Conference Call and Webcast scheduled for tomorrow, October 29, 2020 at 10:00 am PT
Conference Call and Webcast scheduled for tomorrow, October 29, 2020 at 10:00 am PT
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif., Oct. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ensign Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENSG), the parent company of the Ensign(TM) group of companies, which provide skilled nursing services, senior living services, rehabilitative care services and other healthcare services, announced record operating results for the third quarter of 2020, reporting GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.77 for the quarter with adjusted earnings per share of $0.78 for the quarter(2).
Highlights Include:
- GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.77, representing an increase of 97.4%(1) over the prior year quarter and adjusted diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $0.78, an increase of 95.0%(1)(2) over the prior year quarter.
- Consolidated GAAP revenues for the quarter were $599.3 million, an increase of 17.0%(1) over the prior year quarter and adjusted revenues for the quarter were $598.4 million, an increase of $88.8 million or 17.4%(1)(2) over the prior year quarter.
- Same store skilled revenue increased by 18.5% over the prior year quarter and by 7.8% sequentially over the second quarter with an increase in Medicare days of 34.3% and 10.2%, respectively.
- Transitioning skilled revenue improved by 26.8% over the prior year quarter with a 20.3% increase in transitioning managed care revenue and a 27.3% increase in Medicare revenue.
- GAAP net income was $43.1 million for the current quarter, an increase of 94.4% (1) over the prior year quarter.
- Adjusted net income for the current quarter was $43.7 million, an increase of 94.5%(1)(2) over the prior year quarter.
(1) Represents GAAP continued operations which excludes operating results for the October 1, 2019 spin-out of The Pennant Group, Inc. in accordance with discontinued operation guidance in GAAP.
(2) See “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Information”. All Non-GAAP financial results exclude operating results for the recently spun-out The Pennant Group, Inc. in accordance with discontinued operation guidance.
Operating Results
“We are announcing another record quarter despite the continued challenges arising from the global pandemic. With the second surge of COVID-19 that occurred during the third quarter in some of our largest states, including Texas, Arizona and California, our local teams were faced with an incredible challenge and have again demonstrated incredible agility and responsiveness to the evolving landscape. True to form, they remain as committed as ever to the cause of quality outcomes and excellent patient care. As a result of their heroic efforts, our local operators and caregivers have translated their passion into record-breaking results,” said Ensign’s Chief Executive Officer Barry Port. He emphasized that in early July the company returned all of the CARES Act Provider Relief Funds it received from the Government, and that the quarter’s results do not include any benefit related to those relief funds. The Company joined other well-capitalized healthcare providers by returning $109 million in provider grants and announced today that it will also be returning approximately $23 million in the latest round of relief funds. He continued, “Our local leadership teams continue to make clinical and operational improvements that are tailored to conditions they face in their local market and, with the continued support of a world-class Service Center, we remind you again that our local leaders and dedicated front-line staff are the reason we were able to report such a strong quarter.”
Port noted that the strong results came from quarter over quarter improvements in skilled mix across the portfolio, improved admissions trends, availability of more frequent and broader COVID testing, increased managed care revenues, cost saving initiatives, improved collections, sequestration suspension and improved Medicaid rates in certain states. He added, “Our operations have continued to see an increase in the number of higher acuity patients, including some COVID-19 positive patients and an increasing number of managed care patients. With the surge of COVID-19 patients in many of the surrounding communities we serve, we continue to see state and county health leaders and local hospital systems turn to Ensign-affiliated operations to care for all varieties of high acuity patients that can safely be admitted to, or remain under our care. As we expected, when positivity rates for COVID-19 occur in the surrounding community, we see occupancy decline and skilled mix increase.” He noted that in July, the Company saw overall occupancy decline, particularly in areas of high COVID positivity rates like Texas, Arizona and California, while skilled mix remained strong. When COVID-19 cases began to stabilize in August, occupancy began to recover, which continued in September and again in October. “If there is another surge in COVID during fourth quarter or in 2021, we are confident that lower occupancies will be offset by higher skilled mix, highlighting the pivotal role that our post-acute operations play in the fluctuating healthcare landscape,” Port said.
Chief Financial Officer, Suzanne Snapper, reported that the company’s liquidity remains strong with approximately $175.4 million of cash on hand and $342.4 million of available capacity under its line-of-credit facility, which also has a built-in expansion option, both as of September 30, 2020. She also indicated that the company received approximately $104 million of Medicare advance payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and approximately $132 million of the provider relief funds of rounds one, two, three and four of the CARES Act. The Company has, or plans to return, all of the provider relief funds received to date. She also noted that the company also has 94 owned assets, 74 of which are unlevered and add additional liquidity. Ms. Snapper also indicated that the Company expects to continue incurring COVID-19-related expenses in the fourth quarter and into 2021, including higher labor costs, the ongoing acquisition of unprecedented levels of PPE and other infection prevention equipment, especially costs related to more and more testing.
