Plaza Retail REIT

Good morning, and we'd like to welcome everyone to the Plaza Retail Read, first quote, 2026 earnings call. At this time, know that all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Instructions will be provided at that time for you to queue up for questions. If anyone has any difficulties hearing the conference call, please press star zero for operator assistance at any time. I would like to advise everyone that this conference call is being recorded. And I would like to turn the conference over to Kim Strange, Plaza's General Counsel and Secretary.

Please go ahead, Ms. Strange. Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on our Q1 2026 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 of 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 ended December 31st, 2025, and management's discussion and analysis for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2026, which are available on our website at www.plasa.ca and on FEDAR Plus at www.fedarplus.ca. We will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures widely used in the Canadian real estate industry, including FFO, AFFO, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, NOI, and Same Asset NOI. Plaza believes these financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors in measuring the financial performance and the 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 first quarter ended March 31, 2026, under the heading Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures. I will now turn the call over to Jason Paravano, PLASA's President and CEO. Jason?

Thank you, Kim, and good morning, everyone. The momentum we've built in our business throughout 2025 has carried into the first quarter of 2026, and we're starting the year from a position of strength. Even in a market defined by cautious consumers, uneven economic signals, and still elevated costs of capital and construction, our portfolio continues to perform exactly as we would expect. That really speaks to the durability of essential needs retail and to the consistency of our execution. At a high level, nothing about our strategy has changed, and that's intentional. We remain focused on optimization and intensification within our existing portfolio, supported by a fully internalized operating platform that allows us to move quickly and allocate capital efficiently. Because our assets are concentrated in non-discretionary retail, we continue to benefit from stable demand and predictable traffic patterns, which provides a strong foundation for growth, and that's evidenced in our results for the quarter. What's important here is not just the growth itself, but the quality of that growth. It is being driven primarily by same-asset NOI expansion, by leasing spreads, and by the incremental contributions from projects we've been advancing over the last several quarters. In other words, we're seeing the results of work that has been in motion across the platform. Leasing continues to be a key part of that story. In Q1, negotiated leasing spreads were approximately 13.4% over the lease term, and new leasing spreads reached 76.1%. That level of spread is meaningful as it reinforces that there is still a clear gap between in-place rents and market rents across the portfolio. It also tells us that tenant demand remains healthy, particularly for well-located open-air centers with strong anchors. Those renewals are inclusive of anchor renewals, which is an important distinction to make as it demonstrates we also have the ability to move rates in those leases. From an occupancy standpoint, we are effectively full. Committed occupancy remains very stable at 97.5%, with same-asset occupancy at 97.1%. When you exclude and close malls, that number climbs to approximately 99%, which really underscores how tight the availability is within our portfolio. In many of our markets, there simply isn't new supply coming online, so when space does become available, we're seeing strong interest and the ability to push rents. All of this continues to support steady same property NOI growth. For the quarter, NOI totaled 18.8 million, up 2.5% year over year, with same asset NOI growth of 1.9%. While that may appear modest at first glance, it's important to remember that this growth is being achieved in a very stable, low volatility portfolio, and it's complemented by additional upside from projects that have not yet fully contributed. In addition, We have been able to deliver this growth even following the disposition of approximately $25 million worth of income-producing properties in 2025. On the capital side, our intensification, development, and consolidation initiatives are continuing to do exactly what we expect them to do, create incremental value from within the portfolio. We are starting to see contributions from projects delivered in late 2025 and early 2026, and we have additional projects that are still in lease-up or under construction. There's a natural timing element here. We incur costs upfront while the income comes in as tenants open and stabilize. As a result, the full earnings impact of this work will become more visible as we move through the balance of the year. You can see that timing dynamic reflected in AFFO for the quarter. AFFO is essentially flat at 8.3 million year over year. This is largely a function of higher leasing activity and maintenance cap ex, both of which are aligned within our strategy. We're making those investments deliberately because they support higher rental spreads, improve asset quality, and ultimately drive longer-term cash flow. We are beginning to see early contributions from spaces that were previously handed over to tenants for fixturing, and as those locations open up and ramp up, they will provide an additional tailwind to earnings as we move through 2026. Stepping back, the consistency you're seeing in these results really comes down to the structure of the portfolio. We own approximately 190 properties, totaling about 8.8 million square feet across Canada. With a strong concentration of open-air centres and small-box formats, these are predominantly leased to national tenants, serving essential needs, value, and convenience segments that tend to perform well across economic cycles and continue to generate steady-foot traffic. Looking ahead, our priorities for the balance of 2026 are very clear and very consistent with what we've been doing. We will continue executing on the optimization and intensification opportunities already in motion, continue to capture leasing spreads where we see embedded mark-to-market value, and continue to allocate capital in a disciplined way toward the highest return opportunities in our pipeline. There is no need for us to take incremental risks to drive growth. The opportunities set within the existing portfolio remain significant, and we are well-positioned to continue delivering stable, predictable performance. With that, I'll turn it over to Jim to take you through the financials in more detail.