Canadian Net Real Estate Investment Trust (NETUN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to Canadian Net REIT's 2025 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would like to advise everyone that this conference is being recorded. Before we start, I have been asked by Canadian Net to read the following message regarding forward-looking statements and non-IFRS measures. In talking about financial and operating performance and in responding to questions today, management may make forward-looking statements, including statements concerning Canadian Net's objectives and strategies to achieve them, as well as statements with respect to plans, estimates and intentions or concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances or performance, which are not historical facts. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the conclusions in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on the risks that could impact actual results and the expectations and assumptions management applied in making these forward-looking statements can be found in Canadian Net's most recent annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2024 and management's discussion and analysis for the period ended December 31, 2024, which are available on their website at www.cnetreit.com and on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. Management will also refer to non-IFRS financial measures today, which are widely used in the Canadian real estate industry, including FFO, normalized FFO, AFFO and NOI. Management believes these financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors in measuring the financial performance and financial condition of Canadian Net. These financial measures do not have any standardized definitions prescribed by IFRS and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other entities. For more information, please refer to the section Non-IFRS Financial Measures of our MD&A for the period ended December 31, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Kevin Henley, Canadian Net REIT's President and CEO. Please go ahead, Mr. Henley.

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today as we walk you through our Q1 2025 results. We're particularly pleased with our results as they reflect the culmination of our efforts over the past year, most notably through our capital recycling program and the accretive acquisitions it enabled. Following the sale of 5 gas station properties last year, we efficiently reinvested the proceeds into 4 necessity-based retail assets, including 3 acquired at the end of January. The strong performance in Q1 highlights the quality and the strategic merits of these acquisitions. Beyond the additional NOI generated by these properties, we also benefited from reduced interest rates on our lines of credit, which further improved our performance. The lower rate environment, combined with our strong positioning in the necessity-based retail sector, provides a strong tailwind for the REIT moving forward. The Q1 2025 FFO per unit marks a new all-time high for the REIT, exceeding our previous high set in 2022 before interest rates began to rise. In Q1 2025, we continued delivering on our commitment to unitholder returns, announcing a 1.5% distribution increase. While we believe it is crucial to reward our unitholders with distribution increases during periods of growth, we remain mindful that, as a growth-focused REIT, we have numerous accretive opportunities for deploying capital as demonstrated by our recent acquisitions. Including this latest increase, Canadian Net has raised its distribution 12x since 2012, pausing only once, in 2024, and has never reduced its distribution. This consistent track record is a testament to our highly-accretive acquisition model and the resilience of our niche in the necessity-based retail sector. Turning to lease renewals. We have 6 leases expiring in 2025, representing approximately $2.42 million in NOI. Of these, 4 leases, accounting for $2.33 million or 97% of expiring rents, have successfully been renewed at an average rental increase of 6.8%. The remaining 2 leases are expected to be renewed as we progress through the year. Looking ahead to 2026, we have 14 leases reaching maturity, representing approximately $3.47 million in NOI. Six leases have already been renewed, representing approximately 43% of expiring NOI. We will share more information on rental spreads during our Q2 2025 earnings call once rental rates have been finalized. We remain confident in our ability to retain tenants and we'll provide further updates on 2026 renewals as the year unfolds. Our portfolio remains well positioned with a weighted average lease term of 5.7 years and 100% occupancy as of March 31, 2025. I'll now hand over the call to Ben Gazith, CNET's Chief Financial Officer, for a detailed review of our financial results.

Thank you, Kevin. We had a great quarter. For the 3-month period ended March 31, 2025, we generated FFO per unit of $0.164, compared to $0.152 for the same period in 2024, which represents an increase of 8%. FFO for the period ended March 31, 2025 increased to $3.4 million, compared to $3.1 million for the same 3-month period last year. FFO was impacted by higher rental income from property acquisitions and lower interest charges on credit facilities. During the same period, NOI was $5 million, up 3% from $4.8 million for the same period in 2024. NOI was impacted by increases in rental revenue due to the additions of new properties and increases in rents on certain existing properties. Property rental income was $6.9 million, an increase of 5% compared to $6.5 million for the same period last year, and was impacted largely by the same elements as NOI but was also impacted by increases in recoverable additional rents. For the 3-month period ended March 31, 2025, the trust administrative expenses remained relatively stable compared to the same period in 2024, and we expect the 3-month Q1 2025 admin expenses to be a good run rate for the remainder of the year. The IFRS value of our adjusted investment properties, which is the total of our wholly owned investment properties and our proportionate share of the investment properties held in joint venture, was $344.8 million as at March 31, 2025, compared to $330 million a year earlier. The increase is primarily due to property acquisitions during the last 12 months as well as fair value adjustments to investment properties, offset by property dispositions during the same period. We continue to maintain a prudent approach with respect to our leverage and our payout ratio, having a debt to gross assets ratio of approximately 55%, compared to 57% as at the same time last year. Excluding convertible debentures, debt to gross assets was 54% as at Q1 2025, the same as it was in Q1 2024. Our FFO payout ratio for the period ended March 31, 2025 was 52%, a decrease from 57% for the same period last year. Our properties are typically financed with fixed-rate amortizing mortgages. As of March 31, 2025, the REIT's exposure to variable rate debt is limited only to its credit facility. We have $11.7 million of mortgages rolling over in 2025, excluding mortgages in our JVs, and the rest of our debt ladder remains well structured. The current average term to maturity on our mortgages is 3.7 years. Finally, as Kevin mentioned earlier, we increased our distributions by 1.5% from $0.345 to $0.35 on an annualized basis, representing the 12th time Canadian Net has increased its distribution since 2012. That summarizes our key results for the quarter. We will now open the line for any questions. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Zachary Weisbrod from Cana.

The leases are being renewed at quite healthy uplifts. Can you give us a sense of how same-property NOI growth is trending and your expectations for 2025?

Yes. I mean on average, as we previously discussed, I would say, same-property usually grows on a portfolio basis at around 1%, 1.5%. Most of our leases have bumps every 5 years. So when we're talking about renewals, we will get, for example, a 10% renewal every 5 years. And so on average, the same-property tends to be around 1% to 2%.

Okay. And there are no properties that are currently classified as held for sale. Would this indicate that capital recycling is not a priority at the moment?

Not really. We're always opportunistic about our capital recycling program. I would say last year, we completed it, we deployed the capital, and now we're obviously analyzing the portfolio. If there is opportunity to sell properties and reinvest it accretively, we will keep doing so. So it is under analysis.

Our next question comes from the line of David Chrystal from Ventum Capital Markets.

Just to confirm the 2025 lease figures, what was the percent of NOI of the 4 leases you renewed so far?

For the 2025?

Yes. You mentioned 4 out of 6 and you...

Sorry. $2.42 million expiring, and we renewed 97% of it.

97%, okay. And the 2026 leases, 6 renewals, are the rental rates not finalized? Or can you comment on the spreads for those specifically, knowing that, obviously, you're not through the whole program?

They're not finalized because most of them are either market or CPI. And so we can't speculate on what they will be. I would say 5% plus is a safe zone. But we will be able to provide more accurate figures in the Q.

Okay. That's fair. And as far as the acquisition or broader transaction environment, what is the acquisition outlook and where are you seeing cap rates financing rates, the investment spreads and opportunities?

Yes, very good question. The one word I would use to describe the transaction market right now is prudent. With all that's going on, transactions take a lot longer. At the end of 2024, we had that wave of optimism. Rates were lower. Transactions were easier to get under contract. Now we're back to the stage where we do see some disconnect between buyers and sellers. Mortgage rates haven't really moved in a year. Obviously, we're benefiting from the prime rate going down. But in terms of all-in mortgage rates, they remain, I would say, in the high 4s -- mid to high 4s. And so we have to remain disciplined. We look at the ones that are highly accretive, like the transactions we've done recently. So there is more stuff on the market, but it is not all accretive or actionable in a short time.

Okay. And then just on the return to distribution hikes, how are you looking at that in the context of kind of flat to negative growth for '23, '24, and obviously a return to growth here, but how are you looking at balancing distribution hikes relative to cash flow growth?

Yes. I mean it's simple math here. So we look at the portfolio. We budget a year in advance. The acquisitions we made recently, I mean, we can see now, are very accretive to the portfolio and so -- as well to the cash flow. 1.5% is a great way for us to reward unitholders. In terms of cash, we're talking here half a year, so it's about $50,000 in cash. Not material to the REIT, but I would really put the emphasis on the message here. The only year where we really had a decrease was 2024. It was due to the fact that rates were higher. We sold properties. Obviously, that leads to a drag for reinvestment. But now we're back in the saddle and it was important for us to increase distribution again.

Thank you. At this time, I'm showing no further questions. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.