TORONTO, Feb. 21, 2024 /CNW/ – First Capital REIT (“First Capital” or the “REIT”) (TSX:FCR) will host its 2024 Investor Day today where its leadership team will present “Discipline, Stability, Growth”, a three-year strategic roadmap, including financial growth and leverage reduction objectives.
“Today, we are presenting a clear vision for the future, focused on continuing to maximize the value of First Capital for our investors. By utilizing our best-in-class real estate portfolio and operating platform, we will continue to focus on driving FFO per unit growth while at the same time, continuing to strengthen our credit profile,” said Adam Paul, President & Chief Executive Officer.
“Since launching our Optimization Plan nearly a year and a half ago, we have announced over $630 million of dispositions with an average in-place yield of less than 3% and an average premium to IFRS carrying value of more than 20%. The execution of the Plan is demonstrating meaningful progress and since its introduction, FCR’s total unitholder return of approximately 22% has outperformed the 10% return from the S&P/TSX REIT Index and the 3% average return from FCR’s large-cap Canadian retail REIT peers1.” Mr. Paul added, “The roadmap that we are presenting today is a clear extension of what we have been doing over the past year and a half.”
Current Business Operations
During today’s Investor Day, First Capital’s leadership team will discuss its current business operations, including its defining strengths as a leader in (1) acquiring, developing, owning, and operating grocery anchored open air shopping centres and (2) its ability to rezone development sites.
With these core competencies as a solid foundation, First Capital is further differentiated from its peers by several competitive advantages. Its core portfolio of grocery anchored shopping centres with a value of over $7 billion (comprising approximately 80% of its total portfolio) has the highest in place rents, highest lease renewal lifts, highest population density and is the most connected to public transit.1 Additionally, First Capital’s portfolio of future development sites is comprised of a density pipeline of approximately 24 million square feet located in Canada’s largest cities, in high growth neighbourhoods with exceptional demographics.
First Capital delivered strong results in 2023, including lease renewal spreads of 12.1%, FFO per unit, excluding other gains (losses) and (expenses), of $1.18, and an improved Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio to 9.9x as outlined in its fourth quarter report.2
Strategic Update
First Capital will provide a strategic update that remains focused on the key objectives of stability and growth in FFO per unit, NAV, and distributions, with an even stronger balance sheet. Asset divestitures will continue to be focused on non-grocery anchored properties, which currently make up approximately 20% of the portfolio with a value of approximately $1.7 billion and an average in-place yield of just over 2%. First Capital’s development program will focus on retail development and redevelopment of core grocery anchored shopping centres, its entitlements program and selected mixed-use properties.
Through the continued execution of its strategy, First Capital has the following expectations.
2024 Outlook
Same …
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