Kmc Properties ASA

OSE:KMCP

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q1

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Welcome to KMC Properties First Quarter Presentation. My name is Liv Malvik and I am the CEO of the company. Together with me today, I have our CFO, Kristoffer Holmen. In KMC properties, we have a long-term vision of becoming the preferred partner, real estate partner for logistics and industrial companies.

And in the first quarter, we continued to develop towards that goal by nurturing relations to existing customers and extending our portfolio with 5 new properties. One new property located in Narvik in Northern Norway announced in December last year. And three properties in Finland and one in Denmark, which were part of the transformative agreement entered with BEWI last summer.

At the end of the first quarter of 2023, we had 65 properties in our portfolio. We also reached a milestone of NOK 6 billion in gross asset value, twice as much as the gross asset value when we started out in January, 2 years ago. We are very pleased with this growth, and we will continue to pursue value accretive growth going forward. Importantly, we are also confident in that we will deliver well on our top priority this first quarter of 2023 to refinance the company's senior secured bond.

If we look at our key performance indicators, our portfolio is currently valued at NOK 6 billion, a rough 10% increase from where we were only last quarter. The net yield of the portfolio was 6.9%, the same as last quarter, which emphasize that KMC Properties has a very robust portfolio for tackling sector-wide yield expansion with 99% of the portfolio, including 100% CPI adjustments.

Our WAULT is now 11.1 years due to renegotiations of contracts of 5 existing properties in addition to the loan contracts of acquired properties.

Our LTV remains at a comfortable level, 56%, which gives us the flexibility we need to continue our expansion. To put these figures into perspective, our property value per square meter is NOK 10,400 compared to construction costs, often exceeding NOK 20,000 per square meter, which indicates that we have maintained a very prudent approach to the valuation of our assets.

I now want to highlight 4 of our existing properties. KMC continue our focus on: one, properties with strategic locations for our tenants; two, tenants with strong financial profiles in established sectors; and three, where infrastructure investments made by our tenants creates stickiness to our properties. This type of tenants give KMC stable and high occupancy rates. From the left here, we have our property in Monsta, outside of Bergen in Norway, where our tenant is PSW Technology owned by the noted company, SCANA ASA. PSV delivers services and solutions to the drilling industry located in Norway biggest industrial cluster, offering quality facilities and efficient services for the energy industry.

The second property from the left is the BEWI Senja factory delivering fish boxes to, among others, SalMar, a Norwegian fish farm company and one of the world's largest producers of farmed salmon. SalMar's property is neighboring our property, making our factory very close to a key customer for our tenants. In the third property, our tenant is [indiscernible]. A part of Grøntvedt Group, a world-leading pelagic fish company established in 1830.

The property is strategically placed a few meters from the ocean and docs, and in an area with a rich history in commercial pelagic fishing. The fourth property is newly acquired from BEWI Insulation in Denmark and is located in Hedenstad on Yilan. The property is close to E-45 highway down the eastern coast of Yilan in Denmark. Hedenstad had the benefits of a railway station from 1868, and this was early to develop large residential areas and later industrial parks, in one which our property is located. KMC Properties has 3 focus area for growth: Acquisitions, greenfield development and investments in current portfolio.

In the first quarter of 2023, KMC acquired properties for NOK 440 million. In addition, to investing NOK 52 million in greenfield and CapEx. Despite always looking for growth, we, at the same time, always strive to optimize our portfolio. And thus, we were offloading one property in the first quarter for approximately NOK 30 million. In addition to investigate in properties and CapEx projects, we continuously negotiate and seek long-term contracts and extensions with tenants who suit our business plan and tenant risk profile.

In Q1, we have been extending contracts for 5 properties to 15-year lease contracts, up from earlier 5 to 8 years. The valuation of our properties are stable at 6.9% and is mainly a result of rental increase due to CPI adjustments, which minimizes expansion in valuation yields in the current market. We have also added new similar properties with similar yields as in current portfolio, matching our business plan. Our last important focus area and also an important prerequisite for growth is capital optimization.

We continuously seek to minimize our cost of capital by focusing on long-term relationships with our banks and other lenders. And we are seeing now good progression in our refinancing and our work within this area will hopefully pay off when we will be able to refinance our senior secured bond with cheaper capital resources. We foresee that despite the ongoing interest rate crisis, we see in all economics around the world, we will be able to lower not increase our lending margins. We are very pleased to see that our hard work is paying off, and Kristoffer will give some more information a bit later.

