Jay Whitehurst
Analyst · Citigroup
Thanks, Michelle. Good morning, and welcome to the National Retail Properties' first quarter 2017 earnings release call. I'm joined on this call by our CFO, Kevin Habicht. After some opening remarks, I'll turn the call over to Kevin to discuss our financial results in more detail. Before updating you on National Retail Properties, I want to take a moment to once again say a hearty thank you to Craig Macnab, who retired from his position as CEO and Chairman of the Board at the end of April. I can't say enough about Craig's positive impact at National Retail Properties. Under Craig's leadership, National Retail Properties delivered a total shareholder return that consistently beat the REIT equity averages. Of equal importance, he mentored and groomed an executive management team with the skills and culture to carry on after his departure. Craig left us better than he found us. And I'd like to thank our Board of Directors for allowing me the privilege to serve as the next CEO of National Retail Properties. It's a genuine honor to be associated with this fine company and all of our talented associates. Turning to our portfolio. Our diversified pool of over 2,500 primarily small box retail properties concentrated in lines of trade that are focused on services, customer experiences and e-commerce-resistant consumer necessities continues to perform very well, with occupancy staying generally constant at 99%. This level of occupancy is higher than our excellent long-term average of 97.5% and is a tribute to our strong tenant base and our focus on low investment per property and market rent. We were pleased to see the announcement that Seven & i, the parent company of 7-Eleven, is acquiring a majority of the Sunoco convenience store properties, including almost all of the Sunoco stores owned by National Retail Properties. 7-Eleven will become our new number 1 tenant at approximately 8.3% of base rent. This is a significant credit upgrade for our portfolio and is an example of how our relationship-focused acquisition model positions us to invest in strong regional and national operators at higher initial yields and with meaningful rent escalators who later become investment-grade tenants through growth and industry consolidation. One of our tenants, Gander Mountain, which comprise 12 properties or about 2.2% of our base rent, filed bankruptcy in March. The bankruptcy process is ongoing, and it's too early to announce any definitive outcomes today. We were pleased to see that Camping World, with which we have had a long-standing relationship, was chosen by the debtor as the winning bidder at the bankruptcy auction for certain assets of Gander Mountain, including the right to take an assignment of some of the Gander Mountain leases, all subject to the approval of the bankruptcy court. But it's too early to assess how or to what extent that might impact our particular Gander Mountain properties. In the meantime, our experienced leasing team is on the case and reports encouraging dialogue with potential tenants for many of our locations. When analyzed in the context of our annualized portfolio rental income stream of roughly $550 million, the incremental effect of the Gander Mountain bankruptcy will have a nominal effect on our overall financial results and our ability to continue our FFO per share growth. Moving on to acquisitions. During the first quarter, we selectively invested $108 million in 24 new retail properties at an initial cash yield of 6.9%. Our tenant relationships once again played an important role in our results as we did business with 20 relationship retailers in the first quarter, which comprised approximately 90% of our dollars invested. In the month of April, we closed on an additional 73 properties for $151 million at a comparable initial cash cap rate. We will provide more color on those acquisitions on our next earnings call. In terms of the impact on the current year's results, timing of acquisitions is arguably more important than volume, and our total of $259 million invested through April at an initial cap rate of near 7% positions us to deliver another year of solid core FFO per share growth. During the first quarter, we also sold 17 properties for just under $39 million at a cap rate of 5.7%. These dispositions included the sale of 10 SunTrust bank branches back to SunTrust at a mid-5s cap rate. Recycling capital from dispositions plays a meaningful part in our goal to perpetuate per share growth. Turning to our balance sheet. As Kevin will discuss in more detail, in February, we redeemed our 6 5/8% Series D preferred, which has effectively been prefinanced with our 5.2% Series F preferred issued in the fourth quarter of last year. While somewhat dilutive in the short term, these transactions highlight our multiyear view and our commitment to obtaining well-priced, long-duration capital when it is available. Against this backdrop, we're pleased to increase our guidance for core FFO per share to $2.44 to $2.48 per share. Before turning the call over to Kevin, let me address one question that I've heard a number of times during the past few months, that is, "What changes should investors look for in this era of new management at National Retail Properties?" The short answer to that question is you should not expect any dramatic changes. Kevin, Craig and I worked together for 13 years, and Kevin and I have worked together in one capacity or another for 25 years. We will continue to evaluate and refine our business model and adapt to the changing landscape of retailing, but you should expect us to remain focused on the strategic drivers of our long-term success at National Retail Properties, namely: One, a consistent focus on single-tenant net leased retail properties. The real estate attributes of single-tenant retail properties are far superior to the attributes of other property types, and the universe of opportunities to acquire such retail properties remains vast. Two, a broadly diversified portfolio of single-tenant retail properties that generates a stable, growing cash flow from long-term leases that span economic cycles. Three, a relationship-focused acquisition model that has resulted in high-quality investments with large regional and national retailers. Our proprietary tenant relationships allow us to obtain higher yields, superior leases and better-quality real estate locations. Four, active asset management, which focuses on maximizing the value of each individual asset to create incremental shareholder value. Five, a fortress-like balance sheet, which provides us with dry powder to address opportunities and withstand economic turbulence and which positions us to perpetuate our string of 27 years of consecutive annual dividend increases. And lastly, a team of great people and a supportive culture, which is the backbone of our success. 75% of our associates have been with the company for at least 5 years, and half have been here for 10 years or more. The senior management, which includes not just Kevin and me, but also our Chief Investment Officer, Paul Bayer; our Chief Acquisition Officer, Steve Horn; our General Counsel, Chris Tessitore; and our Chief Accounting Officer, Michelle Miller, has an average of 17 years of tenure at this company. That kind of institutional memory and long-term industry knowledge is invaluable. If we continue to execute on these drivers, we will consistently deliver core FFO per share growth and continue our outperformance of REIT averages on a multi-year basis. With that, I'll turn the call over to our CFO, Kevin Habicht, to provide more details on the first quarter financial results. Kevin?