Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HPP) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call February 13, 2024 12:00 PM ET

Company Participants

Laura Campbell - Executive Vice President, Investor Relations and Marketing

Victor Coleman - Chairman and CEO

Mark Lammas - President

Harout Diramerian - Chief Financial Officer

Art Suazo - Executive Vice President, Leasing

Conference Call Participants

Alexander Goldfarb - Piper Sandler

Michael Griffin - Citi

Blaine Heck - Wells Fargo

Julien Blouin - Goldman Sachs

John Kim - BMO Capital Markets

Rich Anderson - Wedbush

Tom Catherwood - BTIG

Ronald Kamdem - Morgan Stanley

Vikram Malhotra - Mizuho

Dylan Burzinski - Green Street

Operator

Hello, everyone. And welcome to the Hudson Pacific Properties Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Emily, and I’ll be coordinating your call today. [Operator Instructions]

I’ll now turn the call over to our host, Laura Campbell, Executive Vice President, Investor Relations and Marketing. Please go ahead.

Laura Campbell

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. With me on the call today are Victor Coleman, CEO and Chairman; Mark Lammas, President; Harout Diramerian, CFO; and Art Suazo, EVP of Leasing.

Yesterday we filed our earnings release and supplemental on an 8-K with the SEC and both are now available on our website. The audio webcast of this call will be available for replay on our website.

Some of the information we’ll share on the call today is forward-looking in nature. Please reference our earnings release and supplemental for statements regarding forward-looking information, as well as the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures used on this call.

Today Victor will discuss our 2023 accomplishments and 2024 priorities along with macro trends across our markets. Mark will provide detail on our office and studio operations and development. And Harout will review our financial results and 2024 outlooks. Thereafter we’ll be happy to take your questions. Victor?

Victor Coleman

Thanks, Laura. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. 2023 proved to be a challenging year as higher interest rates fueled recession fears and slowed the pace of office leasing across the country.

Many industries, including tech, focused on cost cutting in part through layoffs and real estate downsizing. And while the nationwide office leasing activity improved incrementally in the fourth quarter, it remained about 10% below the five-year quarterly average.

Furthermore, a once-in-a-generation dual studio union strike effectively shut down the entertainment industry. In Los Angeles, 2023 film and TV production in aggregate fell approximately 40% compared to the prior year, led by scripted TV, which fell close to 70%.