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Exhibit 99.1
Final Transcript Conference Call Transcript GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call Event Date/Time: May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT |
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Final Transcript
May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS
Mike Rispoli
Grubb & Ellis SVP IR
Grubb & Ellis SVP IR
Tom DArcy
Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
Matt Engel
Grubb & Ellis SVP, Interim CFO
Grubb & Ellis SVP, Interim CFO
Jack Van Berkel
Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Jeff Hanson
Grubb & Ellis EVP, President & CEO Grubb & Ellis Equity Advisors
Grubb & Ellis EVP, President & CEO Grubb & Ellis Equity Advisors
CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS
Will Marks
JMP Securities Analyst
JMP Securities Analyst
PRESENTATION
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Grubb & Ellis first quarter 2010 earnings
conference call. My name is Gerry, and Ill be your coordinator today. At this time, all
participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session.
(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes. I
would now like to turn the conference over to your host for today, Mr. Mike Rispoli, Senior Vice
President of Investor Relations. Please, proceed, sir.
Mike Rispoli - Grubb & Ellis SVP IR
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Before I turn the
call over to Tom Darcy, our president and Chief Executive Officer, I would like to remind you that
this call is being webcast live and will be available for replay in the investor relations section
of the Grubb & Ellis website. Also available is a slide presentation, which you can follow as we
provide our prepared remarks. I would like to direct you to slide one of our presentation,
forward-looking statements. This presentation contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include
assumptions regarding expectations or estimates of future financial and operating results or
events, industry and market trends and other market opportunities for Grubb & Ellis. The
information in this presentation discusses the state of Grubb & Ellis business as of the date of
the presentation. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws, Grubb & Ellis does
not assume and obligation to update or correct any information you may hear today. Please refer to
our annual report on Form 10K-A and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a
discussion of risk factors or uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ
materially from comments made today. In an effort to present a more complete financial and
narrative description of the results of operations, we make certain statements during the course of
this presentation which include references to non-GAAP financial measures. As required by SEC
regulations, the company has provided reconciliations of these measures in our earnings release as
to what we believe are the most directly comparable GAAP measures, which are included in the
appendix. Now I will turn the call over to Tom DArcy.
Tom DArcy - Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
Well, thanks, Mike. And hello, everyone. First of all, let me thank you for joining us to
discuss our 2010 first quarter results. Participating on todays call with me in addition to Mike
is Matt Engel, our Interim Chief Financial Officer, Jack Van Berkel, our Chief Operating Officer,
and Jeff Hanson, who heads our investment management business. Id like to start this morning with
just a brief overview of our first quarter performance. So I direct you to slide two. Im really
pleased report that we improved year-over-year performance in total company revenue and significant
growth in our real estate services business. Our first quarter 2010 revenue was $133 million, and
increase of 8% compared with
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May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
revenue of $122 million for the first quarter of 2009. Transaction services revenue, which includes
brokerage commission, valuation, and consulting revenue was up nearly 26% from the first quarter of
2009. Leasing revenue increased 15%, and investment sales revenue was up 30%. We saw an increase in
the amount of transaction work on behalf of our corporate clients, which have selected Grubb &
Ellis as corporate real estate outsourcing partner. Our management services revenue increased 11%.
