Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Keegan Carl : Maybe just on the communities that are removed from the same-store pool but are now up and running. Could you just provide some color on occupancy and your expectation for leasing those communities back? And were there material move-outs that took place?

Patrick Waite: Yes. So just as a reminder, for those properties, it was four RV and two Marinas. So, we don’t have any of the direct impact with respect to occupancy trends. And as we’re bringing those properties back online, I would expect them to largely reach full operations in late 2023, but we have resumed operations at all but two of those properties to this point. Those are modified operations on a few key categories, but our core customers are engaged and have access to the properties with amenities coming online over time.

Marguerite Nader: And what we’ve seen is a real desire for our customers to come down and come back to their place in Florida and get out of the winter and come down and start to fix their home if it was impacted or fixed their RV if it was impacted.

Keegan Carl : Got it. And just shifting gears on to transient revenue. Obviously, it was down in the quarter, but it was relatively offset by the seasonal growth. Just kind of curious on transient. Are you guys seeing any relative softness in demand? Or is it primarily just a function of having less sites available?

Marguerite Nader: I think it’s really a function of that having less sites available. We’re seeing people choose to stay with us longer, so they’re staying with us on a seasonal basis and staying with us on an annual basis. So that’s just having we have less available sites.

Keegan Carl : Got it. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Wes Golladay with Baird. Your line is open.

Wesley Golladay: Thank you and good morning every one. I just noticed that the 1,000 cells membership dipped in the fourth quarter sequentially. Is this just a seasonality having to play here? And then what is your expectations for subscription income growth this year? It was around 5% in 2022.

Marguerite Nader: I think year-to-date, I’d say our Camps sales are down, I think they’re about down 3%. Upgrades are down a little bit or down about 18%. The camp pass sales are really a decline from a heightened interest in 2021. And the upgrade decline is really a result of a new product that we launched in 2021, where we typically see outsized demand in that time when we launched the product.

Paul Seavey: And our expectation for subscription revenue in ’23 is right in line with our experience in ’22.

Wesley Golladay: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Anthony Hau with Truist. Your line is open.

Anthony Hau: Hey guys, thanks for taking my question. What is the mark-to-market on the image portfolio when a new tenant replaces an existing tenant? Is this still 10% to 11% after the recent rent increase?

Patrick Waite: Yes. That trend is holding.

Marguerite Nader: And Anthony, if you look at the trend on a monthly basis. And certainly, as you look at it, roll it up for the quarter, every quarter, I think in the fourth — in 2022, it was somewhere between 10.5% and 11% — 11.5%.

Anthony Hau: Okay. And so shifting gears to RV, like; there’s a lot of articles about the Airbnb bus. I know this might not be true in your markets, but in some markets, occupancy for Airbnb is down like 8% to 9%. Just curious, what do you think the implication could be for RVs?