This call is being recorded today, Wednesday, August 14, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Alyssa Berry, Investor Relations for Northwest. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Northwest's Q2 2024 Conference Call. Thank you for joining us today. This call is being recorded, and a replay will be made available on our website at www.nwhreit.com. Today's discussion includes forward-looking statements. As always, we want to caution you that 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 our public filings on SEDAR+, including our MD&A and annual information form, for a discussion of these risk factors. Please note, all currencies referenced today are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise stated. Presenting on today's call are Craig Mitchell, CEO; Mike Brady, our President; and Stephanie Karamarkovich, CFO. Tracy Whittall, our COO, is also present and available for the question and answer session.
I will now turn it over to Craig for his opening remarks.
Thank you, Alyssa. I hope everyone's having a wonderful summer, and sorry for the interruption. As noted in our Q2 2024 results news release of yesterday, the first half of the year was strong, with solid demand for healthcare real estate, as evidenced in our portfolio performance. We reported industry-leading key performance indicators. Same store property net operating income on a consolidated basis was up 4.2% compared to the same period of last year. Our portfolio occupancy of 97% is underpinned by the weighted average lease expiry of a long 13.4 years, and over 85% of our leases are subject to rent indexation. With a portfolio composition of more than 1,800 tenants, the REIT's cash flows continues to be highly diversified.
Our global rent collection rate at 30 June was nearly 99%, and during the first half of the year, we executed 810,000 sq ft of leasing deals with a retention rate of greater than 80%. In the first half of 2024, we divested 23 non-core properties and unlisted securities, generating CAD 430 million. Then, subsequently to quarter end, we sold our U.K. portfolio to Assura for CAD 885 million, including CAD 708 million in cash and CAD 177 million in shares in Assura, or approximately 8% of their public float. The combination of all this and last year's work means that we've now successfully concluded our year-long strategic review, which has resulted in total sales of CAD 1.6 billion.
As a result, we reduced our consolidated debt to gross book value, including convertible debentures, down to 47.1%. We have made substantial inroads into our 2025 debt maturities and are advancing discussions to further term out our debt. I want to recognize the exceptional effort of our team in closing the U.K. transaction. We are fortunate to have a management team deeply committed to maximizing value for our unit holders. Mike, who led the sales process, will provide further insights into this process shortly. Moving forward, as we have previously stated, we remain committed to achieving even more favorable leverage levels, greater debt duration, and continuing to strengthen our financial positions.
Healthcare stands out amongst all real estate classes as a particularly strong and stable sector, offering superior risk-adjusted returns, especially in the context of an aging population, which continues to drive stable and growing demand for healthcare facilities and services. Additionally, the essential nature of healthcare assets, combined with long lease, with long-term leases and government funding, further enhances the sector's stability. Our high-quality healthcare real estate portfolio continues to be resilient and has a, and has a demonstrated track record of producing strong cash flows, collections, long-term inflation index leases, and long-term high occupancy levels, which sit around 97% through economic cycles. We believe our REIT is strategically positioned in the right asset class to meet the growing demand for quality healthcare facilities.
Based on our high-quality healthcare real estate portfolio, we expect our properties to continue to be in high demand from our healthcare tenants and operating partners. We also continue to be committed to further streamlining operations and reducing costs to ensure efficient and effective operations. We believe these efforts will yield greater cost savings into the coming quarters. In addition, the Bank of Canada's recent rate cut to 4.5% signals the start of an easing cycle, which could lower borrowing costs and boost real estate investments, though the timing of future cuts remains critical. At a net asset value of CAD 9.53 ... Post the sale of the U.K. asset, the REIT is significantly undervalued, considering our high-quality portfolio and proven management track record over the past year.
With a strong governance framework now firmly in place, and the strategic review concluded, we believe we are well positioned for sustained growth and success in the coming quarters. Our focus now is on increasing the visibility and awareness for Northwest, ensuring that the market fully recognizes the value and potential of our REIT. Lastly, during the quarter, we also published our 2023 sustainability report, a significant milestone made possible by incredibly dedicated sustainability team, led by Tracy Whittall, our Chief Operating Officer. Top highlights, including Northwest Managed Vital, being named sector leader, earning first place by GRESB for healthcare real estate globally, with the Northwest REIT coming in second.
We also completed our first six-star Green Star building in Queensland, Australia, which is the highest certification possible, and we also highlighted the launch of our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan. These achievements mark critical steps towards our 2050 Net Zero goals, reinforcing our commitment to setting the standard for sustainability in our industry. Now, I'd like to turn over to Mike Brady for an update on our strategic initiatives during the quarter. Over to you, Mike.
