RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust

day ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the ryokan real estate investment trust fourth quarter 2025 conference call and webcast as a reminder this conference call is being recorded i would like to turn the conference over to miss jennifer seuss senior vice president general counsel esg and corporate secretary missus you may begin thank you and good morning everyone i am jennifer seuss senior vice president

General Counsel, ESG, and Corporate Secretary of RioCan. Before we begin, I am required to read the following cautionary statement. In talking about our financial and operating performance, and in responding to your questions, we may make forward-looking statements, including statements concerning RioCan's objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management's beliefs, plans, estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance, or expectations that are not historical facts. These statements are based on our current estimates 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. In discussing our financial and operating performance and in responding to your questions, we will also be referencing certain financial measures that are not generally accepted accounting principle measures, GAAP under IFRS. These measures do not have any standardized definition prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other reporting issuers. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered as alternatives to net earnings or comparable metrics determined in accordance with IFRS as indicators of RioCAN's performance, liquidity, cash flows and profitability. RioCAN's management uses these measures to aid in assessing the trust's underlying poor performance and provides these additional measures so that investors may do the same. Additional information on the material risks that could impact our actual results and the estimates and assumptions we applied in making these forward-looking statements, together with details on our use of non-GAAP financial measures, can be found in the financial statements filed yesterday and management's discussion and analysis related thereto, as applicable, together with RioCan's most recent annual information form that are all available on our website and at www.cedarplus.com. I will now turn the call over to RioCAN's president and CEO, Jonathan Gitlin.

