Good morning, and welcome to PROREIT's Second Quarter Results Conference Call for Fiscal 2024. At this time, all lines have been placed on mute to prevent background noise. Management will make a short presentation, which will be followed by a Q&A period open exclusively to financial analysts. To ask a question, simply press the star key, then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press the star key followed by number two. For your convenience, the results release, along with the second quarter financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for fiscal 2024, are available at proreit.com in the Investors section and on SEDAR+. Before we start, I have been asked by PROREIT to read the following message regarding forward-looking statements and non-IFRS measures.
PROREIT's remarks today may contain forward-looking statements about its current and future plans, expectations, intentions, results, levels of activity, performance, goals or achievements, or other future events or developments. Forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to management and on estimates and assumptions made based on factors that management believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. However, there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause actual results, levels of activity, performance, achievements, future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. As a result, PROREIT cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
For additional information on the assumptions and risks, please consider the cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements contained in PROREIT's MD&A, dated August seventh, 2024, available at www.sedarplus.ca. Forward-looking statements represent management's expectations as of August seventh, 2024, and except as may be required by law, PROREIT has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Discussion today will include non-IFRS financial measures. These non-IFRS measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for or in isolation from, the REIT's IFRS results. For a description of these non-IFRS financial measures, please see the second quarter earnings release for fiscal 2024 and non-IFRS measures section in the MD&A for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 for additional information. I'll now turn the call over to Mr.
Gordon Lawlor, President and Chief Executive Officer of PROREIT.
Thank you, Joanna. Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Joining me today is Alison Schafer, our CFO and Corporate Secretary. Zach Aaron Vice President of Investments and Asset Management , is also joining us for the Q&A period. I will start with an overview of our performance for the second quarter of 2024. Alison will then provide a more detailed review of our financial results. In the second quarter, we continued to operate in a market that remains affected by economic uncertainty and high interest rates compared to recent years. In this context, we maintained our momentum and continued to optimize our portfolio through the sale of non-core assets. This enables us to further increase the relative weight of our footprint in the industrial sector and to further strengthen our balance sheet.
Since the start of the year, we've successfully disposed of 6 non-core properties for a total gross proceeds of CAD $39.6 million. This includes 3 non-core properties sold in the second quarter for a gross proceeds of CAD $13.5 million. Let me provide some details on the Q2 transactions. On May fifteenth, we sold a retail property located in Saskatchewan, totaling approximately 11,000 sq ft for gross proceeds of CAD $4.8 million. On May twenty-seventh, we sold a retail property located in Alberta, totaling approximately 8,500 sq ft for gross proceeds of CAD $2.2 million. The net proceeds for these two transactions were used for general business and working capital purposes. Then in June, we sold a non-core industrial property located in Manitoba, totaling approximately 38,000 sq ft for gross proceeds of CAD $6.5 million.
The net proceeds were used to repay an unrelated CAD $5.9 million mortgage and the balance for general and business and working capital purposes. We therefore ended the second quarter with 117 investment properties, corresponding to approximately 6.2 million sq ft of GLA. At the same date last year, we owned 129 properties. Both periods include our 50% ownership interest in 42 properties. In Q2, we also entered into binding agreements for the sale of 3 other non-core properties, which will generate an additional CAD $31.6 million of gross proceeds. These transactions are expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.
Following these dispositions, totaling CAD $71.2 million year to date, our industrial footprint will represent 85.5% of total GLA and 79.5% of total base rent. With only four office properties remaining in our portfolio valued at less than CAD $30 million, our office segment for will account for only 2.6% of total GLA on a pro forma basis. Our portfolio is also well-positioned in terms of geography, and thanks to our long-standing and intentional focus on strong secondary markets. Atlantic Canada, which currently represents 52% of our total GLA, is a great example of this, with Halifax experiencing the strongest rent growth in Canada for the second quarter of 2024, according to CBRE Q2 Canadian industrial market statistics.
