Wendy Simpson
Analyst · BMO. Please go ahead
Thank you, operator and welcome to everyone joining us today for LTC’s 2021 first quarter conference call. With me on the call are Pam Kessler, Co-President and Chief Financial Officer; and Clint Malin, Co-President and Chief Investment Officer. For the last year, I started our calls by offering thanks and gratitude to our operators for all they have done to keep their patients, residents, and staff safe. Today is no different. Now, however, for the first time in a long while, I am cautiously optimistic that some of the more daunting challenges presented by the pandemic and the many, many lives lost are mostly behind us, and that we have entered the recovery stage. With the high percentages of vaccinations administered to the senior population, skilled nursing centers and assisted living memory care communities should begin welcoming new patients and residents at increasing frequencies from the lower levels that we've seen over the last 12 months. We don't know with any certainty when census numbers will return to pre-pandemic levels, but anecdotal evidence from some of our operating partners is encouraging. As in 2020, some of our operators have needed rent deferrals and abatements. First quarter rent and mortgage interest income collections were 86.5%, excluding the first quarter reduced 2021 rent escalations, we provided to eligible operators in the form of rent credits. The credits were provided to give eligible operators additional working capital during the first quarter of 2021 and are expected to have an approximate $530,000 impact on our 2021 GAAP revenue and an approximate $1.3 million impact on our 2021 FAD. Approximately $292,000 and $1.2 million respectively, was recognized during the first quarter. We expect to recognize a decrease of approximately $170,00 and $133,000 in GAAP and bad revenue prospectively in the second quarter and a much smaller amount in the last six months of 2021. Currently, we don't anticipate providing additional across-the-board relief, but we'll continue to review relief requests, if any, on a case-by-case basis, keeping in mind the operators' ongoing operations, rent coverage, and corporate financial health and liquidity. Pam will discuss the specifics of current rent deferrals and abatements a bit later. One additional way we helped our operators through the pandemic is by providing attractive financing to our operators through our smart design program. The program creates safer physical environments for residents, family, and staff by utilizing state-of-the-art infection control protocols, including air filtration, bipolar ionization, UV sanitation devices, custom dividers, and touchless equipment. We are working in partnership with Avenue Development to assist our operators with turnkey and customizable retrofitting options. To-date, Smart Design is being implemented in 13 of our communities. Next I'll talk briefly about Senior Lifestyle. We are making progress on transitioning this portfolio with several of the transactions expected to close in the second and third quarters. As we disclose in a recent 8-K filing, Senior Lifestyle has not paid rent in 2021. Clint will provide details on this portfolio shortly. Regarding an update on Senior Care centers, I'll refer you to the same 8-K, which was filed with the SEC on April 19. Although, the M&A market has not changed much since we last spoke and we do not believe that LTC will engage in any large transactions in the immediate future, deal flow has picked up meaningfully. Over the last month in particular, we've seen a healthy uptick in inbound inquiries regarding preferred equity and mezzanine financing. We are performing due diligence on a host of these opportunities, which we believe have reduced risk profiles and strong returns, especially for development projects, whose success is not dependent on immediate lease up or current census. With respect to more traditional acquisitions, however, we're seeing more and more potential investments or pricing does not accurately represent what we see as the current value of the underlying properties. We have the ability to act quickly on investment opportunities as they arise and if they're accretive and provide value to LTC and our shareholders. I believe that LTC remains well-positioned in an industry that despite the pandemic has strong long-term fundamentals, which point to an increasing need for senior housing and care solutions. We are starting to see some stability in our operators. However, it is too early to predict the timing of a full recovery. In light of the matters discussed above, together with the uncertainty regarding the Senior Care bankruptcy, we do not plan to provide guidance again, until occupancy and census increases gain additional traction. It has been our Board's practice to support a dividend payout ratio of approximately 80% of FAD. As a result of the financial support, we are providing some of our operators and the significant lease defaults of Senior Lifestyle and Senior Care. Our 2021 dividend payout ratio will likely exceed the 80% target. However, we see our 2022 FAD recovery as we are able to totally transition the Senior Lifestyle portfolio to more stable operators and the issues involving LTC in the Senior Care bankruptcy are resolved. Before turning the call over to Pam, I'd like to recognize our newest board member Cornelia Cheng. Her addition brings to 50%, the number of LTC directors who are women. Cornelia will be instrumental as we further develop our diversity and ESG initiatives. With that, please go ahead, Pam.