Plaza Retail REIT

Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to the Placer Retail REIT third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in lesson-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be provided at the time for you to queue up for questions. If anyone has any difficulties hearing the conference, please press star zero for operator assistance at any time. I would like to advise everyone that this conference is being recorded. And I'll now turn the conference over to Kim Strange, NASA's General Counsel and Secretary. Ms. Strange, please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on our Q3 2025 Results Conference Call. Before we begin, we are obliged to advise you that in talking about our financial and operating performance and in responding to questions today, we may make forward-looking statements. including statements concerning Plaza's objectives and strategies to achieve them, as well as statements with respect to our plans, estimates, and intentions, or concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, or performance that are not historical facts. These statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the conclusions in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on the risks that could impact our actual results and the expectations and assumptions we applied in making these forward-looking statements can be found in PLASA's most recent annual information form for the year end of December 31st, 2024 and management's discussion and analysis for the third quarter end of September 30th, 2025, which are available on our website at www.plasa.ca. and on Cedar Plus at www.cedarplus.ca. We will also refer to non-GAAP financial measures widely used in the Canadian real estate industry, including FSO, ASFO, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, NOI, and Same Asset NOI. Plazable leaves these financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors in measuring the financial performance and financial condition of the trust. These financial measures do not have any standardized definitions prescribed by IFRS and may not be comparable to similar titled measures reported by other real estate investment trusts or entities. They should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for related financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS. For definitions of these financial measures and where to find reconciliations thereof, please refer to Part 7 of our MD&A, for the third quarter ended September 30th, 2025, under the heading explanation of non-GAAP financial measures. I will now turn the call over to Jason Paravano, Plaza's president and CEO. Jason.

Thank you, Kim. Good morning. We appreciate you joining us today as we review our financial performance and key achievements for the third quarter of 2025. Q3 was a milestone quarter for Plaza. delivering our highest quarterly FFO per unit in recent years at 11.1 cents, an 8.8 increase over the same period last year. This performance reflects the strength of our portfolio and the disciplined execution of our strategy, which we have been pursuing for the last year. Our total FFO rose to 12.4 million, up 8.6% year-over-year, driven by higher NOI from same-asset growth, acquisitions, and intensification projects. We stayed on track with strong same property performance with same property NOI increasing 1.7% year-over-year, driven by solid leasing activity and disciplined expense management. Had it not been for bad debt adjustments related to an unforeseen tenant closure, same asset NOI for the nine-month period would have reached 2.3% and 2.7% quarter-over-quarter. Leasing fundamentals remain robust with blended leasing spreads of 14% over the renewal term. Notably, Our leasing spreads on negotiated renewals over the renewal term were just over 18%. This underscores our ability to drive value from the existing portfolio and demonstrates the favorable delta between our in-place and market rents. Our committed occupancy rate remains at an all-time high of 98%. Excluding enclosed malls, our occupancy rate climbs even higher and is near perfect at 99%. These metrics continue to reflect all-time high performance levels, reinforcing sustained tenant demand and the strategic positioning of our portfolio in markets characterized by limited retail supply. As renewals continue to take effect during the year, we expect continued positive impact on same property NOI, complemented by contributions from intensification and optimization projects currently underway across the portfolio. We delivered roughly 70,000 square feet of space to no frills during the quarter at various properties in the portfolio for them to complete their fit-up and construction. Benefits from these projects will have a greater impact at the start of 2026. In the meantime, we continue to work through other leasing and property enhancement projects that will further strengthen performance. AFFO figures are skewed as a result of our optimization initiatives, which are delivering significant FFO growth and value creation. We're currently in the pre-construction or construction phase of approximately 300,000 square feet of intensification, development, and strategic optimization projects that we launched earlier this year. While many of the costs associated with our optimization projects are captured in leasing costs and have a short-term negative impact on AFFO, the resulting incremental NOI validates the investment. These projects are strategically designed to enhance long-term value and operational efficiency across the portfolio. Similar to last quarter, of the reported leasing costs impacting AFFO year-to-date, $2.4 million of that is related to projects which will generate $650K of NOI for Plaza. There remains just under $1 million to spend in leasing costs subsequent to the quarter end to complete said projects. This represents an unlevered return of approximately 20% on these optimization projects alone, compared to the 17% we initially budgeted. Excluding these impacts, leasing costs would have been lower than the prior year. We're looking forward to the opening of these stores as they will add significant traffic and complement the properties and existing tenants alike. As part of our 2025 capital recycling program, we have sold 19 properties at prices in excess of our IFRS values. We have, for the most part, completed our program for this year. As mentioned in prior quarters, strong purchaser demand converted to successful closings. Our capital recycling initiative is aligned with our ongoing efforts to increase the average property size in our portfolio, reduce the average age of the assets, and enhance the overall quality of the portfolio. It also supports capital required to execute our three pillar strategy. As a result of the significant value creation on our optimization projects, our equity requirements are far less than expected, which has allowed us to put proceeds to use in paying down debt, as well as consolidate our ownership position in certain properties. As Pazzo's focus has always been retail, we know it very well. We remain focused on being a best-in-class owner and operator of retail properties. We're the only REIT on the TSX offering investors access to pure play, essential needs, value, and convenience retail. I will now turn the call over to Jim Drake, our CFO.