Vastned (VASTB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Vastned Half Year Results 2021. [Operator Instructions] Today, I'm pleased to present Reinier Walta, CEO; and Simon Theeuwes, Manager, Investor Relations. Please go ahead with your meeting.

Welcome to everyone participating in this Vastned H1 2021 Results Analyst Presentation. I now hand over to Reinier Walta, the CEO of Vastned.

First of all, kind welcome from me to all of you joining us this morning. In the first half of 2021, Vastned has delivered a relatively good performance in challenging circumstances. Our operational performance confirms this with an occupancy rate of 96.2% and a collection rate of 90%. Our direct result increased from EUR 0.85 to EUR 0.88. The limited decrease of our portfolio value of 1.9% proves the underlying quality and resilience. This also allows for an interim dividend of EUR 0.53. At the same time, we have made progress on executing a new strategy and by improving the tenant mix. Our fashion exposure decreased to 47% and exciting new opportunities were realized with tenants such as My Jewellery and Coolblue. Next slide. With 3.8% in vacancies, we have seen an improvement compared to the first quarter of 2021. At the same time, the occupancy rate slightly decreased compared to the end of 2020, mainly due to a decrease in France, with the other countries improving, except for Spain, which was already at 100%. In France, our occupancy was impacted by mix in Bordeaux and Le Coq Sportif in Paris both departing our properties. Despite this, the occupancy rate remains high, driven by the high-quality portfolio of tailor-made arrangements with our tenants. Next slide. Despite COVID-19, leasing activity remained high in the first half of 2021. The number of leases was 54 million, consisting of new leases and renewals. This was for a total amount of EUR 6.2 million in gross annual rent or 8.6% of our total portfolio rent. Mainly the lease renewal caused 4.4% rent decrease for 8.6% of our total portfolio. New leases were signed with attractive tenants that enabled Vastned to improve its mix of tenants, including My Jewellery, Coolblue and Sinequanone. The rental change in absolute numbers only was EUR 300,000 negative. Next slide. We have continued with tailor-made solutions to secure high collection rates. In the first half, more than half of the portfolio suffered from a temporary lockdown. Rent waivers amounted to EUR 1.2 million in the first half of 2021, with another EUR 900,000 related to waivers from 2020. These 2020 waivers are accounted for as a negative rent in the first half of 2021, but were already provided for in 2020 by means of the provision for expected credit losses. These provisions have been released in the first half of this year, so no net effect in the profit and loss statement for the first half year of 2021. Next slide. Vastned realized a relatively high collection rate of 90% during the first half of 2021. Difference between 90% and 100% is approximately 4% in waivers, 1% in deferrals and with 5% outstanding. For the EUR 2.3 million of outstanding, a significant amount is secured by guarantees or deposits. Next slide. The like-for-like rental growth was minus 3.2% in the first half of 2021. Decline in like-for-like rental growth is a result of lower occupancy rate and the substantial lease renewals with a rent decrease. The like-for-like rental growth in the first half of 2020 was minus 6.3%. Next slide. Certain segments have performed stronger during COVID-19. In the first half, approximately 39% of the rent was generated in strong performing sectors. Supermarkets and personal care did relatively well. Sports and home garden stores are even better than before COVID-19. Residential was also up. In fashion, we have seen that some retailers were performing stronger than others. Having a good online presence in combination with stores in the right location could make a lot of difference. The next slide. Vastned continues to focus on cost efficiency. Vastned realized a general cost reduction of 23% over the last 2 years and has reduced almost EUR 0.4 million in costs in the first half year -- first half of the year. The total costs are currently 24 basis points of gross asset value. The next slide. The direct result per share increased to EUR 0.88. The negative like-for-like rental growth was compensated by lower overhead costs, lower cost of debt and due to decreased debt. The lower amount of COVID-19 waivers compared with the same period last year resulted into a positive delta and an increase of the direct result. The next slide. In the first half of 2021, we have seen a relatively limited decrease of 1.9% in the value of our portfolio. The increase in the Dutch transfer tax for commercial real estate is 2%, is now fully reflected in the Dutch valuations. The same is true for the increase of 6% for residential units from 2% to 8%. The next slide. On the financial side, there are no real changes. Our cost of debt slightly decreased. Our loan-to-value