A Premier Business Model in Property Services
article 12-03-2024

A Premier Business Model in Property Services

Senior Analyst Zachary Weiss details the thesis for a holding in Royce Premier Fund that in our view has a quintessential Premier business model.

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A holding in our Small-Cap Premier Quality Strategy, FirstService Corporation (Nasdaq: FSV) is a leading provider of essential property services operating in large, fragmented markets across North America (the company is headquartered in Toronto). With substantial opportunities to expand its service offerings, consolidate its fragmented markets, and deepen client relationships, FirstService has a potentially long runway for growth, supported by resilient demand for its mission-critical services.

The company’s business model is built around high recurring revenue streams generated by mission-critical outsourced property services work that represents just a small portion of property owners’ overall budgets. By focusing on services that property owners and homeowners’ associations (“HOAs”) view as non-discretionary, FirstService has positioned itself as an indispensable partner for maintaining the safety, functionality, and value of real estate assets. These services are essential for property upkeep and tend to be difficult to cut even during periods of financial strain. The company’s scale advantage and national coverage are competitive differentiators that are difficult to replicate—which creates a resilient revenue base supported by high customer retention rates. Revenues have shown consistent growth for nearly 30 years, including during the 2008-09 Financial Crisis and COVID-19 recession.

“We view FirstService as a Premier business model. Its focus on essential, recurring property services, supported by its disciplined growth initiatives, shareholder-aligned management, leadership position in large, fragmented markets, capital-light business model, and differentiated positioning in outsourced property services, provides a compelling opportunity for durable growth and shareholder returns.”
—Zachary Weiss

First Service’s portfolio includes routine property maintenance on large HOA-managed properties, emergency disaster recovery, and commercial re-roofing. There are also opportunities to add services in the future. For example, FirstService entered the disaster restoration market in 2019 with its acquisition of Global Restoration Holdings, the parent company of First Onsite, creating a platform for emergency response and reconstruction services. Restoration services are driven by the recurring need to address natural catastrophes like hurricanes and wildfires, along with ongoing maintenance issues such as water damage or mold remediation to restore a property to its pre-loss value. The opacity of the costs associated with restoration work and the emergency nature of the project often provide pricing power to the restoration company over the insurance company. FirstService not only has the leading share in this large and fragmented market but is also uniquely position as the only non-franchised, non-private equity owned restoration company with a national footprint. This allows the company to be the acquirer of choice for the thousands of local players in the market and to win national account business with large real estate owners.

Just under a year ago, FirstService added a new leg to its stool by expanding into the commercial re-roofing industry with the acquisition of Roofing Corp of America (“RCA”), one of the largest commercial roofing providers in the U.S. This is another large and fragmented industry that features Premier attributes of recurring, mission-critical services that account for a low percentage of customer budgets. RCA provides essential maintenance, repair, and replacement services for aging commercial roofs caused by weather-related damage and typical wear-and-tear of roofs that usually require replacement every 20 to 30 years.

With these recent expansions, FirstService has unlocked new growth opportunities and opened the door for additional complementary services, such as commercial painting and building insulation, allowing the company to deepen relationships with existing clients while increasing its share of wallet.

Moreover, FirstService has a proven track record of growth, having expanded revenues at a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 20% for the last 25 years. Management’s history of exemplary capital allocation is supported by high levels of insider ownership, which aligns their interests with shareholders and ensures a focus on long-term value creation. Additionally, the capital-light nature of its operations allows substantial levels of free cash flow to be reinvested back into the business for organic and inorganic growth opportunities.

FirstService Corporation (Nasdaq: FSV)
12/31/23-11/29/24

Subsequent Average Annualized Three-Year Return for the Russell 2000 Starting in Monthly Rolling VIX Return Ranges

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

We view FirstService as a Premier business model. Its focus on essential, recurring property services, supported by its disciplined growth initiatives, shareholder-aligned management, leadership position in large, fragmented markets, capital-light business model, and differentiated positioning in outsourced property services, provides a compelling opportunity for durable growth and shareholder returns.

Important Disclosure Information

Average Annual Total Returns as of 9/30/2024 (%)

  QTD1 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR SINCE
INCEPT.
DATE ANNUAL
OPERATING EXPENSES
NET               GROSS
Premier 5.41 19.90 6.31 9.21 9.07 11.19 12/31/91  1.19  1.19
Russell 2000
9.27 26.76 1.84 9.39 8.78 9.30 N/A  N/A  N/A
1 Not annualized.

All performance information reflects past performance, is presented on a total return basis, reflects the reinvestment of distributions, and does not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate, so that shares may be worth more or less than their original cost when redeemed. Current month-end performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted and may be obtained at www.royceinvest.com. Operating expenses reflect the Fund's total annual operating expenses for the Investment Class as of the Fund's most current prospectus and include management fees and other expenses.

Mr. Weiss’s thoughts and opinions concerning the stock market are solely his own and, of course, there can be no assurance with regard to future market movements. No assurance can be given that the past performance trends as outlined above will continue in the future. The performance data and trends outlined in this presentation are presented for illustrative purposes only. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Historical market trends are not necessarily indicative of future market movements.

Percentage of Fund Holdings As of 9/30/24 (%)

  Premier

FirstService Corporation

3.1

Company examples are for illustrative purposes only. This does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock. There can be no assurance that the securities mentioned in this piece will be included in any Fund’s portfolio in the future.

Return on Invested Capital is calculated by dividing a company’s past 12 months of operating income (earnings before interest and taxes) by its average invested capital (total equity, less cash and cash equivalents, plus total debt, minority interest, and preferred stock).

Sector weightings are determined using the Global Industry Classification Standard ("GICS"). GICS was developed by, and is the exclusive property of, Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P") and MSCI Inc. ("MSCI"). GICS is the trademark of S&P and MSCI. "Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS)" and "GICS Direct" are service marks of S&P and MSCI.

Frank Russell Company (“Russell”) is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company. Neither Russell nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings or underlying data and no party may rely on any Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings and/or underlying data contained in this communication. No further distribution of Russell Data is permitted without Russell’s express written consent. Russell does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication. The Russell 2000 is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted index of domestic small-cap stocks. It measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest publicly traded U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 index. The performance of an index does not represent exactly any particular investment, as you cannot invest directly in an index.

This material is not authorized for distribution unless preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The Fund invests primarily in small-cap stocks, which may involve considerably more risk than investing in larger-cap stocks. The Fund also generally invests a significant portion of its assets in a limited number of stocks, which may involve considerably more risk than a more broadly diversified portfolio because a decline in the value of any one of these stocks would cause the Fund's overall value to decline to a greater degree. (Please see "Primary Risks for Fund Investors" in the prospectus.) The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets (measured at the time of investment) in securities of companies headquartered in foreign countries, which may involve political, economic, currency, and other risks not encountered in U.S. investments. (Please see "Investing in Frank Russell Company (“Russell”) is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company. Neither Russell nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings or underlying data and no party may rely on any Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings and/or underlying data contained in this communication. No further distribution of Russell Data is permitted without Russell’s express written consent. Russell does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication. The Russell 2000 is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted index of domestic small-cap stocks. It measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest publicly traded U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 index. The performance of an index does not represent exactly any particular investment, as you cannot invest directly in an index.

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