A discussion of the company’s use of non-GAAP financial measures is set forth below. A reconciliation of net income to EBITDA, adjusted EBITDAR, adjusted EBITDA, as well as a reconciliation of GAAP earnings per share, net income to adjusted net income and adjusted net earnings per share appear in the financial data portion of this release. More complete information is contained in the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 which is expected to be filed with the SEC today and can be viewed on the company’s website at http://www.ensigngroup.net.
2020 and 2021 Guidance
“We are increasing our 2020 annual earnings guidance to $3.04 to $3.12 per diluted share and maintaining annual revenue guidance of $2.42 billion to $2.45 billion,” Port said. He noted that the company has seen, and expects to continue to see, a significant impact from the pandemic on the fourth quarter and beyond, but that the company is confident that it can continue to perform well in the context of additional COVID-19 surges and he remains optimistic that occupancies will begin to recover once community spread begins to slow.
Management also provided guidance for 2021, with annual earnings per share guidance of $3.44 to $3.56 per diluted share and annual revenue guidance of $2.62 billion to $2.69 billion. “We are confident that we can provide this guidance for several reasons. We are excited about the enormous upside that still exists in all of our newly acquired operations, which have seen delays in the transformation that we typically see in our newly acquired bucket, coupled with the great acquisitions on the horizon. But more importantly, we believe, when this pandemic is behind us, that our operations are primed to rebuild occupancies and gain additional market share as a result of the deepened relationships with acute care providers and other healthcare partners that developed because of our response to the pandemic,” Port said. The midpoint of this 2021 guidance represents an increase of approximately 14% over the midpoint of Ensign’s new 2020 guidance.
Management’s guidance is based on diluted weighted average common shares outstanding of approximately 55.7 and 57.7 million for 2020 and 2021, respectively, and a 25% tax rate. In addition, the guidance assumes, among other things, normalized health insurance costs, normal anticipated Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rate increases, net of provider taxes, acquisitions closed in 2020 and the first six months of 2021 and recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also excludes acquisition-related costs and amortization costs related to intangible assets acquired, share-based compensation and start-up losses.
COVID-19 Update
Port reported that each locally-led operation continues to manage patient needs during this pandemic. “The third quarter presented continued challenges as we experienced a significant surge in cases in some of our largest states. We are grateful that we were able to apply many of the lessons we learned in the second quarter to prevent and treat COVID in our operations in these geographies in addition to expanding the number of operations capable of safely admitting and treating COVID positive patients from the community. We also continue to focus on reducing the pressure on local hospitals by keeping patients in the skilled setting in a cost effective manner to further benefit the overall cost to Medicare and Medicaid programs,” he added.
Port also reported that early in the quarter the company’s portfolio experienced an increase in COVID-19 cases in its buildings in correlation with the trends occurring in the local community, noting that as the number of cases increases in the community overall, such as in parts of Texas, Arizona and California, those trends also impact skilled nursing operations in those areas. As of October 14, 2020, the company’s 217 affiliated skilled nursing operations across 13 states had 207 confirmed COVID-19 patients in-house. Also, as of October 14, 2020, 8 operations had over 20 COVID-19 positive cases, 48 operations had less than 20 cases and 161 operations had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in-house. The vast majority of COVID positive patients in the Ensign portfolio have recovered and returned to home.
The company reported that during the quarter combined same store and transitioning occupancy declined by 2.4% and skilled mix increased by 2.9%, both from second quarter as the pandemic worsened in many of its key states. However, from Mid-July to Mid-September, the Company’s census remained flat with a slight decrease in skilled mix days. Towards the end of the quarter and into October, as elective care procedures picked up and the number of COVID-19 cases in the communities stabilized, the Company saw an increase in our occupancy and skilled mix days. Between mid-September to mid-October, combined same store and transitioning occupancy increased by approximately 1.0% and skilled mix increased by 4.0%, respectively. Port also indicated that the number of admissions continued to progressively increase through the quarter, demonstrating that the flow of patients has improved as certain markets have begun to loosen restrictions on admissions and as the sentiment towards high quality post-acute care providers has continued to improve.
