Theodore E. Guth
Analyst · KeyBanc
Thanks, Jordan. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to start with our results, [indiscernible] which I'll address our office and multifamily fundamentals and then provide some color on our updated 2013 guidance. Compared to the same period in 2012, our 2013 first quarter FFO increased 7.1% to $64.1 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, treating debt interest rate swaps as fully terminated in the quarter of termination. Our AFFO increased 21.8% to $50.1 million, or $0.29 per diluted share. We grew our first quarter 2013 total office revenues by 1% compared to the same period in 2012, with increasing parking and other income, as well as tenant recoveries. The increase in tenant recoveries largely reflects a timing shift as we completed more prior-year tenant CAM reconciliations during Q1 this year than we did in the same quarter of 2012. As a result, we expect less tenant recovery from prior-year reconciliations during the second and third quarters this year. As Jordan mentioned, our operations group did an excellent job controlling expense growth during the first quarter, with operating expenses rising only 1% from the same period in 2012. We currently expect that same-store operating expenses for all of 2013 will increase between 1% and 2%. For the first quarter of 2013, our G&A totaled $7.1 million or 4.9% of total revenues. We continue to run one of the most efficient operating platforms in our peer group, with our G&A and CapEx among the lowest as a percentage of revenue. Comparing the results for our combined office and multifamily same properties in the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2012, revenues increased 1.4% on a GAAP basis and 2.1% on a cash basis. Expenses increased by 0.9%, both on a GAAP basis and on a cash basis, and net operating income increased 1.5% on a GAAP basis and 2.7% on a cash basis. Cash same-store NOI on a quarterly basis is very sensitive to the timing of relatively small dollar amounts. As the result of the timing of tenant recoveries that I already mentioned, as well as AIG's higher free rent during the third and fourth quarters, we are projecting that our 2013 cash same-store NOI will be between 1% and 2% greater than in 2012. Turning to office fundamentals. During the first quarter, we increased the lease percentage for our total office portfolio by 30 basis points to 91.4%, while our occupancy rate declined 30 basis points to 89.3%. As we discussed on our last call, we had a number of expected Q4 tenant departures that were deferred until 2013. Excluding the effect of these delayed tenant move-outs, in the first quarter, our leased rate increased by 70 basis points, and our occupied rate increased by 10 basis points. During the first quarter, we signed 179 office leases covering 754,000 square feet, including 237,000 square feet of new office leases. Our annualized TI and leasing commissions in the first quarter are among the lowest in the last 3 years. We are now raising office rents in Honolulu and continue to show higher net effective office rents in all of our office submarkets other than Warner Center. Our rents continue to roll down from leases signed during peak periods, although those leases represent a smaller percentage of expiring leases each quarter. Excluding the AIG lease, during the first quarter, on a straight-line basis, our average rent on executed office leases was 3.8% lower than the average rent -- expiring rent for the same space. On a cash basis, our beginning cash rent on executed office leases was 1.4% lower than the average starting rent, and 13.7% lower than the average ending rent on the expiring lease for the same space. The difference in these numbers reflects the impact of our annual rent bumps. On a mark-to-market basis, our office asking rents were an average of 3.3% lower than our in-place cash rents. This differential reflects a number of factors, including our built-in annual rent escalations. On the multifamily side, our 2,900 units were 99.6% leased at March 31, 2013, with continued strong rental increases. During the last 12 months, we have raised our average asking rent on new residential leases by 5.8%. Recurring capital expenditures for our apartment communities during the first quarter of 2013 averaged $66 per unit, down from $110 per unit during the first quarter of 2012, largely reflecting timing differences. Now turning to our balance sheet. As we mentioned on our last call, in January we paid approximately $8 million to purchase an additional 3.25% interest in Douglas Emmett Fund X, and an 0.9% interest in Douglas Emmett Partnership X. These funds collectively own 8 properties totaling 1.8 million square feet of space in our core submarkets. Our weighted average ownership percentage in these properties is now just under 60%. During the first quarter, we used $90 million of our cash on hand to reduce the outstanding balance of our April 2015 loan to $150 million. At the end of the quarter, we still had over $292 million in cash on our balance sheet. Our net leverage was 41% of enterprise value, well within our target range. We continue to have ample liquidity for potential acquisitions and other working capital uses. As Jordan mentioned, we also expect to use a portion of our cash on hand to complete the purchase of 8484 Wilshire later this month. The REIT will own 100% of this multitenant property, and we will not use any debt to close. On April 30, 2013, we closed a $325 million loan to refinance an existing loan to one of our unconsolidated funds, reducing its outstanding debt by $40 million. The new loan matures on May 1, 2018, and we have effectively fixed this interest rate at 2.35% per annum until May 1, 2017. Finally, we have increased our guidance for 2013 FFO to between $1.43 per share and $1.49 per share. This increase primarily reflects better cash NOI and our acquisition of 8484 Wilshire. Somewhat lower interest expense and G&A is offset by higher share count as a result of increases in our share price. For more information on the factors underlying this guidance, please refer to the new schedule we've added to the back of our earnings package. With that, I will now turn the call over to the operator so we can take your questions.