Choice Properties Real Est Invstmnt Trst Q1 2026 Earnings Report

Choice Properties Real Est Invstmnt Trst EPS Results

• Actual EPS: -C$0.27
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Choice Properties Real Est Invstmnt Trst Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $362.36 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Choice Properties Real Est Invstmnt Trst Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2026
• Date: 4/29/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 9:00AM ET

Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust invests in, manages, and develops retail and commercial properties across Canada. The company's portfolio primarily consists of shopping centers anchored by supermarkets and stand-alone supermarkets. The properties are mostly located in Ontario and Quebec, followed by Alberta, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and New Brunswick. Choice Properties generate the majority of revenue from leasing properties to its tenants. The company's principal tenant, the large-format retailer Loblaw Companies, contributes the vast majority of the total rent.

Choice Properties Real Est Invstmnt Trst Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Choice agreed to acquire First Capital REIT for ~CAD 9.4 billion, with Choice set to buy ~CAD 5 billion of high-quality retail assets — a transformational deal the company says will strengthen its portfolio and position it as Canada’s leading REIT.
• Positive Sentiment: First-quarter operations were strong — portfolio occupancy ~98.1%, same‑asset NOI +3%, and reported FFO of CAD 196 million (up 2.7% YoY); management reiterated 2026 targets (2–3% same-asset cash NOI growth and FFO/unit CAD 1.08–1.10) excluding the First Capital transaction.
• Positive Sentiment: Retail value-creation and leasing momentum — retail occupancy 97.9%, renewal spreads strong (17.2%), active backfilling of former Toys “R” Us sites, and a Bloor & Dundas reposition expected to add ~CAD 2 million of incremental NOI at stabilization and ~CAD 25 million of incremental value.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industrial portfolio is tight but mixed on retention — industrial occupancy 98.6% with large renewal spreads (46.2%) and new leases at ~40% above in-place rents, but quarterly retention was ~56.6% due in part to an inability to meet one tenant’s growth needs in Edmonton.
• Neutral Sentiment: Balance sheet and NAV remain solid — IFRS NAV was CAD 14.53/unit (up ~0.7%), ~CAD 1.6 billion of available liquidity and ~CAD 14 billion unencumbered properties, although results were partly offset by lower investment income and a fair‑value loss on the Allied Properties investment.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good morning. My name is Rob and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust first quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. I will now hand the call over to Simone Cole, General Counsel and Secretary. Please go ahead.

[Simone Cole, General Counsel and Secretary at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to Choice Properties Q1 2026 conference call. I'm joined this morning by Rael Diamond, President and Chief Executive Officer, Erin Johnston, Chief Financial Officer, Niall Collins, EVP, Development and Construction, and David Muallim, SVP, Leasing and Operations. Rael and Erin will provide a brief recap of our first quarter operational results and highlights before we open the line for Q&A, where Niall and David will join to answer your questions. Before we begin today's call, I would like to remind you that by discussing our financial and operating performance and in responding to your questions, we may make forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Choice Properties objectives, strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management's beliefs, plans, estimates, intentions, outlook, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance, or exceptions that are not historical facts.

[Simone Cole, General Counsel and Secretary at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

These statements are based on our current estimates and assumptions and are subject to the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the conclusions in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on the material risks that can impact our financial results and estimates and the assumptions that were made in applying and making these statements can be found in the recently filed Q1 2026 financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis, which are available on our website and on SEDAR+. With that, I turn the call over to Rael.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Thank you, Simone, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our Q1 conference call. Before I begin my remarks on our strong first quarter results, I'd like to first briefly revisit the transformational transaction we announced 2 weeks ago. On April 16th, we announced that Choice, together with our partner KingSett Capital, has agreed to acquire First Capital REIT for approximately CAD 9.4 billion. At closing, Choice will acquire approximately CAD 5 billion of First Capital's high-quality retail assets, with KingSett acquiring the remaining assets. This is a highly compelling transaction. Opportunities to acquire assets of this quality and scale are extremely rare, especially those that align so closely with our strategy. This acquisition further strengthens our portfolio and solidifies Choice as Canada's leading REIT. We look forward to providing updates on this transaction's progress throughout the year. Turning now to our first quarter results.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

