W. P. Carey Inc. (WPC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary
February 12, 2025
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Peter Sands
executiveHello, everybody, and thanks for being with us today on this 2024 fourth quarter earnings call. Prior to starting, I want to note that certain remarks on this call are not historical facts and could be considered forward-looking statements. Factors that might lead actual results to vary materially from W. P. Carey's expectations appear in our SEC filings. A replay of this conference call will be accessible online in the Investor Relations area of our site at wpcarey.com, and it will stay archived there for roughly 1 year; you can also locate copies of our investor presentations and other related materials there. With that said, I'll turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Jason Fox.
Jason Fox
executiveThanks, Peter, and good morning to all of you. For W. P. Carey, 2024 marked a decisive turning point, as we completed our exit from the office sector and set a fresh baseline for AFFO that lays the groundwork for growth going forward; we likewise finished the year with robust fourth quarter investment volume, and the entire benefit of that will carry into our 2025 earnings. Looking toward the coming year, we see W. P. Carey as a compelling investment opportunity. We're expecting AFFO to grow around the mid-3% mark, based on cautious projections for how much we'll invest and how tenants will perform, given the unknowns tied to inflation, interest rates, and what the new administration could mean for markets. Add in our dividend yield, which is over 6%, and that points to a total return in the neighborhood of 10%. This morning I'll quickly walk through what we've been investing in lately and how solid our balance sheet remains, though the main focus of my comments will be the deal landscape and our ability to continue funding fresh investments without selling equity. I'll touch on tenant credit as well. Our CFO, Toni Sanzone, is going to walk everyone through the results and guidance, and we also have Brooks Gordon, who leads Asset Management, on hand for questions. Let's start with investments. During Q4, we closed deals totaling just north of $840 million — a quarterly record for us — and that pushed our full-year figure to roughly $1.6 billion, putting us in the upper portion of the range we'd guided. With 10-year treasury yields falling over the autumn, initial cash cap rates for what we bought in Q4 landed in the mid-to-low 7s, while the full-year average came in at 7.5%. We continue to lock in highly favorable rent escalation terms, which came in around the mid-2% on average and climbed as high as the 3% mark on select transactions. As a result, for the whole of 2024, the average yields on new investments across the lease terms remained higher than 9%, which produced strong returns compared to what we currently pay for capital—and even stronger ones, since the money we put to work came from cash we had built up earlier in the year instead of from issuing new equity. Through ABR, our 2024 investments contributed more than $100 million, on leases with a weighted average lease term of 17 years. North America accounted for approximately three-quarters of the volume we invested, with the U.S. making up the large majority of that; Europe represented one-quarter. While warehouse and industrial took up about 60%, a significant share also went toward U.S. retail. In the U.S., retail is still the biggest segment. When it comes to the net lease sector, we've completed retail transactions before, mostly in Europe though some in the U.S. as well. The key point is that we see putting more money into American retail as something that works alongside our core warehouse and industrial strategy, not as a replacement for it. Being able to tap debt capital at attractive pricing continues to give us an edge, which strengthens our capacity to close acquisitions in a way that adds value — and in our view, the market hasn't fully recognized this yet. The combination we have across U.S. assets. Because we carry debt denominated in both dollars and euros, the average interest rate we pay sits among the lowest in the entire net lease sector. Our plan is to keep financing a portion of our capital structure through long-term euro bonds, which right now carry pricing in the high 3% range. Pair that with U.S. bonds priced in the mid-5s, and we get an appealing funding source for net lease transactions, cap rates sitting in the 7s, and average yields above 9%. Over on the equity side, plenty of highly attractive capital sources are within reach — self-storage operating properties being the main one, though there are also other noncore assets priced attractively that we'd anticipate selling at cap rates substantially below where the proceeds could be put back to work in fresh investments. Beyond that, selling these assets will make our portfolio simpler still, cutting down considerably on the noncore operating assets we hold, and give us strong confidence in our ability to keep completing accretive net lease investments during a period when, in our view, our equity is undervalued. Now let's look at the deal environment. As I noted at the start, a range of uncertainties confronts markets right now — where interest rates are headed, inflation, and what the new administration might do. During the early portion of 2025, 10-year treasury rates jumped sharply. That could widen bid-ask spreads and put a damper on deal activity, though a rapid shift is possible should 10-year treasury yields keep declining and settle down. Bigger scale M&A in 2025 could open up sale leaseback opportunities as well, and looking at the medium or longer term, onshoring or nearshoring might deliver a tailwind for our investment activity and portfolio alike. The first quarter probably won't be as busy as the fourth, yet we keep uncovering appealing chances to deploy capital. More than $300 million of identified transactions sit in our pipeline at present, with most expected to close during this quarter, and roughly $100 million in capital projects are slated for completion within the year. Our initial guidance on investment volume reflects a more cautious stance, though, because visibility is limited this early in the year and uncertainty hangs over the transaction environment. If things become clearer regarding transaction activity later in the year, we would look to raise our