First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (FR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to Peter Baccile, Chief Executive Officer of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. Mr. Baccile, the floor is yours.

Thank you, operator, and good morning. I'd like to welcome all of our shareholders to our 2021 annual meeting. First, I would like to point everyone attending to our safe harbor statement regarding forward-looking statements found in our SEC filings. Before we get to the business of the meeting, first and foremost, I would like to thank our shareholders for their ongoing support and investment in First Industrial. I thank our Board members for their invaluable leadership and contributions. We also appreciate our customers for choosing First Industrial to serve their supply chain needs. I would also like to express my gratitude to the entire First Industrial team, many of whom are also shareholders. Their outstanding contributions to our business and to the communities in which we live and work resulted in a successful 2020. Our entire team is committed to driving long-term cash flow growth and value for our stakeholders through our national platform backed by our strong balance sheet. In these unique times, in which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the U.S. and world economy and our business, our team quickly adapted and performed exceptionally well, serving our customers seamlessly. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Matt Dominski, our Chairman. Matt?

Thank you, Peter. I, too, would like to welcome you to our 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. As Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, I hereby call this meeting to order. At this time, I would like to introduce you to the other directors of the company: Peter Baccile, Teresa Bazemore, Patrick Hackett, Denise Olsen, John Rau; and our newest Director, Marcus Smith. Next, I would like to introduce you -- introduce the members of our senior management team at First Industrial, who are here today: Scott Musil, the company's Chief Financial Officer; Jojo Yap, our Chief Investment Officer and Executive Vice President of our West Region; Peter Schultz, our Executive Vice President of East region; Robert Walter, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets and Asset Management; Chris Schneider, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations; Jennifer Matthews Rice, General Counsel and Staff and Secretary; Art Harmon, Vice President, Investor Relations and Marketing; Don Stoffel, Executive Director of Dispositions; and Sara Niemiec, Chief Accounting Officer. Lastly, and certainly not least, I would like to introduce David Harker, our Executive Vice President of our Central region. Mr. Harker recently announced his retirement from the company. And on behalf of all of our directors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his over 23 years of service to the company and to wish him well in his retirement. Next, I would like to acknowledge Jacqueline Kelly, our engagement partner with the independent registered public county firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; and Matthew Jackson from Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP. The company's Corporate Counsel, Mr. Jackson, will serve as the inspector of election for the meeting. Our agenda this morning will be: first, to conduct the business of the meeting, which includes the election of directors, approval of the executive compensation of the company's named executive officers on an advisory basis, and ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm. Then, following the adjournment of the meeting, we will entertain any questions you may have. The polls are now open. Stockholders who have already submitted a signed proxy card need not vote by ballot at this meeting. If there are any proxies not yet submitted, please vote at this time using the link titled, Cast Your Vote, on your computer screen. Give a second to see if you need time for that. [Voting]

The Board of Directors established March 11, 2021, as the record date for determining all stockholders entitled to receive notice of and vote at this meeting. Ms. Secretary, will you please present the notice of this meeting as well as the evidence of its mailing?

Notice of the meeting was mailed on or about April 6, 2021, to all stockholders of record as of the record date. The notice of the meeting and the affidavit of mailing of the notice will be included in the books and records of the company minute book.

Thank you, Ms. Secretary. Can you next report whether the shares represented at this meeting in person or by proxy are sufficient to constitute a quorum?

Mr. Chairman, the company has received proxies of stockholders of the company's common stock that are in excess of 129,120,800 common shares represented at this meeting, which constitutes approximately 89% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote here today. A quorum is present.

Thank you, Ms. Secretary. Since the majority of the voting shares are represented here today, a quorum is present, and we can proceed to the business of the meeting. There are 3 proposals before the stockholders this morning. The first proposal is to elect 7 directors to the Board to serve until 2022 -- till the 2022 annual meeting of the stockholders. The Board has nominated Peter Baccile, Teresa Bazemore, Pat Hackett, Denise Olsen, John Rau, Marcus Smith and me to serve as Directors until the 2022 annual meeting of Stockholders. The second proposal is to approve on an advisory basis the company's compensation of its named executive officers as set forth in the proxy statement. The third proposal is to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2021. Again, if there are any stockholders who have -- who did not turn in their proxies or who wish to vote by ballot, please use the link titled Cast Your Vote on your computer screen. [Voting]

All of the proposals to be voted upon at this meeting are now before us, and I believe the votes have been tallied. Will the Secretary, please, present the results.

Mr. Chairman, the results of the vote are as follows: first, Mr. Chairman, you, Peter Baccile, Teresa Bazemore, Patrick Hackett, Denise Olsen, John Rau and Marcus Smith, each received more than a majority of the votes cast. Accordingly, you have each been elected as directors of the company to serve until the 2022 annual meeting. Second, a majority of the votes cast were voted in favor of the company's compensation of its named executive officers, as disclosed in the proxy statement. Third, a majority of the votes cast were voted in favor of the Audit committee's appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2021. Accordingly, each of the 3 proposals has been approved.

That concludes the official business of this meeting. The meeting is hereby adjourned. We will now respond to any questions that you submit through the message icon on your computer screen. Mr. Harmon, do we have any questions?

Mr. Chairman, we show no questions at this time.

We appreciate your participating in the 2021 annual stockholder meeting and wish you and your families good health. Thank you for joining.

This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.