We are proud of our continued growth in contractual rent through the first quarter, lifting our annual contract rate by over 10% from NOK 350 million to approximately NOK 400 million. This coming from new acquisition, but also from growing with our existing customers. We believe our industrial approach to land and building ownerships makes us a great partner for our tenants, which the increase in contractual rents through Q1 from existing tenants is a great proof of.

As you can see in this figure, we have moved the curve both up and out by taking on exposures to industries we know very well. With our current base of solid tenants with long track records and industry exposure with strong local presence, we believe that we are very well positioned to navigate in the existing high inflation environment. Our largest tenant is the listed company, BEWI ASA, with leading market positions within insulation, packaging and components and automotive across Europe. The company has a broad customer base within food, pharma, automotive, leisure, thermal insulation and residential housing industries. Through acquisition in the first quarter of 2023, BEWI's share of KMC's net income increased from 48% to 50%.

And even though we are very pleased with BEWI as a very strong and diversified tenant, KMC continues to work towards a diverse tenant portfolio and equalize our largest tenants. Even though large transactions like the [ BEWI Aken ] transaction for a period of time can increase a tenant share of our income. The Nordic Seafood Insula, owned by [indiscernible] industry, who also is the largest shareholder in SalMar ASA, is our second largest tenant, representing 15% of our income.

And then we have Grøntvedt Pelagic and PSW/SalMar, each representing approximately 8% of our income. We have also established a solid risk mitigating framework with currency and interest rate swaps and long lease, triple net bare house complex with very solid CPI adjustments. Kristoffer will give some more details here later.

Let's go through some of our key operational events from the first quarter. In December, we announced the acquisition of a logistics property in Narvik in Northern Norway. In the first quarter of 2023, we closed the transaction with a gross asset value of NOK 90 million, gross rental income of NOK 8 million, representing a yield of 8.9% with solid tenants for an initial lease of 9.7 years. The property is strategically located in a logistic hubs just south of Narvik in close proximity to E6, railway and port. The property also provides significant upside with half the property being vacant, enabling potential for additional income and yield. This transaction is a very good example of KMC Properties speaking to our business plan and being through to our acquisition criteria.

In the last quarter of 2022, we announced the transformative BEWI transaction for approximately NOK 2 billion expected to happen in steps. We have now completed NOK 1.3 billion of the total, which represents the Nordic share of the BEWI transaction. The acquisition in the first quarter of 2023 included 3 Finnish properties and 1 Danish property for a total of NOK 350 million. The properties provide NOK 23 million in rental income, reflecting a gross yield of 6.6% on 2023 rent. Long lease of 17 years with a solid tenant makes this deal in line with our acquisition criteria.

We still have the option to purchase the remaining part of the BEWI portfolio with assets in Belgium, Germany and Poland for approximately NOK 650 million. And we will continue to consider this option together with the rest of our pipeline. We currently have 2 greenfield projects going with new and existing clients, progressing according to plan. Both projects provide long-term contracts with attracting yield on costs to tenants in industries within our core competence. Kristoffer will dig a bit deeper into our pipeline of projects later.

In Q1, we continue to invest and renew our existing properties, maintaining a close relationship to our customers. This work is important to us as we have a very long perspective when entering into contracts with solid counterparties. In the first quarter, we invested NOK 14.8 million in upgrade projects across 5 assets to meet tenants' needs. As a part of our ongoing CapEx program, we are currently working on 3 ESG projects: one, solar installations; two, battery installations and three, improving energy labeling of our properties. These projects will be planned and driven by our new dedicated ESG manager and will be roll out in the second half of 2023. KMC is also -- will also starting to prepare for the [ EU taxonomy ] regulations in 2023.

Well, then, Kristoffer I now leave the word to you.

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Yes. Many thanks, Liv. Let's look at the pipeline, at the end of March 2023, we currently have 2 CapEx projects in the pipeline with a remaining investment of NOK 49 million. And through these projects, we are strengthening the cooperation with our tenants and we are improving our properties.