Thanks, Craig. Last summer, our board appointed a strategic review committee to conduct a formal strategic review to seek to maximize value for our unit holders. This was a significant undertaking, and the committee considered opportunities across our global portfolio. During the formal strategic review periods, which recently concluded, we achieved several key outcomes. We sold 46 properties, plus investments in unlisted securities for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD 1.6 billion. We reduced outstanding debt by CAD 1.2 billion to CAD 3 billion, decreasing consolidated debt to gross book value, including convertible debentures, to 47.1%. We strengthened corporate governance and enhanced the management team. We improved liquidity through a revised distribution policy, and we enhanced transparency and investor engagement.
Subsequent to quarter end, as Craig mentioned, we announced the sale of our U.K. portfolio for total consideration of $885 million, of which 80% was paid in cash and 20% in shares of Assura plc, a healthcare REIT publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange. Northwest now owns approximately 8% of the public float of Assura, and this stake is subject to certain disposal restrictions until Q1 2025. The $708 million of cash proceeds were used to repay portfolio and corporate debts with a weighted average interest rate of 7.9%. We will continue to evaluate market opportunities strategically and selectively, to continue to strengthen our balance sheet, and to simplify and streamline the business to position us for profitable and sustainable growth.
I'll now hand it over to our CFO, Stephanie Karamarkovich, who will share our financial highlights for the quarter.
Thanks, Mike. Our asset portfolio performance remained strong through Q2 2024, considering the dispositions of non-core properties in the last 12 months. As a result, our Q2 revenue from investment properties decreased by 6% over the prior year period. Lower revenue was offset by a one-time lease surrender fee of CAD 1.7 million earned in the U.K., rent indexation across all of our regions, and higher tenant recoveries. The REIT delivered consolidated same-property net operating income of CAD 86 million, which is 2.4% higher than Q2 2023, mainly due to inflationary adjustments on rents, rentalized capital spends, and improved recoveries, reflecting steady growth in our underlying leases. Q2 2024 AFFO was CAD 0.09 per unit, compared to CAD 0.13 per unit in Q2 2023.
However, excluding the impact of interest rate caps that expired earlier this year, AFFO in Q2 2023 was CAD 0.08 per unit. Increase of CAD 0.01 per unit is mainly attributable to higher management fees in the current quarter as compared to Q2 2023, due to reversals of management fees accrued in respective transactions that did not complete in the prior year. Q2 2024 AFFO per unit remained in line with the past three quarters at CAD 0.09, excluding the impact of the previously mentioned interest rate caps. General and administrative expenses, as reported, were CAD 2 million lower compared to the prior year and prior quarter, excluding non-cash compensation, G&A in Q2 2024 was CAD 13.2 million, as compared to CAD 12.4 million in Q2 2023 and CAD 13 million in Q1 2024.
The increases over Q2 2023 and Q1 2024 are primarily a result of the professional fees for statutory and tax compliance filings related to historical periods in Europe. The REIT continues to improve operational efficiency by streamlining and simplifying operations and reducing costs. We believe these efforts will result in greater G&A cost savings in the coming quarters. Interest expense in Q2 2024 was CAD 53.8 million, as compared to CAD 57.2 million in Q2 2023 and CAD 55.4 million in Q1 2024. The decrease in interest expense as compared to 2023 and prior quarter is attributable to the reduction in debt as a result of asset sales, partially offset by higher interest rates as compared to prior year.
Moving to the balance sheet, the REIT's proportionate investment properties at June 30th, 2024, was CAD 5.2 billion, down from CAD 5.5 billion as at Q1 2024. The decrease of CAD 300 million is attributable to disposition activity in the U.S. and Australasia of CAD 161 million, and fair value losses of CAD 176 million, of which CAD 105 million was related to the U.K. portfolio to reflect the write-down to the price transacted subsequent to quarter end. The REIT's disposition activity during and subsequent to the quarter, has resulted in the REIT making significant progress on our capital management initiative.
Since Q1 2024, including events after the quarter, the REIT has reduced proportionate debt from CAD 3.5 billion to CAD 2.6 billion, and has reduced proportionate leverage by 400 basis points to 55.1%. The REIT has a stated objective of reducing proportionate leverage below 50% in its pursuit of becoming an institutional quality REIT. With respect to the REIT's near-term debt maturities, since Q1, including the U.K. portfolio sale in August, the REIT has repaid over CAD 780 million of its 2024 and 2025 debt maturities, leaving CAD 628 million remaining as of today. To this end, management is actively engaging with lenders to refinance or extend the maturity of the REIT's remaining 2024 and 2025 maturities, and anticipates significant progress to be made on this during the third quarter.
