Newlake Cap Partners Inc

Good morning. I will be your conference call operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the New Lake Capital Partners first quarter 2025 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 morning and welcome everyone to the New Lake Capital Partners first quarter 2025 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 yesterday and filed with the SEC on Form 8K, as well as the company's 10-K, 10-Q, 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. FFO and AFFO 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. With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Mr. Gordon Dugan. Gordon, please go ahead.

Thank you, Walter, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you all joining us today. 2025 is off to a solid start for New Lake. Rent collections across our portfolio remain stable and in line with the expectations we outlined on our last earnings call. We also closed two new property acquisitions, modest in size, but fully in line with our strategy of disciplined, accretive investing. Our first quarter AFFO payout ratio of 84% is consistent with recent quarters and remains within our stated target range of 80 to 90% payout. providing strong coverage and continued support for our dividend. As we discussed just two months ago, we anticipated continuing headwinds for the cannabis sector as the industry awaits key catalysts. Since then, we've unfortunately seen additional headlines reflecting distrust in the sector. Over the past few years, we've emphasized our differentiated underwriting approach, and that discipline has thus far provided relative stability for our shareholders amid broader industry challenges. I believe our consistent, cautious approach during the industry's hypergrowth phase has positioned us well. It has supported a reliable dividend profile and preserved the financial strength we need to capitalize on long-term opportunities as industry matures. Beyond cannabis, the broader REIT industry continues to navigate elevated interest rates and evolving capital markets. Tariff policy and recession concerns are impacting certain REIT sectors, but as Anthony will discuss shortly, New Lake's cash flows are less sensitive to these external pressures than most. Despite the broader macroeconomic environment and continued difficulty in the cannabis industry, we believe New Lake is well positioned. We have strong liquidity, one of the lowest leverage ratios in the REIT sector, and ample credit capacity. We are very well prepared to invest prudently in high-quality tenants, and to navigate the current landscape for the long-term benefit of our shareholders. With that, I'll turn it over to Anthony.