Newlake Cap Partners Inc

good afternoon i will be your conference operator today at this time i'd like to welcome everyone to new lake capital partners first quarter 2022 earnings conference call today's call is being recorded i will now turn the call over to walter pinto managing director of kcsa strategic communications please go ahead thank you operator good afternoon and welcome everyone to the new lake capital partners

first quarter 2022 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Gordon Dugan, Chairman of the Board, David Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Coniglio, President and Chief Investment Officer, Fred Starker, Chief Financial Officer, and Jared Annenberg, Director of Acquisitions. Before we begin, I'm going to remind everyone the statements made during today's conference call may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor of Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors. For a detailed discussion of some of the ongoing risks and uncertainties in the company's business, I refer you to the press release issued this afternoon and filed with the SEC on Form 8 , as well as the company's 10 and other reports filed periodically with the SEC. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. The company's guidance is based on current plans and assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties more fully described in the company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This outlook reflects management's view of current and future market conditions, including assumptions such as the pace of future acquisitions and dispositions, rental rates, occupancy levels, leasing activity, uncollectible rents, operating and general administrative expenses, weighted average diluted shares outstanding, and interest rates. With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Mr. Gordon Dugan. Gordon, please go ahead.

Thanks, Walter. And thanks again to everyone for joining the call. We couldn't be more pleased with the progress we made thus far in 2022. Our portfolio continues to perform very well. and we declared a first quarter dividend of 33 cents a share, an increase of 6.5% over our Q4 2021 dividend. Very importantly, we secured a $30 million revolving credit facility with the opportunity to increase that facility to 100 million. And one thing I would just keep in mind on both our earnings level and our dividend level, as we invest the money that we've committed, our earnings and cash flow should trend up uh, along as, as we invest that money, which will create more earnings and cashflow. And so we have a built in pipeline, um, of increased earnings and cashflow, as long as tenants continue to pay and we continue to fund those deals. So, um, you know, we're, we're very excited about, uh, the prospects for the business as we go through 2022, the cannabis industry is not immune to volatility, quite the opposite. And there's clearly negative sentiment in the market driven by a number of things, but continued delays in federal legislation is certainly one. Our thesis has always been that legislation will take some time, and we will invest our capital with the operators that have the ability to weather the storm and be the long-term winners in the sector. We continue to believe that it's when, not if, but when isn't short-term for federal legalization. However, our belief in the growth of the cannabis industry remains steadfast, and our pipeline remains robust with high-quality tenants in real estate. Operators will continue to require access to capital and very significant amounts of capital to fuel the projected growth of the cannabis industry for many years to come. And lastly, I'd like to reiterate what I said last quarter, which is that we are focused on quality, not quantity, and I believe our portfolio is a testament to that. The long-term success of our company will be built upon the discipline we exercise when making investment decisions for our shareholders. We want to create long-term partnerships with the highest quality cannabis operators throughout the United States. And our strategy is and will continue to be the long-term return on investment for our shareholders. I'd now like to turn it over to David Weinstein, NewLake CEO.