In addition to repaying high cost debt and extending terms, we are also committed to reducing our exposure to floating rate debt. As of today, 29.8% of the REIT's debt on a proportionate basis is at variable rates, down from 35.3% as at December 31st. Looking ahead to the remainder of 2024 and into 2025, we expect to see the impact of our dispositions and capital management initiatives reflected in our future earnings, with a continued focus on maximizing our operational efficiencies and further improving our balance sheet. Our Q2 investor presentation, which is available on the investor relations section of our website, provides more details on our portfolio post the U.K. transaction, including operating and balance sheet metrics, reflecting the impact of the U.K. disposition on June 30th's results.
With that, I'll now ask the operator to open up the line for questions.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. First question comes from Frank Leo with BMO. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. First of all, congrats on the sale of your U.K. portfolio and the conclusion of the strategic review. Just thinking ahead on your overall strategy, moving forward, I guess you got one portfolio sale down. Is there anything else on the table at the moment? Are you still consider potential sales down of your assets in Brazil and, U.S.?
So, Frank, thanks for that. Everything's on the table, so we're still looking at our portfolio and where there might be opportunities and windows. We're seeing a little bit more demand in the sell market, so we'll take those opportunities. You know, we're in a very strong position from our perspective. You know, our earnings are now a very solid base, and we've delivered CAD 0.09 for 5 quarters. You know, I think we are under-hedged on our balance sheet, so we've got some opportunities there for interest rate swaps as the market picks up. We also, you know, we'd like to see leverage a little bit lower to that question, right?
And if we can do that, and we're also you know, in the position where we can make transactions and sell in an accretive way. So, you know, the U.K. transaction, not only does it massively de-lever, and, and de-risk 2025, it was CAD 0.06 accretive on an annualized basis. So we will look at that because we still have some high cost debt, on our balance sheet that we want to get rid of. And if we can do that in an accretive manner, we will.
Thanks, Craig. And I just wondering, is this the more like a, a priority in the later half of this year, or it's, it's more, 2025?
What's that? The opportunities for what? Sorry.
Upgrading for a potential sell-off of additional assets.
Oh, look, we're constantly looking at it. I mean, you can see we've sold CAD 1.6 billion in the last 18 months. So, you know, I think, we're constantly looking. So there'll be, there'll be news in Q3, Q4, Q1 next year. So, I don't think we're on a pause, you know, we're constantly looking.
Thanks for the color. I appreciate that. Just going back to the part of the strategic review. I believe growing JV business and pursue an asset light model was one of the focus for the week. That said, is the asset light strategy still in your mind, and would you continue to explore opportunities to grow, grow your JV business?
Yes. We, we like the, the asset management business. We like the, the asset light business. We've got some very strong partners, as you know, Sovereign Wealth Fund in Europe and in Australasia, we have Vital. Yeah, the transactional activity is quite subdued, I think just globally. But we like that market, and we have very strong partners, so we will continue to grow through that avenue when the, when the market recovers.
Thank you. I guess with your comment on more incremental demand for, you know, the healthcare assets, I guess that's also support of your growing JV business initiative.
No, exactly right. You know, every investment committee globally, is it's easier to say no, not yes. But I think, you know, as everyone's getting more and more comfortable that we're at the bottom of the interest rate cycle, and there might be cuts coming, and that varies and is different in each market globally, but that's giving buyers, and particularly core buyers, starting to think about acquisitions.
Thank you. That's all my questions for today, and congrats again. Thank you very much. Hope you guys have a good day. Turn it back.
Thank you so, thank you so much.
The next question comes from Dean Wilkinson with CIBC. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Just wanna spend a little time on the asset sale. Trying to square the CAD 105 million write down you've taken on, on that 5.9 cap rate. I mean, would that suggest you were perhaps carrying that something closer to 5.25? And what would that mean for the remainder of the European assets, in Germany and the Netherlands? Are they, like, closer to a high single digit, low double digit cap rate? Just sort of trying to get a little granularity on the portfolio.
