Welcome to Community Healthcare Trust 2023 first quarter earnings release conference call. On the call today, the company will discuss its 2023 first quarter financial results. It will also discuss progress made in various aspects of its business. Following the remarks, the phone lines will be open for a question and answer session. The company's earnings release was distributed last evening and has also been posted on its website, www.chct.reit. The company wants to emphasize that some of the information that may be discussed on this call will be based on information as of today, May third, 2023, and may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in such statements.
For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, you should review the company's disclosures regarding forward-looking statements in its earnings release, as well as its risk factors and MD&A in its SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law. During this call, the company will discuss GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation between the two is available in its earnings release, which is posted on its website. Call participants are advised that this conference call is being recorded for playback purposes. An archive of the call will be made available on the company's investor relations website for approximately 30 days and is the property of the company. This call may not be recorded or otherwise reproduced or distributed without the company's prior written permission.
Now I would like to turn the call over to Dave Dupuy, CEO of Community Healthcare Trust. Please go ahead.
Great. Thanks, Gary. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for our 2023 first quarter conference call. On the call with me today is Leigh Ann Stach, our Chief Accounting Officer, and Tim Meyer, our EVP of Asset Management. The CHCT family had an incredibly difficult and emotional quarter with the loss of the company's Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Tim Wallace. Tim was a great leader, but also a friend and mentor to me and many others. I have received many heartfelt calls, letters, and emails of support from colleagues and friends expressing their sympathy and remembering Tim. His presence and leadership will be missed, but he built a top-notch team that I am now fortunate to lead.
I am grateful for the support I have received from our board of directors, employees, and investors. I look forward to carrying on being mindful of Tim's legacy as the company's new CEO. Our earnings announcement and supplemental data report were released last night and filed with an 8-K. Our quarterly report on form 10-Q was filed last night. In addition, an updated investor presentation was posted to our website last night. The extraordinary events of the first quarter required everyone on the team to step up and fill the void left by Tim. I am proud of how our executive, accounting, and asset management teams responded to these challenges while still delivering a good service to our tenants and continued growth for our shareholders. We are seeing steady acquisition activity. Our acquisition pipeline continues to build.
Occupancy was stable at 91.6%. We continue to see good leasing activity. Our weighted average remaining lease term declined slightly from 7.6 to 7.4 years. On another front, one of our clients, Everest Rehabilitation, sold the operations of four of its inpatient rehab hospitals to LifePoint Health in February. Now LifePoint is our new tenant in these four buildings. As part of this transaction, LifePoint can acquire future buildings from Everest upon completion and Medicare licensure. We believe this gives credence to the quality of Everest buildings and operations. In the first quarter, we acquired seven properties with a total of approximately 162,000 sq ft for a purchase price of $23.4 million.
The properties were 100% leased, with leases running through 2031 and anticipated annual returns of approximately 9.2%-10.6%. The company has four properties under definitive purchase agreements for an agreed aggregate expected purchase price of $19.7 million and expected returns of approximately 9.2%-9.3%. The company is currently performing due diligence and expects to close on these properties in the second quarter. The company signed three additional purchase and sale agreements with Everest this quarter and now has signed agreements for nine properties to be acquired after completion and occupancy for an aggregate expected investment of $214.5 million.
The expected return on these investments could range up to 10.25%, and we expect to close on these properties throughout 2023, 2024, and 2025. We continue to have many properties under review and have term sheets out on several properties with indicative returns of 9%-10%. We anticipate having enough availability on our credit facilities and through our banking relationships to fund our acquisitions, and we expect to continue to opportunistically utilize the ATM to strategically access the equity markets. We declared our dividend for the fourth quarter and raised it to $0.45 per common share. This equates to an annualized dividend of $1.80 per share, and we continue to be proud to say we have raised our dividend every quarter since our IPO.
That takes care of the items I wanted to cover, so I'll hand things off to Leigh Ann to discuss the numbers.
Thank you, Dave. Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report that total revenue grew from $23.5 million in the first quarter of 2022 to $27.2 million in the first quarter of 2023, representing 15.7% growth over the same period last year. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $25.3 million, representing 7.2% sequential growth. On a pro forma basis, if all of the 2023 first quarter acquisitions had occurred on the first day of the quarter, total revenue would have increased by an additional $383,000 to a pro forma total of $27.6 million in the first quarter.
From an expense perspective, property operating expenses increased quarter-over-quarter from $4.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 to $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2023 or 17.3%. The increase in property operating expenses was mainly due to expenses on properties acquired, as well as increases in property taxes and other normal fluctuations occurring from period to period. G&A increased from $4.1 million to $16.2 million sequentially. G&A for the first quarter of 2023 included the non-cash accelerated amortization of Mr. Wallace's unvested shares, totaling $11.8 million. Excluding this accelerated amortization, G&A increased $0.3 million quarter-over-quarter or 6.2%.