Thank you, Jennifer, and good morning to everyone joining us today. We're pleased to report RioCAN's fourth quarter and full year results. At our 2025 Investor Day, we were clear about our priorities, driving growth through our productive retail core and supporting that growth through discipline, strategic capital allocation. We're delivering on those commitments. In the fourth quarter, the strength of RioCAN's portfolio and the effectiveness of our retail focus strategy were once again demonstrated by 4.5% same property NOI growth. This was propelled by the continued outperformance of our core retail assets. We delivered on our capital allocation priorities, repatriating $742 million of capital to strengthen the balance sheet and support NCIB activity. Net debt to EBITDA was reduced to 8.6 times, and we repurchased $179 million of units through 2025 and year-to-date 2026. Our NCIB activity reflects our conviction that the current unit price does not capture the value and earnings power of our business. We're investing in a portfolio with tremendous growth prospects. Our performance is underpinned by a proven future-focused platform. We continue to strengthen our operational and technological capabilities while maintaining top-tier employee engagement results, even as we further reduced G&A. RioCan's disciplined execution is complemented by strong ESG performance, including our number one ranking among North American retail peers in the 2025 Gresby Real Estate Assessment. Taken together, our results reflect the power of our productive retail core, the quality of our assets, and a platform that delivers consistent performance. In a market characterized by a shortage of well-located retail space, RioCAN continues to deliver consistent and durable growth. RioCAN's operating momentum remains strong through the fourth quarter. Retail committed occupancy end of the year at 98.5%. Leasing performance continued to be exceptional with record full year blended leasing spreads of 21.1%. Our 2025 retention ratio of 93.1% underscores the value tenants place on Rio Can's locations and its operating capabilities. It also enables us to enhance income quality, improve portfolio resilience while minimizing capital outlay. Commercial same property NOI growth accelerated to 4.5% in the fourth quarter and totaled 3.6% for the full year, highlighting the consistency and resilience of our cash flows. These results are not coincidental. They are the direct outcome of a portfolio concentrated in Canada's largest and most desirable markets, anchored by necessity-based retailers and supported by structurally constrained new supply. We're seeing the benefits of what we believe is a leasing super cycle for our portfolio. This is a time when many long-term leases that were signed in the early 2000s are expiring. shorter-term leases negotiated during the pandemic are also maturing. This gives us flexibility and discretion to shape our tenant base. We're retaining and resetting rents for high-quality tenants. We're equally deliberate in replacing those tenants that no longer align with our strategic objectives. Now, Reocan is an independent Canadian REIT. Our independence means we are accountable solely to our unit holders, with no parent company or sponsoring owner influencing our leasing or operational decisions. This independence, combined with strong retailer demand and the depth and expertise of our leasing team, puts us in the advantageous position of being highly selective. We can choose the right tenants on the right terms. Premium retail space in Canada's major markets is scarce, and in my opinion, given the high barriers to entry in the Canadian market, this will be an enduring condition. Retailers are focused on well-located centers with strong demographic attributes and compelling co-tenancies. This precisely describes the centers in RioCAN's portfolio. In recent years, we introduced grocery to a significant number of assets. Today, 86% of our sites include a grocery component. This anchors daily traffic and supports consistent performance through all market cycles. Beyond grocery, we're deliberately curating the ideal tenant mix for the communities that we serve. We know these communities well and we understand the daily needs of their residents. As a result, the vast majority of our portfolio is aligned with necessity-based daily uses, including retailers such as Loblaws, Metro, Sobeys, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Dollarama. These are the retailers that fulfill essential everyday shopping needs and drive reliable repeat visits. These attributes create daily use destinations that generate consistent traffic, strong sales productivity, and resilient income through all market cycles. Our tenants are not simply maintaining their footprints, they're actively investing and expanding. This sustained demand continues to validate the long-term strength of our retail platform. Our leasing strategy continues to unlock meaningful mark-to-market opportunities throughout our portfolio. In 2025, we completed leases for 5 million square feet. The average net rent for new leases was about $29.65 per square foot, which is approximately 28% higher than our overall average rent. This highlights the mark-to-market growth potential embedded in RioCAN's portfolio. This result isn't a one-off. Rents on new leases since 2022 were on average about 27% above those of existing leases. We expect this trend to continue for at least the next three years. During this period, we have 10.1 million square feet of leases maturing, hence my reference to a leasing super cycle. Combined with contractual rent steps and disciplined capital deployment, there is a clear and sustainable runway for continued core FFO growth. As we move into 2026, our business is simpler, focused and exceptionally well-positioned to capitalize on favorable retail fundamentals and the significant embedded mark-to-market opportunity within our portfolio. Our leasing momentum together with long-term contractual rent steps and disciplined capital deployment into the high return retail opportunities flows directly into the durability and predictability captured in our core FFO. Core FFO provides a clear measure of the durable earnings power of our retail platform. It represents an important evolution in how we reflect the performance of our business. Core FFO captures the recurring earnings generated through leasing execution and disciplined capital deployment while removing items that are not representative of the underlying operating strength of the portfolio. Because it is driven primarily by occupied space, contractual rents, and the intentional allocation of capital to high return uses, Core FFO provides a clear line of sight into the stability and predictability of our income. As we look ahead to 2026, we're guiding to same property NOI growth of 3.5 to 4% and Core FFO of $1.60 to $1.62 per unit. This Core FFO guidance is in line with the three-year outlook we provided at Investor Day. In many ways, Core FFO best captures what differentiates RioCAN today, a high-quality, necessity-based retail portfolio operating in supply-constrained markets where leasing momentum and disciplined capital allocation work together to provide consistent, repeatable results and high risk-adjusted returns. Our outlook reflects confidence in our ability to deliver resilient income, sustainable distributions, and long-term value creation. This quarter's performance is not an outlier. It is another clear validation of the strength of our portfolio and our strategy. In closing, RioCAN enters 2026 with considerable momentum, an exceptional portfolio, and a disciplined strategy that consistently generates results. We're in the midst of a multi-year value creation phase underpinned by visible and sustained growth that we believe is not fully reflected in RioCAN's current unit price valuation. Our team remains highly focused, our capital is positioned to drive ongoing growth, and our portfolio is well aligned with the evolving needs of retailers and communities. Thank you for your continued trust and support, and I will hand the call over to Dennis Busuti and then look forward to your questions.