LHC Group reports increase of 13.0% in third quarter earnings
per diluted share, 18.5% in adjusted earnings per diluted share
Revenue Grows 18.2%
Increases 2017 Guidance
LAFAYETTE, La. (November 6, 2017) – LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LHCG) announced its financial results for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2017.
Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2017 Compared with Third Quarter of 2016
- Net service revenue increased 18.2% to $272.9 million compared with $230.8 million.
- Net income attributable to LHC Group’s common stockholders was $10.9 million, up 13.5% from $9.6 million, while earnings per diluted share attributable to LHC Group’s common stockholders increased 13.0% to $0.61 per diluted share from $0.54.
- Adjusted net income attributable to LHC Group’s common stockholders, which excludes expenses related to the CHRISTUS joint venture transaction and one agency closure in Oklahoma, was $11.5 million, up 19.8% from $9.6 million, or $0.64 per diluted share.
- Total organic growth in home health admissions was 6.2%.
- Total organic revenue growth in home health was 10.3%.
Operational Highlights
- LHC Group quality and patient satisfaction results continued to set the pace for the home health industry in the most recent CMS Star ratings for the sixth consecutive quarter, while exceeding the national average with 96% of its locations having four stars or greater. HomeCare Elite also recently named more than 70% of LHC Group home care locations among the nation’s best, up from over 60% last year.
- Excluding the LifePoint joint venture, LHC Group acquired 35 home health, hospice or community-based locations and six long-term acute care hospital operations during the nine months ended September 30, 2017, which consisted of $108 million in annual revenue. This sets a new record for the Company in the amount of annual revenue acquired in a year.
- Completed a new joint venture with CHRISTUS Health, the Company’s 75th hospital or health system joint venture.
Commenting on the announcement, Keith G. Myers, LHC Group’s chairman and CEO, said, “The strength of our business model and the company-wide commitment to delivering high quality and patient satisfaction were evident once again in the strong organic growth in home health admissions as well as the growth generated from our joint ventures with the country’s leading hospitals and health systems. We have work ahead of us to deliver on the performance we expect from new leadership we brought to our hospice business and to execute on an active pipeline of de novo, acquisition and joint venture opportunities, but we are confident in our 2017 growth expectations and continuing a strong pace for 2018.”
Mr. Myers concluded, “The convergence of value-based healthcare and hospital systems’ needs to improve outcomes and value in home health and hospice place a premium on quality and the ability to address the entire post-acute continuum. These dynamics continue to play to the strengths, experience and culture within our organization as demonstrated by the success of our recent partnerships with CHRISTUS, LifePoint Health and Baptist Memorial.”
CHRISTUS Health Joint Venture
On September 1, 2017, the Company and CHRISTUS Health finalized their previously announced joint venture partnership to enhance home health, hospice, community-based and long-term acute-care services in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Georgia. LHC Group acquired 21 service locations, all of which will continue to operate under their existing names. The joint venture is expected to generate approximately $80 million in annualized revenue and is expected to begin contributing to earnings in 2018.
LifePoint Health Joint Venture
On September 1, 2017, LHC Group completed the third and final phase of its joint venture with LifePoint Health by converting nine remaining locations the Company had managed since January 1, 2017, to owned locations. The joint venture now owns 28 home health and 13 hospice locations and is actively pursuing de novo and acquisition opportunities in both new and existing markets served by LifePoint Health. The 28 home health and 13 hospice locations, which consist of $72 million in annual revenue, were acquired in three phases during 2017. The full effect of the acquired revenue will be realized in 2018.
CMS Final Fiscal Year 2018 Medicare Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Rate Update
On November 1, 2017, CMS issued its final rule updating HH PPS, which results in a 0.4% decrease in payment to home health agencies in calendar year 2018, which is consistent with a proposed rule introduced in July 2017. For calendar 2019, CMS decided not to finalize its rule on the Home Health Groupings Model (HHGM) and will take additional time to further engage with stakeholders to move towards a system that shifts the focus from volume of services to a more value based patient-centered model.