The quality of our asset base is always also reflected in our capacity to generate recurring Same-Property NOI growth, mainly driven by robust leasing renewal spreads and rent steps. In the second quarter of 2024, we achieved an 11.4% increase in Same-Property NOI, or 6.4% when excluding a one-time revenue adjustment and the impact of a temporary property vacancy in 2023. As I mentioned on the last call, this 102,000 sq ft industrial vacancy in Montreal was fully leased in September 2024, at an average positive spread of 55% over the expiring leases. It's also worth noting that our Same-Property NOI has increased over the last 14 consecutive quarters. Let me now provide a brief operational update.
By June 30, 2024, the weighted average in-place rent of our industrial portfolio was CAD $8.66 per sq ft, an increase of 6.7% compared to the same date last year. To date, we've successfully renewed or replaced 66% of our GLA maturing in 2024, at a 34.6% average spread for the entire portfolio and a robust 49.5% for our industrial properties. Given the significant upcoming lease renewal spreads materializing in our portfolio in the next few months, this leasing upside will be fully reflected in our results through the second half of the year and into 2025. Regarding the portfolio's occupancy rate, it stood at 91.7% as of June 30, compared to 99% the same date last year.
This decrease in occupancy is primarily due to two larger vacancies in industrial properties. Our vacant space in Montreal is in advanced stages of negotiation, and we see positive momentum in leasing activity on our Woodstock, Ontario, property. I'll now turn the call over to Alison for a more detailed review of our final financial results. Alison, over to you.
Thank you, Gordie, and good morning, everyone. Property revenue for the second quarter decreased slightly by 1.4% from CAD $24.9 million in Q2 2023 to CAD $24.6 million in Q2 2024. This mainly results from the change in the number of properties in the portfolio during the last twelve-month period ended June 30th, 2024 , partially offset by contractual rent increases and higher rental rates on lease renewals and new leases. Net operating income increased by 2.3% from CAD $14.5 million to CAD $14.8 million. This growth was mainly driven by contractual rent increases and higher rental rates on lease renewals and new leases, partially offset by the decrease in the number of properties. We are pleased to have achieved this growth despite having 12 fewer properties in our portfolio compared to last year.
General and administrative expenses for Q2 2024 were down slightly compared to the same period last year. For the, for the first six months of the year, these expenses decreased by CAD $2.1 million, mainly reflecting one-time retirement and CEO succession costs in 2023. Net cash flows provided from operating activities decreased slightly in the second quarter of 2024, largely as a result of the timing of cash receipts and the prepayment of property taxes and insurance. FFO reached CAD $7.4 million for the quarter, an increase of 1.5%, also achieved with 12 fewer properties in our portfolio compared to last year. Of note, FFO reached CAD $15.1 million for the first half of 2024, an increase of 23.6%.
This was primarily driven by a general increase in contractual base rent, higher rates on renewals and new leases, and a reduction of one-time costs, including CEO succession costs. This was partially offset by an increase in interest rate expense. Our basic AFFO payout ratio was 93.1% for Q2 2024, compared to 97.3% last year. This improvement is primarily due to the general increases in contractual base rent and higher rates on renewals and new leases, offset by an increase in interest expense. Now turning to the balance sheet. Our liquidity position remained healthy, with CAD $38 million available through our credit facility, in addition to CAD $8.9 million in cash at June 30th, 2024.
Our total debt, including current and non-current portions, totaled CAD $486.6 million at June 30, 2024, a reduction of CAD $47.7 million compared to the same date last year, mainly as a result of property dispositions over the last 12 months. As planned, we maintained our debt to gross book value below 50%. It stood at 49.5% as at June 30th, 2024. Our weighted average interest rate on mortgage debt was 3.94% at June 30th, 2024, compared to 3.75% at the same date last year. We are pleased to highlight that we only have CAD $4.1 million of remaining mortgages expiring in 2024, and that only 4% of our total debt is at a variable rate.
The weighted average cap rate for the portfolio was approximately 6.7% at June 30th, 2024, up from 6% at the same date last year and 10 basis points higher from last quarter. Finally, we maintained our distributions of CAD 0.0375 per unit for each month in the second quarter of 2024. Gordie, back to you for closing comments.
