Newlake Cap Partners Inc

Good morning. I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to New Lake Capital Partners 2023 year-end 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 morning and welcome, everyone, to the New Lake Capital Partners' fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Gordon Dugan, Chairman, Anthony Coniglio, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lisa Meyer, Chief Financial Officer, and Jared Annenberg, Senior Vice President and Head of Investments. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made during today's conference call may be deemed forward-looking statements. within the meaning of the safe harbor of the 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 morning and filed with the SEC on Form 8K, as well as the company's 10K and other reports filed periodically with the SEC. If 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. FFO and AFF are supplemental non-GAAP financial measures used in the real estate industry to measure and compare the operating performance of real estate companies. A complete reconciliation containing adjustments from GAAP net income attributable to common shareholders to FFO and AFFO and definitions of terms are included at the end of our press release. Please refer to that press release for more information. The company's guidance is based on current plans and assumptions and subject to the 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 rent, 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.

Thank you, Walter, and thank you, everyone, for joining our call. During 2023, New Lake outperformed across our key financial metrics year over year, despite a very challenging year for the cannabis industry and REITs generally. Against this difficult backdrop, the company delivered growth as well as record revenue, record net income, and record AFFO. Additionally, we raised our dividend in the fourth quarter, and today we announced another increase in our dividend for the first quarter of 2024. We have raised our dividend every year since the company started in 2019. Since our IPO in 2021, the company has increased its dividend 67%, paying out over $80 million or $385 per share in dividends to shareholders. There are a few items I'd like to highlight from this past year. As we expect it to occur at some point, in 2023, we experienced our first tenant issue in the portfolio. Our team was well prepared and worked diligently to resolve the issue. We ended 2023 with 100% of our invested capital generating returns for our investors and 100% rent collection for the fourth quarter. This is a solid foundation to build upon as we embark on 2024 and drive for continued growth. During 2023, we also took advantage of a low stock price and aggressively repurchased our common shares, buying back nearly 12 million of our stock at an average price of $13 per share, which was nicely accretive, particularly where the stock price sits today and what we see as a future upside for investors. As stewards of our shareholders' capital, we are keenly focused on maximizing returns and we will continue to apply this return-oriented approach as we evaluate future buyback opportunities. Lastly, our business generates significant free cash flow as demonstrated by our Q4 2023 payout ratio of 78 percent. They're a significant cushion for our dividend and potential for growth as we manage to our goal of an 80 to 90 percent payout ratio. As we look to the future, we see ample opportunities for growth. With virtually no debt and $89 million available to us under our credit facility, which has an attractive interest rate and does not mature until 2027, we are in a very good position to capitalize on our strengths and deploy capital into quality transactions. In closing, I'm proud of what we have accomplished in 2023. I continue to be very bullish on the long-term prospects for our company, and I'm excited for the opportunities that lie ahead. With that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Anthony.