We delivered another healthy quarter of strong operating and financial results as our team continues to execute on our strategic priorities. In Q1, portfolio occupancy remained resilient at 98.1%, supported by exceptional renewal activity across our portfolio with average leasing spreads of 21.8%, driving same asset NOI growth of 3%. We're encouraged by strong leasing momentum across the portfolio with healthy activity in both retail and industrial. We continue to backfill retail space, execute on value creation initiatives, and drive industrial growth at near full occupancy. Focusing on retail, we continue to see healthy demand across the portfolio from a variety of necessity-based retailers. During the quarter, we completed 364 sq ft of renewals and 97,000 sq ft of new leasing. Occupancy was largely unchanged at 97.9%.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Renewal spreads remained very strong at 17.2%, led by Atlantic and Ontario regions. The spread was primarily driven by a 28,000 sq ft renewal, representing the first market renewal in 15 years for this tenant, which had been paying well below market rents. Excluding this renewal, the average retail spread was still strong at 13.2% and in line with our expectations. Retail retention was 75.8%. This was largely driven by the early termination of two Toys"R"Us locations and a strategic termination that is already backfilled at higher rents, totaling approximately 50,000 sq ft. Excluding these terminations, retention was approximately 85%. This is broadly in line with our historical rates and consistent with our strategy of capturing value from tenant turnover in a strong retail leasing environment.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Over half the space vacated this quarter already has committed deals. These leases are expected to commence later this year. We're encouraged by backfilling pro-progress at former Toys "R" Us locations as we are in advanced leasing discussions with multiple retailers. We have also advanced several value creation initiatives within our retail portfolio during the quarter, including the revitalization of the retail space at Bloor and Dundas. Loblaw vacated 90,000 sq ft of warehouse space in a former Zehrs in March of this year, and we're now repositioning the property to introduce a new Shoppers Drug Mart and a GoodLife alongside Loblaw's investment in a No Frills conversion. This initiative is expected to generate approximately CAD 2 million of incremental NOI at stabilization in the second half of 2027 and has created approximately CAD 25 million in total incremental value.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

The revitalization does not introduce any additional lease encumbrances that would impact our longer-term redevelopment plans. Overall, these initiatives highlight the strength of our assets and our team's ability to identify and execute on value creation opportunities within our portfolio. In industrial, market conditions remained resilient across the country, with quarter end occupancy of 98.6%. During the quarter, we completed 103,000 sq ft of renewals at a spread of 46.2%, driven primarily by Alberta and Atlantic portfolios. Retention in the quarter was 56.6%, largely driven by 73,000 sq ft non-renewal in Edmonton, where we were unable to accommodate the tenant's growth requirements. We also completed 24,000 sq ft of new leasing in Alberta and Ontario at rents approximately 40% above our average in-place rates.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

In the GTA, we continue to see a tightening of supply of high-quality, large bay industrial product. As we continue to advance the next phase at Choice Caledon Business Park, we expect to be one of the only available options for new space over 750,000 sq ft in the market next year. Lastly, in our mixed-use and residential portfolio, occupancy remained stable with favorable leasing at certain residential assets. Moving to our transaction activity. We had minimal activity in the quarter. As announced on our Q4 call, we completed two retail acquisitions in Montreal and Edmonton, totaling CAD 28 million. Beyond this, there were no additional transactions completed in the quarter.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

We are pleased to announce that Wittington Investments Limited has acquired our partner's 50% interest in our G2 purpose-built rental residential development in downtown Toronto that we expect to break ground on this year. This partnership allows Choice Properties to advance the project with a strategically aligned equity partner while delivering meaningful, affordable housing to the city of Toronto. Finally, I want to acknowledge the release of our 2025 Environmental, Social, and Governance report last night. This year's report highlights many of Choice Properties' achievements over the last year, including the completion of the first full year of our 3-year climate action roadmap, advancing our pathway to net zero by 2050, and the expansion of our social impact and placemaking initiatives nationwide. The report can be found in the Sustainability section of our website, and I encourage you to all take a read.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

With that, I'll turn the call over to Erin to discuss our financial results and additional capital allocation activity. Erin?