Thanks, Alison. The Canadian industrial market continues to experience some temporary cooling market conditions, especially in larger metropolitan cities that have witnessed the most pronounced shift in market dynamics. Most smaller markets, where we are strategically located, have shown relatively steady market conditions. There is also a noticeable bifurcation of vacancy and rental pressure with respect to large bay industrial assets versus mid to small bay industrial assets across Canada, with the mid to small bay assets proving more resilient to date. Against this backdrop, we continue to manage our balance sheet prudently and maintain our financial flexibility. On the investment side, we will continue to focus on opportunities in the industrial sector, remain prepared to act on the right deals as we look forward to the remainder of the year.
We remain steadfast on our top priorities, aiming to deliver NOI, FFO, and AFFO growth to the benefit of our unit holders and ultimately all of our stakeholders. Finally, I'd like to conclude by thanking the entire PROREIT team for another quarter of solid execution. That concludes our remarks. Joanna, over to you and the Q&A.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have any questions, please press star, then the number one. First question comes from Sam Damiani at TD Cowen. Please go ahead.
Thanks, and good morning, everyone. Just on the, on the disposition activity, it's really, picked up nicely. With the, with the closings that are going to happen in, in Q3, how, how should we think about that additional balance sheet capacity being utilized? Like, basically, what I'm wondering is how anxious you are to, you know, resume acquisitions, or are you really going to prioritize, getting that balance sheet leverage down to that 45% target?
Hey, Sam, it's Gordie. I mean, we're comfortable at the 50% level now. I mean, we've indicated longer term, we'd be moving towards 45%. But, you know, when we look at us now, we've sold CAD $71 million of assets for CAD $24 million and another CAD $26 million. So we're down CAD $100 million in investments. So, we are extremely interested in increasing industrial exposure through acquisitions here, at least, you know, to a modest level as we see some opportunities come up.
And as you, as you look at opportunities, are there markets that you're preferring to expand into and perhaps other existing markets that you're, you know, not so much looking to add to your exposure?
You know, we we always work around our platform. So, I mean, Halifax, you know, we control 40% of the Burnside industrial market with our partner there. You know, so we're pretty full up there, so to speak. I mean, we like Ottawa, we like Winnipeg, we like Southwestern Ontario. We've looked at assets on the island in Montreal that could pencil out for us. That'd be the first time in five years that we've seen island, Montreal Island assets that we could actually get our hands on. So, that's interesting as well. And then Moncton is just a sleeper of 100% occupancy, and, you know, proving itself to be a distribution hub that, you know, we're happy to buy some more assets there interestingly enough.
Okay, great. Thank you. Last one for me. Just on the occupancy decline in Q2, I wonder if you could speak to, you know, what what drove that 60 basis points decline.
Yeah, Zach, sure, he can touch on it, but I think there was CAD $20,000-odd in transition on Halifax asset there, and then there's a few bits and pieces. But he can give you some enlighten you on some of the stuff that he's working on and where we see the next two quarters, I think. So go ahead, Zach.
Yeah, sure. So I mean, the difference from last quarter, I think, is about 35,000 sq ft of vacancy. And I would describe most of it as, you know, smaller segments within our portfolio across,
... Winnipeg, Ottawa, and our Burnside portfolio, and it's just the typical small bay tenants churning and time to backfill those tenants. So nothing of real kind of noise there. But kind of where we sit today is we're currently in various stages of either negotiation or trading paper on approximately 90-100 thousand sq ft. Of that, about 180,000 sq ft of current vacancy, including those two larger vacancies we noted in the opening statements.
But that said, Sam, things take time, so I don't think you'd see any of that in Q3, cash flow wise, but hopefully Q4.
All right. That's great. Thank you both. I'll, I'll turn it back.
Thanks.
Thank you. Next question comes from Mark Rothschild at Canaccord. Please go ahead.
Thanks, and good morning, guys. In regard to 2025, you've already addressed one sizable lease. But for the lease, is there gonna be a free rent period? Is there—like, is that just gonna continue straight through? And maybe you can just give some more color on if there was any cost to that lease and obviously kind of rent uplift, how that works.
Yeah, I'll let Zach, who worked tirelessly on that deal, talk some good things about it. The 500 Palladium lease for-
Oh, the 500 Palladium lease.
For twenty-five.
