final transcript

Transcription

final transcript
FINAL TRANSCRIPT
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust
First Quarter 2015 Results Conference Call
Event Date/Time: May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
Length: 29 minutes
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS
Drew Coles
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust — President and Chief Executive Officer
George Kosziwka
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust — Chief Financial Officer
CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS
Mario Saric
Scotiabank — Analyst
Dean Wilkinson
CIBC — Analyst
Jenny Ma
Canaccord Genuity — Analyst
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
2
FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
PRESENTATION
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the InnVest Real Estate Investment
Trust First Quarter 2015 Results Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode.
Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Instructions
will be provided at that time for you to queue up for questions. If anyone has any difficulties hearing
the conference, please press *, 0 for the Operator at any time.
I would like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded on Monday, May 11, 2015.
And I would now like to turn the conference over to Drew Coles, President and CEO. Please
go ahead.
Drew Coles — President and Chief Executive Officer, InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust
Good morning, Joanna (phon), and thank you all for joining us today. With me is George
Kosziwka, our Chief Financial Officer.
Before we begin, let me remind everyone that during this conference call we may make
statements containing forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on a
number of assumptions, and is subject to a number of known risks, unknown risks, and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those disclosed or implied.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
I direct you to our earnings release, MD&A, and other securities filings for additional
information about these assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, which can be accessed through our
website.
As we said in our last conference call, the past year has been transformational for InnVest
REIT. Therefore, I will quickly summarize a few key accomplishments to date as I speak to our
progress and where InnVest is headed in the future. In short, it’s about people, assets, and financial
stability.
We’ve made great progress internalizing our senior management and asset management
platform, giving InnVest direct oversight and accountability for all strategic and capital allocation
decisions. This enables us to effectively capitalize on opportunities to further diversify and
strengthen our property portfolio.
We added two exceptionally well-located full-service hotels in key city centre locations:
the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver and a 20 percent interest in Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York. We
raised $110 million in equity.
We completed a significant two-year capital investment program to enhance the
competitive position and improve operating performance across the portfolio. We sold 19 noncore
properties for net proceeds of $100 million in 2014, and another two hotel assets sold for net
proceeds of $6 million in the first quarter, redeploying this capital into our property investment and
portfolio growth initiatives.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Significant progress in improving our balance sheet has been achieved. Specifically, overall
leverage has been reduced; George will touch on the details later. Reliance on dilutive convertible
debentures is lower, liquidity has been enhanced, and we have diversified our funding sources.
With these accomplishments, we have experienced strong growth in our key operating
benchmarks, evidenced with 2014 RevPAR improvement and margin growth driven by
improvements in the competitiveness of our hotels. This progress continues in the first quarter of
2015. And before I turn things over to George, I just want to touch on a few highlights.
The revitalization and renovation of our core Comfort Inn portfolio contributed to more
than a 15 percent increase in room revenues compared with last year’s first quarter, and an overall
improvement in hotel gross operating profit.
We invested more than $10 million in key assets within our core hotel portfolio, including
recently completing the final phase of room renovations at Calgary’s Fairmont Palliser and Sheraton
Eau Claire. Room renovations at the Delta London Armouries and lobby renovations at the Delta
Beausejour in Moncton are well underway.
We expect to invest somewhere between 60 million and $80 million in total this year. We
sold two of the seven remaining noncore assets slated for disposition, generating net proceeds of
approximately $6 million.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Very important, our leverage ratio improved to 60.7 percent as of March 31, 2015, from 62
percent at year-end 2014 and 66.9 percent at the end of last year’s first quarter with liquidity of
approximately $78 million from cash on hand available and available loan facilities by quarter-end.
Operationally, we also saw improvement in our key performance benchmarks compared
to last year’s first quarter. Same-hotel RevPAR was up 2.3 percent on stronger occupancies and
average daily rates. Hotel gross operating profit on a same-hotel basis rose a very strong 10.4
percent, with margins improving by 120 basis points.
As we’ve stated in the past, with large fixed costs in the hotel business there’s significant
leverage to our cash flows with increases in occupancies, and most particularly in room rates. And
we did see this in the first quarter here in 2015.
The Marriott acquisition should have some positive impact on our six Deltas, and that
acquisition closed in early April.