outlook. We also feel quite confident that we can finance deal volume—even above the upper limit of the range we initially provided—without selling equity. Despite that cautious stance, to say it again: we view roughly 3.5% growth in estimated AFFO per share as a solid place to begin the year. Before I hand things over to Toni, who will go further into the assumptions behind our guidance, I want to share an update on the large tenants whose credit we are monitoring. At present, that means the 3 tenants named on earlier calls — True Value, Hellweg and Hearthside — which together now account for 4.5% of ABR. I'll walk through the specifics, but to sum things up: we've reached a settlement regarding True Value that ought to eliminate a significant source of investor uncertainty, whereas Hellweg and Hearthside remain basically the same as far as credit goes compared with the prior quarter. Since the last time we held an earnings call, Do It Best has closed on buying True Value and is paid up on rent across every one of our properties — that's 8 warehouses plus 1 paint manufacturing facility. We've worked out a deal with Do it Best, pending final paperwork, that covers a number of key items. Do it Best is keeping 6 facilities at the rents they currently pay, under leases whose weighted average lease term comes to 7 years, with ABR of $14.1 million. Rent on the other 3 assets will be paid through June of 2025, and at that point they'll be emptied out. We're actively putting them on the market and anticipate completing sales in the back half of the year. If those sales close on schedule, we'd anticipate only a minimal effect on 2025 AFFO, and that's already baked into our guidance. And finally, because Do It Best's credit is so strong, we no longer see it as a credit risk concern. The Hellweg picture has barely shifted since the prior quarter; they're still current on rent and still working through their turnaround plan aimed at cutting costs and managing liquidity, and they've managed to extend their debt maturities out to 2027. They keep confronting substantial operational headwinds stemming from weaker German consumer spending, something we're watching carefully — that includes ongoing conversations with Hellweg's management team and going over its financials as we get them. We're likewise continuing to act in ways meant to get ahead of any possible rent disruption. Given the particular interest we've gotten, we feel confident that other operators want our stores and that rents would broadly match what's being paid now, though that would involve some downtime in CapEx. We're additionally looking at a number of dispositions that might chip away at Hellweg's share of our ABR this year. Last, regarding Hearthside, our position hasn't changed — we don't anticipate any rent disruption. Hearthside aims to come out of bankruptcy in the earlier part of this year, and once that happens, we'll look at removing it from our credit watch list. I'll stop here and pass things to Toni for our results and guidance.
Toni Sanzone
executiveAppreciate that, Jason, and hello everyone. We wrapped up the year with a strong fourth quarter, posting AFFO per share of $1.21, bringing full-year AFFO to $4.70 per share, with the quarter standing out for record investment volume and organic growth across our portfolio. On the disposition side, we sold 5 properties in Q4, bringing in gross proceeds of $119 million. That brought our total disposition volume for the year to $1.2 billion, driven by office asset sales through our office disposition program as well as the U-Haul purchase option being exercised. Contractual same-store rent growth came in at 2.6% year-over-year for the fourth quarter, and we expect it to stay in the mid-2% range during the first quarter of 2025, then ease to an average in the low to mid-2s across the full year. Comprehensive same-store rent growth reached 2.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, reflecting vacancies, leasing, restructurings and rent recoveries. In the fourth quarter, we collected rent from cash basis tenants, which placed us in a net rent recovery position for the quarter, the bulk of which had been anticipated in our 2024 guidance. Right now, when we look at our 2025 AFFO guidance, we've built in somewhere between $15 million and $20 million to account for possible rent losses tied to tenant credit events. That's a bit more conservative than where we usually start the year, and it reflects the broader economic uncertainty we're seeing today. As the year goes on, we'll continue to share updates about tenant credit and adjust our numbers if needed. During the fourth quarter, leasing activity included 11 renewals or extensions, and things stayed on a positive track — we recovered 107% of prior rents overall, with positive re-leasing spreads in warehouse and retail. Re-leasing activity accounted for slightly less than 2% of portfolio ABR and added roughly 5.5 years of incremental weighted average lease term. For Q4, income from other lease-related items came in at only $1.3 million. That brought the full-year figure to $20.3 million, which was right in line with what we had expected. Based on the visibility we currently have, we expect other lease-related income to land somewhere between $20 million and $25 million in 2025, consistent with what we've seen in recent years. Because of the money we put into asset management efforts during 2024, we ended the year with a net lease portfolio containing 1,555 properties. That portfolio generated ABR exceeding $1.3 billion, had a weighted average lease term of 12.3 years, and posted an occupancy rate of 98.6%. As of year-end, our operating property portfolio was made up of 78 self-storage properties, 4 hotels, and 2 student housing assets. In the fourth quarter, operating property NOI dropped to $17.6 million. That decline reflects the fact that 12 self-storage operating properties were converted to net leases, which stems from the transaction with Extra Space that closed in September and that we talked about on our previous earnings call. Our operating asset portfolio, we expect, will generate operating NOI of $70 million to $75 million. This is an annual number, and it excludes any impact from dispositions we anticipate this year — specifically, sales of self-storage operating assets that our guidance assumes will occur primarily during the second half of the year. As soon as we gain clearer visibility into the timing of those asset sales, we