Good morning. My name is Alana, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to CT REIT's Q4 2021 earnings results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press the pound key. The speakers on the call today are Ken Silver, Chief Executive Officer of CT REIT, Kevin Salsberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of CT REIT, and Lesley Gibson, Chief Financial Officer of CT REIT. Today's discussion may include forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's assumptions and beliefs.
These forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Please see CT REIT's public filings for a discussion of these risk factors, which are included in their 2021 MD&A and 2021 AIF, which can be found on CT REIT's website and on SEDAR. I will now turn the call over to Ken Silver, Chief Executive Officer of CT REIT. Ken?
Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We're very pleased to welcome you to CT REIT's fourth quarter 2021 investor conference call. This time a year ago, we were anxiously awaiting the rollout of vaccines and the expected end of the pandemic. While Canada's vaccination program has indeed been successful, the coronavirus presented us all with more twists and turns, and 2021 proved to be another challenging year. Yet again, we look forward to spring and a much hoped for and needed return to normal.
From a business perspective, and notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic-related challenges, CT REIT once again delivered a healthy set of results in Q4 and for the full year in 2021, with strong growth in AFFO per unit, continued high occupancy rates, attractive new investments, and a growing pipeline of developments, and another distribution increase, our eighth since our IPO and third since the start of the pandemic, all supported by a strong balance sheet and credit metrics. As Kevin and Lesley will detail in a few moments, our business model, focused on net lease assets with investment-grade tenants and long lease terms and a growing pipeline of investments, combined with conservative financial management, provides a compelling combination of growth and resilience. In 2021, we began to extend leases with Canadian Tire, providing continuing annual rent escalations and further visibility to extremely low lease turnover.
This efficient model provides ongoing growth in cash flows and largely avoids temporary vacancy and leasing CapEx. We kicked off 2022 with another successful unsecured debt offering, redeeming a series of bonds maturing later in the year. With no additional significant debt maturities until 2024 and a weighted average term on our debt of 7.2 years, we're pleased with how well-insulated we are from rising interest rates. As we have since our IPO, we continue to build on this extremely healthy core portfolio with incremental investments, which have totaled in excess of CAD 2 billion.
Yesterday, we announced the development of a new 350,000 sq ft distribution center on lands we acquired a few years ago from the City of Calgary, adjacent to two distribution centers we previously acquired, the larger of the two with direct access to the CP Intermodal Yard. This development will complete the build-out of this block adjacent to the rail yard, making what we call the Dufferin District a key logistics hub. Notably, we will be building it to a net zero standard, an important step forward on our emerging ESG path. With respect to our joint venture with Oxford Properties on Canada Square at Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto, we continue to make progress towards an expected start of phase one of the redevelopment in 2023 following completion of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and received requisite municipal approvals.
On the municipal front, we have received input from the City of Toronto and feedback on our application from the extensive public consultation process, which Oxford led over the course of 2021. Overall, we anticipate delivering an even more compelling mixed-use, transit-oriented, and sustainable development with significant community benefits on one of the most important crossroads in the City of Toronto. Back in December, our board announced the appointment of Kevin Salsberg as President and CEO of the REIT upon my retirement at the end of May. While this is not my last opportunity to address you, I do just want to remark that my retirement reflects my absolute confidence in where the REIT is positioned today and going forward, as well as in Kevin, Lesley, and the rest of the CT REIT team to deliver on its promise.
With that, I will now turn the call over to Kevin and Lesley before we ask the operator to open it up for your questions. Kevin?
Thanks, Ken, and good morning. As highlighted in our press release yesterday, we are pleased to announce four new investments this quarter totaling CAD 71 million. These new projects include the expansion of two existing Canadian Tire stores in Bedford and Sydney, Nova Scotia, the vend-in of land and development of a new Canadian Tire store in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Québec, which is a bedroom community located just outside Québec City, and finally, the development of a new distribution center in Calgary, Alberta, to be built to net zero standards. These 4 investments represent approximately 459,000 sq ft of incremental gross leasable area.