We were really encouraged by this performance for two main reasons. First, it signals that the
commercial real estate industry is entering the early stages of a recovery. Second, I really think
it speaks well of the investments that weve made to date to strengthen our platform, all of which
position us to capture market share as the recovery continues. On slide three we review what is
occurring in the broader market. Now since commercial real estate is a lagging economic indicator,
momentum needs to build in the overall economy over several quarters before real estates
fundamentals show tangible signs of improvement. As measured by GDP growth, the economy began to
grow again in the third quarter of 2009. As youll see from the graph on the right, we began to see
real improvement in the employment figures. These stronger trend lines in the macro-indicators have
contributed to a clear change of attitude from just several months ago. And while we still believe
that sustained recovery will not fully take hold until 2011, we did see a clear pickup in velocity
during the first quarter. Occupiers are showing a greater willingness to make space decisions, and
theyre really seeking to take advantage of the current rental rates to upgrade the quality of
their space or extend and expand their current leases. Turn to slide four; we review the commercial
real estate pricing index and the impact on transaction velocity. According to Moodys/REAL
Commercial Property Price Index, prices began to stabilize in late 2009. This has really allowed
buyers and sellers to start to come together on price, which in turn has resulted in an increase in
transaction velocity from its historically low levels. In addition, according to REAL Capital
Analytics, investment sales were $15.4 billion in the first quarter. This is up 50% from the first
quarter of 2009. Although the increase in sales volume is impressive on a year-over-year basis,
opposite the first quarter of 2009 probably marked the bottom of the downturn. So the comparison
was a relatively easy one. The actual number of properties sold was flat as compared with the first
quarter of 2009. This means that the average transaction size was significantly larger than it was
a year ago, which we interpret as a really healthy sign. Although leasing velocity should continue
to improve, the office market is not yet in recovery mode as vacancy rates continue to climb during
the first quarter of 2010. Although we are certainly encouraged by the signs of the recovery, we
dont believe its going to be a straight line across all businesses and all markets. If you turn
to slide five where we view the current commercial real estate environment, theres an opportunity
to continue to build and enhance our platform. And we plant to be even more aggressive and position
Grubb & Ellis for sustained long-term growth. As a part of this effort, last week we raised $30
million of new capital in an offering of unsecured convertible notes. Matt will walk you through
the details shortly, but I want to thank the strong lineup of institutional investors who
participated in this offering. We view this as really positive news for the company. It reaffirms
the progress we have made and continue to make in pursuit of our strategic growth initiatives. It
also speaks to the confidence our investors have in our company and our opportunity for long-term
growth. We also announced last week that Richard Pehlke has stepped down as the Chief Financial
Officer. Rich provided steady leadership to our company and played an absolutely key role and
strengthened the companys financial position. We cant thank Rich enough for all of his efforts.
And were all so very pleased that hell continue to be available to the company on a consulting
basis up until the end of the year. The company has engaged (inaudible) to identify a replacement.
Matt Engel, who served as the Chief Accounting Officer since November of 2008, will also serve as
Interim Chief Financial Officer until a successor is named. Now Id like to turn the call over to
Matt to discuss our results.
Matt Engel - Grubb & Ellis SVP, Interim CFO
Thank you, Tom, and good morning, everyone. As youll see on slide six, Grubb & Ellis reported
first quarter revenue of $133 million, up 8% compared with the first quarter of 2009. As we noted
in our release, the revenue increase was largely driven by an increase in sales and leasing
activity in our transaction services business. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss,
attributable to Grubb & Ellis of $23.8 million, or $0.41 per common share. Adjusted EBITDA for the
first quarter was negative $11.1 million, a 33% improvement compared with the negative adjusted
EBITDA of $16.5 million in the first quarter of 2009. The reconciliation of the GAAP numbers to
adjusted EBITDA can be found in Table 3 accompanying the release. It is very important to point out
that other than the $2.7 million of restructuring charges, the items that reconciled the GAAP
financials to adjusted EBITDA did not have any current cash impact on our results. Please turn to
slide seven. Commercial real estate business is seasonal in nature, and the first quarter is
typically our weakest, with revenue accelerating throughout the year. Given the early signs of
improvement we see in the commercial real estate market, we are reiterating our guidance for 2010
of total revenue of $550 million to $575 million and adjusted EBITDA of $10 million to $15 million.
We expect investment management revenue to build throughout the year as we continue the process of
expanding sales in our non-traded free product. We also expect to see better than anticipated
revenue gains in our real estate services businesses, which we believe speaks well to the diverse
nature of our income stream. Next, Id like to briefly review the segment performance as outlined
on slide eight. Revenue from our management services segment was $72.4 million in the first
quarter, up 11% from the first quarter of 2009. Revenue from this business is annuitized and
includes fees for property management and facilities outsourcing, as well as reimbursed salaries,
wages, and benefits. We grew square feet under management to 243 million at the end of the first
quarter. First quarter transaction services revenue was $42.2 million compared with $33.5 million a
year ago. As Tom mentioned earlier, we believe the improvement can be attributed to the increased
market activity as well as our recruiting efforts, which have been focused on upgrading the quality
of our brokerage sales force, as well as diversifying the mix of these brokers and encouraging
specialization. Investment management revenue totaled
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May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
$10.1 million for the quarter, compared with $15.7 million in the same period a year ago. The
companys investment programs raised $30.8 million of equity in the first quarter of 2010, compared
with $21.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. The equity raise can be attributed to the
companys two non-traded REIT products, which were both in the early offering stages. We were
encouraged by the 58% sequential growth and equity raise. On return, we expect to be one of top
sponsors of non-traded REITs. Now Id like to turn to expenses. Please turn to slide nine. The
majority of the companys expenses are related to transaction commission and reimbursable costs
directly attributable to revenue production. Cash compensation expense for the quarter was $30.9
million, a decrease of 7% from the same period a year ago. Cash G&A costs decreased by 16%
year-over-year, primarily due to our continued efforts to match operating expenses to revenue
trends. First quarter G&A was $18.4 million, compared with $21.8 million on a comparable basis in
the prior year. Please turn to slide ten. To help lower our fixed base of expenses and improve our
operating margins in a recovering market, we took action during the first quarter to reduce
operating expenses by $25 million on an annualized basis. We expect to realize $20 million of these
savings in 2010. These actions were taken in corporate overhead and other non-revenue producing
areas throughout the company. Please turn to slide 11 for a look at key items on the balance sheet.
