President & CEO Letter to Shareholders
President & CEO Letter to Shareholders
NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES
不用于在美国传播或分发给美国新闻通讯社
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dear Nova Leap Health Corp. ("Nova Leap" or the "Company") Shareholders:
新斯科舍省哈利法克斯,2024 年 3 月 7 日(GLOBE NEWSWIRE)——尊敬的 Nova Leap Health Corp.(“Nova Leap” 或 “公司”)股东:
All amounts are in United States dollars unless otherwise specified.
除非另有说明,所有金额均以美元计算。
Nova Leap is a story of entrepreneurship born from the experience of one of my close family members with dementia requiring home care. The positive impact my family saw from home care led to the creation of the Company in 2016. At that time, I believed that we could provide families impacted by dementia with a level of service that would have a meaningful impact on their lives and that the demand for our services would grow over time due to an aging demographic. I am reminded every day of why this industry is so important to families and the challenge in meeting the generational demand that will exist for decades to come.
Nova Leap 是一个创业故事,源于我的一位近亲患有痴呆症需要家庭护理的经历。我的家人从家庭护理中看到的积极影响促使公司在2016年成立。当时,我相信我们可以为受痴呆症影响的家庭提供一定水平的服务,这将对他们的生活产生有意义的影响,而且由于人口老龄化,对我们服务的需求将随着时间的推移而增长。我每天都想起为什么这个行业对家庭如此重要,以及在满足未来几十年将存在的代际需求方面面临的挑战。
Today, Nova Leap is a very different company than it was in 2016, when we started with a mere CAD$500,000, but one very much with a continued focus on providing exceptional in-home care to families. As we move through the early stages of 2024, I would like to recognize the significant contribution from our team for the results achieved during 2023. Nova Leap is in excellent financial condition and is actively seeking M&A opportunities.
如今,Nova Leap是一家与2016年截然不同的公司,当时我们仅有50万加元,但一直专注于为家庭提供卓越的居家护理。在我们进入2024年的早期阶段之际,我要表彰我们的团队为2023年取得的成果做出的重大贡献。Nova Leap财务状况良好,正在积极寻求并购机会。
From my perspective, the highlights from 2023 are as follows:
从我的角度来看,2023年的亮点如下:
- We established Nova Leap as a cash flow positive company;
- We paid off all long-term bank debt during the year, ahead of schedule, positioning the Company to re-engage its acquisition program;
- We achieved record annual consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $1.477 million (CAD$2.0 million), which was more than the three previous years combined and a 124% increase over 2022 results;
- In my 2022 year end comments, I specifically addressed the changes we had made in the U.S. operating segment. We delivered on these changes with a 73% year over year increase in U.S. segment Adjusted EBITDA;
- We ended the year with record Adjusted EBITDA of $571K (CAD$778K) in Q4, the Company's third straight quarter of record Adjusted EBITDA;
- Nova Leap's accounts receivable collection rate of 99.7% remained exceptional and consistent with the prior years range of 99.7% - 99.9% between 2020 and 2022; and
- Insider ownership grew. During the fourth quarter, insiders continued to acquire shares in the open market bringing insider ownership to 40.61%. Insider ownership was 38.9% at the end of 2022 and 36.2% at the end of 2021.
- 我们成立了Nova Leap,是一家现金流为正的公司;
- 我们在年内提前还清了所有长期银行债务,使公司能够重新参与其收购计划;
- 我们实现了创纪录的年度合并调整后息税折旧摊销前利润为147.7万美元(合200万加元),超过了前三年的总和,比2022年的业绩增长了124%;
- 在我的2022年年终评论中,我特别谈到了我们在美国运营领域所做的变化。我们兑现了这些变化,美国分部调整后的息税折旧摊销前利润同比增长了73%;
- 今年年底,我们在第四季度创下了创纪录的调整后息税折旧摊销前利润为57.1万美元(合77.8万加元),这是公司连续第三个季度创纪录的调整后息税折旧摊销前利润;
- Nova Leap的应收账款收款率为99.7%,仍然非常出色,在2020年至2022年之间,与前几年的99.7%至99.9%的区间一致;以及
- 内部所有权增加。在第四季度,内部人士继续在公开市场上收购股票,使内部所有权达到40.61%。截至2022年底,内部所有权为38.9%,在2021年底为36.2%。
In summary, 2023 was a year in which the leadership team at Nova Leap demonstrated its ability to execute on operations and to put the Company in excellent financial position for the next phase of growth.