Overall results were impacted by a few factors: the strategic sale of our noncore and lowyielding properties, renovated and well-positioned product, as well as economic fundamental
strength in some markets. However, it is becoming clear that we are doing more with less, and we
expect this trend to continue in the quarters ahead as we sell the remaining five properties slated
for disposition and redeploy the capital into our growth initiatives.
I’ll have more to say about this later, but let me turn things over to George to provide
more colour on our first quarter results.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
George Kosziwka — Chief Financial Officer, InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust
Thanks, Drew. As Drew outlined, the significant achievements over the last two years in
strengthening and repositioning our hotel portfolio and the steps taken to enhance our balance
sheet have had a positive impact on our first quarter results.
However, it is also important to note that the significant number of noncore hotel
dispositions since the end of last year’s first quarter have also had a material impact on results this
quarter. The true measure of the success of our value-enhancing programs can be seen in our samehotel performance, and these measures demonstrate solid growth in the period compared to last
year’s first quarter.
As an example, while overall revenues were down 3.2 percent compared to the same
period last year due to strategic hotel sales, same-hotel room revenues were up 2.2 percent driven
by an increase in occupancy to 55 percent and a 1.2 percent increase in average daily room rates.
The acquisition of the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver contributed over $10 million in
incremental revenue in the quarter.
Also of note, the Comfort Inns renovated in 2014 saw room revenues rise 16.7 percent
compared to last year, while those renovated in 2013 generated a 14.1 percent increase. Clearly our
renovation programs are having a significant positive impact on our performance.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Overall hotel gross operating profit improved 12.4 percent compared to last year,
notwithstanding the 3.2 percent decline in revenues, highlighting the benefits of our recent
acquisitions, as well as our program to sell low-yielding assets.
Overall GOP margin increased 200 basis points, same-hotel GOP rose 10.4 percent in the
quarter, with same-hotel GOP margin rising 120 basis points to 14.4 percent.
The new Hyatt Regency in Vancouver contributed $1.3 million to GOP in the quarter.
Importantly again, the 58 Comfort Inn portfolio saw a 74 percent, or $2.4 million increase in GOP in
the quarter, demonstrating the significant operating leverage achieved from the revenue growth in
the period.
Turning to the expense side. Lower corporate and admin costs this year reflect the
inclusion of a nonrecurring settlement charge last year, but do include costs related to the hiring of
a new CEO and the internalization of our asset management team.
InnVest has benefitted from a reduction in its debt leverage and weighted average cost of
debt since the beginning of 2014. Higher interest costs reflect the new mortgage for the Hyatt
Regency acquisition and the funding of the KingSett term loan in Q2 last year, which was partially
offset by mortgages repaid through hotel sales.
Convertible debenture interest savings are the result of over $100 million of redemptions
and $33 million of conversions over the last 12 months. Overall, the REIT generated an FFO loss of
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
$3.4 million, or $0.029 cents per diluted unit in the quarter, an improvement from the $4.6 million
loss, or $0.049 cents per diluted unit last year.
AFFO was a loss of $5.2 million, or $0.044 per diluted unit, again, better than the $7.6
million, or $0.081 per diluted unit lost last year. Our AFFO payout ratio remained an acceptable 89.3
percent on a trailing 12-month basis despite the significant increase in units outstanding. Including
our DRIP, the AFFO trailing-12 month payout ratio was 82.1 percent.
Turning to our balance sheet and financial position. Our proactive early redemption of the
$36.4 million Series D convertible debentures, of which 90 percent were converted into equity,
contributed to continued leverage reduction at quarter-end, with our debt to gross book value
improving to 60.7 percent down from 62 percent at the end of the year.
Of note, the leverage ratio at March 31, 2015, improved more than 620 basis points from
the same time last year, highlighting the significant progress made in improving our balance sheet.
Our liquidity stood at $78 million at quarter-end.
In February, we funded our purchase of a 20 percent interest in the Royal York Hotel with
net equity of approximately $17.3 million, and we expect to contribute a further $10 million to
complete renovations over the next two years.
We also funded the early redemption of $3.6 million of Series D debentures during the
quarter with available liquidity. Also during the quarter we elected not to exercise a one-year option
to extend mortgage debt of approximately $155 million in order to refinance for a longer period.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
As of March 31st, we have approximately $220 million of mortgages maturing in the
remainder of 2015 with a weighted average interest rate of 5.2 percent. We are in active discussions
with various lenders and fully expect to refinance all this maturing mortgage debt with lower
interest rates and extend our overall term to maturity, further enhancing our cash flows and
improving our balance sheet.