Fiscal Year 2017 Guidance
LHC Group raised its issued fiscal year 2017 guidance for net service revenue to be in an expected range of $1.05 billion to $1.06 billion, from the previous range of $1.03 billion to $1.045 billion, and GAAP earnings per diluted share to be in an expected range of $2.35 to $2.40, from the previous range of $2.30 to $2.40.
The Company’s fiscal year 2017 financial guidance includes the expenses of approximately $0.03 per fully diluted share for the third quarter of 2017 related to the CHRISTUS joint venture transaction and one agency closure in Oklahoma. The guidance ranges do not take into account the impact of future reimbursement changes, if any, future acquisitions, if made, de novolocations, if opened, or future legal expenses, if necessary.
Conference Call
LHC Group will host a conference call later today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss its third quarter 2017 results. The toll-free number to call for this interactive teleconference is (866) 393‑1608 (international callers should call (973) 890-8327). A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through midnight on November 13, 2017, by dialing (855) 859‑2056 (international callers should call (404) 537-3406) and entering confirmation number 96827521.
A live broadcast of LHC Group’s conference call will be available under the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.LHCgroup.com. A one-year online replay will be available approximately an hour following the conclusion of the live broadcast.
About LHC Group, Inc.
LHC Group, Inc. is a national provider of non-acute healthcare services, providing quality, cost-effective healthcare to patients primarily within the comfort and privacy of their home or place of residence. LHC Group provides a comprehensive array of healthcare services through home health, hospice, community‑based services agencies and facility-based services. LHC Group operates 324 home health services locations, 92 hospice locations, 12 community-based service locations and 15 long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) with eight locations.
Certain matters discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements about the Company’s future financial performance and the strength of the Company’s operations. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “continue,” “expect,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including changes in reimbursement, changes in government regulations, changes in LHC Group’s relationships with referral sources, increased competition for LHC Group’s services, increased competition for joint venture and acquisition candidates, changes in the interpretation of government regulations and other risks set forth in Item 1A. Risk Factors in LHC Group’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. LHC Group undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Sept. 30,
2017
|
Dec. 31,
2016
|
|
(Unaudited)
|
|
|
ASSETS
|
||
Current assets:
|
||
Cash
|
$ 16,922
|
$ 3,264
|
Receivables:
|
||
Patient accounts receivable, less allowance for uncollectible accounts of $26,089 and $29,036, respectively
|
145,508
|
124,803
|
Other receivables
|
4,705
|
5,115
|
Amounts due from governmental entities
|
830
|
942
|
Total receivables, net
|
151,043
|
130,860
|
Prepaid income taxes