Port continued, “While the future of this pandemic remains unclear, we are confident that our local leaders, caregivers and other front-line staff will continue to provide amazing service to their patients, families and our society as a whole. Their endurance and strength is truly inspiring and we can’t thank them enough for all their selfless service as they continue to earn the trust of acute care providers, physicians, managed care payors and most importantly, their patients and their families. They truly are heroes and are doing some of the hardest work during one of the most challenging times in our industry’s history. We hope our communities will join us in recognizing and thanking them for all they do.”
Other Highlights
During the quarter, the company paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share of Ensign common stock. “Due to our strong liquidity, we were pleased to continue our long-standing practice of paying a dividend to shareholders,” said Chad Keetch, Ensign’s Chief Investment Officer. He noted that the company has been a dividend paying company since 2002 and has increased the dividend every year since. The company indicated that there are no current plans to suspend future dividends.
Keetch also noted that on August 1, 2020, the Company acquired the real estate and operations of a post-acute care retirement campus located in Tempe, AZ, including Tempe Post Acute, a 62-bed skilled nursing facility and Desert Marigold Senior Living of Tempe a senior living center with 72 assisted living units and 90 independent living units. “This was one of the several acquisitions that we had in the works when COVID appeared on the scene and is the first closing we’ve had since the pandemic started. The transition has gone very well and we are confident that our clinical and operational transition plans will continue to allow us to selectively acquire in the current environment,” Keetch said. He also added that the Company has several acquisitions on the horizon and that the Company expects to close on several in the next few months and early 2021. “Our pipeline remains strong and our liquidity provides us with enough dry powder to aggressively pursue opportunities that we expect to come our way,” Keetch added.
Conference Call
A live webcast will be held Thursday, October 29, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time (1:00 p.m. Eastern time) to discuss Ensign’s third quarter financial results. To listen to the webcast, or to view any financial or statistical information required by SEC Regulation G, please visit the Investors Relations section of Ensign’s website at http://investor.ensigngroup.net. The webcast will be recorded, and will be available for replay via the website until 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on Friday, December 4, 2020.
About Ensign™
The Ensign Group, Inc.'s independent operating subsidiaries provide a broad spectrum of skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies and other rehabilitative and healthcare services at 226 healthcare facilities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. Ensign’s new business venture operating subsidiaries also offer several other post-acute-related services, including mobile x-ray, lab, non-emergency transportation services and other consulting services also across several states. Each of these operations is operated by a separate, independent operating subsidiary that has its own management, employees and assets. References herein to the consolidated “company” and “its” assets and activities, as well as the use of the terms “we,” “us,” “its” and similar verbiage, are not meant to imply that The Ensign Group, Inc. has direct operating assets, employees or revenue, or that any of the facilities, the Service Center or the captive insurance subsidiary are operated by the same entity. More information about Ensign is available at http://www.ensigngroup.net.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
This press release contains, and the related conference call and webcast will include, forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions and beliefs about its business, financial performance, operating results, the industry in which it operates and other future events. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding growth prospects, future operating and financial performance, and acquisition activities. They are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to materially and adversely differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.
These risks and uncertainties relate to the company’s business, its industry and its common stock and include: reduced prices and reimbursement rates for its services; its ability to acquire, develop, manage or improve operations, its ability to manage its increasing borrowing costs as it incurs additional indebtedness to fund the acquisition and development of operations; its ability to access capital on a cost-effective basis to continue to successfully implement its growth strategy; its operating margins and profitability could suffer if it is unable to grow and manage effectively its increasing number of operations; competition from other companies in the acquisition, development and operation of facilities; its ability to defend claims and lawsuits, including professional liability claims alleging that our services resulted in personal injury, and other regulatory-related claims; and the application of existing or proposed government regulations, or the adoption of new laws and regulations, that could limit its business operations, require it to incur significant expenditures or limit its ability to relocate its operations if necessary. Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and in the future may be amplified by, the COVID-19 outbreak. The developments with respect to the spread of COVID-19 and its impacts have been occurring so rapidly and because of the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we are unable to predict the extent and duration of the adverse financial impact of COVID-19 on our business, financial condition and results of operations. While we are not able to estimate the full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our financial condition and future results of operations, the pandemic could have an adverse effect on our reported results in the future. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements and are encouraged to review the company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, for a more complete discussion of the risks and other factors that could affect Ensign’s business, prospects and any forward-looking statements. Except as required by the federal securities laws, Ensign does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changing circumstances or any other reason after the date of this press release.
Contact Information
Investor/Media Relations, The Ensign Group, Inc., (949) 487-9500, ir@ensigngroup.net.
SOURCE: The Ensign Group, Inc.