Increases in G&A were driven primarily by increases in compensation from annual salary increases as well as professional fees associated with the passing of Mr. Wallace. Interest expense increased from $3.5 million to $4 million or 15.2% sequentially. This increase was due to the credit facility refinancing in December of 2022, in which we added on a net basis $100 million in term loans as well as increases in interest rates. Funds from operations, or FFO, for the first quarter of 2023 was $2.2 million, which includes the non-cash accelerated amortization of Mr. Wallace's unvested shares totaling $11.8 million, as compared to FFO of $13.5 million in the first quarter of 2022.
On a per-share basis, FFO was $0.09 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2023 compared to $0.56 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2022. The non-cash amortization of Mr. Wallace's unvested shares recognized in the first quarter of 2023 reduced FFO per diluted share by $0.47. Adjusted funds from operations or AFFO, which adjusts for straight line rent and stock-based compensation, including the accelerated amortization of Mr. Wallace's unvested shares, totaled $15.6 million, compared with $14.8 million in the first quarter of 2022, or 5.2% growth year-over-year. On a per-share basis, AFFO increased from $0.61 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2022 to $0.62 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2023 or 1.6% growth.
Finally, FFO for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $15.4 million, representing a 1.2 cent 2% increase on a sequential basis and down on a per-share basis by $0.01 per diluted share. On a pro forma perspective, if all of the 1st quarter acquisitions occurred on the 1st day of the 1st quarter, AFFO would have increased by approximately $214,000 to a pro forma total of $15.8 million or about $0.01 per diluted share. That's all I have for the numbers perspective. Operator, we're ready to start the question and answer session.
We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question is from Rob Stevenson with Janney. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Dave, how does the breakdown of the nine properties totaling $215 million in completion breakdown in terms of expected 2023, 2024, and 2025 in terms of taking possession and you guys needing to fund?
Yeah. Based on the information we have today... Good morning, Rob. Thanks for the question. Based on the information we have today, we are expecting two of those facilities to close in this year. We're expecting four to close in 2024, and the remaining three would close in 2025.
Okay. Are any of those outsized or are they all sort of roughly, call it, $20 million-$25 million assets?
Yeah. They're all in that range, consistent with what we've done in the past.
Okay. All right. How do you guys look at the credit quality of LifePoint compared to where Everest used to be?
Look, I think, you know, LifePoint obviously did a large take-private transaction a few years ago. Apollo is their private equity sponsor. My guess is LifePoint, over the next 12 - 18 months, will be exploring an IPO as Apollo looks to get out of the deal. I think it's a pickup in credit from our perspective and we think it like I said in the prepared remarks, we think it really gives credence to the quality of the buildings, frankly, the locations and the operations of Everest. We think this is a great transaction. Obviously, for the folks at Everest, it really validates what they're doing. We also think it validates, you know, our partnership with Everest, and we're very excited about it.
Okay. Last one from me. Where are you seeing cap rates trend these days? What was it on the first quarter acquisitions? Looks like that the four properties for $20 million are sort of low nines. What's coming across your desk these days in terms of pipeline for the back half of the year?
You know, it's really consistent with that 9%-10% range. Occasionally, we'll see opportunities north of 10%. Usually, there's a story associated with those properties, such as, you know, shorter dated leases, or some other dynamic that might make the cap rate a little bit higher. You know, in general, we're seeing really consistent trends in that, you know, call it 9.25%-10.25% range. You know, from our perspective, those are right down the middle of the fairway for us. Those are attractive yields, and we'll continue to go after those opportunities.
You haven't seen any big ballooning from the, what's going on with the banks and other capital sources and pricing these days to really expand that much beyond about a 10% cap rate at this point?
That's right. That's right.
Okay.
Look, we're gonna, we're gonna continue to, you know, obviously try to drive the best yield we can. I think, you know, to the extent people have an asset that would, that would yield north of that 10.5% range, my guess is they'd, you know, they'd look to hold it for a while and not look to sell. Again, we think that 9.25%-10.25% is right down the middle of the fairway.
Okay. Perfect. Thanks. Appreciate the time this morning.
Great. Thank you.
The next question is from Alexander Goldfarb with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Yeah, obviously condolences on Tim. Dave, you got big shoes to fill.
I know. I appreciate that.
