Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation ($ACRE)

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation's First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded on Thursday, May 7, 2026. I will now turn the call over to Mr. John Stilmar, Partner of Public Markets Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's conference call. In addition to our press release and the 10-Q that we filed with the SEC, we have posted an earnings presentation under the Investor Resources section of our website at www.arescre.com. Before we begin, I want to remind everyone that comments made during the course of this conference call and webcast as well as the accompanying documents contain forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many of these forward-looking statements can be identified by the words such as anticipates, believes, expects, intends, will, should, may and similar such expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations of market conditions and management's judgment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risk factors, including those listed in its SEC filings. Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. During this conference call, we'll refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. We use these as measures of operating performance, and these measures should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. These measures may not be comparable to like titled measures used by other companies. Now I'd like to turn the call over to our CEO, Bryan Donohoe. Bryan?

Thanks, John. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm here today with Jeff Gonzales, our CFO; Tae-sik Yoon, our COO; as well as other members of the management and Investor Relations teams. During the first quarter, the commercial real estate market exhibited relative stability despite broader macroeconomic and corporate credit market uncertainty. Fundamentals in commercial real estate showed strength as limited forward supply supported modest valuation growth. The combination of reset valuations and what we believe is the beginning of capital rotation into the asset class helped create what in our view is an attractive investment environment. With this backdrop, we continue to make progress against our strategic objectives of reducing risk in our portfolio while investing in attractive, high-quality commercial real estate loans. We closed 3 new loan commitments totaling $294 million during the first quarter, collateralized by multifamily, mixed-use and retail properties. This origination activity supported steady growth in the loan portfolio for the second consecutive quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the portfolio of loans held for investment grew to 35 loans and $1.7 billion, an increase of $110 million quarter-over-quarter. Notably, 37% of the investment loan portfolio balance was originated in the past 12 months. We believe today's commercial real estate environment offers the opportunity to originate at attractive attachment points with stronger credit structures and risk-adjusted returns. ACRE is committed to approximately $780 million in new loans in the last 12 months with more than 75% of the dollars committed through co-investments alongside other Ares management affiliated vehicles. This represents just a portion of the nearly $10 billion in new loan commitments across the Ares real estate debt platform in the last 12 months. The scale of the Ares real estate debt platform and capital base is a key differentiator, enabling disciplined selectivity and access to high-quality opportunities while providing ACRE with co-investment opportunities that enhance portfolio diversification and support efficient capital deployment. We believe that this deployment reflects success against our goals for the portfolio that we laid out 1 year ago. As of March 31, 2026, we have increased the outstanding principal balance of the portfolio by 22% year-over-year, while improving portfolio diversification and reducing the office loan balance by nearly 25%. Consistent with our strategic objectives, the reduction in office loans was reallocated and redeployed into other attractive property types, including industrial, multifamily, select retail and self-storage. We also continue to improve portfolio quality through active resolution efforts on our risk rated 4 and 5 loans. During the quarter, we accelerated the resolution and exit of a legacy $28 million Pennsylvania multifamily loan, contributing to a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decline in the number of risk rated 4 and 5 loans. With respect to the total portfolio of loans held for investment, 31 of our 35 loans carry a risk rating of 1 through 3. There were no negative credit migrations during the first quarter within the risk-rated 1 to 3 loan portfolio. While the majority of the portfolio continues to exhibit sound credit performance, certain idiosyncratic risks persist in the sector and ACRE's portfolio. These cases are driven by discrete local market dynamics or property-specific factors that may not align with the aforementioned commercial real estate trends. Now let me walk you through the largest 2 of these 4 loans, which comprise more than 90% of the outstanding principal balance of the total risk-rated 4 and 5 loans as of March 31, 2026. The largest of these loans is a risk-rated 5 Chicago office loan. This loan remains on nonaccrual, but continues to make its contractual interest payments, which are applied to the basis. Property fundamentals remain stable, with occupancy above 90%, a weighted-average lease term of approximately 8 years and positive net cash flow. We remain engaged with the borrower on their ongoing sales process. It is unfortunately taking longer than we anticipated. We increased our CECL reserve for this loan by approximately $5 million to reflect our most current market indications for the potential sale of this property. The second largest risk rated 4 and 5 loan is a risk-rated 4 residential condominium loan located in Brooklyn, New York. This loan also remains on nonaccrual. The preliminary condominium sales process began earlier this year. And as a reminder, initial sales proceeds will be used to pay down debt associated with the project, while subsequent sales are expected to generate cash flow back to the company. As the project nears completion and with increased visibility into final construction costs, we have incorporated incremental costs and adjusted the timing into the business plan. These updates are also reflected in the CECL reserve analysis for the first quarter. And combined with reserve increase for the risk rated 5 office loan were the primary drivers of the overall CECL reserve increase during the quarter. As it relates to our North Carolina office REO, we began the formal sales process for this property this quarter. This decision was supported by improved property fundamentals and capital markets activity. Notably, in the fourth quarter of 2025, we recognized a gain related to the partial sale of this property. And as of the end of the first quarter, the remaining property was reclassified as held for sale. In closing, we remain highly focused on our current objectives of reducing our risk-rated 4 and 5 loans and addressing office and REO loans while opportunistically investing into new loans. Let me now turn the call over to Jeff, who will provide more details on our second quarter results.

