Primaris Real Estate Investment Trust

Good morning and welcome to a Primaris REIT first quarter 2023 results conference call. At this time, all lines have been placed on mute. After the prepared remarks, there'll be a question and answer session. I will now turn the call over to Claire Mahaney, Lion Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. During this call, management of Primaris REIT may make statements containing forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Primaris REITs control that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Additional information about these assumptions, risks, and uncertainties are contained in Primaris REITs filings with securities regulators. These filings are also available on Primaris REIT's website at www.primarisreit.com. I'll now turn the call over to Alex Avery, Primaris' Chief Executive Officer.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Primaris REIT's first quarter 2023 results. On the call with me are Pat Sullivan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Rags DeVleur, Chief Financial Officer, Leslie Boost, Senior Vice President, Finance, and Graham Proctor, Senior Vice President, Asset Management. We are off to a very strong start in 2023 with our financial and operating results demonstrating a clear trend of growth, delivering Q1 same property cash NOI growth of 9.8%, rising occupancy, and positive and strengthening leasing spreads. Our financial and operating results demonstrate the resiliency and enduring value proposition of our business, despite market skepticism that continues more than a year after we began demonstrating this resiliency. The acceleration of the trend in leasing spreads is a great example of our strong fundamentals. Last month, we received an issuer rating upgrade to BBB High, the highest DBRS rating currently awarded within the Canadian public REIT universe, a title we share only with Granite REIT and Choice Properties REIT. With our March 27th unsecured bond deal, materially reduced refinancing risk and now have nearly a half a billion dollars of liquidity or approximately 40% of our total debt covering all debt obligations into 2026. We see significant NOI growth potential through increasing occupancy to historic stabilized levels. We made material progress over the last 15 months on this. but the vast majority of the opportunity remains to be captured over the next few years. We are also focused on continuing to convert pandemic lease concessions to market rents. While tenant sales in our portfolio have more than recovered from the recent operating challenges of the last few years, 2022 NOI was 10% lower than 2019 NOI, despite occupancy being five percentage points higher in 2022. Recapturing these economics is a key growth driver for Primaris over the next few years. As we continue to execute on our strategy, we enjoy several competitive advantages that enhance our ability to capitalize on market opportunities. Firstly, our business is performing very well with significant runway for rent growth and occupancy growth over the next few years. Secondly, our scale provides us with a competitive advantage as we partner with retailers on multiple location leasing plans, building deeper and more collaborative relationships. Third, our differentiated low leverage, low payout ratio financial model provides us with excellent access to capital and the financial flexibility to deliver growth per unit to our investors in the face of hiring borrowing costs and many peers pursuing deleveraging activities. Fourth, our best in class governance profile and high quality independent board provide excellent oversight for our business and make us a preferred partner for institutions, investors and retailer partners alike. And fifth, our fully internal comprehensive full scale management platform with a 20 year track record of success provides a particularly strong competitive advantage with very few peers in Canada with comparable platforms and capabilities. On our Q4 call, we communicated to you our goals for 2023, including number one, continuing our awareness campaign with expanded research coverage, investor meetings and conferences, property tours and investor days. Number two, demonstrating our ability to transact on acquisitions and dispositions that are consistent with the REITs strategy and enhance the value of Primaris REIT units. Number three, continuing to execute on capturing the internal growth opportunity through active management of our portfolio to drive occupancy higher, restore standard lease terms among the remaining pandemic amended leases and driving rental rates higher over time. And number four, achieve all of the above while acting in a manner consistent with the best in class profile that we have created at Primaris, including ESG commitments, being a respected and sought after partner and transaction counterparty and a preferred place for employees to work. We are on track to achieve our goals. In recent weeks, Lauren Calmar from Desjardins Securities, Fred Blondeau from Laurentian Bank, Brad Sturgis from Raymond James, and Tal Woolley from National Bank initiated coverage. They joined Mark Rothschild from Canaccord Genuity, Gaurav Mathur from Industrial Alliance Securities, Samaya Syed and Dean Wilkinson from CIBC, and Sam Damiani from TD Securities all of whom have initiated coverage over the last 16 months. We are very pleased to have these high-caliber analysts follow our progress and evaluate our performance against our strategy. I'll now turn the call over to Pat to continue to discuss our platform operating and leasing results, followed by Rags, who will discuss our financing, financial results, and provide you with an update on our ESG strategy and disclosure package.