They are expected to earn a weighted average going in cap rate of approximately 6.18% upon completion. I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to speak a little further about one of these new investments. For the new 350,000 sq ft Calgary DC development, our first net zero project. CT REIT remains committed to improving our sustainability efforts and reducing our carbon footprint, and this project represents an opportunity for us to advance our progress towards those goals. Net zero will be achieved through the implementation of an improved building envelope and increased air tightness, along with upgraded mechanical and electrical systems in the form of in-ground geothermal systems and rooftop-mounted solar voltaics.
Once constructed, our new building will produce as much energy as it consumes on an annual basis and will have no on-site combustion, and therefore, zero reliance on fossil fuels. Built adjacent to our existing Calgary industrial properties, this development will be a great complement to our existing Dufferin District assets and is a project that we are proud to announce to you here today. With respect to the fourth quarter, we invested CAD 90 million in previously disclosed investments, which included 2 third-party acquisitions of existing Canadian Tire stores in Airdrie, Alberta, and Beauport, Quebec, the vending of an existing Canadian Tire store and Canadian Tire Gas+ gas bar in Coleridge, Ontario, the expansion of three existing Canadian Tire stores in Cochrane and Kenora, Ontario, as well as Alma, Quebec, the development of third-party pads at 5 existing properties.
Finally, the third-party acquisition of a Walmart Supercentre anchored property in Halifax, Nova Scotia. These investments added approximately 400,000 sq ft of incremental GLA in the quarter. We also completed agreements with CTC to extend the leases related to eight Canadian Tire stores, bringing the total number of Canadian Tire store and distribution center lease extensions to 24 for the full year. These lease extensions have a cumulative effect of increasing our weighted average lease term for the portfolio by a total of just over 0.7 years. At year-end, CT REIT had 26 properties that were at various stages of development. These projects represent a total committed investment of approximately CAD 353 million upon completion, CAD 79 million of which has already been spent, and CAD 159 million of which we anticipate will be spent in the next twelve months.
Upon completion, these projects will add a total incremental gross leasable area of approximately 1.37 million sq ft to the portfolio, 71% of which has been pre-leased and nearly half of which consists of development related to industrial assets. Over the course of 2021, we nearly doubled our development pipeline, invested approximately CAD 113 million in completed projects and ongoing development, and grew the portfolio by approximately 366,000 sq ft. At year-end, CT REIT's occupancy rate was 99.3%, which was in line with occupancy levels both in Q4 2020 as well as the prior quarter. With that, I will turn it over to Lesley to review our financial results.
Thanks, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. As Ken noted, we are very pleased with the strong fourth quarter and full-year results delivered by CT REIT. Our rent collections are back to pre-pandemic levels, and yet again this quarter, we recorded no bad debt expense. In the quarter, we reported AFFO per unit on a diluted basis of CAD 0.275, an increase of 5.8% compared to Q4 of 2020. This brings the full-year diluted AFFO per unit to CAD 1.04, representing growth of 7.0% versus 2020. Additionally, diluted FFO per unit in the quarter increased by 4.1% to CAD 0.308 compared to CAD 0.296 in Q4 of 2020. On a full-year basis, 2021 diluted FFO per unit increased by 4.8% to CAD 1.238.
Net operating income was CAD 100.9 million for the quarter, an increase of 4.2% or CAD 4.1 million compared to Q4 2020. This NOI growth was comprised primarily of 2.4% growth on a same-store basis and 2.5% growth on a same-property basis. Full-year reported NOI was CAD 401 million, which was a 5.1% increase over the CAD 382 million in 2020. Same-store NOI for the quarter grew by CAD 2.3 million or 2.4%, primarily as a result of contractual rent annual rent escalations contributing nearly CAD 1.6 million, including the 1.5% average rent escalations including the Canadian Tire leases. Compared to prior year, lower expected credit losses of CAD 0.5 million for tenants due to the improving business environment.
