Martin Jackson
Analyst · Susquehanna Financial Group. Please proceed
Thank you, Bob. For the fourth quarter, our operating expenses which include our cost of service, general and administrative expense, and bad debt expense were $942.6 million. This compares to $696.4 million in the same quarter last year. This number includes operating expenses in our Concentra segment which were $228.1 million in the fourth quarter. As a percentage of our net revenue, operating expenses for the fourth quarter increased to 90.7%. This compares to 90.3% in the same quarter last year. The increase as a percent of our net revenue was due to a 170 basis point increase in cost of services which was partially offset by 130 basis point reduction in G&A. Operating expenses as a percent of revenue excluding Concentra would have been 89.3% in the fourth quarter. For the year, our operating expenses were $3.36 billion. This compares to $2.71 billion last year. Operating expenses in our Concentra segment were $542.7 million. As a percentage of our net revenue, operating expenses for the year increased to 89.9%, which compares to 88.5% for last year. The increase as a percent of net revenue is due to 160 basis point increase in cost of services, and a 10 basis point increase in bad debt, which was partially offset by 30 basis point reduction in G&A. Operating expenses or percent of revenue excluding Concentra would have been 89.3% for the year. Cost of services increased to $902.3 million for the fourth quarter compared to $656.3 million in the same quarter last year. As a percent of net revenue, cost of services increased 170 basis points to 86.8% in the fourth quarter compared to 85.1% in the same quarter last year. Cost of services in our Concentra segment was $223.9 million in the fourth quarter or 93.5% of revenue. The higher relative cost of services in our Concentra segment was the primary reason for the increase in our cost of services as a percent of net revenue during the fourth quarter. Cost of services as a percent of revenue, excluding Concentra, would have been 84.8% in the fourth quarter. For the year, cost of services increased $3.21 billion. This compares to $2.58 billion last year. As a percent of net revenue, cost of services increased 160 basis points to 85.8% for the year, which compares to 84.2% last year. Cost of services in our Concentra segment was $528.3 million for the year or 90.3% of revenue. The primary derivers behind the increase in cost of services as a percent of net revenue was a higher relative cost of services in the Concentra segment, as well as increase in our cost of services as a percent of net revenue in our specialty hospital segment, which was due to incremental labor cost related to training and staff turnover during the third this year. Cost of services as a percent of net revenue, excluding Concentra, would have been 85% for the full-year. G&A expense was $24.1 million in the fourth quarter, which as a percent of net revenue is 2.3%, which compares to $28 million or 3.6% of net revenue for the same quarter last year. The reductions in G&A are the result of one-time cost in the same quarter last year. During the year G&A expense was $92.1 million, which as a percent of net revenue is 2.5% which compares to $85.2 million or 2.8% of net revenue last year. Primary reason for the increase in G&A expense were related to $4.7 million of Concentra acquisition cost. G&A expense as a percent of net revenue, excluding Concentra acquisition cost, would have been 2.3% for the year. Bad debt as a percent of net revenue was 1.6% for both the fourth quarter of this year and last year. For the year, bad debt expense was 1.6% of net revenue and this compares to 1.5% last year. Total adjusted EBITDA was $100.8 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 9.7% for the fourth quarter. This compares to adjusted EBITDA of $78.9 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.2% in the same quarter last year. Concentra was a primary driver in the decline of the adjusted EBITDA margin during the fourth quarter of this year as it compares to last year. Concentra contributed $11.5 million of adjusted EBITDA during the quarter and their adjusted EBITDA margin was 4.8% and had the effect of decreasing our overall margin. EBITDA margin for the quarter not including Concentra would have improved by 100 basis points to 11.2%. Total adjusted EBITDA for the year was $399.2 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.7%. This compares to adjusted EBITDA of $363.9 million and adjusted EBITDA margins of 11.9% last year. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to the addition of the Concentra segment, which contributed $48.3 million of adjusted EBITDA. This was offset in part by a decline in specialty hospital adjusted EBITDA driven by increased operating expenses that Bob had mentioned earlier in his presentation. Depreciation and amortization expense was $34.3 million in the fourth quarter, which compares to $17.3 million in the same quarter last year. The increase resulted primarily from an incremental $16.1 million of depreciation and amortization expense in our Concentra segment. During the year, depreciation and amortization expense was $105 million, including $33.6 million from Concentra for the year, compared to $68.4 million last year. We generated $4 million in equity and earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries during the fourth quarter compared to $2.9 million in the same quarter last year. For the year, we had equity and earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries of $16.8 million. This compares to $7 million last year. These increases are mainly the results of contributions from our specialty hospital joint venture partnerships, as well as improved results at the start-up companies that we have minority positions in. During the year, we had a gain on the sale of equity investment of $29.6 million related to the NaviHealth sale. Interest expense was $33.1 million in the fourth quarter, which compares to $21.4 million in the same quarter last year. Interest expense for the year was $112.8 million compared to $85.4 million last year. The increase in interest expense in both the fourth quarter and full-year is a result of additional borrowings related to the financing of the Concentra acquisition. The company recorded income tax expense of $7.4 million in the fourth quarter. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 22.2% compared to an effective tax rate of 30% in the fourth quarter of last year. For the full-year, the company recorded income tax expense of $72.4 million with an effective tax rate of 34.8% which compares to 37.1% last year. The decrease in the effective tax rate in both the fourth quarter and the full-year results from the resolution of uncertain tax positions. Net income attributable to Select Medical Holdings was $29.3 million in the fourth quarter and fully diluted earnings per share was $0.22. This compares to fully diluted earnings per share of $0.20 in the same quarter last year. For the period, net income was a $130.7 million and fully diluted earnings per share were $0.99 which compares to fully diluted earnings per share of $0.91 last year. At year-end, we had $2.42 billion of debt outstanding and $14.4 million of cash on the balance sheet. This includes $8.4 million of cash at Select and $6 million of cash at Concentra. Our debt balances at the end of the year included $750.5 million in Select term loans, which includes the OIDs, $295 million in Select's revolving loans, $711.2 million in Select 6.38% senior notes, which includes issuance premium, $644.9 million in Concentra loans, which also includes OIDs, $5 million in Concentra revolving loans, with the balance of $17.3 million consisting of other miscellaneous debt. Operating activities provided $5 million of cash flow in the fourth quarter and $208.4 million for the year. Our days outstanding were 53 days as of December 31, 2015. This compares to 52 days at the end of September 30, 2015, and 53 days as of December 30, 2014. Investing activities used $80.8 million of cash flow for the fourth quarter. During the quarter, the use of cash was related to $68.7 million for the purchase of property and equipment, $12.4 million in investment and acquisition payments, which were offset by $300,000 from proceeds from the sale of assets. Investing activities used $1.2 billion of cash flow during the year. For the year, $1.06 billion of the use of cash was related to investment and acquisition payments, primarily the acquisition of Concentra, and $182.6 million in PP&E purchases, which included approximately $94 million related to new development. Additionally, we received $34.9 million in proceeds for the sale of NaviHealth and other assets during the year. Financing activities provided $67.6 million of cash during the quarter. This was primarily the result of $75 million in net borrowings on the Select revolver. The revolving credit facility offset by $6.3 million and repurchases of distributions to non-controlling interest. Financing activities provided $1 billion of cash for the full-year. This was primarily related to the debt and equity contributions for the acquisition of Concentra, which were offset in part by $15.8 million to repurchase stock, $13.1 million in dividend payments, and net other debt payments of $4.8 million. Additionally, I'd like to reaffirm our financial guidance for calendar year 2016 that was provided in our earnings press release. This includes net revenue in the range of $4 billion to $4.2 billion, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $470 million to $510 million, and fully diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.72 to $0.91. This guidance assumes a 40% effective tax rate for the year and does not take into consideration the pending acquisition of Physiotherapy. This concludes our prepared remarks. And at this time we'd like to turn it back over to the operator to open up the call for questions.