总而言之,2023年是Nova Leap的领导团队展示了其执行运营的能力,也使公司在下一阶段的增长中处于良好的财务状况的一年。
Allocation of capital plans for 2024:
2024 年资本计划的分配:
Management has three primary objectives pertaining to allocating capital for 2024 as follows:
管理层在2024年分配资本方面有三个主要目标,如下所示:
- Investing in current home care operations – Our objective is to increase revenues and hours of service at existing home care locations by hiring experienced sales personnel that can bring in new business to complement existing operational teams. More on this below.
- Acquisitions – Nova Leap has created borrowing capacity with the repayment of all long-term bank debt. Management plans to leverage some of this capacity for M&A opportunities in addition to cash generated from operations, where appropriate.
- Promissory note repayment – Management intends to repay the approximately $117,000 of promissory notes remaining from previous acquisitions on schedule.
- 投资当前的家庭护理业务 — 我们的目标是通过雇用经验丰富的销售人员来增加现有家庭护理场所的收入和服务时间,这些人员可以引进新业务来补充现有的运营团队。下面有更多相关信息。
- 收购 — Nova Leap通过偿还所有长期银行债务创造了借贷能力。除了运营产生的现金外,管理层还计划酌情利用其中一些能力来获得并购机会。
- 期票偿还——管理层打算按期偿还先前收购中剩余的约11.7万美元的期票。
Financial objectives:
财务目标:
For the past year, Management has been working towards an internal objective of sustaining quarterly consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for existing operations of $450,000. The average of the past three quarters is just above that mark.
在过去的一年中,管理层一直在努力实现内部目标,即维持现有业务的季度合并调整后息税折旧摊销前利润为45万美元。过去三个季度的平均水平略高于该大关。
Management has a new objective of achieving quarterly consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $750,000 as a next level which would represent annualized Adjusted EBITDA of $3 million (CAD$4 million). We are working to achieve this through our allocation of capital strategy of investing further in current operations to build on the success of last year and by making acquisitions. We don't expect an immediate jump as it will take some time for our capital allocation decisions to take shape but I think it is important for shareholders to understand where our focus lies and what Management is trying to achieve.
管理层的新目标是将季度合并后的调整后息税折旧摊销前利润提高到下一个水平,这意味着调整后的年度息税折旧摊销前利润为300万美元(400万加元)。我们正在努力通过资本配置策略来实现这一目标,即在去年的成功基础上进一步投资当前业务,并进行收购。我们预计不会立即出现增长,因为我们的资本配置决策需要一些时间才能形成,但我认为,股东必须了解我们的重点在哪里以及管理层想要实现的目标。
Where we have been challenged:
我们面临挑战的地方:
Simply put, our largest challenge in 2023 was revenue growth. We saw significant achievements in major financial categories such as gross margin percentage, Adjusted EBITDA, cash flows, operating income and debt reduction but revenues fell below expectations. It is a focus in 2024.
简而言之,我们在2023年面临的最大挑战是收入增长。我们在毛利率百分比、调整后的息税折旧摊销前利润、现金流、营业收入和债务减免等主要财务类别中取得了重大成就,但收入低于预期。这是2024年的重点。
On an individual basis, our home care agencies would all be considered small businesses. At the local level, hours of service are driven by a recurring revenue model where caregivers are generally scheduled to assist clients on the same schedule each week for as long as they require care. These small businesses are greatly impacted by either obtaining or losing clients requiring high hours of service. As an example, if a business was doing $2 million in revenue in a year and lost a 24 hour client, revenue would drop by approximately 15% (assuming remaining hours held constant). We experienced that in 2023 along with other agencies where revenue grew for the same reason, including one of our agencies whose revenue grew by 54%.
就个人而言,我们的家庭护理机构都将被视为小型企业。在地方一级,服务时间由经常性收入模式驱动,在这种模式下,只要客户需要护理,护理人员通常每周都按相同的时间表为他们提供帮助。这些小型企业受到吸引或流失需要长时间服务的客户的巨大影响。例如,如果一家企业在一年内实现了200万美元的收入并失去了24小时客户,则收入将下降约15%(假设剩余时间保持不变)。我们在2023年经历了这种情况,其他机构收入也因同样的原因而增长,其中包括我们的一家收入增长了54%的机构。
A lot of new business is generated by local reputation, word of mouth, families of past clients, and recurring referral sources. As we examined our collection of agencies, we found that the natural attrition of clients was being offset by agencies that had successful sales personnel that were able to market our services to a broader base of referral sources than those agencies without a sales role. As a result, we have allocated capital to the hiring of sales personnel in some of our larger markets. We anticipate that these new hires will have a positive impact on our results over time.