For Q4 2021, adjusted G&A expenses as a percent of property revenue were 2.9%, which is slightly higher than the 2.5% in Q4 2020. The increase was driven by the acceleration of the amortization of long-term compensation costs related to our CEO transition. This increased cost run rate will continue through Q2 of this year until Ken's retirement. The REIT recorded a fair value increase of CAD 53.3 million on our investment properties for the fourth quarter of 2021. The increase in the fair value adjustment on investment properties was mainly driven by changes to investment metrics within the portfolio based on recent market activity. Our AFFO payout ratio decreased to 76.4% compared to 77.3% for the same period in 2020, despite having increased distributions 4.5% in July of last year.
Turning now to the balance sheet. Our debt metrics remain solid, with interest coverage ratio increasing to 3.72 times in Q4 2021 compared to 3.50 times for the fourth quarter of 2020. The increase in interest coverage ratio is primarily due to both an increase in our debenture interest costs and a growth in EBIT, fair value. CT REIT's indebtedness ratio has also improved and was 41.2% at December 31, 2021, compared to 42.9% a year ago. The decrease in the ratio was primarily due to increases in the fair value adjustments made to the portfolios throughout 2021, as well as the REIT's 2021 acquisition intensification and development activities exceeding the growth in our total indebtedness.
Subsequent to quarter end, CT REIT completed the issuance on a private placement basis of CAD 250 million of unsecured debentures at a rate of 3.029% for a seven-year term maturing in February 2029. In conjunction with the offering, we took the opportunity to early redeem the CAD 150 million of debentures originally scheduled to mature in June 2022 and incurred a CAD 744,000 prepayment penalty for the early redemption. With this early refinancing completed, we have no further debentures scheduled to mature until 2024, taking the majority of our refinancing risk off the table for the rest of this year in what has thus far proved to be a more volatile market.
Pro forma, these transactions serve to increase CT REIT's weighted average term to maturity to 7.2 years from 6.8 years. In addition, with CAD 294 million available through our committed credit facilities and CAD 4 million cash on hand, we continue to maintain a strong and liquid position. With that, I will turn the call back to the operator for any questions.
Thank you. At this time, I would like to remind everyone in order to ask a question, please press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. The first question is from Himanshu Gupta with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Thank you and good morning.
Morning.
Just on the Calgary Distribution Center, can you provide some more color, please, you know, cost to build, rents you're underwriting, and what could development yield look like?
We don't generally provide specific project guidance, Himanshu, but you know, order of magnitude, probably roughly CAD 40 million for the project. The interesting thing about industrial rents is they increase every quarter. We have some good data points in terms of recent comps. Those seem to be outdated every time we look to each new lease deal that's completed in the market. Vacancy rates obviously going way down across most large industrial markets throughout the country, Calgary being one of them. We feel pretty good about where we pegged the rents in our pro forma relative to where we may end up as we go through the process of taking it to market and getting it leased up.
Okay. Will this be done on speculative basis or this will be occupied by Canadian Tire?
As of right now, it'll be done on a speculative basis. Canadian Tire is currently evaluating their space requirements, related to their supply chain in Western Canada. As of now, they have not made any commitments to the facility.
Okay. You know, to get to net zero standards, is there any incremental cost in the build-out? Do you think, you know, this is more of a requirement from a potential tenant, like the property will appeal more if it is on net zero basis?
Yes, absolutely, there is an incremental cost running roughly around 20% premium over building to an enhanced industrial spec today. We think that tenants will pay a premium. You know, there's a lot of larger tenants out there who have their own sustainability goals. Just also based on the health of the industrial investment market and where we're seeing cap rates, project makes a lot of sense for us.
Got it. You know, just to clarify, this is the only land parcel you're sitting on as far as the industrial development is concerned, so we should not expect, you know, more of these coming anytime soon?
I would say this is the only land industrial parcel in our portfolio right now.
Okay, got it. Okay. Then maybe, you know, just checking to Calgary industrial, I think, the 11 Dufferin Place's lease expiry is coming due this year. Any color there?
No color there at this point. We are in early discussions with the tenant whose lease is coming up. To remind the audience, it's about 100,000 sq ft, midyear lease expiry. Again, based on the health of the industrial market, we are optimistic about our opportunities there.