will update our operating NOI estimate if that becomes necessary. Since we serve as outside advisors to NLOP, the full year 2024 brought in $6.6 million of asset management fees, along with $4.2 million from other advisory income and reimbursements. Looking ahead to 2025, those line items should total about $8 million, though management fees are projected to decline as NLOP divests more assets, while the reimbursement remains flat at $4 million. During the fourth quarter, nonoperating income was made up of $6.6 million in interest earned on cash deposits, $4.5 million in realized gains from currency hedges, and $2.8 million in dividends tied to our equity stake in Lineage. The figure landed at $13.8 million, which was basically unchanged from the third quarter, as reduced interest income got offset by bigger realized gains on currency hedges. Nonoperating income for the entire year reached $52.2 million. Looking at 2025, our guidance right now presumes nonoperating income will be in the mid-$30 million range. That assumes Lineage keeps its quarterly dividend flat at $2.8 million per quarter, interest income on cash drops to roughly $5 million for the year, and gains on currency hedges rise given how strong the U.S. dollar is at present. Let's now shift to the main factors behind our 2025 guidance. Looking ahead to 2025, our guidance calls for AFFO in the range of $4.82 to $4.92 per share. At the midpoint, that works out to roughly 3.6% growth. This assumes investment volume somewhere between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, with the funding coming mainly from accretive dispositions of noncore properties. Right now, we're modeling total dispositions of $500 million to $1 billion. We expect the vast majority of those to be opportunistic sales of noncore assets, with cap rates averaging in the low to mid-6s, and the proceeds redeployed into net lease assets at initial cap rates in the 7s. Should deal volume come in stronger than our initial assumption, we retain plenty of capacity to divest additional assets on an accretive basis. When it comes to our disposition guidance, the smallest piece should come from net lease dispositions made in the ordinary course, which will be roughly $250 million. For 2025, we expect G&A to land somewhere between $100 million and $103 million, while nonreimbursed property expenses should come in at $49 million to $53 million. On an AFFO basis, tax expense — mostly current foreign taxes tied to European assets — should fall in the $39 million to $43 million range. Now let's turn to the balance sheet and leverage. Successful execution in the debt capital markets kept supporting our investment activity. Throughout 2024, we brought in roughly $1.7 billion in debt capital, with a weighted average coupon of 4.3%, as we issued bonds at pricing that was attractive compared with the yields we got on new investments, and we also benefited from being able to tap the eurobond market. On the whole, the weighted average interest rate on our debt came to 3.2% for 2024, and we expect it to stay at or a bit under that level in 2025, since we keep benefiting from leading euro-denominated debt in our capital structure. We closed out 2024 with total liquidity of about $2.6 billion, because we were essentially undrawn on our $2 billion revolver while holding $640 million in cash. Since then, though, $450 million has gone toward repaying the senior unsecured notes that came due at the beginning of February. Now that our 2025 bond is taken care of, our debt maturity profile stays very manageable, made up of only about $200 million of mortgage debt maturing in 2025. The next bond maturity we face is the euro bond that matures in April of 2026. Thanks to our liquidity, we still have considerable flexibility to enter the bond market whenever we see market conditions as most favorable, even though our guidance at present assumes no debt issuance this year. We also anticipate recasting our 2026 euro term loan during this year, before it matures. As we closed out the fourth quarter, our primary leverage measurements landed right where they'd been throughout all of 2024. The ratio of debt to gross assets came in at 41.6%, placing it at the bottom edge of the mid- to low 40s range we aim for, while net debt to EBITDA ended 2024 at 5.5x, compared with our goal range of mid- to high 5x. Looking ahead to 2025, we anticipate that both of these critical leverage figures will remain comfortably inside our target ranges, particularly given our intention to finance fresh investments by selling assets. With that said, I'll hand the call back to Jason.
Jason Fox
executiveThank you, Toni. With the uncertainty that lies ahead as we move toward 2025, our initial guidance includes a certain amount of conservatism, covering both investments and tenant credit. Even with that uncertainty, we think our position for navigating the markets is a strong one, and we're confident about our capacity to execute during this year; the fourth quarter was very strong for us in terms of deal volume, and we can see a path to continuing to deploy capital during the first quarter. Although investment spreads are a bit tight relative to going in cap rates throughout most of the net lease sector, the spreads to average yields that we're producing, along with the related GAAP cap rates, are still highly attractive. Also, the dilutive headwinds we dealt with in 2024 from office dispositions and the U-Haul purchase option are entirely behind us now. Looking at the balance sheet, we continue to sit on the low side of every leverage target we have. The single bond maturity we have in 2025 is already taken care of, and our liquidity is still extremely high. Above all, we won't have to raise equity to fund deals in 2025. Rather, we'll tap alternative sources of capital via accretive asset sales, mainly by selling noncore operating assets at prices meaningfully inside of where we can reinvest those proceeds, plus net lease assets, which gives us confidence in our ability to keep doing deals and drive AFFO growth this year; that wraps up our prepared remarks, and I'll turn the call back to the operator for questions.
Brad Heffern
analystWhen it comes to tariffs, clearly there's been plenty of headlines and, naturally, plenty of ambiguity. I'm wondering whether you could share your perspective regarding how your portfolio could be impacted by them? And assuming that's shifting in any way, how do you approach fresh investments?