|
4,879
|
─
|
Prepaid expenses
|
11,437
|
9,821
|
Other current assets
|
7,331
|
5,796
|
Total current assets
|
191,612
|
149,741
|
Property, building and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of $41,876 and $35,226, respectively
|
47,562
|
43,251
|
Goodwill
|
392,689
|
307,317
|
Intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization of $12,607 and $10,968, respectively
|
130,779
|
102,006
|
Other assets
|
2,411
|
11,756
|
Total assets
|
$ 765,053
|
$ 614,071
|
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
|
||
Current liabilities:
|
||
Accounts payable and other accrued liabilities
|
$ 40,355
|
$ 26,805
|
Salaries, wages, and benefits payable
|
53,289
|
34,265
|
Self-insurance reserve
|
9,524
|
10,691
|
Current portion of long-term debt
|
261
|
252
|
Amounts due to governmental entities
|
4,564
|
4,955
|
Income tax payable
|
─
|
3,499
|
Total current liabilities
|
107,993
|
80,467
|
Deferred income taxes
|
38,186
|
31,941
|
Revolving credit facility
|
119,000
|
87,000
|
Long-term debt, less current portion
|
93
|
544
|
Total liabilities
|
265,272
|
199,952
|
Noncontrolling interest – redeemable
|
13,206
|
12,567
|
Stockholders’ equity:
|
||
LHC Group, Inc. stockholders’ equity:
|
||
Common stock – $0.01 par value; 40,000,000 shares authorized; 22,635,322 and 22,429,041 shares issued in 2017 and 2016, respectively
|
226
|
224
|
Treasury stock – 4,890,181 and 4,828,679 shares at cost, respectively
|
(42,226)
|
(39,135)
|
Additional paid-in capital
|
125,208
|
119,748
|
Retained earnings
|
345,967
|
314,289
|
Total LHC Group, Inc. stockholders’ equity
|
429,175
|
395,126
|
Noncontrolling interest – non-redeemable
|
57,400
|
6,426
|
Total equity
|
486,575
|
401,552
|
Total liabilities and equity
|
$ 765,053
|
$ 614,071
|
Three Months Ended
September 30,
|
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
|
|||
2017
|
2016
|
2017
|
2016
|
|
Net service revenue
|
$ 272,872
|
$ 230,797
|
$ 779,700
|
$ 679,380
|
Cost of service revenue
|
172,856
|
140,832
|
488,384
|
413,561
|
Gross margin
|
100,016
|
89,965
|
291,316
|
265,819
|
Provision for bad debts
|
3,194
|
3,275
|
8,238
|
11,658
|
General and administrative expenses
|
75,669
|
66,999
|
221,077
|
201,296
|
(Gain) Loss on disposal of assets
|
(177)
|
142
|
(23)
|
1,389
|
Operating income
|
21,330
|
19,549
|
62,024
|
51,476
|
Interest expense
|
(995)
|
(816)
|
(2,615)
|
(2,167)
|
Income before income taxes and
noncontrolling interest
|
20,335
|
18,733
|
59,409
|
49,309
|
Income tax expense
|
7,445
|
6,562
|
20,410
|
15,500
|
Net income
|
12,890
|
12,171
|
38,999
|
33,809
|
Less net income attributable to
noncontrolling interests
|
1,984
|
2,555
|
7,321
|
7,043
|
Net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc.’s common stockholders
|
$ 10,906
|
$ 9,616
|
$ 31,678
|
$ 26,766
|
Earnings per share attributable to LHC Group, Inc.’s common stockholders:
|
||||
Basic
|
$ 0.61
|
$ 0.55
|
$ 1.79
|
$ 1.53
|
Diluted
|
$ 0.61
|
$ 0.54
|
$ 1.77
|
$ 1.52
|
Weighted average shares outstanding:
|
||||
Basic
|
17,740,818
|
17,588,163
|
17,704,561
|
17,546,773
|
Diluted
|
18,010,522
|
17,719,473
|
17,931,700
|
17,664,284
|
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
|
||
2017
|
2016
|
|
Operating activities:
|
||
Net income
|
$ 38,999
|
$ 33,809
|
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