Got it. Okay. Maybe just final question from my side. I mean, fair value gains this quarter, I mean, what are you seeing in the private market transactions? You know, any color why the IFRS, the discount rate was reduced?
I mean, we continue to see private capital chase deals. You know, the transaction volume heading into the end of the year last year was significantly elevated, relative to where we started 2021, which was elevated relative to 2020. You know, retail, as we talked about before, net lease assets, strong investments, great covenants, long-term leases are very much in favor. We saw it in the cap rate survey that CBRE put out. Additionally, we had some movement in our industrial asset valuations. The two contributed to the decline in the discount rate and the increase in overall fair value mark.
Got it. Fair enough. That's it from my side. I'll come back.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from Jenny Ma with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Just, a few follow-up questions on the Calgary industrial build. Is this a build on excess land that was already in the portfolio?
Yeah. If you'll recall, Jenny, we bought about five and a half acres from the City of Calgary a couple years ago, which is adjacent to 11 Dufferin and also in the same block as our 25 Dufferin building that Canadian Tire leases. On that parcel, there was a small building that we leased to a trucking logistics company for offices and a garage, and there was some adjacent land that they had for their trailer parking. We were able to work with that tenant on an early exit of their lease premises. We have a combined roughly 19 acres of combined land between the City of Calgary parcel and the lands that they were formerly on that we will consolidate to build the new DCs.
Okay. Is that CAD 40 million recorded for the project just the incremental cost, or does that include the land cost as well?
That's the build-out cost, incremental.
Build cost. Okay. It's interesting to see the net zero. I'm sure that's gonna be very relevant going forward. When you're thinking about how you might construct your leases, is there gonna be any sort of green provisions that you put in there? What kind of a rent premium would you expect to get for these green features?
We'll certainly address the green elements in the lease. I mean, the green elements in most leases relate to sharing of information on utility consumption.
Okay.
The interesting thing about this particular building is it's not gonna consume much in the way of utilities. That's something we're looking at more broadly over the whole portfolio, and obviously we're working hand-in-hand with Canadian Tire on benchmarking and thinking our way through measuring our carbon footprints collectively.
Mm.
You know, you'll recall we're a net lease REIT, so our tenants have care and carriage of the buildings and therefore are the owners of most of that data and information. We are working alongside our largest tenant to work through how we'll use the information and how they impact the leases we enter into with them.
Okay, great. Would you say there's much by way of green-like provisions in your existing leases, or is that something that you address, I guess, as you renew, or, you know, and roll over leases?
I would say in terms of specific provisions related to, you know, what they refer to as green leases, there isn't so much addressed in our current standard form.
Mm-hmm.
Because, you know, like I said, the tenant is responsible for the operations of the site, and pay the utilities directly. That doesn't mean we aren't working together collaboratively outside of the contractual requirements of the document.
Okay. Going back to the new build, you mentioned that it's on spec, but has CT actually passed on potentially moving on this property, or are they still kind of in the mix on potentially occupying it?
As I mentioned, they're evaluating their space requirements, and as of-
Okay
right now have not committed to the facility.
Okay. What is the lease expiry on, I think it's 25 Dufferin that they signed a few years ago?
Uh-
Was that a 10-year deal?
I believe it's 2027.
2027? Okay.
Testing my memory, but I think that's it. It was a 10-year deal.
Lastly from me, you, it looks like there's been some expansion of sort of your, I guess industrial development or industrial focus. Would you say that as a REIT, and I guess the spec build maybe answers this question to some extent, you know, is your expansion in industrial really geared towards catering to CT's needs, or is it something, you know or is it, you know, a leg of the strategy that you might want to expand to be covering third-party users of industrial space?
I think like a lot of the investments we embark on, we leverage our relationship with Canadian Tire to surface opportunities. You know, clearly if there's a need from Canadian Tire's side to fulfill a supply chain requirement, we're more than happy to step in and be a part of that. Even, you know, the spec building we're doing in Calgary comes off the back of a strategic relationship whereby we bought, if you'll recall, the former Sears DC, knowing that Sears probably wasn't long for this world, but also that the facility was adjacent to Canadian Tire's existing warehouse facilities in Western Canada and had some operational benefit being adjacent to the CP intermodal yard.
We sort of got to these lands through our knowledge of the site, the opportunity that presented to surface value collectively working with Canadian Tire, fulfilling their requirements, and then leveraging that to find new incremental opportunities. I don't think we'll be out buying spec land to embark on industrial development, but we will continue to seek out opportunities where opportunistically we find great value working together with Canadian Tire.
Okay, great. Thank you very much. I'll turn it back.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from Tal Woolley with National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, everybody.
Morning.
Morning, Tal.
Morning.
Just wondering if maybe you can discuss thoughts around the level of the dividend. It's been a while since you last increased. I thought maybe we'd be looking at something for 2022. Can you just talk about where the board's thinking is on that right now?
Tal, it's Lesley. You know, we obviously do talk to the board every month, every quarter about the level of distribution. You know, it will again, you know, nothing to announce right now. It will again be topical at all of our meetings going forward, you know, with our continued, you know, visible growth through the Canadian Tire leases and through sort of the rent escalations. We obviously do see, you know, continued improvement in the portfolio that would support a distribution possibly in the future.
Okay, again, just to go back to this Calgary DC. What is the type of tenant you think you're going to draw for that facility? Like, what are their intended use? Is it for retail? Is it for e-commerce? Like, how are you thinking about the tenant mix in that site?
I think it'll be warehousing. Who it's warehousing for, it's hard to say right now. You know, clearly retailers, you know, who I would, you know, you sort of bifurcated retailers and e-commerce, and I think those two actually kind of go together, more and more as time goes on. Could certainly be a prospect. You know, there's a lot of three PLs out there still, fulfilling mandates for others, that are in the market and very active. So it's hard to say specifically, Tal, but you know, there's certainly a lot of demand out there for warehouse space.
you know, we'll be selective in terms of tenant quality and trying to optimize obviously, somebody who's aligned with the sustainability initiative that we have underway.
Okay. Just lastly, maybe you can give an update on, you know, you sort of talked a bit earlier about, you know, good competition for your types, your type of assets. Has that sort of impeded the ability to grow sort of like the non-Canadian Tire triple net portfolio? Has there just been so much going on with, you know, your core tenant that you haven't really had much opportunity to pursue much?
We are very fortunate, and we're very happy about the amount of activity we have ongoing with Canadian Tire. I wouldn't say that that's impeded our ability to do anything non-Canadian Tire related. Certainly the you know, marketed investment market remains quite competitive. I think we'll just approach it the way we always have, which is, you know, paying attention, working relationships, trying to find opportunities off market if possible, and, you know, pursuing those investments that we feel meet our investment criteria being, you know, great real estate, good tenants, long-term leases, and, you know, with the financial parameters that make sense for us. We've certainly seen some aggressive deals, especially in Q4. You know, a lot of single tenant smaller transaction values.
When I say smaller, I mean, you know, under CAD 20 million with cap rates, you know, certainly pushing, you know, under 5%. You know, at that pricing, we would not be in the market. We continue to watch it and, you know, look for our sweet spot as we always have.
Okay. Just lastly, the Canadian Tire store at Yonge and Davenport here in Toronto, there's been some press that maybe they are looking to redevelop that site. Obviously, being at the edge of Yorkville, that would be highly sought residential space. I don't believe that portfolio is in the CT REIT portfolio, but if some sort of redevelopment comes along, is that something that CT REIT would be looking to participate on?
You're correct. That property is not in the REIT. Canadian Tire owns it and has the interest. Don't have much to say about it other than, as you mentioned, it highlights a really prime example of some very high profile, high value real estate that both the REIT and Canadian Tire continue to own. Clearly could be a redevelopment project at some point in the future. Until a formal application gets made, we don't really have much in the way of commentary on it at this point.
Okay. That's great. Thanks, everybody.