is 44.2% and slightly higher, reflecting the 1.9% decrease in the total value of our portfolio. The next slide. In summary, in the first half of 2020, we delivered a relatively good performance despite challenging circumstances, with a direct result of EUR 0.88, a collection rate of 90% and an EPRA NTA of EUR 41.49 per share. Yes, then the next slide. Our answer. To shift in inner city demand requires diversification and mixed use. Diversification is achieved by changing the tenant mix and making it more future-proof, by understanding new retail trends and by having locations available that are suitable for new retail initiatives. We're also creating a plan to add more locations suitable for mixed-use initiatives. Increased demand for residential units and small offices in areas in and around high street is an attractive opportunity to diversify our rental revenue away from pure retail. In this way, Vastned can benefit from strong urbanism trends in inner cities. The next slide. We see an increased number of retailers embracing digital strategies and successful digital retailers looking for physical stores. All these so-called phygital strategies, a combination of digital and physical, drive decision for retailers where they want to be and with how many stores. Typically, we see that these existing and new retailers want to be highly visible, want to have highly visible locations in inner cities' high street. They want to have experienced stores that better support them in building up a customer relationship and communicate emotions, innovation and force the brand and express the retailer service orientation. The next slide. This graph shows that the Netherlands and Belgium suffered from low growth during the first phase of the pandemic but was never negative. France and Spain really suffered from negative growth in the first phase of the pandemic and show better recovery rates in 2021 given the low base in 2020. Currently, we clearly see that consumer confidence has turned positive across the board, resulting in higher spending. Both online and on-site retail sales are growing again, driven by significant increase in footfall. However, cities with large pre-COVID tourism numbers are still not seeing a full recovery and this might take time. At the same time, the conversion rates are higher and overall retail trade is growing significantly, with some sectors doing even better than before COVID, as explained before. The next slide. We believe Vastned is well positioned as a high street and inner city value creator. Vastned has a unique portfolio of high street retail and inner city mixed-use properties, well positioned for new retail trends. It will concentrate in winning cities, and it's about 3 to 4 per country, and improve the retail tenant mix by adding tenants with digital brands and retailers that prioritize phygital and buy-online, pickup in store concepts. And also, we would like to add strong suburban and mono brands that seek high street presence. It would also have an increased focus on mixed use, adding residential units and offices. We see redevelopment potential and selective investments combined with divestments. The next slide. To give an overview of the kind of new retail initiatives that we are interested as a landlord, we have 4 categories in mind. First, experience stores of digital brands; secondly, mono-brand retailers; and thirdly, suburban brands; and finally, supermarkets that increase their inner-city presence. In this first category, we see many new successful retailers, mainly in France. We're one of the strongest growing segments in the larger city, what is called the digital native vertical brands. We have many tenants and added new ones in recent years that are very successful, both online and with selective high street stores that they use to enforce the brand and provide a strongly desired total customer experience. We also see other digital retailers using experience stores to create more customer loyalty and better customer relations. In the next couple of slides, we will zoom into these new retail trends. The next slide. In France, many of our successful retail tenants carefully manage their supply chains and have integrated online and store sales. These so-called DNVBs are strong trends, and we tend to have the right location for them in Paris, Lille, Bordeaux and Leon what we believe are the winning cities in France. Next slide. Sézane is an excellent example of a retailer that combines digital and physical. It creates customer intimacy and an experience inside their stores that help to drive online sales. They don't call this a store. They talk about apartments, they tell the story, where customers feel at home and products are displayed as if standing in your own world. The next slide. Also in the Netherlands and Belgium, we see more experience stores of digital brands and retailers. A good example is Coolblue in Antwerp-Wilrijk and My Jewellery boutique in Arnhem. The next slide. Our portfolio includes several mono brand