EAGLE, Idaho, Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG), the parent company of the Pennant group of affiliated home health, hospice and senior living companies, today announced its operating results for the third quarter 2022, reporting GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.16 and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.14 for the quarter⁽¹⁾.

Third Quarter Highlights

• Total revenue for the quarter was $118.4 million, an increase of $6.4 million or 5.7% over the prior year quarter;

• Net income for the third quarter was $4.8 million, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $7.9 million, an increase of $1.4 million or 21.6% over the prior year quarter, and adjusted EBITDAR for the quarter was $17.0 million;

• Home Health and Hospice Services segment revenue for the third quarter was $85.8 million, an increase of $6.8 million or 8.6% over the prior year quarter, segment adjusted EBITDAR from Operations was $15.4 million, and segment adjusted EBITDA was $14.2 million, an increase $1.0 million or 7.7% over the prior year quarter;

• Total home health admissions for the third quarter was 10,152 and total Medicare home health admissions for the third quarter was 4,637, an increase of 10.2% and 10.1%, respectively, over the prior year quarter;

• Total hospice admissions for the third quarter was 2,392, an increase of 7.8% over the prior year quarter, and hospice average daily census for the third quarter was 2,293, an increase of 0.4% compared to the second quarter 2022 and a decrease of 1.9% compared to the prior year quarter;

• Senior Living Services segment revenue for the third quarter was $32.6 million, a decrease of $0.3 million or 1.1% over the prior year quarter, segment adjusted EBITDAR from Operations was $9.4 million, and segment adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was $1.5 million, an increase of $1.4 million over the prior year quarter; and

• Same store senior living⁽²⁾ revenue for the third quarter was $32.2 million, an increase of $3.4 million or 11.8% over the prior year, same store senior living average occupancy for the third quarter was 77.6%, an increase of 140 basis points over the prior year quarter, and average monthly revenue per occupied room for the third quarter was $3,560, an increase of $386 or 12.2% over the prior year quarter and $90 or 2.6% over the second quarter of 2022.

Operating Results

“We continue to make progress on our objectives to recruit and develop talented leaders, be the provider of choice in each community we serve through quality care and operational excellence, and generate strong cash flow for our stakeholders,” said Brent Guerisoli, Pennant’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our third quarter results reflect another step forward operationally as we seek to unlock the significant latent potential in our existing business. In our home health business, we experienced strong admission volume, while our hospice average daily census grew sequentially. We saw continued momentum in our senior living segment recovery, with gains in occupancy and revenue per occupied room, reflecting ongoing healthy demand for our high quality services. We look forward to accelerating results across both segments as we head into 2023 and as our leaders drive revenue and contain costs despite an inflationary operating environment.”

During the quarter and since, the Company completed the acquisition of Ardent Hospice and Palliative Care with locations in southern and central California, and Kenosha Visiting Nurse Association in Kenosha, Wisconsin. “We are excited about the opportunity to add these quality home health and hospice agencies to the Pennant family and look forward to reporting more activity on this front in 2023. Our recently acquired agencies are developing strength within our portfolio and add significant opportunity for organic growth for years to come. As we continue to generate strong cash flow and improved operational momentum in both segments, we are well positioned to pursue significant acquisition opportunities consistent with our disciplined growth strategy,” commented John Gochnour, Pennant’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

Jennifer Freeman, Pennant's Chief Financial Officer, reported that the Company ended the third quarter with strong liquidity. Operating cash flow for the third quarter was $8.1 million, bringing year-to-date operating cash flow to $19.2 million, excluding $6.2 million in Medicare advance payments the Company repaid in the first half of the year. As of September 30, 2022, we had $3.0 million of cash on hand and $88.3 million of availability on its revolving line of credit. Ms. Freeman reported that the Company had a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.0x and a lease-adjusted net debt-to-adjusted EBITDAR ratio of 5.59x as of quarter-end. “Our cash flow continues to improve and reflect the earning power and resiliency of our business. Having completed repayment of the Medicare advance payments, our ability to generate cash should continue to improve and provide a greater war chest for opportunistic investments, accelerating our ability to grow strategically,” said Ms. Freeman.

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 and adjusted EBITDA, as well as a reconciliation of GAAP earnings per share, net income to adjusted net earnings per share and adjusted net income, 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 three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, which has been filed with the SEC today and can be viewed on the company’s website at www.pennantgroup.com.

2022 Guidance

Management anticipates 2022 annual guidance of total revenue between $458 million and $462 million, earnings per diluted share between $0.55 and $0.60, and adjusted EBITDA between $31.0 million and $33.5 million. The Company’s 2022 annual guidance is based on diluted weighted average shares outstanding of approximately 30.3 million and a 25.6% effective tax rate. The guidance assumes, among other things, anticipated reimbursement rate adjustments, no unannounced acquisitions, and the lingering effects of COVID-19. It excludes the tax-effected costs at start-up operations, share-based compensation, acquisition-related costs, and loss on disposition of assets and impairments.