Thank you, Bryan. For the first quarter of 2026, we reported a GAAP net loss of approximately $9.6 million or $0.17 per diluted common share. Our distributable earnings for the first quarter of 2026 was approximately $3.2 million or $0.06 per diluted common share. This includes the impact from the realized loss of $3.3 million or $0.06 per diluted common share related to the exit of the risk-rated 5 Pennsylvania multifamily loans. Distributable earnings for the first quarter, excluding this loss, was approximately $6.5 million or $0.12 per diluted common share. Additionally, during the first quarter, we collected $2.1 million or $0.04 per diluted common share of cash interest on loans that were on nonaccrual and was accounted for as a reduction in our loan basis. We continue to maintain our strong balance sheet position with moderate leverage, which supports further resolutions of underperforming loans and future growth. We ended the first quarter with a net debt-to-equity ratio, excluding CECL, of 1.9x. Our portfolio of loans held for investment reached $1.7 billion as of March 31, 2026, with the majority of our loans collateralized by multifamily and industrial properties. Looking at the $294 million of new loan commit made in the first quarter, $225 million of these new loan commitments are classified as loans held for investment and $69 million is classified as held for sale as of March 31, 2026. The $69 million loan classified as held for sale corresponds to a larger $144 million senior loan commitment collateralized by retail property in California. $75 million of this loan will be retained by ACRE and is classified as held for investment. The remaining $69 million of the loan is expected to be sold to either an Ares affiliated fund or a third-party investor during the second quarter. Notably, until the sale is completed, ACRE will accrue interest and fee income associated with this loan. Let me take a minute to discuss the strategy behind this action. We believe this specific loan structure provides a strategic opportunity for ACRE to selectively deploy its available liquidity on a short-term basis, capturing attractive economics on high conviction loans that we intend to hold a portion of on a long-term basis, while still maintaining diversity across the broader portfolio. Ultimately, we believe this strategy is another example of how ACRE can leverage the robust capabilities and broad market presence of the Ares real estate platform. As we reshape the portfolio through asset resolutions and new investments, we continue to prioritize strong liquidity and disciplined liability management. During the first quarter, we collected $94 million in repayments, further strengthening our liquidity position. As of March 31, 2026, our available capital was [ $153 million ], including $86 million of cash. In addition, during the quarter, we increased our borrowing capacity by $300 million, subject feature available collateral as well as reduced our borrowing costs through 3 distinct actions. First, we upsized the Morgan Stanley facility to $350 million, an increase of $200 million from the prior quarter and extended the facility by 3 years. Second, we upsized the Citibank facility to $425 million, an increase of $100 million from the prior quarter. Lastly, as mentioned on our last earnings call, we reduced the cost of our borrowings through the redemption of our FL4 CLO securitization. We believe these actions reflect the strength and scale of our lender relationships, driven by the Ares platform and positions us well to access attractive financing and to support future growth initiatives. Additionally, our financial flexibility allows us to further address our higher risk-weighted loans as well as invest in new loans, resulting in what we believe is a more stable portfolio. As Bryan mentioned, we exited a risk-rated 5 loan and had no negative credit migrations in the risk ratings across the portfolio in the first quarter. Turning to our CECL reserve. The total CECL reserve increased to $138 million as of March 31, 2026, an increase of approximately $11 million from the CECL reserve as of December 31, 2025. This increase was primarily driven by a $15 million combined increase in the reserves for our risk-rated 4 and 5 loans, specifically the 2 largest loans Bryan previously mentioned, as well as a $2 million reserve increase related to the new loans closed in the quarter. These increases were partially offset by the previously mentioned realized loss in connection with the exit of the risk-rated 5 Pennsylvania multifamily loan and other macroeconomic and loan specific attributes. The total CECL reserve at the end of the first quarter of $138 million represents approximately 8% of the total outstanding principal balance of our loans held for investment. 94% of our total CECL reserve were $129 million relates to our risk-weighted 4 and 5 loans and approximately half of the total CECL reserve is attributed to the only risk-weighted 5 loan in the portfolio. Overall, the $129 million of reserves attributed to our risk-weighted 4 and 5 loans represents approximately 35% of the outstanding principal balance of those risk-weighted 4 and 5 loans. Our book value is $8.89 per share, which includes the $138 million CECL reserve. Our goal remains to prove out book value over time while advancing our efforts to rebuild earnings and cover our dividend, which we believe is achievable. So far in the second quarter, we have continued to execute against our objectives with the closing of $95 million of new loan commitments collateralized by multifamily and self-storage properties. These are high -- both high conviction property types across the Ares real estate platform and both loans represent co-investment loan opportunities. To conclude, the Board declared a regular cash dividend of $0.15 per common share for the second quarter of 2026. The second quarter dividend will be payable on July 15, 2026, to common stockholders of record as of June 30, 2026. At our current stock price on May 4, 2026, the annualized dividend yield on our second quarter dividend is approximately 11.5%. With that, I will turn the call back over to Bryan for some closing remarks.