许多新业务是由当地声誉、口耳相传、过去客户的家庭和经常性的推荐来源产生的。当我们检查我们的代理机构时,我们发现客户的自然流失被那些拥有成功销售人员的代理机构所抵消,这些机构能够向更广泛的推荐来源推销我们的服务,而不是那些没有销售职位的代理机构。因此,我们已经分配了资金,用于在一些较大的市场招聘销售人员。我们预计,随着时间的推移,这些新员工将对我们的业绩产生积极影响。
What we offer other home care business owners:
我们为其他家庭护理企业主提供的服务:
Home care agency owners regularly engage with us for two reasons:
家庭护理机构所有者经常与我们互动有两个原因:
- Succession planning/retirement; and/or
- Seeking a strategic partner for growth.
- 继任规划/退休;和/或
- 寻求增长的战略合作伙伴。
The acquisitions that we have made in the past have been driven by owner succession, meaning that the founder of the home care agency we acquired was seeking an exit for retirement purposes and wanted a suitable home for their staff. I believe owners have chosen Nova Leap so many times to purchase their businesses because 1) we value people and want to welcome the team at the acquired agency to their new home with Nova Leap 2) we acquire these agencies with a view to holding them and supporting them in perpetuity further respecting the exiting owner's legacy and 3) we have a fair and reasonable approach which allows us to agree on deal terms and structures in an efficient manner.
我们过去的收购是由所有者继承推动的,这意味着我们收购的家庭护理机构的创始人正在寻求退出以退休为目的的退出,并希望为员工提供合适的住所。我相信业主之所以多次选择Nova Leap来收购他们的企业,是因为1)我们重视人才,并希望通过Nova Leap欢迎被收购机构的团队来到他们的新家 2)我们收购这些机构的目的是永久持有和支持他们,进一步尊重现有所有者的遗产;3)我们采取公平合理的方法,使我们能够以有效的方式就交易条款和结构达成协议。
We are also willing to partner with home care agency owners that are not quite ready to exit the business entirely but would rather have a strategic partner to assist with growing the business for some period of time prior to a full exit. These types of situations are always of interest to us because partnering with great people usually leads to a lot of success.
我们还愿意与家庭护理机构所有者合作,这些机构尚未做好完全退出业务的准备,但宁愿在全面退出之前的一段时间内有一个战略合作伙伴来协助业务发展。这些类型的情况一直是我们感兴趣的,因为与优秀的人合作通常会带来很多成功。
Shareholders and Shareholder Communications:
股东和股东通讯:
I have generally sought out, and we have attracted, shareholders that share my view that significant value creation transpires over a long period of time. Our two largest shareholders, of which I am one, own 30% of the stock. Another 10% is collectively owned by members of the Board and our CFO. Meaningful blocks are held by entrepreneurs who have built companies from the ground up with sustained success, founders, directors or past directors of publicly traded companies that are or have been successful with value creating roll-up strategies, similar to the strategy pursued by Nova Leap, senior capital markets executives with practical counsel and a couple of micro-cap funds with a long term horizon. I find these types of shareholders valuable because they have experience they can share that is directly applicable to our situation. All have been supportive. I hope that we will attract more of these types of quality investors over time.
我通常都在寻找股东,也吸引了与我持同样观点的股东,即在很长一段时间内会产生巨大的价值创造。我们的两个最大股东(我就是其中之一)拥有30%的股份。另外 10% 由董事会成员和我们的首席财务官共同拥有。有意义的区块是由那些从头开始建立公司并取得持续成功的企业家、已经或已经成功实施价值创造汇总策略(类似于Nova Leap所追求的战略)的上市公司的创始人、董事或前任董事、拥有实践咨询的高级资本市场高管以及几只具有长期眼光的微型股基金所持有的。我发现这些类型的股东很有价值,因为他们可以分享直接适用于我们的情况的经验。所有人都给予了支持。我希望随着时间的推移,我们将吸引更多此类优质投资者。
Throughout our history, we have been intentional in avoiding "hot money" and have done our best to recognize contributions from existing shareholders by issuing equity at a premium to market in certain cases, demonstrating our commitment with insider led offerings, along with reducing the risk of warrant stripping by mostly not issuing them since our early days.