And lastly, these investments also trigger attractive rent adjustments and also contract extensions. The current greenfield pipeline, as Liv mentioned earlier, consists of the same project. It's the packaging hub at Hitra in Norway with a total construction cost of NOK 200 million and the remaining construction cost now is NOK 112 million. And the estimated completion date is Q4 2023. And we still intend to invest in the Salmon slaughterhouse at Florø and this project still has an estimated total construction cost of NOK 680 million. However, we have only entered into a conditional agreement, so this project might be amended. The completion date is still the first half of 2025.

And these projects have a fixed yields on costs, and we believe they will have a very positive yield effect once completed. The acquisition pipeline is represented by the remainder of the BEWI portfolio valued at approximately NOK 650 million. And these properties are relatively high-yielding assets in Germany, Belgium and Poland, as Liv also mentioned, and with the limited tenant counterparty risk.

Over to the financials. First of all, I would like to emphasize that to further increase transparency, we continue to report our key figures in line with the EPRA guidelines and that you find the definitions in our interim report. In the first quarter, we continued to grow our rental income significantly through new investments since Q1 2021. Rental income is up 52%. And still, we have very low property-related costs since all new properties have triple net bare house contracts. Administrative expenses are up in the quarter compared to Q1 2021, sorry, Q1 2022, mainly due to a larger organization and higher audit costs due to increased portfolio. However, as a share of the net operating earnings, administrative expenses are down to 13% from 18%.

The run rate on the next slide presents the estimated recurring administrative expenses, which is approximately NOK 11 million per quarter. EBITDA is up 66% since Q1 2022. And the interest expenses for the quarter was NOK 44 million, up from NOK 25 million since Q1 2022, and this is due to increased interest-bearing debt related to new investments and also increased floating interests.

Our swap agreements decreased in value from NOK 180 million to NOK 116 million, and that's mostly due to the weakening of the NOK, resulting in a P&L loss of NOK 64 million. However, this was largely offset by net positive currency exchange differences, which is under unrealized financials. We had a net positive change in fair value of our investment properties of approximately NOK 6 million. The negative effects on the valuation was the negative market outlook.

However, this was offset by positive accretive investments and also contract extensions and amendments as mentioned in the public announcement at the end of the quarter when we acquired the 4 properties from BEWI, we also entered into -- we also amended contracts on existing properties. So we had several contract extensions in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and we have also a termination of a buyback agreement favorable to the tenant that was in [indiscernible] in Norway. Tax expenses was NOK 80 million, of which NOK 40 million was tax payable and the remaining was change in deferred tax.

This left us with a net profit from continued operations of NOK 23 million in Q1 2023. And if we see what this leaves us on a per share basis, you see on the next slide there. This bridge explains the earnings per share in the last 12 months. And you see to the left here, the net cash earnings as other contribution of NOK 0.29 per share. A change in fair value of the investment properties contributed with NOK 0.17 per share and unrealized financials and deferred tax contributed with NOK 0.22 per share to get to the total earnings according to the IFRS income statement of NOK 0.68 per share.

For the first quarter, the EPRA earnings per share, which is defined in the interim report was NOK 0.25 and on an annualized basis, this would constitute NOK 1 per share, which is above our last 12 months earnings per share of NOK 0.26 despite the increase in number of shares in this period. Going forward, we expect income from Property Management to grow as we execute on our refinancing plans and continue to do accretive investments.

Over to the annual run rate. We have a significant increase in rental income driven by additional income from new investments and also CPI adjustments from the 1st of January 2023. But still, property-related expenses are low due to the triple net bare house contracts. The OpEx space has increased due to additional costs from new hires and CPI adjustments. And all in all, this result is -- all in all, this results in an increase in EBITDA margin from 87.6% in Q1 2022 to 88.3% in Q1 2023.

And as mentioned, financial expenses are up due to increased interest-bearing debt and increased interest rates. But still, the cash flow is significant and visualized on the next slide. As you can see here, this is the gap between our annualized EBITDA run rate and our interest expenses. And as you can see, we have a comfortable headroom, and we expect new investments and potentially the refinancing, the senior secured bond loan to have an accretive effect on the EBITDA and interest margins, potentially expanding the gap going forward.