Thank you, Jeff. As we sit here today with the first quarter of 2026 under our belts, we are excited about the opportunities that lay ahead. We believe ACRE is uniquely positioned to capitalize on Ares powerful and growing real estate platform, depth of capabilities and robust pipeline to create shareholder value. As always, we appreciate you joining our call today, and we'd be happy to open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] We'll go first today to Jade Rahmani with KBW.

Do you have any updated thoughts as to potential time line for resolution on the Chicago risk 5? And also over what time period do you expect the Brooklyn condo risk 5 to be amortized down based on condo sales? Is that going to take -- do you think 2 years, 3 years? If you could just provide any commentary on that.

Yes. Thanks for the question, Jade. I think as you can tell from our prepared remarks today and in prior quarters, these assets remain one of our primary focus points. I think the short answer is we're getting closer and the outcome have certainly narrowed. We do need the functioning market, which I think we've seen over the past 6 to 9 months, some return of capital back into the office sector and a process that is well underway, but that is a little bit outside of our control. With respect to the Brooklyn condominium asset, as you heard in the remarks as well, we're largely through the construction phase and began the sales process last quarter. So that will be a function of demand for the product, which we think is fairly priced for the landscape in which we're all sharing. Sellout can obviously vary, but it's fair to say it's inside of 2 years would be the general expectation for a similarly sized project.

And then just more broadly, in terms of how Ares is looking at the debt capital markets in commercial real estate. Where do you see the best opportunities risk-adjusted at this point?

Do you mean in terms of sectors? Or what's the specific [indiscernible].

Yes, thematics, it's a sector, property type geography or if it's participations in certain capital structures. Any nuances that you care to provide.

Yes, of course. I think that when -- as it relates to ACRE, ACRE is obviously -- we talk over the past 5 years really about the disadvantages being subscale. But certainly, when we think about the landscape of opportunities in real estate credit across the U.S., and you're talking kind of a $5 trillion market opportunity, there's plenty to do. The overall theme that you and I have covered in the past still relates to banks being very driven to provide capital and back leverage, and that has provided us the opportunity to really go a lot on the risk spectrum, but still create ROEs that are in keeping with our historical norms. As it relates to sectors, we've -- you've seen us pivot at times through logistics, student housing, multi, seniors to some degree and obviously underweight office as we sit here today and on a go forward. So our focus remains on lower CapEx cycle asset classes. And then we're looking at the fundamentals, both from supply/demand and otherwise and geographical focus that has really ebbed and flowed over the past 3 or 4 years. I mean, I know you all have had questions on Sunbelt assets for some different operators and different lenders in the space. And I think location continues to matter as does vintage. So you'll see us find given the broad landscape in which we participate, plenty to do given the size of ACRE's balance sheet.