retail tenants that combine good visibility on high street with a strong online offering. Rituals and Nespresso are good examples. The next slide. High streets are attracting suburban retailers responding to urbanism trends for which Vastned offers attractive locations. We have a Heytens Decor in Antwerp, but we also see increased interest from large retailers like IKEA and Decathlon that want in addition to several locations also in the city stores for showcasing and enforcing the brand. A good example of this is IKEA that opened its new decoration concept store in April 2021 close to Vastned properties on Rue de Rivoli. The additional footfall also is beneficial to Vastned's tenants and drives up the market value of our properties. Next slide. Urbanism trends are driving increased demand for pedestrian convenience and curbside deliveries. Vastned actively engaged with tenants on these new concepts. Good examples are Carrefour and Auchan pedestrian drive location, but also an increasing number of smaller city stores of Carrefour, Jumbo and other supermarkets. Next slide. In the next 2 slides, we will also give some examples of creating more mixed-use. A good example is Vredenburg 9. In the first half, we accelerated the opening of the Jumbo City. On the first floor, new offices, the canteen and stores were realized for Jumbo. On the second floor, Vastned created 5 new apartments in addition to the 4 apartments on the third floor. This is what we consider to be a good example of creating mixed-use. It brings the following positive elements together: diversify our rental income, serve the local population, reduce exposure to fashion and realize value-add opportunity. Next slide. In the first half of 2020, Vastned also completed the development of Rue de Rivoli 102 in Paris with realizing the office on the first floor above Skechers. Now the property contains a mix of retail and offices. The rental income is more diversified and the sustainability has improved. Next slide. Sustainability is an important core value for Vastned in creating long-term value for its stakeholders. There are 3 areas that need to be highlighted looking at Vastned's sustainability performance in the first half of 2021. First, the preservation of cultural heritage. Vastned continues to invest in properties situated in historic city centers and increasingly invest in improving the sustainability ratings, thereby contributing to the preservation, the life span and the attractiveness of cultural heritage of historic city centers. Secondly, is increasing the housing stock within the historic city centers. By converting empty space above shops into residential units, city centers are becoming more lively after closing time while housing stock increases. These investments also aim to improve the sustainability ratings of our properties. We have realized 7 renovations, creation of apartments in the first half of 2021, which compares with 17 in total for the full year 2020. And then lastly is green financing. On the green financing, Vastned secured a committed EUR 40 million green revolving credit facility and has drawn approximately EUR 10 million on this new agreement in the first half of 2021. I would also like to add Vastned won the EPRA BPR Gold Award for the fourth time in a row for sustainability reporting efforts. Next slide. When we talk about optimizing the portfolio, we talk about concentrating the portfolio in winning cities, cities that drive due to urbanism trends, 3 to 4 cities per country, attractive, historic city centers and cluster in and around certain popular streets. As discussed before, we want to attract more tenants with strong digital presence combined with physical stores. We will focus on selective investments that strengthen our presence in winning cities and support us in adding more mixed-use and improving the tenant mix. We expect to finance selective investments by divestments in other parts of the portfolio. When we divest assets, we will be looking at the following characteristics: nonstrategic location, properties that are less attractive from a future tenant mix or mixed-use perspective, lack of full operational control over the property. The divestment and investment will fully depend on market circumstances, and also the timing will depend on the market circumstances. The proceeds for selective divestments will be used for selected investments and also to lower the LTV. Then the next slide. This is the Vastned's outlook for 2021. Barring unforeseen circumstances and under the condition of no new lockdowns in the second half of 2021 in the countries where Vastned is active, the expected range of direct result is EUR 1.80 to EUR 1.90 per share. Then to the next slide, is the interim dividend. Vastned will pay an interim dividend of EUR 0.53 per share. In line with the dividend policy, this interim dividend is equal to 60% of the direct result in the first half of 2021. I would like to thank you all for listening, and we're now opening the lines for questions.