Conference Call

A live webcast will be held tomorrow, November 8, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Mountain time (12:00 p.m. Eastern time) to discuss Pennant’s third quarter 2022 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 Pennant’s website at https://investor.pennantgroup.com. The webcast will be recorded and will be available for replay via the website until 5:00 p.m. Mountain time on Friday, December 9, 2022.

About Pennant

The Pennant Group, Inc. is a holding company of independent operating subsidiaries that provide healthcare services through 95 home health and hospice agencies and 49 senior living communities located throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Each of these businesses 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 Pennant Group, Inc. has direct operating assets, employees or revenue, or that any of the home health and hospice businesses, senior living communities or the Service Center are operated by the same entity. More information about Pennant is available at www.pennantgroup.com.

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. 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, for a more complete discussion of the risks and other factors that could affect Pennant’s business, prospects and any forward-looking statements. Except as required by the federal securities laws, Pennant 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 Relations
The Pennant Group, Inc.
(208) 506-6100
ir@pennantgroup.com

SOURCE: The Pennant Group, Inc.

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(unaudited, in thousands, except for per-share amounts)

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
 CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(unaudited, in thousands, except par value)

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(unaudited, in thousands)

The following table presents selected data from our condensed consolidated statement of cash flows for the periods presented:

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
REVENUE BY SEGMENT
(unaudited, dollars in thousands)

The following table sets forth our total revenue by segment and as a percentage of total revenue for the periods indicated:

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
SELECT PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
(unaudited, total revenue dollars in thousands)

The following table summarizes our overall home health and hospice performance indicators for the each of the dates or periods indicated:

The following table summarizes our senior living performance indicators for the periods indicated:

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
REVENUE BY PAYOR SOURCE
(unaudited, dollars in thousands)

The following table presents our total revenue by payor source and as a percentage of total revenue for the periods indicated:

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)

The following table reconciles net income to Non-GAAP net income for the periods presented:

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(unaudited, in thousands)

The tables below reconcile Consolidated net income to the consolidated Non-GAAP financial measures, Consolidated and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA, and to the Non-GAAP valuation measure, Consolidated Adjusted EBITDAR, for the periods presented:

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(unaudited, in thousands)

The following table present certain financial information regarding our reportable segments. General and administrative expenses are not allocated to the reportable segments and are included in “All Other”:

The table below provides a reconciliation of Segment Adjusted EBITDAR from Operations above to Condensed Consolidated Income from Operations:

THE PENNANT GROUP, INC.
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(unaudited, in thousands)

The table below reconcile Segment Adjusted EBITDAR from Operations to Segment Adjusted EBITDA from Operations for each reportable segment for the periods presented:

Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

EBITDA consists of net income before (a) interest expense, net, (b) (benefits) provisions for income taxes, and (c) depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA consists of net income attributable to the Company before (a) (benefits) provisions for income taxes, (b) depreciation and amortization, (c) costs incurred for start-up operations, including rent and excluding depreciation, interest and income taxes, (d) share-based compensation expense, (e) non-capitalizable acquisition related costs and credit allowances, (f) redundant or non-recurring transition services costs, (g) loss related to senior living operations transferred to Ensign, (h) usual or non-recurring charges and (i) net income attributable to noncontrolling interest. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDAR is a valuation measure applicable to current periods only and consists of net income attributable to the Company before (a) interest expense, net, (b) (benefits) provisions for income taxes, (c) depreciation and amortization, (d) rent-cost of services, (e) costs incurred for start-up operations, excluding rent, depreciation, interest and income taxes, (f) share-based compensation expense, (g) acquisition related costs and and credit allowances, (h) redundant or non-recurring transition services costs, (i) loss related to senior living operations transferred to Ensign, (j) usual or non-recurring charges and (j) net income attributable to noncontrolling interest. The company believes that the presentation of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, consolidated adjusted EBITDAR, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share provides important supplemental information to management and investors to evaluate the company’s operating performance. The company believes disclosure of adjusted net income, adjusted net income per share, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and consolidated adjusted EBITDAR has economic substance because the excluded revenues and expenses are infrequent in nature and are variable in nature, or do not represent current revenues or cash expenditures. A material limitation associated with the use of these measures as compared to the GAAP measures of net income and diluted earnings per share is that they may not be comparable with the calculation of net income and diluted earnings per share for other companies in the company's industry. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be relied upon to the exclusion of GAAP financial measures. For further information regarding why the company believes that this non-GAAP measure provides useful information to investors, the specific manner in which management uses this measure, and some of the limitations associated with the use of this measure, please refer to the company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The company’s periodic filings are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or under the "Financial Information" link of the Investor Relations section on Pennant’s website at http://www.pennantgroup.com.