Jason Fox
executiveAbsolutely, Brad. Sure. I mean, tariffs definitely introduce some level of uncertainty into the market backdrop, and we touched on that briefly. And it's clear they might carry wider economic consequences, particularly for — or possibly for inflation and consequently rates. I mean, we are diversified. That, I believe, is a crucial form of protection inside our portfolio. And perhaps on the positive side, over the medium to long term, should tariffs prove significant and remain in effect, we might encounter some tailwinds arising from onshoring in manufacturing, and perhaps that would help our warehouse and industrial portfolio. Regarding fresh investments, we will keep up the same rigorous approach to underwriting; we consider the downside exposure and protections and the way we structure deals, just as we've always done, and we'll carry on with that. But, on the whole, I think we're going to need to respond to whatever tariffs turn out to be, since they've — it's been somewhat unpredictable.
Brad Heffern
analystAll right, understood. Then there were 2 additional tenant developments I wanted to ask about that didn't come up in the prepared remarks. Could you share your perspective on the JOANN's distribution center? And regarding Advanced Auto Parts, they're clearly shutting stores. I realize what you hold is distribution centers rather than stores, but it would be great to hear any update on where those stand.
Jason Fox
executiveYes, absolutely. Brooks, would you like to handle that?
Brooks Gordon
executiveOkay. Regarding JOANN's, they've now gone through a second bankruptcy filing within a span of two years, as you're aware, and we hold a single warehouse that represents roughly 20 basis points of ABR. The rent there sits below market, so our expectation is that we can get it leased up again rather efficiently. Having said that, our guidance does not factor in any retenanting assumption, though we are baking in that the company enters liquidation near the midpoint of the year. From a modeling standpoint, we view that as a cautious way to handle it. Turning to Advance Auto, we have ownership of 28 facilities. That's one master lease, accounting for approximately 1.4% of ABR, with 8 years remaining on the term. As a result, there's essentially no impact coming our way in the near term. A handful of warehouses will be shut down. I believe they made an announcement covering 3 of the ones we own, which hands us considerable flexibility to work on those properties while the lease is still active. Those should present solid chances for us to maybe drive rents somewhat higher at those locations, yet no real effects are anticipated or included in our models for the near term.
Rich Hightower
analystRegarding the pace of same-store growth, I believe I missed that remark. But were you saying that same-store growth for the portfolio — at least in the net lease portion — will slow down to the low 2s by the end of the year? I just want to confirm I have that correct.
Toni Sanzone
executiveYes. I'll handle that one. Rich, that's roughly right. My expectation is that the first quarter of 2025 will likely be our strongest figure, in the low to mid-2% range, and then we'll see it come down from there to the low 2s. Now, once again, at this point we are incorporating somewhat elevated inflation readings on the U.S. side. So we'll make adjustments as needed. But I don't believe that will cause any material movement.
Rich Hightower
analystOkay. Thank you, Toni — that's really useful. Now, turning to how we're deploying capital: clearly, a major driver of the attractive spread you're able to earn on European investments comes from borrowing costs compared with those in the U.S. And I suppose, broadly speaking, when it comes to the next additional dollar of capital that gets directed toward Europe, how comfortable do you feel about that, given all the things happening around the world right now?
Jason Fox
executiveYeah. Well, Europe is a place where we've had a presence going back a long way — since 1998. I'd say we understand those markets well, we have people on the ground, and our team there is European. So as with anything we pursue, we're extremely thorough when it comes to underwriting and the way we assess markets and, of course, tenant credit and so forth. So there's a rationale behind our long-standing desire to achieve bigger spreads in Europe, and perhaps we're able to do so. At present, we can borrow in euros at roughly 150 basis points tighter than what's available to us in the U.S. And I'd say cap rates sit in comparable ZIP codes across Europe and the U.S. — though naturally, there will be some differences from country to country and case by case. Still, on the whole, we're able to achieve larger spreads there, and we believe we're pricing in whatever added risk people might perceive in that part of the world.
Mitch Germain
analystNice work on the quarter. Jason, I'm just wondering — given the cap rates you're using for those dispositions, it clearly looks like a lot of self-storage is baked into that figure, as Toni mentioned; but I'm wondering, is there anything else sitting in what you'd call the noncore bucket?
Jason Fox
executiveYeah. I mean, at a high level, we discuss our disposition strategy and the way we intend to fund deals. We — I believe the majority of what's in there falls into noncore. Most of it, like you said, consists of operating assets, and within that largest chunk, storage makes up the biggest part, though there's also some student housing, plus, I'd add, an operating hotel that we'd probably sell this year too. Still, self-storage accounts for most of it; our target is to sell, I'd say, a portion of that portfolio, probably during the back half of the year. But broadly speaking, what we expect is that throughout the portfolio we dispose of, we'll produce roughly 100 basis points of favorable spread separating disposition cap rates and reinvestment cap rates; that's more or less our big round figure at the moment. And of course, as the year progresses and we finish some of those dispositions, we're able to give updates, but that's the rough math for you.