At March 31st, cash and cash equivalents stood at $22.5 million compared with $39.1 million at
December 31. This decrease was anticipated as part of our annual operating plan. We expect to
generate cash from operations beginning in the second half of 2010. The cash of our recent
convertible note offering is not included in the $22.5 million. In addition, we expect to receive
an income tax refund of $5 million during the second quarter. Before I turn the call back to Tom, I
want to provide some color around the convertible senior notes offering that we announced on May
3rd, which raised $30 million in new capital. As youll see on slide 12, the notes pay interest at
the rate of 7.95% per year and come due in 2015. Theyre also convertible in the common shares at a
conversion price of $2.24 per share, a 17.5% premium to the closing stock price on May 3rd.
Transaction closed on May 7th and provides Grubb & Ellis with considerable cash to execute our
growth initiatives. With that, Ill turn the call back over to Tom.
Tom DArcy - Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
Well, thanks, Matt. Now as I mentioned, the leaders of our two core businesses, Jack Van
Berkel and Jeff Hanson are here with me today. So Jack will provide some color on developments
within real estate services. And Jeff will give an update on our investment management business.
Their comments really focus on the progress we are making on our 2010 growth initiatives. We
outlined these priorities in February when we reported our 2009 results. And they were included on
5/13. Before they walk through each of these initiatives, I just want to remind you that they are
consistent with our strategy to ensure that Grubb & Ellis is well-positioned to take advantage of
the recovering real estate markets. And with that, Ill turn the call over to Jack.
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Thank you, Tom. Good morning, everyone. Just about two years ago, we embarked on a strategy to
increase the profitability of our real estate services business. The strategy is focused on
reorganizing our business around the needs of our clients, upgrading the quality of our brokerage
professionals, and filling gaps in products and services. Our plan was to initiate changes during
the real estate downturn, and then when the market began to turn, we would see the benefits of our
efforts. Im pleased to say thats exactly what happened. Our broader market perspective, we began
to see the early signs of recovery in the first quarter, and during that timeframe, both our
transaction and management services segments reported double-digit revenue gains. We were
especially pleased with the performance of our transaction business, which reported at 26% gain in
revenue year over year. A sizable percentage of this increase was the result of revenue
contributions from our newest recruits, our new service offerings, and our practice group, which
encourage specialization and have begun to really differentiate us in the marketplace. Our first
quarter was encouraging, not only from a financial standpoint, but also because we continue to gain
momentum on our initiatives, and youll see some examples of that progress on slide 14. Weve added
118 brokers at the BP level or above over the last seven quarters. The annual production of these
new-hires averages $700,000 per year. We continue to fine tune our corporate services platform,
having relationship mangers for key accounts and ensuring that Grubb & Ellis is positioned to
provide integrated solutions as corporations increasingly look to outsource their real estate
needs. During the first quarter we renewed three long-term client relationships and expanded the
work we do for two others, one of which is Ingersoll Rand. And were extremely pleased that
Barclays Capital selected Grubb & Ellis as one of their preferred providers, which is another new
client to add to our roster. We also continue to strengthen our capital markets capabilities. Jeff
Majewski joined us in April after spending 20 years building CBs debt and equity business. Jeff
most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of CBs Debt and Equity Finance Group, Senior
Managing Director of CBRE Capital Markets. We began adding mortgage brokerage professionals in
mid-2009 to complement our investment sales expertise, and with Jeff on board, our expectations
have a solid mortgage banking capability in every major market by year end. Our financial services
asset management group, which was created to serve the needs of special servicers and financial
institutions, also continues to gather steam. Our current receivership, property management and
transaction service assignments exceed $1.5 billion in asset value. As we continue to enhance our
service capability, we are reviewing our geographic coverage to ensure that we have a direct
presence in those markets where our clients need holistic support. Within the past 60 days, we
opened company-owned offices in Phoenix and San Diego and announced plans to open offices in
Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Our Phoenix operations kicked off with more than a dozen brokerage
professionals
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May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
earlier this month who work closely with our existing management services team in the markets. And
San Diego, our office already has approximately 20 professionals, as evidenced by our rapid growth
of a strong interest among professionals to be associated with Grubb & Ellis, and we expect both
Phoenix and San Diego to be profitable by year end. Our goal isnt to build the biggest real estate
services company, but it is to build the best. Weve transformed the business over the past seven
quarters. And our first quarter results reinforce that our strategy is the right strategy. The best
part is we continue to make progress every single day. I look forward to updating you again next
quarter. Jeff will now share some details of our investment management business. Jeff?
