The Ensign Group Reports Second Quarter 2023 Results; Raises 2023 Earnings Guidance

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif., July 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ensign Group, Inc. ( ENSG), the parent company of the Ensign^(TM) group of companies, which provide post-acute healthcare services and invest in the post-acute healthcare industry, primarily in skilled nursing and senior living facilities, announced operating results for the second quarter of 2023, reporting GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.12 and adjusted earnings per share⁽¹⁾ of $1.16 for the quarter ended June 30, 2023.

Highlights Include:

• GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $1.12 and adjusted diluted earnings per share⁽¹⁾ was $1.16, an increase of 10.9% and 14.9%, respectively, over the prior year quarter.
• GAAP net income was $64.0 million and adjusted net income⁽¹⁾ was $66.3 million for the quarter, an increase of 10.9% and 15.4%, respectively, over the prior year quarter.
• Total skilled services⁽²⁾ revenue for the quarter was $884.2 million, an increase of 25.9% over the prior year quarter, and total skilled services⁽²⁾ segment income was $117.0 million, or an increase of 14.4% over the prior year quarter.
• Same store and transitioning occupancy increased by 4.0% and 3.3%, respectively, over the prior year quarter.
• Same store and transitioning skilled revenue increased by 8.8% and 7.4%, respectively, over the prior year quarter.
• Same store and transitioning combined managed care revenue increased by 12.2% and managed care census increased by 8.2%.
• Standard Bearer⁽²⁾ revenue was $19.9 million for the quarter, an increase of 13.2% from prior year quarter and FFO was $13.3 million for the quarter, an increase of 10.1% from the prior year quarter.
  
  (1) See "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Information".
  (2) Our Skilled Services and Standard Bearer Segments are defined and outlined in Note 7 on Form 10-Q.

Operating Results

“We are very happy with the record results we reported this quarter as our local leaders and their teams achieved excellent clinical and financial results, even when the operating environment continues to present challenges,” said Barry Port, Ensign’s Chief Executive Officer. “During the quarter we saw continued improvement in occupancies, skilled revenue, skilled days and managed care revenues, which is particularly impressive given persistent labor market pressures and the return of more typical seasonality. As of the end of the quarter, our same store occupancy was 78.5%, which was an increase of 3.97% over the prior year quarter. All of these results are all made possible by the relentless efforts of our caregivers and their continued endurance and strength, all while many of our same store leaders and clinicians were helping transition 45 recently acquired operations. We look forward to even more clinical and financial success during the remainder of the year as our focus is following and protecting the operational principles that got us here,” Port added.

Port continued, “In addition, we are also very excited about the enormous potential we have to continue to drive organic growth within our same store and transitioning operations. Our local leaders continue to share and apply best practices to respond to the labor market challenges, including building a culture at each operation that leads to reduced turnover with existing staff and relying less and less on third party nursing agencies. We also see enormous growth opportunities in same store occupancy, which is still below pre-Covid levels, and enhancing our ability to serve skilled patients in a way that best serves each unique healthcare market. During the quarter, our same store operations grew skilled mix revenue and skilled mix days by 8.8% and 5.6%, respectively, over the prior year quarter. We also continue to build stronger relationships with our managed care partners due to better coordination of care, increased capabilities and strong clinical outcomes. As a result, we saw increased volume in our same store and transitioning combined managed care census and managed care revenue, which increased during the quarter by 8.2% and 12.2%, respectively, over the prior year. This continued growth in skilled mix demonstrates the increasing and sustainable demand for skilled post-acute services, including within the context of our managed care patients.”

Mr. Port, added, “Due to our solid skilled mix and occupancy growth, as well as continued strength from our recent acquisitions, we are increasing and narrowing our annual 2023 earnings guidance to between $4.70 to $4.78 per diluted share, up from $4.64 to $4.77 per diluted share. This new midpoint of our 2023 earnings guidance represents an increase of 14.5% over our 2022 results and is 30.2% higher than our 2021 results. We are also raising our annual revenue guidance to between $3.69 billion to $3.73 billion, up from our previous guidance of $3.68 billion to $3.73 billion. We are excited about the upcoming year and are confident that our partners will continue to manage and innovate through all the lingering challenges on the labor front."