Yeah. So the existing tenant expires at the end of January. And what's really exciting about this new lease is that the new tenant is gonna be paying rent February 1, so we have zero downtime on that deal. It'll be a 15-year deal at a positive rent spread from where the deal we had before. The previous tenant actually had a semi-gross rent structure, whereas this new tenant will be fully triple net leased with 3% annual rent escalations over the 15-year period. So obviously, there's a TI involved in all that, but we're just excited that, you know, we have this really phenomenal, this national, international defense contractor tenant long term at this building and no downtime impacting 2025 cash flow.
That TI, you know, if you look at it, spread over 15 years, it's like CAD 10 or something. What was it?
Yeah.
Give or take.
About that, yeah.
Yeah. So yeah, give or take a 10-buck TI with no downtime, Mark, for a 15-year deal.
Understood. That's great. Thanks. Maybe just one more from me. You've previously spoken about, over the next few years, being able to achieve, you know, 5% annual organic growth. With some softening in industrial fundamentals, would you still stick with that or maybe want to temper that somewhat?
No, I think, I think we're—we keep proving it quarterly. I mean, we're a little annoyed at this temporary vacancy, because we'd be in a more interesting spot than we are on the quarters, but we really haven't seen that weakness. I mean, we're we're beating our budgets on on these renewals. Halifax and Winnipeg are, if you look at the CBRE report, the strongest rent growth, I think, in in Canada in the last two quarters. So we haven't—we're not thinking to temper that yet, that's that's for sure. We're really looking forward to 2025 and 2026 here.
You know, I'm sure you're on calls with larger industrial leads than us, you know, who have seen some modest increase in vacancy last couple quarters, but they're still very confident that, you know, in the next 6 to 12 months that they'll pull out of that and and see additional rent growth. So we're hopeful for that, too.
Okay, great. Thanks so much.
Thanks.
Thank you. Next question comes from Brad Sturges at Raymond James. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning.
Morning, Brad.
Maybe starting or going back to the asset sales completed. Congrats on those deals. Just I guess curious on average on what's been recently announced, you know, can you give a little bit of guidance on how we should think about the NOI contribution or the Cap Rate on those deals?
Yeah, so the the asset sales, you know, they were in the office was about CAD 160 a sq ft. It was, give or take, 8% cap sale price. We had some upcoming renewals on that, so. And we paid down just under 7% debt with them. So I'd say those asset sales actually were based on the debt that we had on them, holding them for a couple of years is is, you know, flat to slightly accretive to us. So I don't think we lose any on that. And then, the other smaller retail, those were 8 caps, sales. So some modest, loss loss on those assets, but, you know, longer term, better opportunity for other growth assets.
Okay. That's helpful. Just on the balance sheet, I guess there's not, there's not much left to do in terms of refi and, you know, there's a little bit more to do in in 2025. I guess in terms of the maturities in 2025, is that fairly equally weighted throughout the year? Or is that weighted to any particular part of the year in terms of the upcoming maturities? And where would kind of cost of debt be today, given where I guess bond rates have pulled back and where credit spreads would be today?
Yeah, I'll just pull out that page on on the split. But the CAD $66 million, when you look at that, CAD $18 million of it is taken care of in the two office asset sales. So you'll see next quarter, the 66 goes down below 50. Alison is just pulling up the page on... Oh, I don't have that with me. We can get that for you, Brad, on the breakdown.
Okay.
But, uh-
Yeah.
as we split it up, some of it's, you know, CAD $18 million of assets to be sold or confirmed. There's some other things there that we probably plan to sell as well, so we wouldn't have to deal with that. So I think we're down to, in back of my head, CAD $20 million-CAD $30 million of just, regular stuff flowing through. As far as cost of debt, we were priced on a, on a deal for a separate reason, about 175 over for 5-year. But I mean, we think, you know, when we talk to the team, we think our new debt rate, when we look at, you know, 5-, 7-, and 10-year spreads, is gonna be, you know, 475-525. Maybe we get down to 450.
I liked, I liked when the fiver was below 3 there for a little while. So we'll see if it get gets back there again. But, you know, that's the ballpark we're playing in.
And how does that, how does that change the calculus in terms of the stabilized cap rate you would, you would look to achieve on an acquisition if you're looking to redeploy some of the balance sheet capacity into into growth opportunities?