Jeff Hanson - Grubb & Ellis EVP, President & CEO Grubb & Ellis Equity Advisors
Thanks, Jack. And good morning, everyone. As Tom mentioned earlier, one of the companys key
priorities is to grow our public non-traded REIT business and the investment management platform
over all. We began raising capital for Grubb & Ellis apartment REIT secondary offering in the
third quarter of 2009 and Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II in the last week of September. Now if
you will, please turn to slide 15. And as you can see, weve experienced significant progress
during this transition period for our REIT products. We currently have over 130 selling agreements
for the apartment REIT, and over 140 selling agreements for Healthcare REIT II. And these broker
dealers represent a base of over 20,000 registered representatives across the country. The total
REIT equity raise grew quarter over quarter by 58% but has not met our expectations. The equity
raised by our REIT product is tied to the companys ability to obtain selling agreements with our
key broker dealers. And although we continue to make significant progress in this area, market
dynamics within the financial services sector have resulted in much lengthier review lead times
than weve previously encountered among some the largest broker dealers. We continue dialogue, of
course, with these key potential partners and are optimistic that selling agreements are
forthcoming, which will likely result in further growth in our equity raise. And we believe that
Grubb & Ellis holds a distinct competitive advantage in this sector, particularly based upon what
we consider to be four key metrics the strength and quality of the sponsor, the depth of
expertise of the management teams, the real estate product sectors of focus, and the strength of
the actual products themselves. Grubb & Ellis offers a fully integrated commercial real estate
platform with 1,800 brokers and 100 market research analysts, providing both field level as well as
academic insights that allow us to make better decisions faster for our investors. Jay Olander, Gus
Remppies and their team are tested and proven veterans in the multi-family field, and Dan Prosky is
one of the most respect authorities in all of healthcare real estate. Theyre supported by strong
independent board members and corporate leaders, and there seems to be clear consensus supported by
substantial demographic and market data that apartments and healthcare real estate are key asset
classes for investors both now and well into the future. Clearly all of these factors, combined
with the strength of our brand, positions Grubb & Ellis with all of the characteristics necessary
to be the leading sponsor of non-traded REITs for the long term. This is a fundamental business for
the company, and were committed to maintaining and enhancing our position among the leaders of
this sector as we move through the current transitionary process with both of our products. Now
since the beginning of the year, our non-traded REITs have made five acquisitions. The healthcare
REIT began building its portfolio with the acquisition of two medical office buildings in the first
quarter and announced its third and fourth acquisitions within the past few weeks. And the
apartment REIT added a class A luxury multi-family community in Dallas to its portfolio during the
first quarter as well. Now in addition to our work in relaunching our non-traded REIT products, in
recent months we have spent significant time as well as human resources in laying the foundation
for our entrance into the institutional investment arena. As we discussed in the past, we believe
that Grubb & Ellis possess all of the skills and the resources necessary to be successful
institutional fund manager. And were well along the way of building Grubb & Ellis branded
institutional investment products. And I hope to be able to share some concrete news with you in
the near future, but for now can simply say that were committed to entering the space and are
laying the groundwork to do so. And with that, Id like to turn the call back over to Tom for
concluding remarks.
