Ventas, Inc.

Thank you for standing by. My name is John and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Ventus Third Quarter 2024 earnings call. All lives have been placed in mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to BJ Grant. Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, please go ahead.

Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Ventos 2024 Third Quarter Results Conference Call. Yesterday, we issued our 2024 Third Quarter Earnings Release Presentation Materials and Supplemental Investor Package, which are all available on the Ventos website at ir.ventosreit.com. As a reminder, today's remarks may include forward-looking statements and other matters. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and a variety of topics may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in such statements. For a more detailed discussion of those factors, please refer to our earnings release for this quarter and to our most recent SEC filings, all of which are available on the Ventas website. Certain non-GAAP financial measures will also be discussed on this call, and for a reconciliation of these measures to the most closely comparable GAAP measures, please refer to our supplemental investor package posted on the Investor Relations website. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Deborah Cafaro, Chairman and CEO of Ventas.

Thank you, BJ. I want to welcome all of our shareholders and other participants to the Ventas Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Today, I'll discuss Ventas' strong results in the quarter and our improved 2024 expectations as we execute on our focus 1-2-3 strategy to capture the unprecedented multi-year growth opportunity in senior housing. As one of the largest participants in the longevity economy, Ventas thrives in meeting demand from a large and growing aging population. Within this favorable macro environment, We are taking two clear actions to deliver results and growth now and into the future. First, we are driving profitable organic growth in our senior housing operating portfolio, generating our ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit NOI growth from our in-place shop business. Our team is using its experiential insights and data analytics to propel results and take advantage of this unique opportunity of favorable supply demand in senior housing. Second, at the same time, we are ramping up our investments in senior housing. Here, we also enjoy a compelling value creation opportunity of private to public arbitrage. We can and are acquiring assets with highly attractive financial return expectations and accretive year one yields that expand our senior housing footprint, increase our enterprise growth rate, and strengthen our balance sheet. We rarely see this powerful combination of organic and external growth opportunities, and we are dedicating our resources to seed them to create value for our stakeholders. Before I unpack those themes, let's get to the numbers. Ventas delivered 80 cents of normalized FFO per share in the third quarter. reflecting 7% year-over-year increase driven by occupancy and revenue outperformance. This result was powered by shock, with 15% year-over-year cash NOI growth. Total same-store cash NOI grew nearly 8%, and our credit statistics continue to improve. As a result, we're once again raising our 2024 normalized FFO per share guidance, as well as our shop and total company same-store cash NOI expectations. As we execute our strategy, shop organic growth is the engine, and it's powering us forward. Year-to-date shop NOI has increased nearly 16%, and our rep-for-off-ex-for spread is a strong 300 basis points, leading to margin expansion. Margin is increasing and should expand further as occupancies continue to rise and operating leverage takes hold. With the over 80 population expected to increase 27% over the next five years, our communities are well positioned for future NOI growth because they provide exceptional, affordable environments in markets with compelling supply-demand dynamics. As we look ahead, we believe we have a long runway for continued growth in senior housing. Our prior occupancy peak and shock reached 92% in late 2014, when conditions weren't nearly as favorable as they are now. Our goal is to shoot for and exceed prior peaks of occupancy and NOI over time, as searching demand outpaces senior housing construction, which sits at record low levels and inflation moderates. Our markets show particularly favorable conditions, and we expect to continue to drive significant upside as our Ventas team and OI platform work with our peer providers to drive outperformance. We've also ramped up our investments in senior housing to $1.7 billion this year. Here, too, we are utilizing our OI insights, field experience, and industry relationships to identify attractive opportunities, increase our enterprise growth rate, and expand our senior housing footprint. As a result of this investment activity, we expect shop NOI to increase by 12 percentage points and senior housing to grow to well over half of our business by year end. These acquisitions fit squarely into our articulated strategic and financial framework and should create value for shareholders. We've rarely seen such favorable investment market conditions where the pool of available assets is large and growing, and investments should generate relatively high year one yields and offer significant future growth. Importantly, we are well positioned from a balance sheet, cost of capital, and experience standpoint to be highly active and successful. We intend to build on our momentum to continue to expand our participation in the unprecedented multi-year growth opportunity in senior housing. At Ventas, we have a long history of taking a holistic view of delivering sustainable growth for all stakeholders. Last month, we released our 2023-24 Corporate Sustainability Report, which details our key initiatives as we enable exceptional environments benefiting a large and growing aging population. I am proud of our sustainability leadership and accomplishments and our team, which are widely recognized. Our integrated approach has enabled us to deliver nearly 19% annual TSR since the beginning of 2000. In sum, I feel great about where our business is and where it's heading. Our enterprise enjoys durable, inelastic demographic demand, powering a multi-year runway for growth. Our platform and team are driving out performance and capturing market share. Because of these favorable secular and structural advantages, we are well positioned to deliver value for our shareholders and advance our important mission to help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives. And the whole VENTUS team is enthusiastically going after it. Now I'm happy to turn the call over to Justin.