Mitch Germain
analystYou brought up roughly $400 million worth of deals in the pipeline that have been identified, compared with what you're guiding to. From a cadence standpoint, should we continue to assume things will lean toward the back half so they line up with when those sales close?
Jason Fox
executiveYeah. That's a fair question. Our disposition guidance at the midpoint sits at 750 right now, and it's likely somewhat more weighted to the back half, though how much we actually dispose of and when probably depends more on investment volume and how quickly we pace investments. We try to align those as well as we can. So there will be some movement in and out over the course of the year, but the figures Toni walked through are likely the best steer we can offer at this point.
Mitch Germain
analystExcellent. One brief item for Toni, then I'd like to squeeze in another if possible. Toni, we picked up on something — is anything unusual showing up in interest expense? Compared with the prior quarter it came down, and clearly you were carrying somewhat more debt ahead of selling — pardon me, ahead of redeeming the bond in February. Absent the K being filed, does that figure contain anything odd?
Toni Sanzone
executiveNo. My view is that the proper approach is examining interest expense alongside interest income, netted against each other. On a year-over-year basis, as I mentioned, many of our maturities have already been dealt with. Benchmark rates are coming down relative to where they sat in 2024. So comparing year over year, netted out, net interest income tied to the cash we held across our deposits ought to be roughly flat versus a year ago. Therefore we aren't facing any headwinds as we move into '25, and nothing disruptive or material occurred during the fourth quarter, assuming that's the point you're raising.
Smedes Rose
analystI'd like to zoom out a bit here. You mentioned cap rates for Q4, and it sounds like you're expecting a fairly comparable tempo in 2025. That said, with the 10-year still climbing, do you figure sellers will have to adjust what they're asking for, maybe more toward what works for you? Or does it seem more probable that deal activity just decelerates given where things stand right now? I'm just curious what your take is on all that.
Jason Fox
executiveYeah. Honestly, forecasting this is tough. My sense is that during Q4, cap rates on transactions dipped somewhat. They landed just under what we averaged across the year. I believe that mirrors a reduced — both the reduced — 10-year back then, during Q4, perhaps in its earlier stretch, we observed it sitting in the mid- to high 3s around that period. On top of that, I think people anticipated that rates would decline further as the Fed kept cutting. That view has shifted somewhat, I'd say. And clearly, what's fresh today is that inflation reading coming in hot. So over the next several weeks or months, we'll find out what effect that has; but yeah, over the long haul, cap rates are definitely going to move in line with long-term interest rates. Near term, though, it introduces some choppiness, likely pushing bid-ask spreads wider to a degree, which could weigh on deal volume. I suspect that partly explains why we put out deal volume guidance in what I'd characterize as a cautious range, since uncertainty exists right now, and it's unclear how that translates into what sellers require and anticipate, and what that means for whether they come to market. Still tough to forecast, clearly, but over the long run, cap rates should definitely follow interest rates, and we'll just have to watch where those head.
Smedes Rose
analystYes. All right. All right. Then for 2024 — I realize you made certain investments in Mexico as well as Canada. I'm just curious whether you're hitting the brakes or reconsidering the way you evaluate putting money into those two nations, since there's quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding possible tariffs.
Jason Fox
executiveYes. Regarding the transactions we completed in those two nations, in Mexico, I believe there was 1 deal; the company was based in the U.S., a major firm, and I believe among the bigger privately held industrial conglomerates. So solid credit. Least important is that it's denominated in U.S. dollars. These were also extremely high-quality properties, with a long-term lease. So sure, there could be some near-term swings, and perhaps in how Mexico is perceived depending on what occurs with tariffs, and I'd say the same might hold for Canada. But since we hold long leases with strong credit, there aren't long-term worries there. We'll continue watching those markets. At times, a bit of dislocation or uncertainty can generate opportunity too. I believe we'll want to ensure we structure them properly so that there's no sort of short-term exposure that would worry us. But on the whole, I don't believe it significantly alters the way we view Mexico or Canada, certainly over the long term.
Anthony Paolone
analystSo if I run a quick calculation based on the disposition guidance you gave versus that $70 million to $75 million of operating property NOI, it looks like roughly 40% to 50% of it gets sold during this year. So I'm curious how you're viewing the remaining portion, and is that something you'll keep winding down in 2026? And by '27 none of it is left, or any other thoughts?
Jason Fox
executiveYes. I'd say perhaps the base case sits at the midpoint of the disposition range, and your calculation is likely correct. But we'll continue assessing our funding requirements as deal volume evolves. And we definitely have room to push further into storage; plus we'd like to observe how the transaction market treats storage. I'd say possibly, if not during this year, then likely the following year, we'll largely exit the operating storage business, perhaps completely. I believe there will be chances to sell, though there may also be chances to convert a portion into net lease too. But at this point, I'd say there's somewhat of a newer range regarding how we think about what we'll do with the storage properties we currently hold.
Anthony Paolone
analystUnderstood. Alright. Moving to my second point, returning to those credit-related matters. You addressed quite a bit regarding the particular companies, though perhaps I overlooked it. What does the wider bad debt figure look like, so to speak, within the 2025 guidance? I'm simply attempting to determine if there's any buffer past the entries you referenced, such as True Value and JOANN's and so forth?
