the shopping experience for the existing customer base, driving new shoppers to the center, and generating additional revenue. With less than a year until grand opening, construction at Tanger Outlets Nashville is underway. Leasing activity has been brisk as we're over 75% committed with top brands in retail, new to platform retailers, and the best national and local food and beverage offerings. Our projected opening in fall 2023 with a stabilized yield of 7% to 7.5% remains unchanged. Even as we are encouraged by our strong performance, we are cognizant of the uncertain macroeconomic environment. we remain prudent with near-term capital allocation and may delay certain non-essential projects as the economic environment shifts. We're optimistic going into holiday shopping season, and I'm encouraged by our momentum and look forward to reporting on our continued success. As a values-led organization, we are proud of our commitments to our people, our planet, and our communities. In September, we awarded $160,000 through more than 140 Tanger Kids grants, with a key focus on supporting more inclusive classroom environments for underserved schools and student populations. Last month, we raised over $450,000 through Tanger Pink in support of funding breast cancer research, support and care services, and nationwide awareness campaigns. With the support of our customers, we've raised over $22 million to support these initiatives over the past 25 years. We continue to execute to our sustainability initiatives. Virtually all centers in our managed portfolio now have free EV charging available to our shoppers, and we are investing to grow these capabilities. Further, we are on track to meet our 2022 goals to double both the number of EV charging stations at our centers and as well as our solar footprint by the end of the year. I want to welcome Michael Billerman to the Tanger leadership team. Michael will join as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer at the end of this month, and you will hear from him on our year-end earnings call. Michael is a proven leader who brings a breadth of relevant experience to this critical role for our company. I want to thank our entire team, our customers, and all of our stakeholders for their continued support. I would now like to turn the call over to Doug McDonald to take you through our financial results, balance sheet, and increase guidance for 2022.