A 6.75% cap rate and a 5% debt pencils out pretty good on on on accretion for us. Marginally accretive day one, and then with growth in in in steps and rents, which now, since the past 5 years, are kind of standard in industrial leases going forward. You know, that's the kind of ballpark we'll be playing in, you know, 6.5%-7%. And like you said, the debt level there, you know, in in that range. So, there are some floors coming in on deals, too, so you don't get total benefit of watching watching the page every day. But, yeah, that's kind of where we are.
But if you think that we can buy 6.75 assets, and those are stabilized assets, so, but the 3, 4, and 5 cap days are gone, you know, but for, you know, significant under-market rents. But if you, if you think you've got at-market rents, and Zach's seeing it all across the country, including GTA. If you've got an at-market rent, then you know, a 6.25%-7% asset, depending on the location, is, a 6.25%-7% cap rate asset is, is kind of where the market's gonna be. We just haven't seen many of those deals yet.
Okay, I'll turn it back. Thank you.
Thanks.
Thank you. Next question comes from Sumayya Syed at CIBC. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning.
Good morning.
Following up on the two, I guess, larger vacancies in Montreal and Woodstock, wondering where you are seeing rents coming in relative to your expectations, and are you seeing them roll down at all?
Sure. Hi there, it's Zach speaking. So on the Montreal asset, you know, we're, we're, like Gordie said earlier, we're in some advanced negotiations with some tenants, on that, about 30,000 sq ft vacancy. Market rent-wise, we're kind of talking about in the CAD $13-CAD $14 net rent range, which has kind of held steady in terms of our expectation, given that it's not kind of that brand-new Class A space, where, you know, in Montreal, they're, they're kind of focusing on sixteen, seventeen dollar net rents. So, you know, the, the tenant who was in there previously was paying about CAD $6.25. So whether it ends up being thirteen, fourteen, or somewhere in that ballpark, we'll be pretty happy there. In terms of the Woodstock property, which is a 40,000 sq ft tenant, we've had some more activity there with some showings.
We responded to an RFP recently and kind of in negotiations with another tenant, potentially speaking there. There in Woodstock, we're kind of in the, I would say, high-10 to low-11 CAD range in terms of market rent. You know, if you look at some of the new construction going up in Woodstock right now, industrial-wise, they're looking at, you know, high-11 CAD to low- to mid-12 CAD, is what they seem to be asking. I know there are some deals there completed in the high-11 CAD range. Again, we we have a great building and a great space there. It's a bit older than the brand-new stuff, obviously. But again, previous tenant there was also paying about $6.25 CAD per sq ft.
So at, you know, whether it ends up being CAD 10.50 or CAD 11.50, again, both pretty good outcomes there. So hopefully we'll have those both locked up by the end of the year.
Okay. So we'll see, nice lifts there as well.
Yes.
And then, secondly, just wanted to touch on the non-core sales and office specifically. Just wondering, are they different buyer groups, and what are you seeing there in terms of their access to capital?
Yeah, so those, both of those deals are... So we've sold four assets now in Ottawa, if we're counting these two. They were all private, folks or syndicated people. They're usually office players, you know, suburban office, that have these portfolios and hold them for a longer term. So they're comfortable with where the market rents are in the suburban office with good parking and all that. I mean, one of our buildings was kind of a medical office building next to a RioCan major redevelopment. So so that's great land and space there for a long term. The other one would be, we'd consider like a Class A suburban office asset, so they'll do very well with with with that as well. You know, because you got CAD $12- and CAD $13-dollar rents in those areas.
You know, financing, their financing is always the question mark. We would have announced one of these a lot earlier, except one of their lenders went away in the middle of it, but they were successful in getting a new one. So, but it's—I think it's really the the guys that have some history and experience with the suburban office, and that are comfortable with these, that are, that are getting deals done. And the market, whether one likes it or not, seems to be about CAD $160 a sq ft, you know, and that's really, I think we sold ours at 160 or 162 or something like that.
So that leaves us with basically three single-tenant assets in Atlantic Canada, and then one downtown Ottawa office asset that's got 2.94% debt on it until 2029. So we're not giving that away for the debt. There's no need to do that.
Okay. Some good progress there. That's all from me. Thank you.
Great. Thanks.
Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's Q&A session and the conference call. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines at this time.
Thank you.