|
||
Depreciation and amortization expense
|
9,680
|
9,024
|
Provision for bad debts
|
8,238
|
11,658
|
Stock-based compensation expense
|
4,522
|
3,518
|
Deferred income taxes
|
6,245
|
6,062
|
Loss on disposal of assets
|
(23)
|
1,389
|
Impairment of intangibles and other
|
81
|
─
|
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
|
||
Receivables
|
(19,569)
|
(21,175)
|
Prepaid expenses and other assets
|
(3,859)
|
450
|
Prepaid income taxes
|
(4,879)
|
(2,482)
|
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
|
26,038
|
17,633
|
Income taxes payable
|
(3,499)
|
─
|
Net amounts due to/from governmental entities
|
(279)
|
(2,043)
|
Net cash provided by operating activities
|
61,695
|
57,843
|
Investing activities:
|
||
Purchases of property, building and equipment
|
(7,944)
|
(14,576)
|
Cash paid for acquisitions, primarily goodwill and intangible assets
|
(61,247)
|
(20,332)
|
Other
|
─
|
273
|
Net cash used in investing activities
|
(69,191)
|
(34,635)
|
Financing activities:
|
||
Proceeds from line of credit
|
63,000
|
38,000
|
Payments on line of credit
|
(31,000)
|
(44,000)
|
Proceeds from employee stock purchase plan
|
776
|
663
|
Payments on debt
|
(192)
|
(156)
|
Noncontrolling interest distributions
|
(8,406)
|
(6,859)
|
Excess tax benefits from vesting of stock awards
|
─
|
1,293
|
(3,091)
|
(1,931)
|
|
Purchase of additional controlling interest
|
(184)
|
─
|
Sale of noncontrolling interest
|
251
|
52
|
Proceeds from exercise of stock options
|
─
|
109
|
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
|
21,154
|
(12,829)
|
Change in cash
|
13,658
|
10,379
|
Cash at beginning of period
|
3,264
|
6,139
|
Cash at end of period
|
$ 16,922
|
$ 16,518
|
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
|
||
Interest paid
|
$ 2,694
|
$ 2,329
|
Income taxes paid
|
$ 22,376
|
$ 11,390
|
Three Months Ended September 30, 2017
|
|||||
Home
Health Services
|
Hospice Services
|
Community-Based Services
|
Facility-
Based
Services
|
Total
|
|
Net service revenue
|
$ 198,978
|
$ 41,291
|
$ 12,146
|
$ 20,457
|
$ 272,872
|
Cost of service revenue
|
123,204
|
27,441
|
8,971
|
13,240
|
172,856
|
Provision for bad debts
|
2,661
|
234
|
30
|
269
|
3,194
|
General and administrative expenses
|
55,980
|
11,263
|
2,387
|
6,039
|
75,669
|
(Gain) loss on disposal of assets
|
20
|
13
|
─
|
(210)
|
(177)
|
Operating income
|
17,113
|
2,340
|
758
|
1,119
|
21,330
|
Interest expense
|
(746)
|
(149)
|
(50)
|
(50)
|
(995)
|
Income before income taxes and noncontrolling interest
|
16,367
|
2,191
|
708
|
1,069
|
20,335
|
Income tax expense
|
5,703
|
931
|
338
|
473
|
7,445
|
Net income
|
10,664
|
1,260
|
370
|
596
|
12,890
|
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interests
|
1,759
|
273
|
(21)
|
(27)
|
1,984
|
Net income attributable to
LHC Group, Inc.’s
common stockholders
|
$ 8,905
|
$ 987
|
$ 391
|
$ 623
|
$ 10,906
|
Total assets
|
$ 515,562
|
$ 156,296
|
$ 44,621
|
$ 48,574
|
$ 765,053
|
Three Months Ended September 30, 2016
|
|||||
Home
Health Services
|
Hospice Services
|
Community-Based Services
|
Facility-
Based
Services
|
Total
|
|
Net service revenue
|
$ 167,529
|
$ 35,322
|
$ 11,793
|
$ 16,153
|
$ 230,797
|
Cost of service revenue
|
100,057
|
21,243
|
9,100
|
10,432
|
140,832
|
Provision for bad debts
|
2,049
|
797
|
190
|
239
|
3,275
|
General and administrative expenses
|
50,293
|
9,491
|
2,263
|
4,952
|
66,999
|
Loss on disposal of assets
|
20
|
5
|
─
|
117
|
142
|
Operating income
|
15,110
|
3,786
|
240
|
413
|
19,549
|
Interest expense
|
(612)
|
(90)
|
(41)
|
(73)
|
(816)
|
Income before income taxes and noncontrolling interest
|
14,498
|
3,696
|
199
|
340
|
18,733
|
Income tax expense
|
5,133
|
1,275
|
83
|
71
|
6,562
|
Net income
|
9,365
|
2,421
|
116
|
269
|
12,171
|
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interests
|
1,853
|
553
|
─
|
149
|
2,555
|
Net income attributable to
LHC Group, Inc.’s
common stockholders
|
$ 7,512
|
$ 1,868
|
$ 116
|
$ 120
|
$ 9,616
|
Total assets
|
$ 425,923
|
$ 119,906
|
$ 33,549
|
$ 34,075
|
$ 613,453
|
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017
|
|||||
Home
Health Services
|
Hospice Services
|
Community-Based Services
|
Facility-
Based
Services
|
Total
|
|
Net service revenue
|
$ 575,180
|
$ 116,249
|
$ 33,807
|
$ 54,464
|
$ 779,700
|
Cost of service revenue
|
352,896
|
75,187
|
24,905
|
35,396
|
488,384
|
Provision for bad debts
|
5,796
|
1,393
|
404
|
645
|
8,238
|
General and administrative expenses
|
165,153
|
32,404
|
6,957
|
16,563
|
221,077
|
(Gain) loss on disposal of assets
|
39
|
21
|
─
|
(83)
|
(23)
|
Operating income
|
51,296
|
7,244
|
1,541
|
1,943
|
62,024
|
Interest expense
|
(1,961)
|
(393)
|
(130)
|
(131)
|
(2,615)
|
Income before income taxes and noncontrolling interest
|
49,335
|
6,851
|
1,411
|
1,812
|
59,409
|
Income tax expense
|
16,712
|
2,439
|
602
|
657
|
20,410
|
Net income
|
32,623
|
4,412
|
809
|
1,155
|
38,999
|
Less net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests
|
6,053
|
1,038
|
(7)
|
237
|
7,321
|
Net income attributable to
LHC Group, Inc.’s
common stockholders
|
$ 26,570
|
$ 3,374
|
$ 816
|
$ 918
|
$ 31,678
|
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016
|
|||||
Home
Health Services
|
Hospice Services
|
Community-Based Services
|
Facility-
Based
Services
|
Total
|
|
Net service revenue
|
$ 492,090
|
$ 100,051
|
$ 32,823
|
$ 54,416
|
$ 679,380
|
Cost of service revenue
|
294,359
|
61,836
|
24,656
|
32,710
|
413,561
|
Provision for bad debts
|
8,122
|
2,364
|
488
|
684
|
11,658
|
General and administrative expenses
|
150,948
|
27,787
|
6,557
|
16,004
|
201,296
|
Loss on disposal of assets
|
811
|
329
|
46
|
203
|
1,389
|
Operating income
|
37,850
|
7,735
|
1,076
|
4,815
|
51,476
|
Interest expense
|
(1,640)
|
(232)
|
(106)
|
(189)
|
(2,167)
|
Income before income taxes and noncontrolling interest
|
36,210
|
7,503
|
970
|
4,626
|
49,309
|
Income tax expense
|
11,026
|
2,484
|
413
|
1,577
|
15,500
|
Net income
|
25,184
|
5,019
|
557
|
3,049
|
33,809
|
Less net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests
|
5,002
|
1,368
|
(57)
|
730
|
7,043
|
Net income attributable to
LHC Group, Inc.’s
common stockholders
|
$ 20,182
|
$ 3,651
|
$ 614
|
$ 2,319
|
$ 26,766
|
Three Months Ended
September 30,
|
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
|
|||
2017
|
2016
|
2017
|
2016
|
|
Key Data:
|
||||
Home-Health Services:
|
||||
Home Health
|
||||
Locations
|
320
|
289
|
320
|
289
|
Acquired
|
8
|
6
|
40
|
11
|
De novo
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
Divested/Consolidated
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
Total new admissions
