OCA - Oceania Group - retirement villages

[Beagle]

I have finished my 5 years overview and a very brief synopsis is as follows.

The Float and Business Case
OCA floated on the premise that the new product called care suites would be transformational and generate far superior returns for investors.
As you can see from the presentation on page 19 http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-websit...382/370976.pdf
the exact opposite of what was promised has occurred and returns on care have nearly halved from an EBITA margin of 21% to just 12%. Importantly returns were declining rapidly before Covid came along but its clear that Covid has exacerbated the issues.

Some of the reasons that explain this spectacular failure in execution of their business case as promoted at the time of the IPO appear to include:-
1. Rampant increases in the cost of human resources in the business with spectacular growth in employee costs from $103m when they listed to $156m last year an incredible 51.5% increase in staff costs.
2. A much slower increase in revenue growth from $171.8m to $231.1m over the 5 years period (34.5%).
3. Government underfunding has seriously undermined their business case and the premiumization of care hasn't worked.
4. Care suites have not met wide market acceptance and there are a total of ~ 450 unsold units inclusive of ILU units as at balance date 31 March 2022, a whole years stock. (Care suites are often initially let out as premium accommodation until they are sold, see footnote at bottom of page 31).

As a result of the spectacular failure of care suites and the systemic underfunding by the Govt of basic care (which and I am going off memory here was just on $100m in 2022 so is a huge part of their business model) underlying eps has declined from 8.60 cps in their first full year of listed operations in 2018 to 7.98 cps in 2022 and decline of 17.5% in real terms if you account for inflation.
As I have pointed out before the company has no pricing power with care suites which were only up 1-2% last year and have not kept pace with the real estate market.
Ultimately from personal experience with my Mum I believe customers are reluctant to commit to an ORA model when they don't know their longevity.

Looking forward to the next 5 years
I expect the cost of provision of care services to continue to experience rampant inflation pressures as a worldwide shortage of care and nursing staff causes huge issues with demands for more money and staff shortages. I also expect the Labour Government will play hardball with retirement village companies and continue to make them heavily subsidise care operations from other parts of their business.
This is going to cause an indefinite period during which OCA will generate very low and completely unsatisfactory returns from care.

So how long will it take OCA to execute their Pivot to independent living units so they represent more than 50% of the business model ?

Looking at page 31 and the PIE charts.
Its important to understand that currently the ratio of care to independent living units is 61:39
There are 1957 units in their development pipeline and 71% of them have already been designed and consented so it would be very difficult to change consented developments.
If they can execute at a sustained rate of 300 units per annum the pipeline will take 6.5 years to complete, a total of 11.5 years since they listed. (Please note that at the time of the listing we were told the business transformation would take 6 years)
As a result of a further 6.5 years of development they will end up with a care to independent living unit ratio of 55:45
In other words it takes a full year to move the needle one percent from care to ILU.

Conclusion
The business case upon which OCA floated has not worked. Its actually been a very poor failure in a period of strongly rising house prices, (DYOR on how much SUM grew underlying earnings in their first 5 years by way of comparison)
Care suites are not meeting wide market acceptance and OCA has no pricing power with them or basic care which combined is currently 61% of their business model.
Despite this they continue a heavy development pipeline of more care suites with most units in FY23 being care suites.

Its one thing to say you are going to pivot to independent living units but it would appear it will be 7-10 years before they have more ILU units than care, (barring major ILU village acquisitions which could somewhat speed up the process)

Seeing as this is an incredibly intense care focused business model and will be for the foreseeable future investors need to decide for themselves whether the intense cost pressures faced by those providing care services will abate anytime soon so that OCA will earn a materially better margin on its services. I think this is extremely unlikely as shortages of staff is a worldwide issue and Covid isn't going away anytime soon. Its very important to understand that even in 2028, (barring major acquisitions which might change the mix a little) OCA will still be predominantly a care based business operation.

People who believe that there is more money to be made in independent living focused business model's can execute their own pivot in less than a minute on the market, not the decade it will take OCA !

Going forward I think this will seriously underperform the others in the sector for the foreseeable future so I completed my exit from the company this week. I think the whole sector faces very serious headwinds for 2022 and potentially 2023 as well so I may remain on the sidelines for some time. In addition the Government review of this sector is very concerning and serious Government underfunding is highly likely to continue under Labour into late 2023 at least.

When the time is right I will invest the proceeds of my sell down in SUM with its well proven business model that has generated an average annual compound growth rate of 33% per annum since it listed.

I will leave you folks in peace on this thread now and conclude by wishing shareholders good luck.

I know some will hate my post and have counter points and that's fine. For the foreseeable future my time with OCA and debating it is over.
I certainly won't miss the headache's of interpreting their financial statements !

[couta1]

No surprises there and the reduction in barking will be much appreciated.

[davflaws]

Thank you Beagle. I really appreciate the hard work you have put into your analysis and your generosity in sharing it. Take the weekend off.

[BlackPeter]

I have finished my 5 years overview and a very brief synopsis is as follows.

...

I certainly won't miss the headache's of interpreting their financial statements !

Thank you for this well reasoned post. While I don't yet agree with the conclusion ... this is a great basis for ongoing discussions.

[limmy]

Thanks Mr. Beagle for your overview. Much appreciated.

[bottomfeeder]

Beagle, fell for the manipulation of the SP. An already beleagured SP dropping, when a dividend is about to be paid, creates suspicion. I hope you dont regret the sell out, when the takeover offer comes out.After all its a well run profitable company. Just possible opinion, not backed up by facts.

[Old mate]

Couta your the one that does all the barking when someone has an opposing view of your "it'll be 50 bucks in 10 years policy."

[couta1]

Couta your the one that does all the barking when someone has an opposing view of your "it'll be 50 bucks in 10 years policy."

I think your getting mixed up with FPH being $50 in 5 yrs, wrong thread Old chap. I'm a long term holder of this stock with an insider outlook so are very comfortable holding.

[Habits]

Couta your the one that does all the barking when someone has an opposing view of your "it'll be 50 bucks in 10 years policy."

Good one Old mate... that reminds me of the joke "how do you make a pussy bark?"

[winner69]

The hills are alive with the sound of music
The song rings out BUY Oceania today
The beagle has sold, has sold, they say
Now is the time to BUY Oceania
(Oscar)