Kmc Properties ASA

OSE:KMCP

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q4

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Hello, and welcome to KMC Properties Fourth 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 real estate partner for logistics and industrial companies. And in the fourth quarter, we continue to develop towards the goal by nurturing relations to existing customers and extending our portfolio with 12 new properties. We concluded the first part of our major portfolio transaction with BEWI in the fourth quarter after the company received all relevant approvals from competition authorities at the beginning of the quarter. At the end of 2022, we have 61 properties in our portfolio, and we will continue to pursue value accretive growth going forward.

If we look at our key performance indicators, our portfolio is currently valued at NOK 5.4 billion, a rough 30% increase from where we were only 1 year ago. The net yield of our portfolio was 6.9%. Note that we are now excluding project costs in our calculation in accordance with European Public Real Estate Association, or EPRA. Our WAULT is now 11 years, up more than a year compared to the end of Q3 due to the accretive nature of the long contracts in the BEWI portfolio, and our LTV remains at a comfortable level, 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 10,200 compared to construction costs, often exceeding at least NOK 20,000 per square meter, which indicates that we have maintained a prudent approach to the valuation of our assets.

In November 2022, we were very happy to announce that we had received payment of EUR 9.6 million for the sale of our office building in Moscow, Russia following a comprehensive sales process. The payment was in line with the booked value of the property as of 30th September 2022. A complete sanction control and ownership research of the buyer was carried out, and the settlement was completed outside Russia. We then fulfill our goal to divest this property from our portfolio by year-end 2022.

I now want to highlight 4 of our existing properties. KMC Properties keep our focus on properties with strategic locations for our tenants, tenants with strong financial profiles in established sectors and where infrastructure investments made by our tenants creates stickiness to our property. Why? Because this type of tenants give KMC stable and high occupancy rates. Over to the 4 properties. From the left, we have our property in Kungshamn, Sweden, where our tenant is Marenor AB, a part of Insula Group. Marenor AB is a leading seafood producer with a particular focus on the grocery chain's own brands and products for the large household market in Sweden. The location by the sea gives easy access to important raw material for our tenant.

The second one is one of the properties in tranche 1 in the BEWI transaction, the former Jackon Property, located outside of the city of Fredrikstad in Norway. The property is located within a well-established industrial area close to the harbor of Gressvik. The third one is a property [ next to ] Synprodo, part of BEWI Group. Synprodo in Wijchen in the Netherlands produces EPS packaging, customized for each customer in several industries. The tenant has an environmental and sustainable production focus. The property has a strategic location as part of our industrial cluster between Rotterdam and Dusseldorf. Last but not least is our property in the harbor of Agotnes, outside Bergen in Norway, where PSW Power & Automation is our tenant. PSW Power & Automation delivers complete solutions within electrification and renewable energy and is owned by the listed company, Scana ASA.

As always, KMC Properties has 3 focus areas for growth, acquisitions, greenfield developments and investments in current portfolio. In 2022, the KMC Properties had a growth of over 30%, of which approximately 90% came from acquisitions. Thus, acquisitions definitely was our main growth path in 2022. But we also finished the development of Oppdal Spekemat's new factory in mid-Norway and started the building of BEWI's new industrial hub on Jøsnøya, outside [ Trøndelag ] in addition to some contracts extensions and investments in our current portfolio. The valuation of our properties are stable. So the increase in yield from 6.5% to 6.9% is mainly a result of rental increase due to KPI adjustments. As you know, we are also currently working on the refinancing of our senior secured bond, in which Kristoffer will give some more information a bit later.

To put our 2022 development into perspective, we have illustrated our future annual growth contractual rent expansion. As you can see in this figure, we have moved the curve up and out by taking on exposure 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 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 the food, pharma, automotive, leisure, thermal insulation and residential housing industries.

Through the transaction in November 2022, BEWI increased the share of KMC's net income from 36% in Q3 2022 to 47% by the end of the year. And even though we are very pleased with BEWI as a very strong and diversified tenant, KMC has a goal over time to diversify the tenant portfolio and equalize our largest tenants, even though large transactions, like the BEWI [indiscernible] transaction, for a period of time, can increase a tenant share of our income. The Nordic seafood [indiscernible] Insula, owned by Kverva Industrier, who also is the largest shareholder in SalMar ASA, is our second largest tenant, representing 16% of our income. And then we have Grøntvedt Pelagic and Scana, each representing approximately 9% 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 contracts with very solid CPI adjustments. Kristoffer will give some more details here later.

