Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call May 4, 2022 8:00 AM ET

Company Participants

David Mordy - Director of IR

David Holeman - CEO

Christine Mastandrea - COO

Scott Hogan - CFO

Conference Call Participants

Craig Kucera - B. Riley Securities

Michael Diana - Maxim Group

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to Whitestone REIT's First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] Please note, that this conference is being recorded.

I'll now turn the conference over to your host, David Mordy, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.

David Mordy

Good morning, and thank you for joining Whitestone REIT's first quarter 2022 earnings conference call. Joining me on today's call are Dave Holeman, Chief Executive Officer; Christine Mastandrea, Chief Operating Officer; and Scott Hogan, Chief Financial Officer.

Please note, that some statements made during this call are not historical and may be deemed forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those forward-looking statements due to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors. Please refer to the Company's earnings news release and filings with the SEC including Whitestone's most recent Form 10-Q and 10-K for a detailed discussion of these factors.

Acknowledging the fact that this call may be webcast for a period of time, it is also important to note that this call includes time-sensitive information that may be accurate only as of today's date, May 04, 2022. The company undertakes no obligation to update this information.

Whitestone's first quarter earnings news release and supplemental operating and financial data package have been filed with the SEC and are available on our website, www.whitestonereit.com, in the Investor Relations section.

I will now turn the call over to Dave Holeman, our Chief Executive Officer.

David Holeman

Thank you, David. Good morning, and thank you for joining Whitestone's first quarter 2021 earnings conference call. We are pleased to announce strong operating and financial results for the first quarter of the year; highlighted by same store NOI growth of 12.9%, significant reductions in our G&A expenses and ongoing balance sheet strengthening.

Our necessity-based community centers located in high growth Sunbelt markets continue to drive increasing consumer traffic and tenant demand as evidenced by increases in rent per square foot and occupancy levels. Our focus remains on maximizing shareholder value through organic growth, prudent capital allocation, reducing G&A expenses, improving our debt leverage and delivering on our 2022 targeted FFO per share growth.