Thanks, Tal.
Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from Sumayya Syed with CIBC. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning. One more, I guess, on the Calgary distribution center development. Just wondering if this will be entirely an in-house development or if you're relying on any third-party consultants that sort of specialize in net zero building applications.
We're certainly using a consulting team of, you know, architects, engineers, to help facilitate the design and details of the project. In terms of the development and construction, it'll be overseen in-house. We will use a general contractor to build it, but we'll use our own expertise, and knowledge and team, to carry it out.
Okay. Just on the Canadian Tire lease extensions done in the quarter, were they done at the same terms as the last quarter, where I think you got a lot more term and kept the escalators going?
Yes, that's correct. Same format that we've been engaging in to date. To remind you, that's not necessarily the formula that's contained in the lease, so that there's no assurance that on a go-forward basis, that will be how we continue to transact on these deals. As of now, that has been a formula and a scheme that works for both us and Canadian Tire.
Okay. Can you share how much more term you got for these extensions?
For the eighth in the quarter?
Yeah.
It worked out to be, I think on average, just under 7 years.
seven-years. Okay. Thank you. That's all from me. I'll turn it back.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. As a reminder, please press star then the number one on your telephone keypad if you have a question. The next question is from Sam Damiani with TD Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Maybe just on the retail side. The third party tenant occupancy is almost recovered back to pre-pandemic. I wonder if you could just maybe comment on the categories, the retail categories that have, I guess, seen the most erosion in your portfolio and the most sort of recovery.
Sure, Sam, I can take that. You know, I think as a general comment, we haven't seen much erosion or much need for recovery. You know, clearly some of the multi-tenant properties that we own that are slated for redevelopment or improvement have seen some struggles with respect to fashion tendencies. Our restaurant portfolio from an occupancy perspective has held up quite well. Obviously, they've had their struggles as with you know, closures and mandates impacting their business. I think you know, today that's more of a regional disparity based on the specific lockdowns associated with each province. You know, the mid-box guys have been really healthy.
You know, the dollar stores, the discount retailers, pet, you know, liquor, cannabis, all that stuff continues to perform well. That too, you know, from a new deal perspective, we continue to engage with on our new development sites and new leasing opportunities. I don't think it's anything different than you would see in some of our peers' portfolios in terms of the experience we've had. Luckily, it hasn't impacted us too much.
Yeah, I think you mentioned the mixed use. I believe one component of Canada Square maybe has been transferred into PUD. Just, I guess on an NOI basis, do you see much erosion in 2022 or 2023 as the north end of the site gets closer to, you know, development?
Yeah. Sam, yeah, the 2,220 and 2,210 building at the north end of the site that was transferred, there will start to be some erosion to that property. Obviously, as leases that we've got scheduled to mature and expire by the end of 2022. You know, there will be some erosion as we head through into development, but obviously we're trying to keep them there as long as possible and renewing in late 10s on a month-to-month basis as we can to push that out into the eventual redevelopment.
Okay. Perhaps a little bit of erosion around the edges over the next year or two.
Yes.
Okay. Just looking at the fair value gains in the quarter and for the year, I may have missed it, but you know, what was the mix between industrial and retail?
I think it was about half industrial, half retail.
For the year. Yeah.
For the year. Fair to say that you've kind of recovered most of what you wrote down in 2020 on the retail side?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's fair. Yes. We're close to where we were before on the retail side. Yes.
Okay, perfect. Last question. Just on the Calgary industrial development, and you know, congratulations there. It looks like a shoo-in in many respects. Just wondering the timing. I guess it was asked a little bit earlier, but was there like a zoning or some other sort of trigger that triggered the decision to start now as opposed to last year or you know, two years from now?
Yeah. We actually have received our development permit, and we intend to start construction in the spring.
Okay. Great. Congrats again on the year and the quarter, and I'll turn it back. Thank you.
Thanks, Sam.
Thank you. As there are no further questions at this time, I will turn the call over to Ken Silver, CEO, for any closing remarks.
Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you all in May.
Thank you. This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.