NASDAQ:HCSG Healthcare Services Group Q1 2025 Earnings Report $14.78 +0.26 (+1.79%) Closing price 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$14.78 0.00 (-0.03%) As of 04:05 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast Healthcare Services Group EPS ResultsActual EPS$0.23Consensus EPS $0.18Beat/MissBeat by +$0.05One Year Ago EPS$0.22Healthcare Services Group Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$447.66 millionExpected Revenue$443.82 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$3.84 millionYoY Revenue Growth+5.70%Healthcare Services Group Announcement DetailsQuarterQ1 2025Date4/23/2025TimeBefore Market OpensConference Call DateWednesday, April 23, 2025Conference Call Time8:30AM ETConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfilePowered by Healthcare Services Group Q1 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrApril 23, 2025 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 7 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Regina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Healthcare Services Group Inc. First Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Operator00:00:16After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. The matters discussed on today's conference call include forward looking statements about the business prospects of Healthcare Services Group Inc. For Healthcare Services Group Inc. Most recent forward looking statement notice, please refer to the press release issued this morning, which can be found on our website, www.hcsg.com. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of various risks, uncertainties and important factors, including those discussed in the Risk Factors, MD and A and other sections of the annual report on Form 10 ks and Healthcare Services Group, Inc. Operator00:01:07Other SEC filings and as indicated in our most recent forward looking statements notice. Additionally, management will be discussing certain non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these items to U. S. GAAP can be found in this morning's press release. Operator00:01:22I would now like to turn the conference over to Ted Wall, President and CEO. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:01:31Good morning, everyone, and welcome to HCSG's first quarter twenty twenty five earnings call. With me today are Matt McKee, our Chief Communications Officer and Vikas Singh, our Chief Financial Officer. Earlier this morning, we released our first quarter results and plan on filing our 10 Q by the end of the week. Today, in my opening remarks, I'll discuss our Q1 highlights, share our perspective on the overall business environment, and discuss our strategic priorities for Q2 and the rest of the year. Matt will then provide a more detailed discussion on our Q1 results, and then Vikas will provide an update on our balance sheet and capital allocation progression. Speaker 100:02:17We will then open up the call for Q and A. So with that overview, I'd like to now discuss our Q1 highlights. First quarter revenue and cash flows were our best results in five years, and we have carried that positive momentum into the second quarter. New client wins drove organic growth, collections exceeded revenue, and we continue to strengthen our balance sheet. These favorable dynamics have positioned us to execute on our growth plans while delivering sustainable, profitable results in the year ahead. Speaker 100:02:52For the three months ended March 31, we reported revenue of $447,700,000 an increase of 5.7% over the prior year net income and diluted EPS of 17,200,000.0 and $0.23 and cash flow from operations, excluding the change in payroll accrual, of 32,100,000.0 an increase of $41,300,000 over the prior year. I'd like to now share our perspective on the overall business environment. Industry fundamentals continue to gain strength, highlighted by the multi decade demographic tailwind that is now beginning to work its way into the long term and post acute care system. The most recent operating trends remain positive as well. Workforce availability and occupancy continue to grow. Speaker 100:03:46The reimbursement environment is stable. And on the regulatory front, in early April, a Texas federal court struck down the key provisions of CMS's final minimum staffing rule, and the outcome applies nationwide. Regarding the recent change in administration, while it's still too early to know exactly what, if any, reimbursement or regulatory changes could be implemented, the Trump administration was incredibly supportive of the industry during its first term, and overall industry sentiment on the new administration remains positive. Looking ahead to q two and the rest of the year, our top three strategic priorities remain: driving growth by developing management candidates, converting sales pipeline opportunities and retaining our existing facility business managing cost through field based operational execution and prudent spend management at the enterprise level, and optimizing cash flow with increased customer payment frequency, enhanced contract terms, and disciplined working capital management. We are confident that continuing to execute on our strategic priorities, supported by our strong business fundamentals, will position us to accelerate growth, enhance profitability and maximize cash flow throughout 2025 and beyond. Speaker 100:05:13So with those introductory comments, I'll turn the call over to Matt for a more detailed discussion on the quarter. Speaker 200:05:22Thank you, Ted, and good morning, everyone. Revenue was reported at $447,700,000 an increase of 5.7% over the prior year's corresponding quarter. Environmental services revenue and margin were 196,300,000 and 10.8%. Dietary services revenue and margin were $251,300,000 and 7.6%. We estimate Q2 revenue in the range of $445,000,000 to $455,000,000 and expect second half of the year revenue to grow sequentially compared to the first half of the year revenue. Speaker 200:06:01Cost of services was reported at $379,700,000 or 84.8%. Our 2025 goal is to manage cost of services in the 86% range. Reported SG and A was $45,000,000 After adjusting for the $1,400,000 decrease in deferred compensation, actual SG and A was $46,400,000 or 10.4%. The company expects to manage SG and A in the 9.5% to 10.5% range in the near term based on investments that we've made and spoken about in previous quarters with the longer term goal of managing those costs into the 8.5% to 9.5% range. Net income and diluted earnings per share were reported at $17,200,000 and $0.23 per share. Speaker 200:06:54Cash flow from operations was reported at $27,500,000 After adjusting for the $4,600,000 decrease in the payroll accrual, actual cash flow from operations was $32,100,000 These numbers include a $12,200,000 benefit from the receipt of CARES Act related employee retention credits, or ERC. At the present time, there is no income statement impact from ERC as these credits are being recorded on our balance sheet. We raised our 2025 cash flow from operations expectations, excluding the change in payroll accrual, from a range of 45,000,000 to $60,000,000 to a range of 60,000,000 to $75,000,000 I'd now like to turn the call over to Vikas for a discussion on our balance sheet and capital allocation progression. Speaker 300:07:46Thank you, Matt, and good morning, everyone. In terms of our balance sheet and liquidity position, we ended the first quarter with cash and marketable securities of $143,900,000 and a $500,000,000 credit facility inclusive of a $200,000,000 accordion. The credit facility was undrawn at the end of the quarter and the only utilization was for LCs. In addition, we've taken steps to rebalance our cash position, our marketable securities portfolio as well as our utilization of the credit facility, which has further reduced our interest expense. DSO at the end of first quarter was reported at seventy eight days versus eighty eight days at the end of Q1 twenty twenty four. Speaker 300:08:33Across the same period, our revenues have increased each quarter and our gross receivables have declined consecutively. And while DSO and AR balances as standalone metrics are important, they are certainly not the only indicator as to how successful we are in executing our cash collection strategy as our 2025 focus continues to be on increasing customer payment frequency, proactively utilizing promissory notes and remaining disciplined in our decision making for both new and existing business. On the capital allocation front, our priorities are fully aligned with our strategic plan to direct investments in organic growth drivers, inorganic growth opportunities and opportunistic share repurchases. We continue to prioritize investment in organic growth drivers. In addition, we made a small tuck in acquisition last month. Speaker 300:09:34The 2025 revenue impact from the acquisition is about 1% of our total revenue and the revenue impact for the quarter was minimal since the acquisition closed mid March. Notably, this is our first acquisition since late twenty twenty one. We also opportunistically repurchased approximately $7,000,000 of common stock during the first quarter to capitalize on our strong liquidity position. This takes our total buyback to about $23,000,000 since our February 2023 share repurchase authorization. We have another 5,400,000.0 shares remaining outstanding under the authorization at this point of time and we do expect to continue these opportunistic purchases for the rest of the year. Speaker 300:10:25With that, we will conclude our opening remarks and open up the call for Q and A. Operator00:10:38Our first question will come from the line of Andy Wittmann with Baird. Please go ahead. Speaker 400:10:45Yes, great. I guess I wanted to start high level, Ted. And so just on the regulatory environment, I heard the comments in the prepared remarks. Maybe I'd just give you a little platform here expand on what you're hearing maybe from your customers about any changes that have happened yet. I don't think there have been any or what things that they're looking at that they think have high probability to affect their position in the industry? Speaker 100:11:14Sure, Andy, and good morning to you. I think just to frame out your question and then the response a bit, I think overall the fundamentals and I know I mentioned this in the prepared remarks, but the underlying industry fundamentals continue to gain strength just when you think about and consider the multi decade demographic tailwind that has been trickling into the system, that's becoming more notable and that's only going to amplify strength of the industry now in the months and years ahead. So that's a real positive. I do think the key aside from a lot of the noise you may hear out of DC, the key you would hear from most of our customers and the provider community at large is that is that link between staffing availability and census. Because more than any other factor, labor availability is the key to occupancy growth, and occupancy is the key to consistent financial outcomes as well as predictable financial outcomes. Speaker 100:12:09And I the most recent occupancy data continues to be very positive and growing across all geographies, whether it be urban, suburban, rural, and facility types as well. So that's foundational when you think about industry stability. On the reimbursement side, CMS recently proposed the 2.8% increase for Medicare rates for fiscal year twenty twenty six. That's been generally well received. There continues to be positive reimbursement news at the state level as well. Speaker 100:12:40And then from a regulatory perspective, I know I mentioned this as well, but I I wanna emphasize the clarity this provides to the provider community is, you know, that Texas ruling that came out, which is applied nationwide, that all but eliminates the, you know, minimum staffing or the key provisions of the minimum staffing rule, which I believe has been an overhang for the industry since it was announced, even if the likelihood of it ultimately being implemented was low. I think specific to the the things coming out of DC, I know, for instance, provider taxes are getting some attention recently, specifically for hospitals, and I do wanna differentiate between hospitals, SNPs, behavioral health, other types of facilities or communities that more fit our business model. I would still include that in the too early to tell category in terms of what, if any, changes will be proposed or ultimately implemented. And even when you unpack a provider tax, the mechanics of that program vary depending on the type of provider as I just outlined. The rates vary state to state. Speaker 100:13:48The effect on operators and facilities within those states is different depending on a variety of factors, occupancy, patient mix, etcetera. So that's too early to tell. If if there were changes, that's the one that you hear whispers about. But I think if you pull the provider community at least within the sniff market, they would still say it's more likely than not that that is not impacted. And to the extent it is in any way impacted, it would likely be more modest. Speaker 100:14:20It would be phased in over a period of years and manageable. And then just to bring it back to us ultimately, which is time tested, it would have the effect of only increasing the demand for the types of service services we offer when you think about the central theme of our value proposition, which is certainty, financial, regulatory, and otherwise. Speaker 500:14:43It might be a little Speaker 400:14:43bit early to talk about the tax bill or the budget bill that's being talked about from the new administration trying to extend the Trump tax cuts and the impact. One of the one of the pay fors that's being talked about is around, I guess, it's around health and human services, but specifically around there's a belief that it could affect Medicaid reimbursement, federal support for Medicaid. And so I was just wondering if you could comment specifically on that, what you're hearing on that, how that might or may not affect you. Speaker 100:15:17Yeah. I would say there's a great confidence within the sniff community specifically that the Trump administration was incredibly supportive during its first term. And, you know, they're hanging their hat on the from from the conversations that are happening on the hill and otherwise that, that's not going any changes potentially would have no impact on the funds that are flowing to and from skilled nursing facility specifically. And the rhetoric out of D. C. Speaker 100:15:49I think has been consistent with that. Speaker 500:15:52Okay. Cool. Thanks guys. Have a good day. Speaker 100:15:56Fantastic. Operator00:15:57Our next question comes from the line of A. J. Rice with UBS. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:16:04Thanks. Hi, everybody. Just to put a fine point on the comment about the court ruling and the minimum staffing rules. Is that just remove an overhang or do you think that actually was somehow starting to impact behavior, in the way, people staff their facilities today in any way? Speaker 100:16:23We believe the former more than the latter. You know, around the edges, AJ, people were complying with maybe some of the initial administrative types of requirements that were but were required. But, you know, you think about when the actual impact would have happened, it was it was years out phased in over a period of So it was more the former, not the latter. Speaker 500:16:46Right. In the first quarter, your it looks like your gross margin, your EBITDA margins were above your targets. Is there anything unusual in the first quarter? Comment on the sustainability of that? I know you did move up your SG and A ratio guidance for the year. Speaker 100:17:05Yes. I think specific to the margins and the EBITDA margins that you called out, service execution continues to be the most significant driver of that. If you think about the trends that we have within the four walls of each community we service, customer experience, systems adherence, regulatory compliance and budget discipline, all of which are the primary near term margin drivers. That was evident in Q1, and we expect that to carry into Q2 and the remainder of 2025. And if you look back, AJ, over the past twelve months, really adjusting for some of the variability we've seen with CECL, we've continued to show consistency and, albeit modest improvement quarter to quarter, but year over year within those cost of services line. Speaker 100:17:56And and just tying it back to your commentary or your remark on SG and A, you know, you think about the primary driver of some of the increased SG and A spend, it directly relates to investments we're making into our business, into our organic growth strategy that that helped drive increased employee engagement, retention of those employees, customer experience, the regulatory compliance I referred to, and ultimately, directly correlates to those, you know, consistently consistent and improved margins you called out. So in many respects, the two work hand in glove with one another, But we do expect to continue tracking on the SG and A side more in that 9.5% to 10.5% range. But as we grow the top line, expect to leverage that, not in a linear type of way, but over time. Speaker 500:18:49Okay. Maybe just last question on the inflation, both on the food side as well as with the hourly workers. Any updated thoughts on what you're seeing there? Speaker 200:19:01Yeah. So, you know, CPI, AJ, for all items in the quarter was 60 basis points compared to 90 basis points in q four. You know, we actually saw 10 basis points of deflation in the month of March, which is encouraging. But food at home inflation continued to increase sequentially, showing 1% inflation, which compared to 90 bps in Q4 and 50 bps in Q3. You know, notably notably, the month of January and March were both 50 basis points, which matches what we saw in November, and that had been the highest monthly inflation level that we've seen since October of twenty twenty two. Speaker 200:19:37So we'll definitely be keeping an eye on that. Obviously, with the pass through provisions that we have in our contractual agreements, we have the right to pass that through. But having said that, we want to work with our client partners to make sure that we're managing those costs as best we can and have that flexibility in our menu offerings to be able to help accommodate that. The BLS data from an overall wage inflation perspective won't be published until next week on the thirtieth. But really from an overall labor market as it relates to the industry and Health Care Services Group, really a strong eighteen month period. Speaker 200:20:16The Health Care sector added jobs at really a higher pace than all other industries, which is a great reversal of what we've seen in prior periods. So that's largely fueled by the demographic trends that Ted alluded to in his previous comments and then increasing demand for health care. On a national basis, the skilled nursing industry still has work to do to reach full employment recovery, but there was incredibly strong growth in Q1 that raised about half of that remaining deficit. If you think about kind of pre pandemic as compared to where we stand today, the industry added about 24,000 new jobs, which was about double the pace of what we would have seen in Q4 I'm sorry, in 2024, where we were only averaging about 3,400 new jobs per month within the industry. So we're now about 47,000 jobs short relative to pre pandemic levels. Speaker 200:21:09And that's as a reminder from a loss of nearly a quarter of a million jobs at its peak. But at these current rates of recovery, we should be at pre pandemic levels in less than six months. So definitely encouraging trends and dynamics for the industry. And then just to again bring it back to Healthcare Services Group, we remain in a good spot. We've seen ongoing improvement, stabilization. Speaker 200:21:30Our wage growth has remained stable. Our applications are high and continue to grow month to month. There are certainly still some lingering markets where there are ongoing challenges, but obviously, we have the flexibility and the resources to be able to allocate our focus and address those situations as they arise. Speaker 500:21:51Okay, great. Thanks a lot. Operator00:21:54Our next question comes from the line of Tayo Key with Macquarie. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:22:01Thank you. Good morning. Just want to clarify on the revenue guide for the second quarter. If you look at the midpoint of the guidance, it suggests a small $3,000,000 step up in revenue next quarter. I think, Vikash mentioned that there's a tuck in acquisition that will add 1% to revenue. Speaker 600:22:17So if you back that out, it implies a relatively flat sequential movement next quarter. Is that the right way to think about it? And if so, what does that say about the pace of growth for the balance of the year? Speaker 100:22:31Yeah. I think from I think that's April. If you think about our goal relative to that guidance you referenced, Tal, our goal is really to provide as accurate a range as possible given the variables. And aside from the acquisition you mentioned, the greatest variable for us is really the timing of new business adds, which can be fluid quarter to quarter knowing there's always going to be a subset of opportunities that could be pulled in or pushed out depending on the customer, the prospective customer, the management development pace, etcetera. So that's really why our mid single digit guidance that we offer for annual expectations is the best guide to kind of think about the company in the cadence of growth, whereas the quarter to quarter estimates are really ranges we're providing to add some additional near term visibility based on what management is seeing. Speaker 100:23:28So again, the acquisition that Vikas described in his opening remarks, it will represent about 1% of revenue or so. So that contribution along with the consideration given to the management candidate pipeline, the timing of the new business opportunities, and then the retention of our existing customer base is what informs that four forty five to four fifty five. Speaker 600:23:54Okay. Got you. And in terms of the cash flow, the operating cash flow guidance raise, 15,000,000 there. I think I heard a mention of $12,000,000 CARES Act benefiting first quarter. How much of that raise is driven by this onetime item? Speaker 600:24:14And what's your confidence of your cash collection momentum for the rest of the year? Thank you. Speaker 300:24:20Yeah. So that raise is a combination of the two factors that you pointed to. Look, we've received these ERC funds, of 12,000,000 plus. That definitely did contribute to the popping of the guidance. But the fact that we had a standout q one, as Ted mentioned, the best in five years, the collection momentum was strong, that contributed as well to us upping the range. Speaker 300:24:48So I I think it's a combination of the two factors. And look, I I think what I'll say on the collection front is, while q one was strong, so was q three and q four. So we are seeing emerging trends supported by the dynamics in the industry where we feel confident about, sustaining the positive momentum on the collection front. And I think that contributes to the overall confidence around how we think about cash flows for the rest of the year. Speaker 600:25:21Great. Thank you. Operator00:25:24And that will conclude our question and answer session. And I will now turn the call back over to Ted Wall for closing remarks. Speaker 100:25:31Okay. Thank you. It's an incredibly exciting time for HCSG. The innovations of the past few years have further solidified our value proposition, the durability of our business model and market leading position. The company's underlying fundamentals are stronger than ever. Speaker 100:25:49And with the industry at the beginning of a multi decade demographic tailwind, we are very favorably positioned to capitalize on the opportunities ahead and deliver meaningful long term shareholder value. So on behalf of Matt, Vikas and all of us at Healthcare Services Group, thank you, Regina, for hosting today's call, and thank you again to everyone for joining. Operator00:26:13This will conclude today's meeting. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallHealthcare Services Group Q1 202500:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Healthcare Services Group Earnings HeadlinesHealthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Macquarie Analyst SaysApril 30 at 2:33 AM | americanbankingnews.comBrokerages Set Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) PT at $14.00April 27, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comGold Alert: The Truth About Fort Knox Is ComingOwning physical gold isn’t the best way to profit. I’ve found a better way to invest in gold—one that’s already performing nearly twice as well as gold this year and looks ready to go much higher. If you wait for the news to hit, you’ll already be too late.May 2, 2025 | Golden Portfolio (Ad)Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Rating Increased to Buy at UBS GroupApril 26, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comHealthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Stock Price Up 9.2% After Strong EarningsApril 26, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comHealthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst UpgradeApril 25, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comSee More Healthcare Services Group Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Healthcare Services Group? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Healthcare Services Group and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Healthcare Services GroupHealthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) provides management, administrative, and operating services to the housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and dietary service departments of nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates through two segments, Housekeeping and Dietary. The Housekeeping segment engages in the cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing of resident rooms and common areas of the customers' facilities, as well as laundering and processing of the bed linens, uniforms, resident personal clothing, and other assorted linen items utilized at the customers' facilities. The Dietary segment provides food purchasing, meal preparation, and professional dietitian services, which include the development of menus that meet the dietary needs of residents; and on-site management and clinical consulting services to facilities. It serves long-term and post-acute care facilities, hospitals, and the healthcare industry through referrals and solicitation of target facilities. The company was incorporated in 1976 and is based in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.View Healthcare Services Group ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Amazon Earnings: 2 Reasons to Love It, 1 Reason to Be CautiousMeta Takes A Bow With Q1 Earnings - Watch For Tariff Impact in Q2Palantir Earnings: 1 Bullish Signal and 1 Area of ConcernMicrosoft Crushes Earnings, What’s Next for MSFT Stock?Qualcomm's Earnings: 2 Reasons to Buy, 1 to Stay AwayAMD Stock Signals Strong Buy Ahead of EarningsAmazon's Earnings Will Make or Break the Stock's Comeback Upcoming Earnings Palantir Technologies (5/5/2025)Vertex Pharmaceuticals (5/5/2025)CRH (5/5/2025)Realty Income (5/5/2025)Williams Companies (5/5/2025)American Electric Power (5/6/2025)Advanced Micro Devices (5/6/2025)Marriott International (5/6/2025)Constellation Energy (5/6/2025)Arista Networks (5/6/2025) Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. 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There are 7 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Regina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Healthcare Services Group Inc. First Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Operator00:00:16After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. The matters discussed on today's conference call include forward looking statements about the business prospects of Healthcare Services Group Inc. For Healthcare Services Group Inc. Most recent forward looking statement notice, please refer to the press release issued this morning, which can be found on our website, www.hcsg.com. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of various risks, uncertainties and important factors, including those discussed in the Risk Factors, MD and A and other sections of the annual report on Form 10 ks and Healthcare Services Group, Inc. Operator00:01:07Other SEC filings and as indicated in our most recent forward looking statements notice. Additionally, management will be discussing certain non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these items to U. S. GAAP can be found in this morning's press release. Operator00:01:22I would now like to turn the conference over to Ted Wall, President and CEO. Please go ahead. Speaker 100:01:31Good morning, everyone, and welcome to HCSG's first quarter twenty twenty five earnings call. With me today are Matt McKee, our Chief Communications Officer and Vikas Singh, our Chief Financial Officer. Earlier this morning, we released our first quarter results and plan on filing our 10 Q by the end of the week. Today, in my opening remarks, I'll discuss our Q1 highlights, share our perspective on the overall business environment, and discuss our strategic priorities for Q2 and the rest of the year. Matt will then provide a more detailed discussion on our Q1 results, and then Vikas will provide an update on our balance sheet and capital allocation progression. Speaker 100:02:17We will then open up the call for Q and A. So with that overview, I'd like to now discuss our Q1 highlights. First quarter revenue and cash flows were our best results in five years, and we have carried that positive momentum into the second quarter. New client wins drove organic growth, collections exceeded revenue, and we continue to strengthen our balance sheet. These favorable dynamics have positioned us to execute on our growth plans while delivering sustainable, profitable results in the year ahead. Speaker 100:02:52For the three months ended March 31, we reported revenue of $447,700,000 an increase of 5.7% over the prior year net income and diluted EPS of 17,200,000.0 and $0.23 and cash flow from operations, excluding the change in payroll accrual, of 32,100,000.0 an increase of $41,300,000 over the prior year. I'd like to now share our perspective on the overall business environment. Industry fundamentals continue to gain strength, highlighted by the multi decade demographic tailwind that is now beginning to work its way into the long term and post acute care system. The most recent operating trends remain positive as well. Workforce availability and occupancy continue to grow. Speaker 100:03:46The reimbursement environment is stable. And on the regulatory front, in early April, a Texas federal court struck down the key provisions of CMS's final minimum staffing rule, and the outcome applies nationwide. Regarding the recent change in administration, while it's still too early to know exactly what, if any, reimbursement or regulatory changes could be implemented, the Trump administration was incredibly supportive of the industry during its first term, and overall industry sentiment on the new administration remains positive. Looking ahead to q two and the rest of the year, our top three strategic priorities remain: driving growth by developing management candidates, converting sales pipeline opportunities and retaining our existing facility business managing cost through field based operational execution and prudent spend management at the enterprise level, and optimizing cash flow with increased customer payment frequency, enhanced contract terms, and disciplined working capital management. We are confident that continuing to execute on our strategic priorities, supported by our strong business fundamentals, will position us to accelerate growth, enhance profitability and maximize cash flow throughout 2025 and beyond. Speaker 100:05:13So with those introductory comments, I'll turn the call over to Matt for a more detailed discussion on the quarter. Speaker 200:05:22Thank you, Ted, and good morning, everyone. Revenue was reported at $447,700,000 an increase of 5.7% over the prior year's corresponding quarter. Environmental services revenue and margin were 196,300,000 and 10.8%. Dietary services revenue and margin were $251,300,000 and 7.6%. We estimate Q2 revenue in the range of $445,000,000 to $455,000,000 and expect second half of the year revenue to grow sequentially compared to the first half of the year revenue. Speaker 200:06:01Cost of services was reported at $379,700,000 or 84.8%. Our 2025 goal is to manage cost of services in the 86% range. Reported SG and A was $45,000,000 After adjusting for the $1,400,000 decrease in deferred compensation, actual SG and A was $46,400,000 or 10.4%. The company expects to manage SG and A in the 9.5% to 10.5% range in the near term based on investments that we've made and spoken about in previous quarters with the longer term goal of managing those costs into the 8.5% to 9.5% range. Net income and diluted earnings per share were reported at $17,200,000 and $0.23 per share. Speaker 200:06:54Cash flow from operations was reported at $27,500,000 After adjusting for the $4,600,000 decrease in the payroll accrual, actual cash flow from operations was $32,100,000 These numbers include a $12,200,000 benefit from the receipt of CARES Act related employee retention credits, or ERC. At the present time, there is no income statement impact from ERC as these credits are being recorded on our balance sheet. We raised our 2025 cash flow from operations expectations, excluding the change in payroll accrual, from a range of 45,000,000 to $60,000,000 to a range of 60,000,000 to $75,000,000 I'd now like to turn the call over to Vikas for a discussion on our balance sheet and capital allocation progression. Speaker 300:07:46Thank you, Matt, and good morning, everyone. In terms of our balance sheet and liquidity position, we ended the first quarter with cash and marketable securities of $143,900,000 and a $500,000,000 credit facility inclusive of a $200,000,000 accordion. The credit facility was undrawn at the end of the quarter and the only utilization was for LCs. In addition, we've taken steps to rebalance our cash position, our marketable securities portfolio as well as our utilization of the credit facility, which has further reduced our interest expense. DSO at the end of first quarter was reported at seventy eight days versus eighty eight days at the end of Q1 twenty twenty four. Speaker 300:08:33Across the same period, our revenues have increased each quarter and our gross receivables have declined consecutively. And while DSO and AR balances as standalone metrics are important, they are certainly not the only indicator as to how successful we are in executing our cash collection strategy as our 2025 focus continues to be on increasing customer payment frequency, proactively utilizing promissory notes and remaining disciplined in our decision making for both new and existing business. On the capital allocation front, our priorities are fully aligned with our strategic plan to direct investments in organic growth drivers, inorganic growth opportunities and opportunistic share repurchases. We continue to prioritize investment in organic growth drivers. In addition, we made a small tuck in acquisition last month. Speaker 300:09:34The 2025 revenue impact from the acquisition is about 1% of our total revenue and the revenue impact for the quarter was minimal since the acquisition closed mid March. Notably, this is our first acquisition since late twenty twenty one. We also opportunistically repurchased approximately $7,000,000 of common stock during the first quarter to capitalize on our strong liquidity position. This takes our total buyback to about $23,000,000 since our February 2023 share repurchase authorization. We have another 5,400,000.0 shares remaining outstanding under the authorization at this point of time and we do expect to continue these opportunistic purchases for the rest of the year. Speaker 300:10:25With that, we will conclude our opening remarks and open up the call for Q and A. Operator00:10:38Our first question will come from the line of Andy Wittmann with Baird. Please go ahead. Speaker 400:10:45Yes, great. I guess I wanted to start high level, Ted. And so just on the regulatory environment, I heard the comments in the prepared remarks. Maybe I'd just give you a little platform here expand on what you're hearing maybe from your customers about any changes that have happened yet. I don't think there have been any or what things that they're looking at that they think have high probability to affect their position in the industry? Speaker 100:11:14Sure, Andy, and good morning to you. I think just to frame out your question and then the response a bit, I think overall the fundamentals and I know I mentioned this in the prepared remarks, but the underlying industry fundamentals continue to gain strength just when you think about and consider the multi decade demographic tailwind that has been trickling into the system, that's becoming more notable and that's only going to amplify strength of the industry now in the months and years ahead. So that's a real positive. I do think the key aside from a lot of the noise you may hear out of DC, the key you would hear from most of our customers and the provider community at large is that is that link between staffing availability and census. Because more than any other factor, labor availability is the key to occupancy growth, and occupancy is the key to consistent financial outcomes as well as predictable financial outcomes. Speaker 100:12:09And I the most recent occupancy data continues to be very positive and growing across all geographies, whether it be urban, suburban, rural, and facility types as well. So that's foundational when you think about industry stability. On the reimbursement side, CMS recently proposed the 2.8% increase for Medicare rates for fiscal year twenty twenty six. That's been generally well received. There continues to be positive reimbursement news at the state level as well. Speaker 100:12:40And then from a regulatory perspective, I know I mentioned this as well, but I I wanna emphasize the clarity this provides to the provider community is, you know, that Texas ruling that came out, which is applied nationwide, that all but eliminates the, you know, minimum staffing or the key provisions of the minimum staffing rule, which I believe has been an overhang for the industry since it was announced, even if the likelihood of it ultimately being implemented was low. I think specific to the the things coming out of DC, I know, for instance, provider taxes are getting some attention recently, specifically for hospitals, and I do wanna differentiate between hospitals, SNPs, behavioral health, other types of facilities or communities that more fit our business model. I would still include that in the too early to tell category in terms of what, if any, changes will be proposed or ultimately implemented. And even when you unpack a provider tax, the mechanics of that program vary depending on the type of provider as I just outlined. The rates vary state to state. Speaker 100:13:48The effect on operators and facilities within those states is different depending on a variety of factors, occupancy, patient mix, etcetera. So that's too early to tell. If if there were changes, that's the one that you hear whispers about. But I think if you pull the provider community at least within the sniff market, they would still say it's more likely than not that that is not impacted. And to the extent it is in any way impacted, it would likely be more modest. Speaker 100:14:20It would be phased in over a period of years and manageable. And then just to bring it back to us ultimately, which is time tested, it would have the effect of only increasing the demand for the types of service services we offer when you think about the central theme of our value proposition, which is certainty, financial, regulatory, and otherwise. Speaker 500:14:43It might be a little Speaker 400:14:43bit early to talk about the tax bill or the budget bill that's being talked about from the new administration trying to extend the Trump tax cuts and the impact. One of the one of the pay fors that's being talked about is around, I guess, it's around health and human services, but specifically around there's a belief that it could affect Medicaid reimbursement, federal support for Medicaid. And so I was just wondering if you could comment specifically on that, what you're hearing on that, how that might or may not affect you. Speaker 100:15:17Yeah. I would say there's a great confidence within the sniff community specifically that the Trump administration was incredibly supportive during its first term. And, you know, they're hanging their hat on the from from the conversations that are happening on the hill and otherwise that, that's not going any changes potentially would have no impact on the funds that are flowing to and from skilled nursing facility specifically. And the rhetoric out of D. C. Speaker 100:15:49I think has been consistent with that. Speaker 500:15:52Okay. Cool. Thanks guys. Have a good day. Speaker 100:15:56Fantastic. Operator00:15:57Our next question comes from the line of A. J. Rice with UBS. Please go ahead. Speaker 500:16:04Thanks. Hi, everybody. Just to put a fine point on the comment about the court ruling and the minimum staffing rules. Is that just remove an overhang or do you think that actually was somehow starting to impact behavior, in the way, people staff their facilities today in any way? Speaker 100:16:23We believe the former more than the latter. You know, around the edges, AJ, people were complying with maybe some of the initial administrative types of requirements that were but were required. But, you know, you think about when the actual impact would have happened, it was it was years out phased in over a period of So it was more the former, not the latter. Speaker 500:16:46Right. In the first quarter, your it looks like your gross margin, your EBITDA margins were above your targets. Is there anything unusual in the first quarter? Comment on the sustainability of that? I know you did move up your SG and A ratio guidance for the year. Speaker 100:17:05Yes. I think specific to the margins and the EBITDA margins that you called out, service execution continues to be the most significant driver of that. If you think about the trends that we have within the four walls of each community we service, customer experience, systems adherence, regulatory compliance and budget discipline, all of which are the primary near term margin drivers. That was evident in Q1, and we expect that to carry into Q2 and the remainder of 2025. And if you look back, AJ, over the past twelve months, really adjusting for some of the variability we've seen with CECL, we've continued to show consistency and, albeit modest improvement quarter to quarter, but year over year within those cost of services line. Speaker 100:17:56And and just tying it back to your commentary or your remark on SG and A, you know, you think about the primary driver of some of the increased SG and A spend, it directly relates to investments we're making into our business, into our organic growth strategy that that helped drive increased employee engagement, retention of those employees, customer experience, the regulatory compliance I referred to, and ultimately, directly correlates to those, you know, consistently consistent and improved margins you called out. So in many respects, the two work hand in glove with one another, But we do expect to continue tracking on the SG and A side more in that 9.5% to 10.5% range. But as we grow the top line, expect to leverage that, not in a linear type of way, but over time. Speaker 500:18:49Okay. Maybe just last question on the inflation, both on the food side as well as with the hourly workers. Any updated thoughts on what you're seeing there? Speaker 200:19:01Yeah. So, you know, CPI, AJ, for all items in the quarter was 60 basis points compared to 90 basis points in q four. You know, we actually saw 10 basis points of deflation in the month of March, which is encouraging. But food at home inflation continued to increase sequentially, showing 1% inflation, which compared to 90 bps in Q4 and 50 bps in Q3. You know, notably notably, the month of January and March were both 50 basis points, which matches what we saw in November, and that had been the highest monthly inflation level that we've seen since October of twenty twenty two. Speaker 200:19:37So we'll definitely be keeping an eye on that. Obviously, with the pass through provisions that we have in our contractual agreements, we have the right to pass that through. But having said that, we want to work with our client partners to make sure that we're managing those costs as best we can and have that flexibility in our menu offerings to be able to help accommodate that. The BLS data from an overall wage inflation perspective won't be published until next week on the thirtieth. But really from an overall labor market as it relates to the industry and Health Care Services Group, really a strong eighteen month period. Speaker 200:20:16The Health Care sector added jobs at really a higher pace than all other industries, which is a great reversal of what we've seen in prior periods. So that's largely fueled by the demographic trends that Ted alluded to in his previous comments and then increasing demand for health care. On a national basis, the skilled nursing industry still has work to do to reach full employment recovery, but there was incredibly strong growth in Q1 that raised about half of that remaining deficit. If you think about kind of pre pandemic as compared to where we stand today, the industry added about 24,000 new jobs, which was about double the pace of what we would have seen in Q4 I'm sorry, in 2024, where we were only averaging about 3,400 new jobs per month within the industry. So we're now about 47,000 jobs short relative to pre pandemic levels. Speaker 200:21:09And that's as a reminder from a loss of nearly a quarter of a million jobs at its peak. But at these current rates of recovery, we should be at pre pandemic levels in less than six months. So definitely encouraging trends and dynamics for the industry. And then just to again bring it back to Healthcare Services Group, we remain in a good spot. We've seen ongoing improvement, stabilization. Speaker 200:21:30Our wage growth has remained stable. Our applications are high and continue to grow month to month. There are certainly still some lingering markets where there are ongoing challenges, but obviously, we have the flexibility and the resources to be able to allocate our focus and address those situations as they arise. Speaker 500:21:51Okay, great. Thanks a lot. Operator00:21:54Our next question comes from the line of Tayo Key with Macquarie. Please go ahead. Speaker 600:22:01Thank you. Good morning. Just want to clarify on the revenue guide for the second quarter. If you look at the midpoint of the guidance, it suggests a small $3,000,000 step up in revenue next quarter. I think, Vikash mentioned that there's a tuck in acquisition that will add 1% to revenue. Speaker 600:22:17So if you back that out, it implies a relatively flat sequential movement next quarter. Is that the right way to think about it? And if so, what does that say about the pace of growth for the balance of the year? Speaker 100:22:31Yeah. I think from I think that's April. If you think about our goal relative to that guidance you referenced, Tal, our goal is really to provide as accurate a range as possible given the variables. And aside from the acquisition you mentioned, the greatest variable for us is really the timing of new business adds, which can be fluid quarter to quarter knowing there's always going to be a subset of opportunities that could be pulled in or pushed out depending on the customer, the prospective customer, the management development pace, etcetera. So that's really why our mid single digit guidance that we offer for annual expectations is the best guide to kind of think about the company in the cadence of growth, whereas the quarter to quarter estimates are really ranges we're providing to add some additional near term visibility based on what management is seeing. Speaker 100:23:28So again, the acquisition that Vikas described in his opening remarks, it will represent about 1% of revenue or so. So that contribution along with the consideration given to the management candidate pipeline, the timing of the new business opportunities, and then the retention of our existing customer base is what informs that four forty five to four fifty five. Speaker 600:23:54Okay. Got you. And in terms of the cash flow, the operating cash flow guidance raise, 15,000,000 there. I think I heard a mention of $12,000,000 CARES Act benefiting first quarter. How much of that raise is driven by this onetime item? Speaker 600:24:14And what's your confidence of your cash collection momentum for the rest of the year? Thank you. Speaker 300:24:20Yeah. So that raise is a combination of the two factors that you pointed to. Look, we've received these ERC funds, of 12,000,000 plus. That definitely did contribute to the popping of the guidance. But the fact that we had a standout q one, as Ted mentioned, the best in five years, the collection momentum was strong, that contributed as well to us upping the range. Speaker 300:24:48So I I think it's a combination of the two factors. And look, I I think what I'll say on the collection front is, while q one was strong, so was q three and q four. So we are seeing emerging trends supported by the dynamics in the industry where we feel confident about, sustaining the positive momentum on the collection front. And I think that contributes to the overall confidence around how we think about cash flows for the rest of the year. Speaker 600:25:21Great. Thank you. Operator00:25:24And that will conclude our question and answer session. And I will now turn the call back over to Ted Wall for closing remarks. Speaker 100:25:31Okay. Thank you. It's an incredibly exciting time for HCSG. The innovations of the past few years have further solidified our value proposition, the durability of our business model and market leading position. The company's underlying fundamentals are stronger than ever. Speaker 100:25:49And with the industry at the beginning of a multi decade demographic tailwind, we are very favorably positioned to capitalize on the opportunities ahead and deliver meaningful long term shareholder value. So on behalf of Matt, Vikas and all of us at Healthcare Services Group, thank you, Regina, for hosting today's call, and thank you again to everyone for joining. Operator00:26:13This will conclude today's meeting. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.Read morePowered by