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Thank you, Rael, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased with our financial performance in the first quarter. Our underlying business remains in excellent shape. For the quarter, our reported funds from operations was CAD 196 million or CAD 0.271 on a per-unit diluted basis, representing an increase of 2.7% year-over-year. This performance was driven by robust total cash NOI growth of 4.2%, which included strong same asset cash NOI growth and contributions from net acquisitions and new development and higher lease surrender revenue. This was partially offset by lower investment income, higher interest expense from refinancing activity, higher G&A expense, and lower fee income.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Included in our results are certain non-recurring items, including approximately CAD 1.9 million of incremental lease surrender revenue compared to the prior year and CAD 3.2 million of lower investment income related to Allied's distribution reduction. Excluding these items, FFO per unit growth was approximately 3.5%, reinforcing the continued strength of our core operations. AFFO in the quarter was CAD 0.247 per unit, a decrease of 0.8% from the prior year as FFO growth was offset by higher maintenance capital spend in the current year, which was largely timing related. Our AFFO payout ratio in the quarter was 78%. Turning to our property performance. Same asset cash NOI was strong, increasing CAD 7.5 million or 3% over the prior year.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

By asset class, retail same asset cash NOI increased CAD 6 million or 3.2%, and industrial same asset cash NOI increased by CAD 3 million or 6.2%. Key drivers for both were higher base rents from new leasing activity and contractual rent steps. Mixed-use and residential same asset cash NOI decreased by approximately CAD 1.5 million or 15.4%, primarily due to a property tax incentive received in the prior year. Moving to the balance sheet. IFRS net asset value or NAV for the quarter was CAD 14.53 per unit, representing an increase of approximately CAD 67 million or 0.7% compared to year end.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

The increase was driven by a CAD 51 million net contribution from operations and a CAD 66 million net fair value gain on investment properties, partially offset by a CAD 49 million fair value loss on our investment in the units of Allied Properties. As a reminder, we are required under IFRS to mark to mark this investment in Allied to its trading price at each period end. The fair value gains on investment properties were primarily driven by our retail portfolio, which included cap rate adjustments in Ontario, Quebec and B.C., supported by external appraisals and favorable leasing outcomes, particularly from backfilling initiatives at higher rents. This was complemented by a modest gain in our industrial portfolio.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

We continue to maintain our industry-leading balance sheet with excellent debt metrics and significant access to capital, including approximately CAD 1.6 billion of available liquidity through our corporate facility and cash on hand and approximately CAD 14 billion of unencumbered properties. Our debt to EBITDA ratio was 7x and remained unchanged since year-end, with no material financing activity or debt maturities in the quarter. Turning to our development activity. During the quarter, we completed two retail intensifications totaling 22,000 sq ft for a blended yield of 8.9%. These projects included a 17,000 sq ft Shoppers Drug Mart in Renfrew, Ontario at a 7.5% yield and a 5,000 sq ft land lease to a QSR tenant in Ottawa at a 42% yield.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

These completions continue to demonstrate our ability to generate attractive returns by intensifying land at our existing neighborhood retail centers. Looking ahead to the balance of the year, we will continue to prioritize operational excellence across the portfolio while also progressing towards the closing of the announced First Capital portfolio acquisition. As the timing of closing remains uncertain at this stage, when referencing our outlook, we are doing so excluding the financial impact of the transaction. Recall, we are expecting to maintain stable occupancy and deliver 2%-3% same asset cash NOI growth and FFO per unit diluted between CAD 1.08 and CAD 1.10 this year.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

While we expect earnings growth to moderate slightly over the next two quarters as we lap acquisition-related favorability, the timing of lease surrender revenues compared to the prior year, and the impact of Allied's distribution reduction, we remain on track to deliver on our full year outlook. With that, Rael, David, Niall, and I would be glad to answer your questions.

[Operator]

At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Himanshu Gupta from Scotiabank. Your line is open.