Hopefully you can channel some of Tim's snarkiness, that way that part can live on. Two questions here. First, you know, just, you know, Tim obviously was long tenured in the business, started the company, and had a lot of relationships out there, especially with the, the sort of, you know, cyclical or, you know, the serial developers and such. You guys have a big team, acquisitions team. Do you feel that, you know, the relationships that he had will be maintained, or are there some that really were really Tim-centric and, you know, you guys will need to either work to rebuild. Not to rebuild, that's a bad word, but you know what I mean. Like, bridge the, you know, the relationship.
No. Listen, Alex, that's a great question. Appreciate it. A couple of things I would say about that. First of all, you know, the entire team was really instrumental, and that included myself. It included Paige, who's still actively engaged in working on those types of relationships. It included Tim. I would say, you know, Tim's focus was a lot more around originating some of the broker transactions and the broker relationships. From our perspective, and frankly from my perspective, I was laser-focused on making sure that we had those broker relationships institutionalized. I think we've done a good job in doing that and reaching out. Because, you know, obviously the client relationships are very important, but so is the brokered business. Tim was the one that had most of those relationships.
I think what we've done over the last three months is do a real good job of reaching out, re-engaging with the brokers that we did a lot of work with and making sure that they knew that we're gonna continue to grow the business consistent with some of the parameters that Tim had. I think that's been successful. I mean, our deal flow has really hasn't missed a beat.
Okay. The second question is, going back to the banks and, the serial developers and, some of the smaller businesses, I guess it's sort of two parts. One, are you seeing any of the developers or small, you know, practices that are getting hit because their local bank, is pulling back on credit and it's making them harder to proceed with developments? Or is this where this increases the opportunity for you guys to put out more capital? If that's the case, you know, do you see doing more sort of like mezz or pref funding upfront versus buying out on the back end?
You know, we are seeing and hearing anecdotally that, you know, some of the, some of the developers out there as well as some of the buyers who, you know, had a deal under control at a cap rate that was, you know, 6.5% or 7%, all of a sudden that cap rate doesn't make sense, and so they're not in a position where they can close on that deal, or they perhaps reach out to us and see if we're interested. Ultimately, that isn't of interest to us. I mean, we view our capital as very precious, and we wanna generate the best yields we can on that capital. You know, we feel like that the best opportunity to do that is through, you know, client relationships that we develop.
I will tell you, we're continuing to push forward. We've talked to many operators in the behavioral space. We've talked to operators in the inpatient rehab space and beyond, and we'll continue to have that dialogue. We think that all of a sudden the capital that we were offering it at 9% to 10%, which appeared expensive a year or so ago, is not so expensive today. The good news is, I guess what I would tell you is we continue to have that dialogue with the potential, you know, and most of those are, you know, owners, owner-occupied type of folks and not providing a capital source for developers per se. You know, never say never. We'll look at every opportunity as it presents itself.
In general, we like the idea of working with our banks and getting them to fund the actual deal and then taking it out when that transaction is open and ready for operations.
Dave, to be clear, you guys are not interested in getting into the mezz or pref business. You only wanna buy, you know, completed assets at the back end, correct?
That's correct.
Okay, awesome. Thank you.
Thanks, Alex.
The next question is from Michael Lewis with Truist Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. First of all, you know, it's sad for all of us to have, you know, this first earnings call without Tim, and I especially extend my sympathies to everybody on the call who worked with him, you know, on a daily basis, more so than I interacted with him. I'm not good at these things, you know, sorry for the loss. My question, you know, first maybe an update on the CFO search, to the extent that you can, and I wonder if it's important to you that they'd be paid in stock, which has been kind of the history of the company. Maybe, you know, any other structural or strategy changes at the company, as a result of Tim's passing.
Michael, thanks for the question and really appreciate your kind words. You know, it's we miss Tim and miss his presence, and we appreciate that note. As for the CFO search, we are very focused on getting that done. As you might imagine, in my spot, juggling both of those roles over the last three months has been challenging. It's a lot of work. What I can tell you is we're having good dialogue with qualified candidates and we think that hopefully those will result in the near term getting somebody on board.
As for the compensation question, we've always said as we launched this search, you know, discussing it at the board level, it's very important that we as a firm, I think, maintain kind of our shareholder-centric approach and all of us sitting in this room take 100% of our compensation in stock. We're not gonna let that drive, you know, be the sole driver for our CFO search and candidates. While it's important that, you know, that candidate understands that that's a significant part of what we do and how we operate, we're, you know, we're gonna be open to finding the best candidate. If that means that that person over time or right away takes some amount of cash versus stock, we're not gonna preclude that candidate from being considered.