Yeah, no, absolutely. I'll answer the question about the European assets, and I'll pass over to Mike on the U.K. portfolio. So the European assets sit about just north of a 6 cap, I think a 6.1 cap. It's around that number anyway, and I think that's kind of where steady state is. You're seeing some reductions, again, in the interest rates in the ECB. So I think that feels that we are on a steady state with Dean, where it will sort of lie, is reasonably and has been consistent Q over Q. And that cap rate is pretty consistent if I look at the Galaxy fund we have in Europe and on our balance sheet. So I think that's fair.
I'm gonna pass you over to Mike now, and just give you a bit of color on the U.K. cap rates and the valuation movements.
Yeah. Hi, Dean, it's Mike. So, I mean, for all of our assets and all of our portfolios, we have a, you know, a pretty regimented quarterly IPP valuation process. I think a year ago, we had the U.K. portfolio at a level similar to what we sold. We ran, you know, external valuations, you know, that came in at a higher number. So we increased our book value to reflect that. We ran a very formal sales process and, you know, with lots of interested parties, and ultimately, this was determined the best opportunity counterparty, and this is what we pursued.
Great. Not sure, this might be Stephanie. Are there any tax implications that come from the sale and being able to repatriate that capital back and pay down the debt? And would that give you some pools going forward for any future asset sales?
Hi. Yes, I can answer that. We were able to repatriate the cash due to our U.K. REIT structure without any tax withholding. And so, yeah, the proceeds came back free and clear, without any tax.
Great. I like no taxes. And then—yeah, yeah. That and the other one, that's inevitable. We won't talk about that one. On Assura, so how is that investment now gonna sit on the balance sheet, Stephanie? Will you have a line item for it? Will it go into the equity accounted, the other? And then also the GBP 8 million or so distribution, how's that gonna flow through into FFO going forward?
So because the investment is under 10%, we will show it as kind of an other investment and record the distribution income as earned.
Would there be an adjustment in there for the fluctuation of the share value over time? But I guess we would back that out of the operating FFO?
Yeah. Correct. Yeah, we will mark it to market every quarter .
Perfect. And I, and I'm assuming that that dividend can come back, tax sheltered, or is there any leakage that comes in bringing that back?
There will be withholding tax at a preferred rate, given we are of the Canadian and U.K. partnership, and so it's at a 15% withhold.
Okay, great. And then final-
That's included in the CAD 0.06 of accretion already that we've talked about.
That that's already... Oh, okay. So that answers the follow-on question. Then the last one for me just comes down to the distribution. Obviously, in the quarter, a lot of moving parts. You're kind of at that 105. I guess, post the sale and the normalization of, let's call it the balance sheet normalization, do you see that getting back down into the low 90s as sort of we go through Q3, or should that be more of a full year, 2025, kind of setup?
I think it will improve, and it's more of a, that CAD 0.06 is really a 2025 run rate, Dean, rather than. But you'll see improvements from Q4. I think Q3 will be a little bit messy because it's, you know, halfway through the queue. We did the transaction, but you see some benefit come through in Q4 and 2025. And that's the key, one of the key messages, right? So, you know, when we cut that distribution to CAD 0.36, and that's where we felt that CAD 0.09 was our base run rate, and that now we're looking to grow from that base.
Perfect. That helps a lot. That's it for me. I'll hand it back. Thanks, everyone.
Thank you, Dean.
The next question comes from Sairam Srinivas with Cormark Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everybody.
Morning.
Just, just looking at the U.K. portfolio sale, you know, Mike, and you talked about this in terms of going through an entire process, in terms of the sales, but was probably a JV structure, one of the things that you kind of thought about it, like was that an option even?
I mean, no, this was marketed as an outright sale.
All right.
I'll just add to that. I thought by marking it as an outright sale in a tougher market where we are today, we didn't wanna limit the buyer pool. We wanted to get the maximum price out of the portfolio, and talking to our advisors and from the sell side, we agreed that this was the way to get the maximum value for our units.
That's fair. And maybe just looking at the maturities ahead, and congrats on you guys doing a great job in actually resolving a bunch of those maturities. But for the remainder of them, is it gonna be a pure negotiation process of resolving the maturities? Or, you know, is asset sales, is further asset sales down the line as well to kind of repay the debt? Like, what are the options there?
I'll go first, and I'll hand over to Stephanie. So no further asset sales. So Ulrich, it's in three buckets. You've got mortgages that will just... We just believe they'll just roll, and that's just to continue conversation in bucket A. Bucket B, you've got some term debt in the U.S. and corporate. We're actively in negotiations right now. And then bucket three, basically the convertible debenture. So really, we've really broken the back of it, and we're working on it. But there's no, we need to asset sales to conclude that. Stephanie?