纵观我们的历史,我们一直刻意避开 “热钱”,并尽最大努力确认现有股东的出资,在某些情况下以溢价发行股票,表明我们对内部主导发行的承诺,同时通过从成立之初就基本不发行认股权证来降低认股权证被剥夺的风险。
We do not spend a lot of money on shareholder communications. We do not provide earnings guidance or hold quarterly conference calls. I do provide quarterly commentary with the release of results, present at select capital market events and hold CEO interviews with some third parties that are uploaded to YouTube. We believe capital is best spent in growing the Company and that we will continue to attract quality shareholders based on Company performance.
我们不会在股东沟通上花很多钱。我们不提供收益指导,也不举行季度电话会议。我会在公布业绩时提供季度评论,出席部分资本市场活动,并与上传到YouTube的一些第三方进行首席执行官访谈。我们认为,最好将资本花在公司发展上,我们将继续根据公司业绩吸引高素质股东。
We do not have any institutional ownership that I am aware of and I don't think we will for some time. I recall two conversations that I had which may be instructive. The first was in 2019 before the pandemic when we were setting record results each quarter. I met with an investment fund manager in New York, one that generally takes concentrated positions over time. His view was that, while we were making a lot of progress, we would be an interesting opportunity at $5 million of EBITDA, particularly given the potential for significant compounding at those levels.
据我所知,我们没有任何机构所有权,我认为在一段时间内我们不会有。我记得我的两次谈话可能很有启发性。第一次是在大流行之前的2019年,当时我们每个季度都创下了创纪录的业绩。我在纽约会见了一位投资基金经理,随着时间的推移,该经理通常会集中持仓头寸。他的观点是,尽管我们取得了长足的进展,但如果我们取得了500万美元的息税折旧摊销前利润,这将是一个有趣的机会,特别是考虑到在这些水平上可能出现显著的复利。
The other meeting was in Toronto near the beginning of 2023, post-pandemic. It was relayed to me that the institutional investors that had been previously seeking alpha down to the sub-CAD$100 million market cap companies had moved back up to the CAD$250 million market cap area. The message being that it would take longer to get institutional capital and lots of hard work.
另一次会议是在大流行后的2023年初在多伦多举行的。有人向我表示,此前一直在寻求市值低于1亿加元的公司的Alpha的机构投资者已经回到了2.5亿加元的市值区域。传达的信息是,获得机构资本需要更长的时间和大量的辛勤工作。
I think those are important views as it relates to Nova Leap as I think about achieving future milestones in terms of levels. We made meaningful progress in 2023 with record Adjusted EBITDA of $1.477 million. Internally, we are now working towards $3 million of Adjusted EBITDA as our next objective (see Financial Objectives section above). I see that as the next level that we need to sustain and one that we can achieve through organic growth and M&A. If we can achieve that, I believe we will continue to attract investors with the profile similar to our existing shareholder base. After $3 million, I view the next level or milestone to achieve as $5 million of Adjusted EBITDA. Will the profile of our investor base change at this level? Time will tell. Regardless, we're up to the challenge and the hard work it will take to get there.
我认为这些都是重要的观点,因为它与Nova Leap有关,因为我正在考虑在关卡方面实现未来的里程碑。我们在2023年取得了有意义的进展,调整后的息税折旧摊销前利润达到创纪录的147.7万美元。在内部,我们现在正努力将调整后息税折旧摊销前利润的300万美元作为我们的下一个目标(见上面的财务目标部分)。我认为这是我们需要维持的下一个水平,也是我们可以通过有机增长和并购实现的下一个水平。如果我们能实现这一目标,我相信我们将继续吸引具有与现有股东基础相似的投资者。在300万美元之后,我认为下一个水平或里程碑是调整后的息税折旧摊销前利润为500万美元。在这个水平上,我们的投资者群体的概况会发生变化吗?时间会证明一切。无论如何,我们已经准备好迎接挑战和实现目标所需的辛勤工作。
Nova Leap as a public company:
作为上市公司的 Nova Leap:
Although Nova Leap is a public company, Management makes decisions considering the long-term implications to the Company. In this regard, we make decisions more in line with a private enterprise without regard to how the impact of those decisions may impact financial results from one quarter to the next. In other words, we're willing to allocate capital that may have a shorter term negative impact on Adjusted EBITDA with an expectation that it will create Adjusted EBITDA in a sustained manner longer-term.
