Ian Dallimore interviewed Lamar CFO Jay Johnson on Lamar’s Digital and Dirt podcast. Some of the highlights.
From Banking to REITs
My background is that of banking. Focused much more on the capital markets side. That’s where I grew up. I was a corporate and investment banker for a number of years and always new that I wanted to get to the operating side of the business. Coming through the global financial crisis it was pretty tough being a banker…I landed at Host Hotels and resorts which is the largest lodging REIT…and ultimately ended up becoming Treasurer there…and then went to be CFO at Diamond Rock. Diamond Rock was Marriott’s second REIT…I got the opportunity about a year into my Tenure at Diamond Rock to come to Lamar.
REIT’s 101
What a REIT is structured to do is to make an investment in real estate…we are structured in a way that we do not pay corporate income taxes as long as we distribute 90% of our taxable income in the form of a dividend or distribution. Most REITs will distribute 100% of their taxable income…It’s a way for the everyday investor to have access to corporate real estate. In exchange for that they tend to get a pretty hefty yeild in the form of a dividend.
Lamar’s REIT
In 2014 Lamar converted to a REIT…The billboard side of our business is what is REIT qualified…What makes it lease qualified is having a fixed asset…
What Jay Johnson does day to day at Lamar
You’re the guardian of the balance sheet. You’re making sure that the company is financially sound so that folks who that are interacting with our customers can execute on our biusienss plan…I like to think of the balance sheet as the engine of a company…When I think about our balance sheet I want to do three things. We want to get through the cycle…the recession. We want to…maintain our dividend. And…we want to plan a little bit of offense…
Lamar and acquisitions
Lamar has had a tremendous track record as a public company in consolidating a fragmented industry. The playbook is there. Lamar is quite prudent…Our role in that is making sure we have the access to capital…
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