Let us go through some of the key operational events from the fourth quarter. In November 2022, KMC Properties completed the first phase of the acquisition of the industrial real estate portfolio from BEWI ASA. The portfolio includes up to 24 properties and 1 land plot with a gross asset value of up to approximately NOK 2 billion. The first phase includes 11 properties and 1 land plot in Norway and Sweden, valued to approximately NOK 925 million. The acquired portfolio aligns with KMC Properties core sector of light industrial properties and long-standing working relationship with BEWI and will be our most transformative property transaction to date. KMC Properties has an exclusive right to acquire the remaining part of the portfolio valued at up to NOK 1 billion valid until June 30, 2023. KMC's intention is to exercise this option. We currently have 3 greenfield projects going with new and existing clients, progressing according to plan.

In the fourth quarter, we concluded a total investment in Oppdal of NOK 85 million with a yield on cost of 7.5%. And our new tenant, Oppdal Spekemat started their long-term tenancy with KMC the same quarter. Kristoffer will dig a bit deeper into our pipeline later. In Q4, we also continue to invest and renew our existing properties, maintaining a close relationship to our customers. This work is very important to us as we have a very long perspective when entering into contracts with solid counterparties. In the fourth quarter, we invested NOK 12.1 million in upgrade projects to meet the tenants' needs. As part of our ongoing CapEx program, we are currently in the planning phase of 3 actions: one, solar installations; two, battery installations; and three, improving the energy labeling of our properties.

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

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Many thanks, Liv. Yes, let's look at the pipeline at the end of December 2022. We have only 2 small CapEx projects in the current pipeline, and they will be completed quite shortly. However, we still have a large focus on these types of investments because through these CapEx projects, we are strengthening the cooperation with the tenants, and we are improving our properties. And these investments also trigger attractive rent adjustments and contract extensions. The current greenfield pipeline is unchanged. We have good progress on our packaging hub at Hitra with an estimated total construction cost of approximately NOK 200 million. And estimated completion date in Q2 2024, 6 months later than previously estimated.

And we still intend to invest in the salmon slaughterhouse at Florø currently, with an estimated total construction cost of NOK 682 million. However, KMC Properties has only entered into a conditional agreement. So the project might be amended. And the completion date is moved to first half of 2025, also 6 months later than previously estimated.

The acquisition pipeline is currently represented by the second half of the portfolio transaction with BEWI valued at approximately NOK 1 billion, and the logistic property in Narvik valued at NOK 90 million. Due to CPI adjustments, the gross yield of the BEWI portfolio has increased from 6.3% to 6.7%, further increasing the attractive EBITDA, which now is close to the gross yield due to the triple-net bare house contracts in this portfolio. The board will also have a large accretive effect. The acquisition of the property in Narvik was completed in the beginning of January. The gross yield is 8.9% with almost half of the lettable area vacant.

Over to the financials. First of all, I would like to emphasize that to further increase transparency, we have, for the first time, reported key figures in line with EPRA guidelines, and you find them on Page 5 and 21 and onwards. Over to the P&L. In the fourth quarter, we continued to grow our rental income significantly through new investments. Since Q4 2021, rental income is up 45%. And still, we have very low property-related costs due to the -- since all new properties have triple-net bare house contracts. Administrative expenses are up in the quarter compared to Q4 2021, mainly due to a larger organization and higher audit costs due to increased property portfolio. I can also add that Q4 usually have -- contains higher costs due to final bonus provisions and higher audit costs.

The run rate that you will see on the next slide presents the estimated recurring administrative expenses going forward, which is approximately NOK 10 million per quarter. EBITDA is up 47% since Q4 2021 despite the increase in costs. And the interest expenses for the quarter was NOK 44 million, up from NOK 29 million in Q3 2022 due to increased interest-bearing debt related to the BEWI acquisition and increased floating interest rates. We had a net positive change in fair value of our investment properties of approximately NOK 18 million. The negative effects on the property portfolio value was increased interest rates, the 10-year swap rates and a negative market outlook. The positive effects were accretive investments and significant CPI adjustments on the 1st of January 2023.

Tax expenses for the full year was NOK 38 million, of which NOK 9 million was tax payable, and the remaining was a change in deferred tax. This left us with a net profit from continued operations of NOK 30 million in Q4 2020. And if you look at the current contracts and estimated costs in the next 12 months, we see significantly increase in rental income, driven by additional income from the new investments in Q4 and also significant CPI adjustments on the 1st of January 2023. The property-related expenses are still low due to our triple-net bare house contracts. The OpEx base has increased due to additional costs from 2 new hires in 2023, estimated at approximately NOK 3 million. We estimate CPI adjustments on the 2022 cost base of approximately NOK 2.5 million. And we also have additional costs from the acquisition of the BEWI portfolio of approximately NOK 1 million.