Tom DArcy - Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
Well, thanks, Jeff. I think as you can see, were making real progress with respect to all of
our stated objectives. The recent capital raise will allow us to direct resources to support these
growth initiatives. It also allows us to shift to a more proactive approach. As we explore and
invest in new opportunities, well have the both short- and long-term impact on our bottom line.
Last quarter we committed to providing you with the metrics by which you should use to measure our
performance going forward. And we have done so with the slide deck accompanying todays earnings
conference call remarks. We will continue to use this supplemental presentation as a way to provide
insight into how Grubb & Ellis is performing against the market and also against our stated
objectives. So you have the information you need to judge our progress. The metrics are outlined on
5-16. Just a quarter ago I told you what drew me to Grubb & Ellis was incredible opportunity I saw
to leverage to the companys considerable brand strength and market presence in order to create
value for our clients, our employees, and our companys shareholders. Today, after having been on
the job now for nearly six months, I feel even more confident about this companys potential. As
youve heard from Jack and Jeff, we are making real progress against these objectives, and now with
the additional capital to fund our growth initiatives, we have the ability to accelerate this
progress even further. At this point Id love to open up the call to any questions. So, operator,
could you please explain the process?
QUESTION AND ANSWER
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May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
Operator
Certainly. (Operator Instructions) And your next question comes from the line of Will Marks
with JMP Securities. Please proceed.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Thank you, good morning, everyone.
Tom DArcy - Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
Hey, Will.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
I guess first question I would have maybe for Jeff. On the investment management business, can
you just give me maybe even a qualitative update on since the end of the first quarter or just
you mentioned that you havent met expectations. But are things picking up at all in the capital
raising, and even without new selling agreements?
Jeff Hanson - Grubb & Ellis EVP, President & CEO Grubb & Ellis Equity Advisors
Yes, as I mentioned, we have seen sequential growth quarter over quarter, fourth quarter to
first quarter by 58%. The equity raise also if you look at each month in the first quarter grew
month over month. And weve continued to see that growth, even with the standard set of selling
agreements into the second quarter. So were not projecting significant ramp up beyond just this
continued month over month growth in Q2, but as these new selling agreements do hit with
substantial broker dealers, we do expect a significant ramp up in the second half of the year.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
So the real growth should come from the new selling agreements, not necessarily a same-person
sale in terms of or same brokerage firm sales, however you want to look at it?
Jeff Hanson - Grubb & Ellis EVP, President & CEO Grubb & Ellis Equity Advisors
Well, I think that thered be respectable growth just based upon the existing selling
agreements, but much higher growth as you continue to add broker dealers that have several thousand
registered reps across the country that would then be eligible to sell our product. I mean, what
were experiencing in this transitionary period, theres always a drop and reramp in equity raise.
Its just taken a little bit longer in this environment to ramp as quickly as we thought we would
with a specific base of selling agreements.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Who are your, lets say, two largest selling agreements and how many brokers do they have?
Jeff Hanson - Grubb & Ellis EVP, President & CEO Grubb & Ellis Equity Advisors
You know, First Allied has I think 4,000 reps. Theyre one of our largest broker dealers. For
example, LPL, which was selling Healthcare REIT I that were in dialogue with now has over 12,000
broker dealers or registered reps rather across the country. Some of the larger broker dealers are
substantial as it relates to head count.
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May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Okay, great. Moving on, I wanted to ask about, on the management services side, and you
compete with some of the bigger international players, Jones Lang and CB. And you seem to be
holding your own with your growth. How important is it to be global in terms of the business youre
going after?
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Hey, Will, its Jack. How are you? Will Marks; Hey, Jack.
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
So, obviously weve done a really good job. I just want to make put a plug in for the team.
You know, its been a really difficult 18-month period of time. And I will tell you with all of our
corporate accounts, we have not lost a major account anywhere in the system over the last 18
months, which Im really proud of the group for. In addition, we continue to pick up business.
Obviously, its domestic business. And its based upon the quality of the work that were doing,
and so we continue to win new assignments. Of course the challenge is that we are not winning
currently the big global assignments. We are picking up some international work with some of our
existing clients. So we are expanding with those particular clients in China and in other parts of
the world. But obviously thats a component of our strategy that were going to have to further
develop with time.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Great, thanks. For you as well, Im curious. On slide five it looks like the industry of
investment sales almost doubled in the first quarter.