尽管Nova Leap是一家上市公司,但管理层在做出决策时会考虑对公司的长期影响。在这方面,无论这些决定的影响如何影响一个季度到下一个季度的财务业绩,我们做出更符合私营企业的决策。换句话说,我们愿意分配可能对调整后息税折旧摊销前利润产生短期负面影响的资本,并期望长期持续创造调整后的息税折旧摊销前利润。
At the time of this writing, Nova Leap is a TSX-V listed company with a CAD$17.6 million market cap ($12.9 million on the OTCQX). Hopefully, the summary of our results will encourage investors to consider Nova Leap for investment purposes as part of their own capital allocation strategy.
在撰写本文时,Nova Leap是一家多伦多证券交易所上市公司,市值为1,760万加元(OTCQX为1,290万美元)。希望我们的业绩摘要将鼓励投资者考虑将Nova Leap作为其自身资本配置策略的一部分,用于投资目的。
Thank you for your ongoing support.
感谢您一直以来的支持。
Yours truly,
真的是你的,
Chris Dobbin, CPA, ICD.D
President & CEO
克里斯·多宾,注册会计师,ICD.D
总裁兼首席执行官
FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION:
前瞻性信息:
Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements, such as statements regarding future expansions and cost savings, and plans regarding future acquisitions and business growth, including anticipated annualized revenue or annualized recurring revenue run rate growth and anticipated consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margins. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions, including assumptions described elsewhere in this release and those concerning general economic and market conditions, availability of working capital necessary for conducting Nova Leap's operations, availability of desirable acquisition targets and financing to fund such acquisitions, and Nova Leap's ability to integrate its acquired businesses and maintain previously achieved service hour and revenue levels, that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. Risks that could cause results to differ from those stated in the forward-looking statements in this release include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or any recurrence, including staff and supply shortages, regulatory changes affecting the home care industry or government programs utilized by the Company (such as ERC), other unexpected increases in operating costs and competition from other service providers. All forward-looking statements, including any financial outlook or future-oriented financial information, contained in this press release are made as of the date of this release and included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future, and these statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at .
本新闻稿中的某些信息可能包含前瞻性陈述,例如有关未来扩张和成本节约的陈述,以及有关未来收购和业务增长的计划,包括预期的年化收入或年化经常性收入增长率以及预期的合并调整后息税折旧摊销前利润率。这些信息基于当前的预期和假设,包括本新闻稿其他地方描述的假设以及与总体经济和市场状况、开展Nova Leap运营所需的营运资金的可用性、理想收购目标和融资的可用性,以及Nova Leap整合其收购业务和维持先前实现的服务时间和收入水平的能力有关的假设,这些假设都存在难以预测的重大风险和不确定性。实际结果可能与任何前瞻性陈述中建议的结果存在重大差异。可能导致结果与本新闻稿前瞻性陈述中陈述的结果不同的风险包括 COVID-19 疫情或任何复发的影响,包括人员和供应短缺、影响家庭护理行业或公司使用的政府计划(例如ERC)的监管变化、运营成本的其他意外增加以及来自其他服务提供商的竞争。本新闻稿中包含的所有前瞻性陈述,包括任何财务展望或面向未来的财务信息,均自本新闻稿发布之日起作出,其包含的目的是提供有关管理层当前预期和未来计划的信息,这些陈述可能不适用于其他目的。除非适用于公司的证券法有要求,否则公司没有义务更新前瞻性陈述,也没有义务更新实际业绩可能与前瞻性陈述中反映的结果不同的原因。识别风险和不确定性的其他信息包含在公司向加拿大证券监管机构提交的文件中,这些文件可在以下网址查阅 。
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:
警示声明:
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
多伦多证券交易所风险投资交易所及其监管服务提供商(该术语在多伦多证券交易所风险交易所的政策中定义)均不对本新闻稿的充分性或准确性承担责任。
CONTACT: For further information: Chris Dobbin, CPA, ICD.D Director, President and CEO T: 902-401-9480 E: cdobbin@novaleaphealth.com
联系人:欲了解更多信息:Chris Dobbin,注册会计师、ICD.D 董事、总裁兼首席执行官 T: 902-401-9480 E: cdobbin@novaleaphealth.com