[Himanshu Gupta, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Thank you, good morning, everyone. Just on the lease surrender revenue, should we expect anything in Q2 as well? Then, maybe can you elaborate, is it related to Toys "R" Us or, you know, you have been doing some right sizing of Loblaw stores last year or anything related to that?

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Good morning, Himanshu. It's Erin. When we look at our lease surrender revenue this year, it's primarily related to Loblaws right sizings consistent with prior years. We expect it to be relatively the same as last year in terms of total dollar value, but most of it will be spread between Q3 and Q4.

[Himanshu Gupta, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay. Thank you. I mean, you know, like, how many Loblaw stores are in pipeline for this right sizing? Is it like mostly urban locations? What's the typical size reduction Loblaw Companies Limited is doing?

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

In the last couple of years, we've had between 2 and 4 per year. It depends on the site. Maybe I'll let Rael or David comment a bit on locations.

[David Muallim, SVP of Leasing and Operations at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Yeah. Hey, Himanshu. David speaking. In terms of locations, it's mixed across the country. We have mostly larger stores, call it superstores or we had a Provigo that converted to a Maxi in Quebec. Essentially for this year, we're thinking there'll be approximately four locations that'll be right sized.

[Himanshu Gupta, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay. Four locations exactly. Sorry, in terms of square footage, how much is the typical reduction? Like, like 20,000, 30,000? What's the typical reduction in size?

[David Muallim, SVP of Leasing and Operations at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Yeah, it depends on the, on the site and configuration, but about 30,000 is fairly standard.

[Himanshu Gupta, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thanks for that. Moving on, changing gears here on IFRS valuation. I think, you know, retail cap rate was brought down by slightly 2 basis points. Do you see this cap rate further going down as, you know, the First Capital transaction is closed? I would believe that should be a good positive mark on retail market valuation.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Hi, Himanshu. Yes, we continue to see appraisals come in slightly tighter than what we have on our books quarter-after-quarter, which was most of our retail gains. I know our team, as we bring in the First Capital acquisition, will look at the values of those assets and ours. We'll update you when we know more.

[Himanshu Gupta, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay, fair enough. Maybe the last question is on the leverage, I mean, next year. In anticipation of, you know, increase in leverage, do you expect to do capital recycling this year or wait for this transaction to close? Any disposition targets you have, you know, post FCR closing?

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Okay. Why don't I start it, Himanshu, and then Erin will just add additional color. Look, as we said on our earlier call, in April, you know, for what we're thinking post the transaction, what we've modeled initially is just being balanced from a capital recycling point of view. Right now we were, you know, unbalanced to the tune of roughly CAD 100 million, buying more than we were selling. Look, balance sheet strength has always been exceptionally important to us. As we have more to share on our plans on how we will delever and potentially delever quicker, we will share it with you.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

I would say for this year, outside of the major acquisition that we've already announced, like, I think our, you know, acquisition activity will be very light. We will do some, you know, small trimming prior to the acquisition closing. Erin, if you want to add anything.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

No.

[Himanshu Gupta, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay. Thank you so much, and I'll turn it back. Thank you, guys.

[Operator]

As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Giuliano Thornhill from National Bank. Your line is open.

[Giuliano Thornhill, Analyst at National Bank]

Hey, guys. Good morning, everyone. I'm just wanting to go back to those revitalization plans. I might have missed how much CapEx was associated to them. I'm also just wondering on how are the leases being structured to actually get that pickup in NOI as there is that, you know, net reduction of 30,000 per foot or per box?

[David Muallim, SVP of Leasing and Operations at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

David speaking. This is regards, I think the first question or the second question was on right-sizing, in the, in the structuring. The first question was in relation to Rael's comment on Bloor and Dundas. I can kind of tackle it in the two parts. On the Bloor and Dundas part, the NOI increase is really driven by the new tenancies. The space was rolling off. Loblaw was essentially paying a gross rent to use the space for storage on a temporary basis. We backfilled it with, as Rael mentioned, Shoppers and GoodLife. In terms of the second question for the right sizing, how the leases are structured is the tenants pay a market rent.