Chad Keetch, Ensign’s Chief Investment Officer and Executive Vice President noted the progress the Company is making with its newly acquired operations. He said, “After adding 19 operations last quarter, we took some much-needed time to continue to work together with our new teams in all 45 of our newly acquired operations as they continue to adopt Ensign’s cultural principles. We couldn’t be more excited about the organic growth potential within our entire portfolio, including our recently acquired operations that are already contributing to our results. As a result of skilled services expansions in the first half of 2023, occupancy and skilled mix days for the skilled nursing operations in the recently acquired bucket was 77.2% and 28%, respectively, for the quarter. For those that have been following us for years will note, this is a very impressive starting point from which to build. However, when compared to our same store occupancy and skilled mix days of 78.5% and 32.3%, respectively, there is enormous upside in each of these operations as they continue to transform into “same store” caliber operations. We expect these operations to face some transitional growth pains during the year, including some pressures on occupancy that are typical during the summer months, but we are looking forward to the contribution they will continue to make to this organization this year and over the long term.”

Speaking to the Company’s financial health, Ms. Snapper, Ensign’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer reported that the Company’s liquidity remains strong with approximately $420.0 million of cash on hand and $593.3 million of available capacity under its line-of-credit. Ms. Snapper also indicated that, “Management’s guidance is based on diluted weighted average common shares outstanding of approximately 57.7 million and a 25.0% tax rate. In addition, the guidance assumes, among other things, normalized health insurance costs, management’s current expectations regarding reimbursement rates and recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also excludes one-time charges, acquisition-related costs and amortization costs related to intangible assets acquired and share-based compensation.”

A discussion of the Company's use of non-GAAP financial measures is set forth below. A reconciliation of net income to adjusted EBT, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDAR, adjusted EBITDA and FFO for our real estate segment, 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 Interim Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2023 which is expected to be filed with the SEC today and can be viewed on the Company’s website at http://www.ensigngroup.net.

Growth and Real Estate Highlights

Mr. Keetch added additional commentary on the Company’s continued acquisition activity. “As we evaluate the horizon for new deals, we are well down the road on several opportunities and, assuming all goes as planned, we expect to announce a handful of new acquisition announcements in the very near future. The pipeline has been steady over the summer and we expect more opportunities to arise in the fall as we approach the end of the year. With our local leadership model, we have lots of operational bandwidth to grow across dozens of markets. In addition, with our line of credit and a healthy amount of cash on hand, we have over $1 billion in dry powder to grow. We expect some of the industry-wide changes to lead to even more opportunities in the near- and long-term future. However, we do not set arbitrary growth goals and will remain true to our disciplined acquisition strategy, only growing when we have the right leadership in place and the pricing is right,” Keetch said.

Ensign's growing portfolio consists of 290 healthcare operations, 26 of which also include senior living operations, across thirteen states. Ensign now owns 108 real estate assets, 79 of which it operates. Keetch noted that Ensign’s overall strategy will continue to include both leasing and acquiring the real estate and that the Company is actively looking for performing and underperforming operations in several states.

The Company continues to provide additional disclosure on Standard Bearer, which is comprised of 103 properties owned by the Company and leased to 75 affiliated skilled nursing and senior living operations and 29 senior living operations that are leased to The Pennant Group, Inc. Keetch noted that each of these properties are subject to triple-net, long-term leases and generated rental revenue of $19.9 million for the quarter, of which $16.1 million was derived from Ensign affiliated operations. Also, for the quarter, Ensign reported $13.3 million in FFO.

The Company paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0575 per share of Ensign common stock. Keetch noted that the Company’s liquidity remains strong and that the Company plans to continue its long history of paying dividends into the future, noting that in December of 2022 that the Company increased the annual dividend for the 20th consecutive year.

Conference Call

A live webcast will be held Friday, July 28, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time (1:00 p.m. Eastern time) to discuss Ensign’s second quarter of 2023 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, August 25, 2023.

About Ensign™

The Ensign Group, Inc.'s independent operating subsidiaries provide a broad spectrum of skilled nursing and senior living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies and other rehabilitative and healthcare services at 290 healthcare facilities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. As part of its investment strategy, the Company will also acquire, lease and own healthcare real estate to service the post-acute care continuum through acquisition and investment opportunities in healthcare properties. Ensign’s new business venture operating subsidiaries also offer several other post-acute-related services, including mobile x-ray, 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, Standard Bearer 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, our business and operations in 2023 continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 environment. Because of the unprecedented nature of the changes in the regulations and environment, we are unable to predict the full extent and duration of the financial impact of COVID-19 on our business, financial condition and results of operations. 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-Q and 10-K, 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, [email protected].

SOURCE: The Ensign Group, Inc.