Jason Fox
executiveYes. Toni, would you like to handle that guidance figure?
Toni Sanzone
executiveYeah. I'd say the starting outlook we gave includes a credit loss figure somewhere between $15 million and $20 million. That's roughly 50 basis points wider than the point where we'd normally kick off a year, and honestly it just comes down to the wider economic backdrop. What we actually did was assess risk from the ground up, looking at each tenant individually, and then work out a spread of potential results. We also approached it from the top down, and we deliberately baked in a bit of caution to account for some level of unpredictability. So on the whole, I believe we addressed the bigger tenants. We're not anticipating any near-term trouble with them, though we do again have a wide spectrum of possible outcomes that the $15 million to $20 million band would comfortably absorb across the year.
Anthony Paolone
analystAll right, I just want to confirm — does that $15 million to $20 million figure take in True Value and JOANN's, or would those be separate?
Toni Sanzone
executiveYes, it covers them. Everything is included in that amount. That applies to each tenant we hold. And, as Jason mentioned regarding how things turned out with True Value, we anticipate very little negative impact there; even so, it takes in all the items we've talked about.
John Kim
analystI know just 1.8% of leases are up this year, but could you give us more detail, particularly for warehouse and retail, where recapture rates are stronger in 2025 — or was that last quarter?
Brooks Gordon
executiveAbsolutely. So 1.8% expire in 2025. Like you mentioned, that's a pretty tiny figure. Most of those, I'd say, already have deals underway. Things are moving along well; I believe we'll see 1 nonrenewal during the second half, involving a few warehouses in Europe that we're marketing right now, with sensible rents in that market. We'll keep working on it. Looking at the property mix, warehouse and industrial make up the vast bulk. Retail accounts for roughly 20%, with the remainder being warehouse and industrial. Overall, a quite manageable lease expiration picture for 2025.
John Kim
analystAll right, and after that you mentioned euro-denominated debt as an appealing place to get capital. At present, you've got roughly $5 billion of euro debt. Assets, perhaps around $6 billion, more or less. On your side, I'm curious where you view loan-to-value for your year exposure? And what amount of room do you have to take on additional borrowing?
Jason Fox
executiveYeah. Regarding loan to value, we are definitely within range, or possibly even under the range we've observed among other large REITs that carry euro debt and have a European footprint. We're likely in the 70%, 80% range, and that's an estimate and somewhat of a guess on my part; when it comes to limits, I believe we could go higher, and part of that will hinge on the deal activity we're pursuing and what our currency needs are. But we definitely appreciate the flexibility that comes with being able to issue bonds in various currencies, and Europe certainly provides that for us.
John Kim
analystDoes this alter your view on acquisitions in Europe? I'm aware there are questions on the other side regarding the risks of foreign exposure. But does it make you more willing to buy assets in Europe?
Jason Fox
executiveYes. Like I mentioned before, I believe we're earning wider spreads there, since at present we can borrow roughly 150 basis points inside of where borrowing is possible in the U.S; so generating wider spreads there is something we do like. I think that has been true historically, whenever we've been purchasing assets. But I think there's a chance to lean into pricing perhaps a little bit more if we believe we're seeing the right deals; and I think that's what we expect.
Greg McGinniss
analystJason, would you mind going a bit deeper on what you said about retail being complementary to the industrial and warehouse holdings?
Jason Fox
executiveYeah, absolutely. What I mean is that we're constantly seeking ways to broaden our opportunity set, and our diversified approach definitely helps with that. In European retail, we've had activity for a good while now. Here in the U.S., we've also been involved, though I'd characterize it as more opportunistic. So at this point, I believe we said on a call or 2 back that we're stepping it up with a dedicated team. But importantly, in my view, we want to be sure it's complementary. Our focus isn't moving away from warehouse industrial. This will come on top of what we do in warehouse industrial. And the expectation is that we're widening our opportunity set, which can assist us in doing more deal volume and in the end produce more growth, but it isn't replacing industrial warehouse.
Greg McGinniss
analystAll right. Regarding that investment pipeline you mentioned before — can you tell us how much of it is U.S. retail? And what direction do you see that going for the whole year? It would also be helpful if you could include cap rates and escalators for retail deals compared with industrial ones.
Jason Fox
executiveYes, absolutely. Maybe we start with the fact that at this moment our pipeline sits above $300 million in identified transactions, plus there's an additional $100 million in capital projects slated to close during the year. That gives you a sense of what we can see today. My sense is those capital projects are mostly nonretail — more expansions in warehouse and manufacturing. There may be some retail tied to that, including the Las Vegas loan, which would belong in that category. During the prior year, retail accounted for roughly one-third of our deal. This year it's a bit lighter as we begin; depending on how you slice the pipeline, it may land somewhere between 10% and 20%. On average, I'd say cap rates are likely close to the targets we have across the portfolio — in the 7s. Retail has somewhat lower bump structures. So when you look at average yields, or GAAP cap rates, the retail we're going after will probably come in a little inside what we can produce, certainly in manufacturing and often in warehouse too. That's more or less how we see it.
Jim Kammert
analystCan you refresh my memory on what share of your ABR comes with tenant financials or reporting, and how often does that happen?