As an example of our ability to capitalize on the low interest rate environment, in April we
completed the refinancing of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver for $80 million at a fixed interest rate of
3.75 percent for a 10-year term.
Our financing initiatives continue to diversify our funding and liquidity sources, lower our
weighted average interest costs, and reduce our overall leverage, including our reliance on dilutive
securities.
Looking ahead, we intend to achieve a leverage ratio below 60 percent.
Thanks for your time today, and I'll now turn things back to Drew.
Drew Coles
Thanks, George. Before we take your questions, let me first provide a look ahead. As you
all know, I've been in this chair for just under four months, and I've taken this time to thoroughly get
to know our assets, our people, and our business.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
I can say with confidence that we have a great foundation in place. Combined with some
key hires in asset management, this team will be keenly focused on growth through improved
operating performance in the quarters and years ahead.
First, while varying by region, overall industry fundamentals continue to strengthen with
independent forecasts for 2015 showing a solid improvement over last year. Demand continues to
exceed supply growth, helping drive continued occupancy improvement. With this, according to
independent experts, industry-wide RevPAR growth of almost 4 percent is expected in 2015 across
Canada.
Finally, with the low Canadian dollar, overnight travel to Canada from the United States is
forecast to grow about 3.5 percent in 2015, up from 1.2 percent in 2014. In saying that, we do
applaud the progress of the Canadian Tourism Commission, TIAC, the industry itself, and the federal
government have made with the Connecting America campaign.
While we remain cautious on near-term trends in our oil-based Alberta market, we believe
we own some of the best quality assets in Calgary and Edmonton, and their strong competitive
position will help mitigate any decline in demand in those two markets.
It is also important to note that in the aggregate, our portfolio includes only 1,600 rooms
in the Calgary and Edmonton markets and nothing outside of those urban centres, limiting our
overall exposure to this market and highlighting the positive benefits of our well-diversified
portfolio which we have seen in Q1.
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
It is also important to note that our western region has over half of its rooms outside
Alberta in markets not directly impacted from the decline in oil prices. We remain positive on the
long-term fundamentals for our core Alberta markets, but also believe in the value and importance
of a well-diversified portfolio to adapt to market fluctuations.
On a positive note, it is likely that low oil prices and the resulting gasoline price savings will
contribute to travel and hotel room demand in our important summer months, and that high
relative US dollar will drive more Canadians to vacation within the domestic borders here at home.
This trend can only benefit our hotels across our geographically diverse portfolio.
Looking ahead, the execution of the REIT’s strategic plan over the last two years has
generated significant benefits for our unitholders, strengthening and repositioning our portfolio,
and enhancing the REIT's financial position and flexibility. We will continue to focus on these key
strategic imperatives going forward.
We will build on solid progress demonstrated in the first quarter by capitalizing on the
significant expertise and experience resident in our recently internalized senior management team
and asset management platform.
We are targeting between 60 million and $80 million in investments in our core hotel
portfolio for the full year, and this capital will further enhance our competitive positioning of our
hotels. Funds from these investments will come from the strategic sales of the remaining five
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
noncore assets earmarked for disposition, with estimated proceeds of approximately $10 million, as
well as other available liquidity, including our FF&E reserve.
We will continue to capitalize on our current low interest rate environment to refinance
the remaining $220 million in mortgages due this year. With these mortgages having a weighted
average rate of 5.2 percent currently, we believe we can refinance them at significantly lower rates,
generating improved cash flows over the near term.
Our focus is also on accelerating growth for our unitholders, growth that we see coming
from three areas: first, continuing to invest in acquisitions and divesting noncore properties as
appropriate to drive superior returns on investment; second, to leverage our now internalized
management expertise to grow our business; and third, to continue building on our strong balance
sheet and financial position.
In summary, we expect our results to continue to improve going forward as our revitalized
core property portfolio capitalizes on improving fundamentals in the Canadian hotel business, and
we prudently act on accretive acquisition opportunities.
Thank you for your time today, and we'll now be pleased to take your questions.
Q&A
Operator
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session.
Should you have a question, please press the *, followed by the 1 on your touch-tone phone. If you
are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for
your first question.
Your first question comes from Mario Saric with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Mario Saric — Scotiabank
Hi. Good morning.
Drew Coles
Hi, Mario.