We'll go next now to Chris Muller with Citizens Capital Markets.

I guess on the $3.3 million realized loss, and sorry, I missed this in your guys' prepared remarks, but can you just break that down for me? Is that related to the REO property being reclassified as held for sale or the resolution of the 5-rated? Or is it a combo of both of those?

Thanks for the question, Chris. Yes, it is related to the Pennsylvania multifamily loan. All of it is as. We -- as we disclosed in our filings, when we transferred the REO office property to held for sale, there was no impairment loss associated with that. So it's all related to the multifamily loan.

Got it. That's helpful. And it's nice to see no downward credit migration in the quarter. Do you guys feel that credit has largely stabilized. And then I guess, how are you thinking about new originations in 2026? Is 1Q a decent run rate for deployment?

Yes. Look, the overall market is certainly constructive. I said earlier that we've seen capital flow back into the sector, broadly speaking, both debt and equity. We've seen stability in values or modest appreciation. And that obviously in the face of rates that have risen in the U.S. and certainly across Europe as well. So I think people believe in the fundamental story of hard assets with low degrees of obsolescence out there. And I think those capital flows are supportive of valuations. So we have got a pretty constructive backdrop in which to invest right now. So what does that mean for forward originations? I think largely, that will be dictated by the repayment schedule of the loans that are in the portfolio today, alongside the resolution of those focused assets that you heard about earlier and you've heard about in prior quarters as well.

[Operator Instructions] We'll go next now to Gabe Poggi with Raymond James.

Kind of piggybacking on the last one. How do you think about leverage, right, while you're working through the 4 and the 5 loans and REO. Is there a leverage level that you're comfortable going to while you wait for resolutions there, right? You guys have gone from kind of 1 turn in 3Q '25 to now 2 turns. Can we see another full turn of leverage even if the watch list loan capital/REO capital still is in TBD zone?

Yes, it's a great question, Gabe. I'd say the answer probably lies somewhere in between. We've taken a bifurcated approach to the portfolio as you've seen over prior quarters, where what we wanted to have, and we've proven we did have is the flexibility to accelerate resolutions on assets where we wanted to move on, right? And I think the life science asset of a few quarters ago, you saw us do that, not the outcome that we had hoped for, but one that we think looks better today than it even did then given the headwinds in that sector by way of reference. So we maintain almost this lower leverage approach to the legacy assets, right, things that were -- that we touched on in terms of those focused assets of 4s and 5s, et cetera. But we, I think, have proven that there is ample capital available to leverage new originations and to do so very accretively. So as we increase that confidence interval on the resolution of those 4 and 5, as we touched on, you'll see really that de novo portfolio, really the assets that or post '25 or post '24 environment be a larger percentage of the portfolio and with that, will come higher leverage. So certainly, as we move towards that to get towards the historical 3 turns of leverage, you'll see a push in that direction over time.

No. That makes sense. And then a quick follow-up, just so I understand. On the $144 million retail loan in California. That was a co-invest with Ares and then the REIT is splitting the $144 million I guess, and Ares into, call it, is it called A note, B note? Is that the way to think about it?

Nothing senior sub. So all the sharing is on a pari-passu basis, but it's a larger loan overall and shared across different vehicles within the Ares family, I would say.

And gentlemen, it appears we have no further questions today. Mr. Donohoe, I'd like to turn things back to you, sir, for any closing comments.

Yes. Thank you. I just want to thank everybody for their time today and the team for all the work this quarter. We appreciate your continued support of Ares Commercial Real Estate and look forward to speaking with you all on our next earnings call. Thank you, and have a good afternoon.

Thank you, Mr. Donohoe. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our conference call for today. If you missed any part of today's call, an archived replay of the conference will be available approximately 1 hour after the end of this call through June 7, 2026, to domestic callers by dialing 1 (800) 839-4016 and to international callers by dialing on 1 (402) 220-7240. An archived replay will also be available on a webcast link located on the homepage of the Investor Resources section of our website. Again, thanks so much for joining, everyone. We wish you all a great day. Goodbye.