I think that answers the questions or at least all I can say about the CFO search. As it relates to our focus as a business, I've said this on our last call, when Tim was on medical leave, that, you know, Tim has developed a really good roadmap for this business. It's consistent, it's replicable. We've got a team in place that understands how this works. We think our investors like the way we go about our business. We've created a nice niche for ourselves in the marketplace. I don't have any plans near term to change that. I think it's a good operating strategy, and it's served us well since the company's inception in 2015.
We'll continue to push forward, being consistent with some of those guiding principles that Tim set forth for us.
Great. Thanks. Then just one more for me. you know, you've improved the occupancy quite a bit the last couple of years, largely through acquisitions of well-occupied assets. you know, what do you think about, say, the bottom 5% or 10% of your portfolio, stuff that maybe you've owned for a while and it's not up to the quality of what you've been buying more recently or maybe it's underperforming, you know, for some other reason. You know, people have already asked about access to capital and, and what's going on with the local and regional banks. I imagine maybe it's tough to call the bottom 5% maybe because of high cap rates and they're worth more in a portfolio and that sort of thing.
Is there any stress, you know, in the portfolio or, you know, any thoughts, like I said, on some of those underperformers?
You know, I think there's always going to be some level of, you know, buildings that aren't performing where you want them to. I think in general, what we've been successful at doing is redeveloping those projects and those buildings in a way that allows us to get those projects yielding where we want them to yield and get the occupancy up. What I will say that, Michael, is, you know, to the extent we've had buildings, you know, empty for more than a year or two, we're gonna take a look at the portfolio, and if it makes sense for us to look at selling those properties, we will evaluate doing that. I know Tim was very reluctant to do that historically.
I think it's incumbent on this team to take a good look at some of those buildings and look at potentially, you know, recycling that capital. Nothing has been decided at this point, but we will certainly look at it.
Great. Thank you.
Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. The next question is from Jim Kammert with Evercore ISI. Please go ahead.
good morning. Thank you. I apologize, did you cover in the prepared remarks that, I see in the investor presentation, you've also perhaps entered into a development agreement or takeout agreement for some dialysis centers? I was just curious if you could provide more color on the timing and, a little about the credit profile of that to operate.
Hi, Jim. No, that has been an agreement that we've had outstanding for a while now. That term sheet has been outstanding for a while, and that is with an existing client who we have, who is a tenant in a handful of our buildings. We like that tenant a lot. That tenant actually just a year ago, raised some private equity financing that we think really was, you know, again, gives credence to their ability to operate dialysis centers and I think provides some good overall financial footing for the company. You know, it's a recognizable private equity firm. We're hopeful that that term sheet results in some business.
We've looked at a couple of transactions. What I will say is most of the focus of the business or just the reality of the deals they've been looking at, in terms of acquisition, there has not been owned real estate as part of that. As a result, there hasn't been an opportunity for us, you know, to get involved on the real estate side. I still think they're gonna focus on some development projects which could involve us in that term sheet. You know, private equity is very focused on ramping up growth as quickly as possible, and so they're rightfully looking at acquisitions. You know, that's been their primary focus over the last year.
We're actually gonna be meeting with that private equity firm next week to get a better sense of what their growth goals are and whether there's some development opportunities there and how we can be more helpful. I'll have some better color after that meeting, but that relationship and that term sheet has been in place for a while now.
My mistake. I knew this was sort of an evergreen. You're waiting for a resolution. Got it. Just turning to the operating portfolio, if I could, you've got sort of a mounting amount of lease expirations coming next three years. Any color you could provide on, you know, sort of expected roll up or roll down? I know you've been kind of flattish, I don't wanna put words in your mouth, but, you know, in terms of the rent movement, just curious what you're foreseeing coming up on the renewals.
You know, I think what our experience has been that in general, it's very market-specific. In some of our markets we've been up. In some of our markets we've been down a little bit. On average, you know, our portfolio is right about where market is, we don't expect a material roll down relative to these to these leases. You know, the leasing team and Tim's team has done a great job at improving occupancy over the last year and a half or so. I don't know, Tim, if you wanna add any more specifics.
Yeah. I mean, we like where we are from a leasing perspective. We like where the pipeline sits and, you know, we're gonna have some natural flow as some tenants roll off. You know, we've been very successful with the plan that we have and what we're executing. You know, we're very excited about where the pipeline is and what we're seeing from a retention rate perspective as well in the portfolio.
Terrific. Thank you.
This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to David DuPuy for any closing remarks.
Great. Thanks everybody for the questions. We appreciate everyone's interest in the company and look forward to if there's any additional questions you have, feel free to reach out. Look forward to seeing everybody on the upcoming NAREIT in June. Thank you.
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.