Over to the balance sheet. We have a strong and transparent balance sheet. The portfolio was valued at NOK 6 billion at the end of the quarter, up from NOK 5.4 billion in Q4 2022. And this is due to new investments and fair value adjustments. We had NOK 166 million in cash at the end of the quarter. And as mentioned, the swap agreements was valued at NOK [ 106 ] million, down from NOK 180 million due to the weakening of the NOK. Current liabilities are high, mainly due to the bond loan being now defined as current due to majority date later this year in December -- 11th of December this year in addition to the draw of the revolving credit facility of NOK 200 million.

And total interest-bearing debt amounted to NOK 3.4 billion at the end of the quarter. As you can see, the high total interest rate of 7.10% before including interest rate swaps and the uneven maturity profile is largely affected by the expensive bond loan, which is being refinanced this year. And as announced, the bond loan is our key priority going forward, and we are still progressing according to plan, which is to complete the refinancing by the end of this quarter.

And of the NOK [ 1,850 ] million, we have NOK 350 million in committed bank financing. We have an indicative bank offer of approximately NOK 750 million, and we are in active negotiations with banks and private debt providers for the remaining amounts. And as announced at the end of March, we currently expect the weighted average interest margin for the net financing to be in the rate between 300 and 330 basis points. And this result will reduce the company's interest expenses significantly. Yes, over to you, Liv.

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Let's move over to the outlook. As we all know, the last year, we have been witnessing a rapid changing and much more challenging macro environment. The world continues to see uncertainty despite slight positive trends in international growth prospects. Gas and electricity prices have receded lowering the inflationary pressure.

We have also seen a weak NOK developed over the last quarter, due primarily to international rates, -- international rates rising more than Norwegian rates and turbulence in the financing markets. Our ambition is, as earlier said, to reach NOK 8 billion gross asset value by the end of 2024, and we aim to do so by creating value for all our stakeholders. Increased size and diversification are key elements when refinancing the current NOK 1.85 billion bond. Beyond that, we will continue accretive activities based on a defined set of criteria based on more than 40 years of industry know-how. Thank you for listening in. We will now open up for Q&A. Kristoffer, will you join me?

[Operator]

Do we have any questions from the audience?

[Simen Mortensen, analyst]

I can take a question. This is Simen...

[Operator]

If you wait 1 second.

[Simen Mortensen, analyst]

The Salmon slaughterhouse, it's still a letter of intent. What is needed in terms of that becoming a confirmed project?

[Liv Malvik, executive]

We are now in -- they are in negotiation, end negotiations with the entrepreneurs. And after that, it will be made a decision if the progression of the projects.

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Yes. We also look into the total yield on the project compared to alternative investments and also look at the tenant risk. This is a huge project. And obviously, the lease will be high. So the overall risk is also in question, but we still, as mentioned, intend to do the investments.

[Simen Mortensen, analyst]

The minor increase in vacancy is that because of the acquisition?

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

In [ Arica ].

[Operator]

And we have a few questions from the people sitting online at home. What is the time line for the refinancing of the bond? And will you intend to refinance it as soon as new facilities are in place?

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Yes. As mentioned, we are progressing according to plan, which is to complete the refinancing by the end of this quarter. So we know that we're in May now and we're closing in. But yes, we're still progressing according to that. So we'll obviously update the market as soon as we have any news.

[Operator]

A second question, this one coming from Tom [ Witza ], given a falling share price and low turnover on the share itself, what does KMCP think about the time line for starting a dividend policy that allows us as owners to continue investing in the company and be left with an acceptable return on investment?

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Yes, as mentioned in both interim reports and the annual report for 2022. We -- after completing the refinancing and making sure that we have sufficient liquidity, we aim at paying out dividends in line with the dividend policy, which is 30% to 50% of the net cash earnings. So -- but this will probably be an exercise in 2024.

[Operator]

Another question from Tom. Given the cash earnings of the company in addition to the liquidity post the refinancing, how does the liquidity look based on the committed financing pipeline moving forward?

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Yes. Well, we -- yes, as the current status on the refinancing, how we see it now, we still don't need any equity issues to complete it. So -- but however, we'll have a reduced cash deposit after refinancing the bond loan. And as shown, we are looking into quite large investments going forward, where we will need new equity in order to complete the investments.

[Operator]

That's all the questions from the audience online. Is there anything else from the audience sitting live?

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Okay. Thanks so much.

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Thank you.