|
47,841
|
40,657
|
142,841
|
118,730
|
Medicare new admissions
|
29,964
|
26,810
|
89,789
|
78,763
|
Average daily census
|
43,450
|
38,511
|
42,862
|
38,320
|
Average Medicare daily census
|
29,691
|
27,983
|
29,527
|
28,069
|
Medicare completed and billed episodes
|
54,003
|
49,230
|
159,145
|
148,195
|
Average Medicare case mix for completed and billed Medicare episodes
|
1.10
|
1.07
|
1.09
|
1.05
|
Average reimbursement per completed and billed Medicare episodes
|
$ 2,832
|
$ 2,724
|
$ 2,790
|
$ 2,670
|
Total visits
|
1,480,593
|
1,160,924
|
4,207,499
|
3,437,653
|
Total Medicare visits
|
1,012,098
|
856,177
|
2,912,689
|
2,526,405
|
Average visits per completed and billed Medicare episodes
|
18.7
|
17.4
|
18.3
|
17.0
|
Organic growth:(1)
|
||||
Net revenue
|
10.3%
|
5.4%
|
10.3%
|
6.1%
|
Net Medicare revenue
|
4.9%
|
4.0%
|
5.6%
|
4.8%
|
Total new admissions
|
6.2%
|
10.5%
|
9.7%
|
8.8%
|
Medicare new admissions
|
1.7%
|
8.1%
|
5.5%
|
6.0%
|
Average daily census
|
3.7%
|
1.7%
|
4.0%
|
2.3%
|
Average Medicare daily census
|
-1.2%
|
-0.1%
|
-0.7%
|
0.8%
|
Medicare completed and billed episodes
|
2.0%
|
0.3%
|
1.2%
|
2.1%
|
Community-Based Services:
|
||||
Locations
|
12
|
11
|
12
|
11
|
Acquired
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
De novo
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Divested/Consolidated
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
Average daily census
|
1,933
|
1,672
|
1,745
|
1,631
|
Billable hours
|
369,700
|
354,998
|
1,056,222
|
990,129
|
Revenue per billable hour
|
$ 32.85
|
$ 33.22
|
$ 32.01
|
$ 33.15
|
Hospice-Based Services:
|
||||
Locations
|
92
|
64
|
92
|
64
|
Acquired
|
6
|
2
|
27
|
9
|
De novo
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Divested/Consolidated
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Admissions
|
3,438
|
2,554
|
9,717
|
7,540
|
Average daily census
|
3,108
|
2,736
|
2,988
|
2,593
|
Patient days
|
285,971
|
251,753
|
815,755
|
710,415
|
Average revenue per patient day
|
$ 144
|
$ 140
|
$ 143
|
$ 141
|
Facility-Based Services:
|
||||
Long-term Acute Care
|
||||
Locations
|
15
|
8
|
15
|
8
|
Acquired
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
Patient days
|
14,599
|
13,499
|
41,406
|
42,965
|
Average revenue per patient day
|
$ 1,252
|
$ 1,113
|
$ 1,132
|
$ 1,189
|
-
Organic growth is calculated as the sum of same store plus de novo for the period divided by total from the same period in the prior year.
Three Months Ended September 30,
|
||
2017
|
2016
|
|
Net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc.’s common stockholders
|
$ 10,906
|
$ 9,616
|
Add (net of tax):
|
||
Disposal costs on closure of underperforming location
|
129
|
─
|
Costs associated with CHRISTUS Health Joint Venture
|
483
|
─
|
Adjusted net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc.’s common stockholders
|
$ 11,518
|
$ 9,616
|
Three Months Ended September 30,
|
||
2017
|
2016
|
|
Net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc.’s common stockholders
per diluted share
|
$ 0.61
|
$ 0.54
|
Add:
|
||
Disposal costs on closure of underperforming location
|
0.01
|
─
|
Costs associated with CHRISTUS Health Joint Venture
|
0.02
|
─
|
Adjusted net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc.’s common stockholders per diluted share
|
$ 0.64
|
$ 0.54
|