Yeah, I would agree. All of that can be done with the existing portfolio and no further additional liquidity on the balance sheet.
All right. That's actually a great color, guys. I'll turn it back. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question comes from Giuliano Thornhill with National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.
Hey, guys. Just one on why the U.K. was chosen. Could you guys comment on why the other geographies weren't disposed of, or maybe what was the kind of analysis there?
It's Mike. I mean, we were under strategic review. The board considered different options. You know, I'll be honest, the U.K. portfolio was a very strong portfolio, and we didn't, you know, in the ideal world, we wouldn't have sold it, but it, it was a good portfolio. It brought a good price, and we had a lot of inbound interest in it, which led us to run a formal process.
And so the other geographies, like the U.S., the Brazil, those would be structured in a similar way of the U.K. portfolio, where you kind of limit your tax on the repatriation of funds?
I mean, each country is different, but there's no tax leakage on our U.S. dispositions.
Okay.
And, you know, we've reported a number of them, and, you know, we are also exploring other disposition opportunities in the U.S. and, you know, but there's no tax leakage there.
Right. And so some of your better properties are located in Australia, kind of under the JV structurings. Is that what makes a carve out of Australia more difficult compared to some of these other ones that you have set up?... or even just sales in the geography?
Oh, so, just to rephrase the question . Why they weren't, why they weren't sold, is that the question?
Yeah, just well, yeah. Why there hasn't been more dispositions? Yeah.
So in Vital, I think we've sold nearly CAD 400 million in the last year, so there's been a lot of dispositions in Vital. Of course, we only get thirty cents on the dollar that, so, and a lot of the conversations we're talking about is on a proportionate basis, but Vital's been pretty active. We had one asset in Australia on our Northwest, on our balance sheet called Epping, and we sold that about six months ago. And, and if I think about the, in the Galaxy, I think there's one on the market at the moment around the CAD 150 million mark. So we, we're not discounting that, because of the regional, because of the structure, it just has the, the, the dollar impact for us is lower.
I see. And then just, I guess once you've reined in leverage enough, what kind of geography or asset class do you guys think you'd like to grow the most in or ultimately deploy capital?
Sure. So we are still very, very pro pure real estate. So, you know, private hospitals, medical office buildings, life sciences, and all the asset classes we know I'm very strong in. So that's, we're also-- we will have a, a preference to reinvest back in, in Canada and North America. So the marginal dollar, let's call it on a 100% basis, would be, in our home markets, and then building up our asset base here. Growth internationally would be more asset light, in sort of joint venture structures, as we have with the Galaxy funds or with Vital. So that's how we would look to grow internationally, but, that most of the marginal dollar would come domestically.
Okay. And then just the last one, just on extending your 2025 maturities, and obviously there's a lot on the table between dispositions. What kind of terms are you getting on discussions related to extensions on that term debt, now, or where, where do you think ultimately the rate could be coming at for that?
Yeah, we're looking to extend term as much as possible. So probably between 2-3 years, at this point.
Okay. All right. Thanks, guys.
Thank you very much.
The next question comes from Himanshu Gupta with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning.
Good morning.
Just on the lease expiry in Brazil, I think Sabará is coming up for renewal in September. Any update there?
Yeah, sure. I'm happy to take that. So yeah, their lease expires in September. It's 16,000 sq m. We've got terms agreed with them for a 10-year extension, and we're just kind of working through that documentation. So that will be on month-by-month rent until that's been finalized.
So it's a done deal, basically? It will get extended.
It's an agreed deal. It's a done deal when it's signed. But it's an agreed deal. It's an agreed deal, yes.
Okay, fantastic. And then, you know, same property, NOI growth, you know, pretty good, so far, you know, 4%-5% range. I mean, barring any bad debts, do you think that run rate can continue for the rest, for the second half of the year?
Look, I think, you know, it's probably better than 3-4 range rather than 4-5 as inflation comes down. But, but the portfolio is still very strong. You're right, bad debts are super low, collections are very high, but I'd be thinking in the 3-4 range rather than 4-5 range.
Okay. And any tenant on the watchlist in your U.S. portfolio?
Not in our U.S. portfolio. There is one in our Australian portfolio. So maybe, I might just talk about that briefly. In our Galaxy fund, one of our largest tenants in our Galaxy fund in Australia is with Healthscope, the second largest, private hospital operator, which is controlled by Brookfield. They're having a few financial issues, right? So they're talking to their bankers at the moment. There's no news but they're fully paid up in their rent. Each of their hospitals are profitable, it's just not profitable enough for them.