Mario Saric
Maybe just focusing on the balance sheet first and foremost, you showed a pretty good
quarter-over-quarter decline in leverage. Sounds like you'll go below 60, which is kind of your nearterm target in the not too distant future. I'm just wondering longer term how should we think about
leverage going forward, let's say, over the next three to five years because that seems to be a bit
more open ended?
Drew Coles
Yeah. It's a great question, Mario, and I think a couple things there. One is continuing the
momentum that we have, and what we really want to do before we put a—I think maybe you're
looking for a number in the sand—before we get there we really want to use our asset management
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
team to evaluate which assets still belong in the portfolio and where some disposition activities
might occur is one.
And then two is obviously looking at the deleveraging effect that the Hyatt had and looking
at our acquisitions going forward what impact those will have. And obviously we want to make
those acquisitions that have that type of impact. So I would say that the near-term answer is we
want to continue that momentum getting below 60 into the 50s, and I would expect that in the
three- to five-year term we would look to stabilize that number certainly into the 50s and maybe
below that, but tough to put a pin in it today.
Mario Saric
Okay. Could one way looking at it could be like including your converts, if we back out your
converts you have about 50 percent leverage, and you've indicated that you'd like to kind of get rid
of those converts over time, given how dilutive they've been in the past. So is a reasonable way to
think about it is as those come due over time you'll see a natural kind of reduction in leverage just
by extinguishing those converts?
George Kosziwka
Yeah. I guess, Mario, we have redeemed or converted over $130 million of converts in the
last year, and that is a good way to look at it. As those converts mature, or perhaps even when prior
to maturity, we have some options to retire those to lower our leverage.
Mario Saric
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Okay. Just with respect to the operations and specifically focused on the Comfort Inn
rebranding initiative, more of a higher-level question, but I'm interested to hear how your
competitors in those markets have reacted to your rebranding initiatives?
Drew Coles
Yeah. I think it will be interesting, I think, over the next couple quarters will be the real
story, Mario. In the first quarter, as you know, given the cyclical nature, it's a bit softer. And so
you're right. We've probably been able to steal some share, and how they—we haven't seen a
reaction from them.
What we've seen is on our Smith Travel Reports that we've increased our position both in
occupancy and rate. And how they'll react, we haven't seen that yet. But we probably will see it, and
it's something our asset management team will be keenly focused on as we get through the end of
the second quarter and into the third quarter.
But certainly no reaction yet, and I think the statement of the day is when you're
renovated and you have some new product to sell it's tougher for the others to react to, and you go
on carrying the day and being in the competitive position that you're in.
Mario Saric
Yeah. It will be interesting because I guess the options for them are to cut rate, to put
money into the hotels themselves, I'm not sure whether that's possible with some private players,
or to reposition the assets in terms of...
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
George Kosziwka
I think, Mario, I think the consumers are prepared to pay more for a more competitive
product. And part of our thesis of renovating the Comfort Inns was we were experiencing a 30 or
$35 deficiency in rates achieved to Quality Inn Expresses and the Hampton Inns. And their products
were newer and a little more competitive.
And all we wanted to do was chip away at that premium, and we've done that. We don't
expect that owners of Quality Inn Express or Hampton Inns are going cut their rates.
Mario Saric
Yeah. Okay. Last question just on the outlook for 2015, the HVS, 3.8 percent RevPAR
figure; would you happen to have what that figure would be excluding the expected positive impact
in Toronto from the Pan Am Games?
Drew Coles
I can't speak for HVS, Mario. I don't know if they look across the entire country how much
weighting they've actually put in on that. And I would say they've looked at it more from a
fundamental basis of what are the underlying economic fundamentals driving business travel maybe
more over what a low-dollar impact may have in the leisure markets.
And again, I can't speak for HVS or any of the other experts out there, but I couldn't
imagine that they've put a tonne of weighting in the Pan Am Games impact.
Mario Saric
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Okay. Thank you.
Drew Coles
Yeah. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Your next question comes from Dean Wilkinson with CIBC. Please go ahead.
Dean Wilkinson — CIBC
Thank you. Good morning, everyone.
Drew Coles
Hi, Dean.
George Kosziwka
Good morning.
Dean Wilkinson
If I could just maybe carry on a little in Mario's line of questioning there around the
balance sheet. Given the productive CapEx that you've got, that 60 million to 80 million to spend
through the rest of the year, would it be fair to think that the leverage probably won't see a 5 in
front of it for perhaps 12 to 18 months at the earliest?