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Yes, off a very low base, though, as you well know.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Right. How relevant you guys were up 30%. I have yet to see any company that doubled in
investment sales revenues. Can you help me with that?
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Well, obviously the market is starting to come back. Slowly but surely. I dont think anyones
going to tell you that the market is coming back robustly here. Also, you know, as you well know,
we spent a significant amount of time and effort over the last 18 months bringing in top notch
institutional talent. And thats part of the reason were starting to see some uptick. So obviously
we were going, over the following quarters as we continue to see progress, those number should
continue to improve.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
I was also wondering. If the industry doubled in revenues, I know its off a low base; I have
yet to see anyone report doubling of revenues in terms of the public companies. Are these
statistics include small deals that you wouldnt work on? Im trying to make things clarify.
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Yes, I mean, obviously I dont think anyones seeing big, big deals yet. If thats your point.
So obviously were hoping to see significantly more growth in the coming quarters as the deal sizes
start to increase. Now obviously I have some visibility that you dont. I have specific to our
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May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
pipeline and things that were working on. So, certainly our hope is that we start to see
significantly larger percentages of growth into Q2, Q3, and Q4.
Tom DArcy - Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
Still, there is, Will, a broad array of players in the commercial real estate space in all
markets from the boutique guys to the large national players and the global players. So its pretty
diffuse group that compete on these capital markets assignments. I think you have to look at the
totality of the industry itself vis a vis the actual increase in velocity.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Fair enough. Thanks, and a couple of other quick things. One is on the two properties you own.
Are you paying for interest payments out of reserves? I think in one case it may be out of cash
flows, but is the other out of reserve?
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
For the most part, those properties are covering their interest expense. The first quarter I
think they were largely break even on the cash flows. We do expect that one property, 200 Galleria,
will probably cost us about $1 million a year as we kind of reposition that asset. Thats really
kind of expected to occur in the last half of this year. But in Q1 they were essentially break
even. Will Marks; Are there any reserves left from that property to cover $1 million? Or does that
come out of your balance sheet?
Mike Rispoli - Grubb & Ellis SVP IR
Will, this is Mike. Theres reserves at the property, but theyre more for tenant improvement
costs to reposition the asset. Well be covering about $1 million of the interest cost in 2010.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
My final question, on the second quarter, any kind of metrics you did say that cash flow
would start turning positive in the second half of the year. Is it possible the second quarter that
EBITDA is positive, even though cash flow may not be?
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
I think the way to think about it is and obviously were not giving quarterly guidance, but
the big thing youll start to see in the second quarter is the impact of the cost reduction efforts
that we took in the first quarter. So of the $20 million we expect to realize this year, we
probably realized $1.5 million in the first quarter. So the remaining $18.5 million youll see $5
million to $7 million per quarter impact as we move forward. So thats one big thing thatll impact
our numbers as we progress. And obviously we expect sequential improvement as we move through the
year. But we expect our cash flows to turn positive in the second half of the year here.
Tom DArcy - Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
And just as a point of emphasis, when we constructed our internal models, we did look to the
back half of the year in terms of contributing the majority of the EBITDA for the full year, as we
saw this ramp, which is really what we experienced in the first quarter.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
On the G&A line, is the first quarter number a fairly good run rate? I know some of the cost
cuts came in the first quarter, but maybe it ramps up during the year?
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Final Transcript
May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Yes, I think the way to think about it is if you look at the $49 million of overhead expenses,
you should see $5 million to $7 million come off that number each quarter as we move ahead.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Im sorry, $5 million to $7 million coming off of
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Of the $49 million. And its roughly 60%, comes off the comp line of that and 40% off the G&A
line.
Will Marks - JMP Securities Analyst
Perfect. All right, thats all for me. Thank you.
Jack Van Berkel - Grubb & Ellis EVP, COO
Thanks, Will.
Operator
(Operator Instructions) And with no additional questions in queue, I would now like to turn
the conference over to Mr. Tom DArcy for closing comments. Please proceed, sir.
Tom DArcy - Grubb & Ellis President, CEO
I would like to thank you for your continued interest in the Grubb & Ellis Company, and we
look forward to discussing our next results at the end of the second quarter. Thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you for your participation in todays conference. This concludes the presentation. You
may now disconnect, and have a great day.
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Final Transcript
May 11, 2010 / 02:30PM GMT, GBE Q1 2010 Grubb & Ellis Earnings Conference Call
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