Jason Fox
executiveBrooks, would you like to handle that one?
Brooks Gordon
executiveYes. Essentially, every tenant — well, there may be the occasional exception, yet truly substantially all of them provide us with financial reporting. Every lease differs, though generally speaking, what we receive is quarterly unaudited information, usually with a lag of roughly 45 days. After that comes annual audited reporting, delayed by approximately 60 days on average — perhaps somewhat longer when it comes to the audits. Beyond that, for specific deals, particularly in retail, we also obtain store-level financials, and additionally from certain manufacturing ones.
Jim Kammert
analystGreat. Then, following on from that second part of the question, how would you say your process for monitoring tenants and credit, along with its overall weight, has developed across the past 2 years? What I mean is, you've handled the few credit issues that have surfaced so far really well, but have there been any adjustments to the team, the staffing, and the level of rigor you apply?
Brooks Gordon
executiveWell, a really strict credit review process has always been in place for us, covering both new investments and things on an ongoing basis, and it's driven largely by tenant relationships along with monitoring of financial statements. What I'd point to as incremental changes is the stuff we've decided to make public. So as an example, our top 10 list has been expanded considerably, out to the top 25. We've made it a priority to call out particular larger tenant situations on a recurring basis and give updates on those directly; and then finally, as Toni described, offering what we see as a conservative and truly all-inclusive credit reserve bucket. That's more or less the most direct way to model credit risk. So our confidence in the process is high; we've improved some things when it comes to disclosure and communication, and we'll keep doing so.
Michael Goldsmith
analystI'd like to keep digging into the retail expansion topic. You closed a portfolio transaction involving some Dollar Generals. I realize you don't have much exposure to that category, perhaps compared with certain peers who've concentrated more heavily on retail as time has passed. Still, could you share your current read on Dollar stores? What is it about them that gives you confidence to move in right now? Also, are you thinking about adding further exposure to this category down the road?
Jason Fox
executiveAbsolutely, Michael. Yes, we wrapped up a roughly $200 million transaction involving Dollar General assets during Q4. A few additional ones from a single seller will carry into Q1 — approximately $20 million more, give or take. Still, this was a fairly standard Dollar General investment. Clearly these are standalone properties, and they're extremely granular. Altogether, roughly a bit more than 100 properties, distributed throughout 21 states. Honestly, I'd call it aligned with the strategy we've described of growing our presence in U.S. retail, where we're able to produce additional, greater deal flow. Dollar General appeals to us since we regard it as the best among the discount retailers. Regarding timing, this sector fell somewhat out of favor at certain moments in 2024, which opened up what may have been a slightly more appealing opportunity for us. And as you pointed out, a lot of our rivals already carry quite full Dollar store exposure. That let us build what I'd describe as a fairly meaningful position without acquiring any excessive concentration compared with our top 25. Actually, this position hardly makes it into our top 20, so that captures the thinking behind it. We remain fond of the credit in spite of several rough patches it experienced during 2024. From a cash flow perspective, we don't see that as a risk. We absolutely regard it as a secure investment. Cash flow will continue for the duration of the lease. Furthermore, I believe these properties typically display robust renewal traits too. So, will we pursue additional deals? As I noted, a few more sit in our pipeline. I believe there are 9 additional stores likely to close during Q1. Past that, I'd say it hinges on the economics. Even so, my guess is we'll explore more eventually.
Michael Goldsmith
analystThat's quite useful. As a quick follow-up, you completed a data center transaction during Q4 as well. What would increase your willingness to pursue more data center opportunities and additional deals within that segment?
Jason Fox
executiveYes, absolutely. Yes. During Q1, we closed 1 data center transaction; it was an acquisition of roughly $100 million, a data center just over 200,000 square feet leased to an entity named Center Square. It's located in Weehawken, New Jersey, in case you know the New York market. That sits only a few miles from New York City, and in our view the rent is significantly under market. Strong credit. They operate 72 locations. They're essentially a co-locator. That's roughly their area of focus. My understanding is they supply approximately 400 megawatts of power capacity. And we're attracted to the basis. It comes to roughly $8 million per megawatt. So it's a solid deal for us. Would we pursue more like this? Yes, we've devoted time to data centers. We've collaborated with advisers and bankers in that sector. I'd say this particular deal was somewhat unique; but yes, we'll see whether it's something we can expand upon.
John Kilichowski
analystOn a few of the calls from competitors, we've heard that private-side rivalry is heating up during this year. What I'd like to know is how much that factor is driving the reduced acquisition guidance, beyond what might simply be the usual cautious approach?
Jason Fox
executiveYeah, I'd say I agree with that take. Competition has definitely increased somewhat, in my view. Look, the U.S. market — particularly the U.S. — has never lacked competitors. We've seen some private equity players enter the space, and at least one of those firms has been pretty aggressive pursuing certain portfolio deals that we might consider to be on the weaker side. It seems as though the lending markets were beginning to recover. Whether rate volatility ends up affecting that, we'll have to wait and see; but yeah, look, the U.S. has remained competitive, and all of that gets taken into account when guidance is set, and it likely contributes to the cautious stance right from the beginning here. Europe, I'd say, has less competition, which is something we've consistently appreciated about it. From a public company perspective, there isn't really an established net lease market there, and definitely no pan-European rival; so it's a bit quieter over there, but yeah, I'd basically second that — competition is increasing somewhat.