George Kosziwka
Well, Dean, spending on CapEx won't increase our leverage. That stays on our asset base
and just exchanges cash for another asset. You're right in saying that there shouldn't be significant—
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is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
without an acquisition that is over equitized you won't see a significant decrease in our leverage,
but because of the time of the year that we will generate more cash than we distribute for the
remaining nine months of the year that's really what's going to have an impact of lowering our
leverage over the near term.
Dean Wilkinson
After that. Okay. And would that spend be more back-end loaded? Or is it fairly even
through the next three quarters?
Drew Coles
Yeah. I'd say it's pretty well evenly dispersed. And really being the way we look at it is on a
hotel-by-hotel basis where the projects are what are the best opportunities of low occupancy, and
those depend market by market. But if you take the entire spend, I would say it's fairly evenly
dispersed.
Dean Wilkinson
Fairly even. Okay. Fair enough. And then just on the G&A, would sort of 3 million a quarter
represent roughly a good run rate now that you're fully internalized?
George Kosziwka
Yes. Yes, it does.
Dean Wilkinson
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liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
In that range. Okay. Three. And the last question I had was just on the remainder of the
refinancings. Want to make sure I've got the numbers right. You've got 218 left to refinance, and is
the 80 million including the 10 million up-finance? Or is 70 out of that 218?
George Kosziwka
No.
Dean Wilkinson
Or said another way, is there about 150 left? Or is that 218 exclusive?
George Kosziwka
No. The 218 is over and above the 80.
Dean Wilkinson
Two-eighteen is over and above that. Okay.
George Kosziwka
Yeah.
Dean Wilkinson
Perfect. That's all I had. Thanks, guys.
Drew Coles
Thanks, Dean.
Operator
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is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
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contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have any questions please
press the *, followed by the 1.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Jenny Ma with Canaccord Genuity. Please go
ahead.
Jenny Ma — Canaccord Genuity
Hi. Good morning, everyone.
Drew Coles
Hi, Jenny.
Jenny May
Drew, just wanted to ask about your outlook for acquisitions this year. What are you
seeing in the market? Any comment on valuation would be helpful.
Drew Coles
Yeah. It's funny. We had the Hotel Investment Conference in Toronto last week with the
entire industry there, and certainly the brokers are predicting another strong year of trades.
We've seen one portfolio activity, which actually got listed in 2014, and we haven't seen
any other portfolios come to market yet. We hear rumblings of individual assets that are coming to
market, but we haven't seen anything actually get listed and hit the market, although we
understand there may be a couple that will come to the market quite quickly.
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is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
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FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
I would say from an overall position on valuation, obviously from our perspective, Jenny,
we're going to underwrite and look to do two things. One is what are the accretive metrics on a
trailing 12 and a steady-state business? And two, is in those acquisitions is there any low-hanging
fruit? Now that we've started to internalize our asset management, are we going to find some lowhanging fruit that we can get some better value out of the assets in both the short term and the
long term?
Jenny May
Okay. And with regards to dispositions, you've had a few months to look over the
portfolio. Did you go through the exercise to see if there's any other assets you might think of
selling? Or are the handful left in the portfolio now pretty much it as far as property sales?
Drew Coles
No. We're going to do another comb through, and we're going to use the platform now.
We are going to go through the portfolio again to see what belongs and what doesn't, and at the
same time always monitoring the markets and the economic stability of each market that we're in.
Jenny May
Okay. Great. That's helpful. Thanks.
Drew Coles
Thank you, Jenny.
Operator
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is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
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22
FINAL TRANSCRIPT
May 11, 2015 — 11:00 a.m. E.T.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust First Quarter 2015 Results
Conference Call
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. You may proceed.
Drew Coles
Okay. Thanks, Joanna. Again, thank you all for your time this morning and your continued
interest in InnVest REIT. We believe the significant accomplishments in 2014 and the strong
improvement in our operating and financial results in the first quarter of 2015 will continue to
generate benefits for our unitholders going forward.
I'd also like to remind everyone that our Annual Meeting of Unitholders will be held on
Tuesday, June 16, 2015, at two o’clock in the afternoon at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in
downtown Toronto.
As our acquisition of a 20 percent interest in this landmark property was a significant
strategic move for the REIT, I hope you will attend and see firsthand what this fine hotel has to
offer.
Thank you all again, and that concludes today's call.
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for
participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.
*****
"Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript
is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or
liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein."
« Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne
contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou
découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. »
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