[David Muallim, SVP of Leasing and Operations at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

The new tenants or the third-party tenants that are joining the sites pay a market rent. Essentially, there's a termination payment with Loblaw that factors in the leasing cost and any differential between the in-place rent that Loblaw is paying and the market rent the new tenant is paying.

[Giuliano Thornhill, Analyst at National Bank]

With occupancy in the industry still pretty high, are you anticipating that leasing spreads can continue to push higher on, just broadly for the portfolio?

[David Muallim, SVP of Leasing and Operations at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

In general, with the strength of the retail market, we anticipate strong leasing spreads. As Rael mentioned this quarter, the spreads were a little bit higher as a result of the one tenant that drove up a lot of the increase. For the remaining quarters, we do expect to be in that low double-digit range, which is consistent with how we've been performing and with some strength in certain categories. For example, limited service eating, full service, which we've been driving very strong renewals on, but offset by a portion of our renewals that are tied to historical fixed rates in our old leases.

[Giuliano Thornhill, Analyst at National Bank]

Then just with the FCR deal, once it does close, are you anticipating a kinda material improvement in your financial framework for cash NOI expectations at all? Because it is higher quality and obviously, pretty good locations.

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Hi, it's Erin. When you think about our financial framework, we've always said, you know, 8%-9% returns, and that was made up of 2%-3% same asset NOI growth and then 3%-4%, which goes to 3%-4% NAV plus the distribution. I'd say on that 2%-3% same asset cash NOI growth, it moves us slightly higher in that range. The way we really see it is this is de-risk stronger growth. Moving forward, more growth comes from same asset cash NOI, and then less of the contribution to the NAV growth comes from development.

[Giuliano Thornhill, Analyst at National Bank]

Okay, thanks. Just one kinda last question from me. I'm just wondering, can you speak kinda to how this transaction fits within the broader ecosystem of kinda GWL and CHP, just in terms of the alignment of kinda capital and long-term priorities for the entire platform? Just 'cause there are obviously strategic benefits to the coordination here.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Yeah, look, I would tell you that this was a choice-driven transaction and it firmly fits within our strategy, you know, to acquire high-quality assets.

[Giuliano Thornhill, Analyst at National Bank]

Okay, thanks.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of Brad Sturges from Raymond James. Your line is open.

[Brad Sturges, Analyst at Raymond James]

Hey, good morning. Just on the FCR transaction and, you know, appreciate the, you know, the comments from the prior call. Just curious on the, I guess, the initial FFO guidance, you know, how should we think about the potential operating synergies between the portfolio being acquired and the existing Choice platform and how that may have been baked into, I guess, the initial FFO guidance?

[Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Hi, Brad. It's Erin. When we gave the initial FFO guidance, I'd say that what we've done is added on incremental costs to scale our platform. That's adding a few people to our corporate teams as well as adding an incremental leasing team. Of course, the property people that would, you know, that we would have and hire would be absorbed by the properties, we have not modeled in any incremental synergies related to platform.

[Brad Sturges, Analyst at Raymond James]

I guess part of the path to seeing better accretion over the next few years, that would assume as the integration occurs, there would be sort of more operating synergies to be had as well as sort of capturing that rent growth embedded in the FCR portfolio.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Look, we're viewing this more as an asset transaction, as you know. You know, there may be a few synergies, but as Erin said, we right now are modeling just the incremental G&A that she described.

[Brad Sturges, Analyst at Raymond James]

Okay. That's helpful. I appreciate it. Thank you.

[Operator]

Again, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star one now. We'll pause for just a few seconds. As there seems to be no further questions, I will now turn the call back over to Rael Diamond, CEO, for closing remarks.

[Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust]

Thank you, Rob. Once again, our business and portfolio remain in excellent shape. Thank you all for your interest in Choice Properties and for joining us this morning. We look forward to providing you another update on the business this summer.

[Operator]

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Analysts

• Brad Sturges, Analyst at Raymond James
• David Muallim, SVP of Leasing and Operations at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust
• Erin Johnston, CFO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust
• Giuliano Thornhill, Analyst at National Bank
• Himanshu Gupta, Analyst at Scotiabank
• Rael Diamond, President and CEO at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust
• Simone Cole, General Counsel and Secretary at Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust