Diversified Healthcare Trust(DHC) - 2025 Q4 - Earnings Call Transcript

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - In 2025, the company achieved consolidated NOI growth of 31.3% and reduced leverage by over three turns, with no debt maturities until 2028 [6][12] - For Q4 2025, total revenue was $379.6 million, Adjusted EBITDAre was $72.4 million, and Normalized FFO was $21.8 million or $0.09 per share [7][20] - Full year Adjusted EBITDAre was $284 million, at the high end of guidance [20] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - SHOP NOI for Q4 improved 27.6% year-over-year to $38.3 million, with full year SHOP NOI at $139.3 million, towards the high end of guidance [6][7] - Medical office and life science NOI was $108.1 million, just above the midpoint of guidance [21] - Same-property Cash Basis NOI increased 15.4% year-over-year to $70.4 million in Q4 [15] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Same-property occupancy for SHOP increased 90 basis points year-over-year to 82.4%, with average monthly rates up 5.8% [7][15] - Consolidated occupancy in the medical office and life science portfolio increased 460 basis points sequentially to 91.2% [11] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company aims to unlock value through operational performance and is focused on executing property-specific business plans [9][26] - There is a healthy pipeline of ROI projects expected to add approximately 500 SHOP units, with an unlevered mid-teens ROI [10][27] - Future dispositions will be opportunistic, with proceeds used to reduce leverage or redeploy into accretive initiatives [12][14] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expressed confidence in achieving 2026 outlook due to robust demand for SHOP communities and a favorable industry outlook [10][14] - The company anticipates continued increases in revenue and occupancy, leading to strong NOI and margin growth in 2026 [15][20] Other Important Information - The company completed the wind down of AlerisLife, transitioning 116 communities to seven operators [5] - G&A expenses for Q4 included a $5.7 million business management incentive fee, driven by a total shareholder return of nearly 113% in 2025 [16] Q&A Session Summary Question: What is the go-forward strategy and opportunities for reopening wings at existing communities? - The main strategy is to grow performance through operations, with potential to add close to 500 units through identified wings at a cost of $125-$175 per unit [26][27] Question: Will external investments focus on renovations or acquisitions? - Renovations are expected to provide better risk-adjusted returns, but acquisitions are not the current focus [28][29] Question: What drove the Q4 margin improvement? - The improvement was a combination of reduced transition noise and core operational gains [30][31] Question: What are the trends for January and February? - January showed promising results in line with expectations, with rent escalators around 4%-6% [33][34] Question: How should NOI growth be expected over the coming quarters? - NOI growth is expected to be back half of the year weighted due to occupancy growth and rate increases [38][40] Question: What are the prospects for renewing or releasing medical office and life science assets? - There are promising prospects for re-leasing, particularly for a building in Fremont, California [44] Question: What implications does the momentum have on the dividend? - The board will consider the dividend, but there are no immediate priorities for addressing it [51]