Hap Stein
Analyst · Citi. Please go ahead
Thanks, Laura. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. I am very pleased with our first quarter results and with the completion of our merger with Equity One. The team has made extraordinary progress integrating the companies. The combined portfolio is demonstrating its exceptional quality with another quarter of being 96% leased and producing over 3.5% same property NOI growth. Our developments and redevelopments continued to perform well. Substantial synergies are already being realized. These collective achievements are reflected in our increased earnings guidance. I cannot overstate our team’s excitement and enthusiasm with the merger and further enhancement to our four strategic pillars. One, we own an unequalled portfolio of neighborhood and community shopping centers. Two, we have an industry leading development platform. Three, our business activity is supported by a fortress balance sheet. And four, we benefit from a special culture in a deep team of talented professionals. This compelling combination will grow cash flow and earnings, which in turn grow NAV, dividends and shareholder returns. Now, I would like to provide some perspective to the current challenging environment for many retailers and the negative headlines that have become part of our daily reading. Although we will certainly not be immune, there are compelling reasons why I feel that the sky is not falling and why I remain optimistic that well-conceived, well-located and well-merchandised retail real estate will succeed in this environment and Regency’s outlook remains extremely bright. During the 4 years I have been in the business, competition, retail bankruptcies and store closures have been integral parts of the landscape. We fully understand and appreciate that technology, particularly online shopping and an overabundance of space are combining with other factors to accelerate store rationalization. As a result, a number of lower quality centers will be losers, centers which will either struggle or not even survive. However at the same time, it is important to keep in mind that winning retailers who excel at being relevant to their customers are continuing to expand at a notable pace as they will need bricks and mortar space to service and sell to their customers. Regency’s portfolio is a balance of shopping centers, where the winners will thrive, centers that are convenient to the neighborhoods and communities with substantial purchasing power and supply constraints and are well-merchandised to other highly productive winning retailers. The vast majority of our threat comes from best-in-class, local, regional and national tenants that offer a durable combination of convenience, necessity, service, value and better shopping experiences. When disruption causes retailers in our portfolio to rationalize their store count, we have often found that our locations are must-keep or if the user vacates, bad news is typically good news as we are able to attract a better user at higher rents. Finally, our experienced team has a proven track record of navigating major disruptions in the cyclical and secular changes in our business. We employ those lessons learned in a rigorous and proactive approach to capital allocation, recycling and asset manager. These factors have all served to reinforce our conviction that Regency’s portfolio has never been better positioned to withstand the challenges and prosper from the opportunities that we encounter in the shopping center business. And there is no better evidence that Regency owns the winning shopping centers that have minimal exposure to recent bankruptcy as well as our substantial releasing success for those sites that did experience store closings. Before I turn the call over to Mac, I would like to acknowledge his added responsibilities for transactions, along with development as EVP of Investments. I will now turn the call over to Mac.