John Kilichowski
analystUnderstood. Then perhaps only to clear up something you said earlier, I believe during the opening remarks. I simply want to confirm I caught it correctly. Hearthside, I realize there could be — there is an opportunity to possibly rework rents, yet it sounds as though you believe you will recover all of it. I just want to confirm that I heard it correctly. At this stage, are you ruling out any rent restructuring?
Jason Fox
executiveNo. We have a — this is a large business. They are in bankruptcy. My guess is that they will emerge from bankruptcy, probably in the first quarter; we will find out what the precise timing is. Plus we possess extremely essential assets that turn out a substantial share of the goods they make, and their clients are the major consumer packaged goods firms that depend on them for much of their outsourced manufacturing. So indeed, we believe our plants are necessary, and as a result there won't be any rent interruption, and we will move through bankruptcy without any interruption, and that is what we expect at present.
Spenser Allaway
analystRegarding those storage properties you've designated for disposition, have you started the marketing effort? Also, do you have any sense of how many potential buyers are out there? I ask because the sector clearly hasn't been in favor. Given where the housing market stands, that doesn't appear likely to improve. On top of that, these assets have already been reoperated, so there's generally less operational upside left for anyone who might buy. So could you elaborate on the buyer pool as it stands today?
Jason Fox
executiveSure. I'll handle this one, and Brooks, feel free to jump in with anything else. Right, but we haven't brought it to market so far. We're essentially in a pre-marketing phase at the moment, working through the portfolio and figuring out which sub portfolio we intend to sell. It might go as 1 large portfolio. It might go as several smaller to medium-sized portfolios. I believe we can stay flexible on that. My expectation is that we'll size it, and how we market it will depend on our read of the buyer pool — how deep it is and how large the targets are; so there aren't any real specifics at this point, Spenser, on how we're viewing that; but I think we'll provide an update once we're further along in that process. As for the storage fundamentals. Right. I mean, look, they aren't as strong as we might hope for. My sense is that same-store comps are becoming easier versus last year. There may be room for more housing mobility if mortgage rates decline or once we reach the second half of the year. There's definitely plenty of pent-up demand for people changing homes; so that could begin showing up at some point; and that's clearly a major factor for storage. Still, I think on the whole, we remain comfortable and anticipate that throughout our disposition plan we can likely achieve 100 basis points of spread between what we sell and what we buy; and I believe that will deliver some solid growth for us.
Farrell Granath
analystFarrell here. I was wondering — since the deals you've bought have usually leaned toward sale leasebacks — could you share your read on what sale leasebacks look like in today's market? And how are you weighing that moving forward within your acquisition guidance versus portfolio acquisitions?
Jason Fox
executiveYeah, absolutely. Going back historically, I'd say most of our new deals, and in certain years perhaps the overwhelming majority, have been sale leasebacks or build-to-suits, and those two carry very similar traits. Last year, I'd call it somewhat of an outlier. More than 50% of what we closed last year consisted of existing leases, whether from state developers or from sellers of portfolios. We're hoping to do somewhat more of that again this year; but as things stand right now, I'd say our pipeline has shifted back to being more heavily tilted toward sale leasebacks. And look, sale leasebacks do have some degree of correlation with M&A; and I believe people expect that once we move into 2025, M&A activity may improve. That said, it isn't solely dependent on M&A — clearly, during a down cycle or when there's dislocation in the financing markets, sale leasebacks offer a solid substitute for debt or equity capital; and I think we've witnessed plenty of that across the last couple of years, and perhaps there will be chances to do additional transactions of that kind down the road; and naturally, we've completed many sale leasebacks together with private equity sponsors, and we have a strong bench of relationships there that we can draw on and supply capital whenever it's required. So yeah, it remains a market we depend on fairly heavily, though perhaps somewhat less than in the past, since I think we're able to lean into some existing leases, and maybe that will hold true, particularly with U.S. retail.
Farrell Granath
analystAnd one more thing regarding your purchase of Tidal Wave Auto Spa. I'm just wondering what your views are on the carwash sector. Anecdotally, I've been picking up on more pressures concerning that space, and what do you think about further growth there?
Jason Fox
executiveYes. Of course, Brooks, would you like to handle that?
Brooks Gordon
executiveAbsolutely, we've completed a few car wash deals, so our exposure there is pretty limited. The story that came out, though, I believe, had to do with Zips filing for bankruptcy. Ours were done alongside a firm named Tidal Wave, which we consider a truly top-tier operator, with strong sponsorship, and honestly a very different situation from Zips. That being said, our investment exposure remains quite small. Even so, we genuinely like the locations, and Tidal Wave is an excellent operator.
Peter Sands
executiveWe appreciate all of you taking the time to follow W. P. Carey. Should any further questions come up, feel free to reach Investor Relations at (212) 492 to 1110; that wraps up our call for today. You're welcome to hang up now.
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