Dear analysts, we are now opening the lines for questions. Operator, can you check if there's anyone that wants to raise a question.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Herman Van Der Loos from Degroof Petercam.

I had these two questions. The first is on the new rents. Are you meeting more requests to turnover rent? And is with floors, with what kind of floors? That's my first question. My second question is on -- yes, I'm sorry, each year I ask always the same question. Your leverage is going from 38% to 44% in a few years without any significant growth of the portfolio. On the contrary, you have been selling. I find nice that you sell, but without acquisitions, going to the future evaluation remains to do it and leverage continues to -- continues to increase. Is there a trigger or a level where you might be -- yes, you might need to sell assets more substantially and or you might need to raise equity?

Thank you, Herman, for your questions. Let me start with your first question on turnover rents. We have almost no turnover rents in our portfolio. And also we don't get a lot of requests for that. When we get requests, we are not willing to do turnover rents. It's not like a shopping center, we don't control everything. It's typically 1 unit per -- unit per unit. So for us, no turnover rent. I think that's quite clear. Then your second question on LTV. I think what you have seen, of course, is that the LTV goes up a little bit and it also has to do with revaluations which were negative. We are -- within the 44.2% where we are now is that we still feel comfortable. We are way within our covenant limits with our banks. So that's not an issue. We, of course, will sell assets. And also what I mentioned before is that we will use proceeds to also lower LTV, also see whether we can use proceeds to do investments. What we will not do at this stage is also no -- it's not necessary that we will not be a forced seller just to lower the LTV. Over time, we have mentioned before that we would like to lower our LTV to 40%, but it will take time and it will not be done through forced sales.

And the next question comes from the line of Romain Kumps from Kepler Cheuvreux.

So the divestments have been made in the Netherlands and Belgium over the past few years and a few changes actually in France. Where do you still see opportunities to divest in the coming 12 months? Do you see still in the Netherlands and Belgium or other countries?

I think, Romain, if you look at our portfolio is that the portfolio in France and Spain are the most concentrated. Especially if we look at smaller assets, we would like to sell, then it's most likely Belgium or the Netherlands. But what we also do is we look at all our assets and what we have mentioned that do the assets fit the strategy? And also, will the assets be part of the strategy in the future. So it could be that we also sell assets in some other places. But I think the focus will mainly be around Belgium and the Netherlands.

Okay. And for the potential for redevelopment into residential or office, do you also see that more in the Netherlands and Belgium?

I think the redevelopment possibility we see the most in the Netherlands, where we still have quite some possibilities to create the residential units. We also have some possibilities in Belgium. But also in France, we are -- in France, for example, we are now working on a unit which was rented fully to a fashion tenant. We're now going to split that, and it's going to be -- the first floor is going to be an office and the unit will be rented to another tenant, but they only want ground floor. So we do -- in every country, but in the Netherlands, we have the most the possibilities, but in the -- also in Belgium and France, we are looking into it.

Okay. And also regarding that, if I look at the creation and renovation of apartments, you've been making 15 per year over the last 7 years and just in H1 you've done 7. But you've just changed your strategy towards more renovation and redevelopment. So do you intend to accelerate that to over, I don't know, 30 apartments or something like that over the coming years?

I think what we -- we try to accelerate that and also in the current portfolio where we have the possibilities. The issue is always that you also should be able to do it because it's a lot of planning and it's also a lot of discussions with municipalities. So that's the one thing, but we try to accelerate to use all the possibilities we have and the ones we want to do ourselves. And of course, if we would look at new divestments, yes, then it's also important whether there are any opportunities to also create more and to do more to create value. So also with new investments, we always have a look into that.