Okay. So, are they-
Sorry.
Sorry, go ahead. Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah.
No, I'm just saying that's all in our portfolio globally.
Okay. What kind of, like, rent structuring can happen on Healthscope? Any feelers from them or anything you're hearing?
Well, so at the moment, we get a 2.5% fixed increase, and I think the average WALE is closer to 20+ years. Yeah, that they want a rent abatement for a period of time, and we're not agreeable to that. I'll kind of leave it at that. So,
Okay.... Okay. No that's helpful. Thank you.
Thank you.
Oh, sorry, I still have a couple there. On the U.K. portfolio sale, and thanks for the color so far, is there a lock-in on the shares of Assura? And, you know, what, what's your near to medium-term plan in holding those shares?
So there is a lock-in. It's 6 months. You know, we will assess the market and the environment after that time. You know, we're getting a good 8% distribution yield out of that portfolio. In doing our due diligence, you know, it's a very strong company with, you know, over 9% of the income is backed by the NHS, with a very long, also very long WALE. But we'll make that assessment in 6 months' time.
Okay, fantastic. I'll turn back. Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
Once again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. The next question comes from Pammi Bir with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning. Just wanted to come back to the, to the Brazil portfolio. You know, at one point, I think, you know, that was cited as seeing some, some inbound interest on it as part of the strategic review. You know, has that interest essentially sort of just, you know, is that gone at this point, or are there still some possible discussions on that portfolio?
Look, we got some. Yes, we got some interest early on. We didn't like the pricing of the interest, to be honest. So the bid-ask spread was quite wide. We'll continue to have dialogues with various parties, and if there's a meeting of the minds, we'll look at something. But at the moment, there's nothing on the cards.
Okay. Stephanie, I think you mentioned a few times streamlining operations and G&A. Can you just maybe expand on that and maybe what that means for the G&A costs on a go-forward basis?
Sure. So through asset sales, as you can imagine, you know, we're continuing to assess G&A, specifically, we had a U.K. REIT structure set up, and as you heard me say, that helped us avoid any tax on that repatriation. So, that cost approximately CAD 2 million per year to run that U.K. REIT structure. So as we unwind that, we'll definitely see some savings there. And then, yeah, I think it's kind of normal course, looking to, you know, be efficient, and, you know, use technology better, and find ways which we can reduce G&A, kind of globally.
Okay. And then just lastly, Craig, I think you mentioned, you know, comments, you made some comments with respect to JVs and partners. Have you re-engaged with any of your existing partners or possibly had any conversations with new partners on some new JV opportunities? Just given, I think, you know, so much focus has been placed on the strategic review, so I'm not sure if that has really changed yet.
Yeah, no, it's. So yes, you know, we're, I'm constantly talking to our existing partners, just to keep them informed, strategically where we were in the process. Also, the portfolio that we manage for them has performed exceptionally well. So that's, that's been important because they, they haven't been financially impacted in any way. So there is a very strong relationship. To your question about, new funds, we have announced in Vital that we've started to having a conversation about maybe finding a capital partner to sort of help, unlock the development pipeline in Vital. So we are out in the marketplace talking to, to, to new capital. So it's, that, those conversations have started as well.
How would you describe the appetite for new capital coming into the space at this point?
So they're very interested in the space, so that's a big net positive. Everyone wants to rotate out of office and retail. So that's, and industrials is pretty hot, so they like the alternative space. So that's probably the first big point. Some of the questions with them is they need to sell before they buy. I need to sell my office exposure before I go and buy my healthcare exposure. The interesting question we're having at the moment is they're now just only comfortable about buying core real estate because they feel like they're at the bottom of the cycle.
If we're looking for opportunistic money, you know, sort of that, that five-year money, and we're not, then what they're effectively saying is, "Well, we don't know whether the bottom is gonna be another three, six, or a year away," so that money's a bit harder. So we're at the early engagement, and you're starting to see investment committees having good conversation and get started, but the conversations, to be frank, are reasonably slow.
Okay. Thanks very much. I'll turn it back.
Okay, thank you.
Once again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. Since there are no more questions, this concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Craig Mitchell for any closing remarks. Please go-
Thanks, operator. Thanks for your questions today. Because we continue to move forward with our identified strategic initiatives, we remain focused on becoming an institutional-quality healthcare REIT with a sustainable financial profile. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. Have a great rest of your summer, and thanks for your support. Thank you, operator.
This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.