All in all, this results in an increase in the EBITDA margin from 85% in Q1 2022 to 88% in Q4 2022. And as mentioned, financial expenses are up due to increased interest-bearing debt and increased interest rates. But still, the cash flow is significant as visualized on the next slide. Here you see the gap between the annualized EBITDA run rate and our interest expenses. And as you can see, we have a comfortable headroom, and we expect new investments, including the acquisition of the second half of the BEWI portfolio and potentially the refinancing of the senior secured bond loan to have an accretive effect on the EBITDA and the interest margin, potentially expanding the gap further going forward.

We have a strong and transparent balance sheet. The portfolio was valued at NOK 5.4 billion at the end of the quarter, up from NOK 4.4 billion at the end of Q3 due to the new investments in Q4. We had NOK 187 million in cash, and the swap agreements was valued at NOK 180 million. Current liabilities has increased since the bond loan is now defined as current due to the maturity date in December this year. Total interest-bearing debt amounted to NOK 3.1 billion at the end of the year.

We continuously work on capital optimization and have structured our group based on funding sources to utilize these in the best possible way, meaning that all properties financed by the same source is placed in the same structural what we call [ silo ]. The initial property portfolio was solely financed by the senior secured bond. But since then, all new investments have been financed by Tier-1 banks, diversifying the funding sources and improving financial terms. Going forward, the refinancing of the senior secured bond loan is our highest priority. We are in active dialogue with banks, bondholders and providers of private debt and hope to secure financing by the end of Q2 this year.

Back to you, Liv.

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Yes, I want to thank you, Kristoffer. And now to the outlook. As you all know, for the last year, we have been witnessing a rapid changing and a much more challenging macro environment. We have seen a sharp rise in consumer pricing and with a corresponding very high inflation in many countries. The response is hiking interest rates. This impact KMC properties, but we believe that we are very well positioned for continued value accretive growth despite the changing macroeconomic weather.

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, creating value for all our stakeholders. The step change transaction with BEWI is expected to take us half the way, utilizing our current OpEx base and diversifying our business across regions and industries. Increased size and diversification are key elements when refinancing the current NOK 1.5 -- NOK 1.85 billion bond. Beyond that, we will continue accretive activities based on a defined set of criterias based on more than 40 years of industry know-how.

Thank you for listening in. We will now open for Q&A. Kristoffer, will you please join me.

[Operator]

Okay. So we have a few questions from the webcast. The first one is from [ Uhl Erik ]. And he asks regarding the option to acquire the remaining part of the BEWI real estate portfolio. Are there adjustments to take -- that take into account the increased interest rates since the agreement was entered and until KMC utilized the option?

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Well, yes, there is. We agreed upon a fixed price, but also CPI adjustments from -- we started negotiating the agreement. So the CPI adjustments are running from the 1st of April 2022. So for instance, the gross yield on the second half of the portfolio has increased from 6.3% to now 6.7%. So that adjusts for some of the increase in the floating interest rates. And I can also add that the acquisition of the second half is an option for KMC. So it obviously needs to be a valid investment for us in order to go forward.

[Operator]

Then we have a few questions from Bjorn [indiscernible]. He is wondering if Slakteriet, the slaughterhouse in Florø is on track. And I think you have probably already answered that, but you can repeat the answer, please?

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Yes. I mentioned that on the slide on the pipeline ahead. Yes, we still have an intent to invest in the slaughterhouse of Florø. But as mentioned, the agreement is conditional. So the project might be amended. And we see that already the construction date or the completion date of the project has been moved to the first half of 2025 due to volatile construction costs. So we try to time the costs according to the volatile market. But yes, we still intend to invest in it, yes.

[Operator]

The second question also from Bjorn is regarding the diversification of the portfolio. What new industries do you look at, if any, to build long-time relations and to diversify your portfolio?

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Our main focus is industries we know well. Like, for instance, the seafood industry and general food industries, but also other industries that we are familiar with. And we try to diversify within the industries we know well, diversifying in tenants and geographics, yes. And our focus will still be tenants with a strong history and local dependence in their activities, which will be also our focus going forward.

[Operator]

Thank you. And the third question and for now the last one. What expectations do you have on the future growth rate after the transformative BEWI acquisition, and he is referring to KMC becoming now a larger company versus the size of the company when you were listed. So...

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Our goal -- our ambition is, as we have said earlier, is to reach NOK 8 billion gross asset value by the end of 2024. And that is our goal today as well, yes.

[Operator]

Thank you. Then we have no more questions from the webcast. So thank you very much.

[Liv Malvik, executive]

Thank you.

[Kristoffer Holmen, executive]

Thanks so much.