ESS - Essex Property Trust Inc. (ESS) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-02-07 15:38:08 ET
Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS)
Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call
February 07, 2024 02:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Angela Kleiman - President & Chief Executive Officer
Barb Pak - Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Rylan Burns - Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer
Jessica Anderson - Vice President, Operations
Conference Call Participants
Austin Wurschmidt - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Steve Sakwa - Evercore ISI
Daniel Tricarico - Scotiabank
Eric Wolfe - Citi
Alexander Goldfarb - Piper Sandler
Jamie Feldman - Wells Fargo
Adam Kramer - Morgan Stanley
Joshua Dennerlein - Bank of America
Wes Golladay - Baird
John Pawlowski - Green Street
John Kim - BMO Capital Markets
Michael Goldsmith - UBS
Rich Anderson - Wedbush
Linda Tsai - Jefferies
Buck Horne - Raymond James
Presentation
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Essex Property Trust Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. Statements made on this conference call regarding expected operating results and other future events are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are made based on current expectations, assumptions and beliefs, as well as information available to the company at this time. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Further information about these risks can be found on the company's filings with the SEC.
It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms. Angela Kleiman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Essex Property Trust. Thank you, Mr. Kleiman, you may begin.
Angela Kleiman
Good morning, and thank you for joining Essex fourth quarter earnings call. Barb Pak will follow with prepared remarks; Rylan Burns and Jessica Anderson are here for Q&A. I will start with the key highlights of our 2023 performance then discuss our expectations for 2024, followed by comments on the transaction market and our investment strategy.
Overall, 2023 was a solid year for Essex. We achieved a 4.4% same-property revenue growth for the full year, which is in line with our revised guidance and 40 basis points higher than the original midpoint.
Furthermore, we made substantial progress in reducing delinquency as a percentage of rent from over 2% in the first quarter, down to 1.4% by year-end. These are the results of the well coordinated efforts of our hardworking operations and support teams across the company. Great job team, and thank you.
Lastly, we continue to drive results to the bottom line, delivering a 3.6% year-over-year increase in core FFO per share, exceeding the high end of our original guidance range by $0.06.
Turning to the fourth quarter, we deployed an occupancy focused strategy as market rents moderated generally consistent with typical seasonal pattern. In addition, we recovered a significant number of delinquent units starting in October....
Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript