The Ryman Executive Chairman Dean Hamilton opened his address at the AGM with: “We have fallen well short in recent years.”
Ryman Healthcare, which has a debt of NZ$2.51 billion, reported net profit after tax of NZ$4.8 million in the year to March 31, 2024, which compared to $257.8 million in 2023.
The continuum of care operator was asked at its AGM in Christchurch, New Zealand, if residents’ weekly fees would remain permanently fixed.
Dean Hamilton said fixing weekly fees had proven very expensive for Ryman Healthcare, which cares for 14,600 residents in Australia and New Zealand.
“We didn’t anticipate that when we fixed fees for life in 2016 or 2017. That’s been quite a financial drag. We may well offer a choice,” he said.
Maintenance and other costs have risen faster than CPI in NZ, like Australia.
Ryman Healthcare does increase weekly fees for new residents but sets them for life.
Dean (pictured) also said an announcement on a review of its 20% Deferred Management Fee was imminent.
"We have not yet made a decision on changes to future DMF (currently 20%) or weekly fees, however we are reviewing all aspects of our revenue model to enhance our financial performance while continuing to deliver exceptional care and resident experience.” said a Ryman Healthcare spokesperson.
"There will never be changes to the DMFs or fixed for life weekly fees of our current Ryman residents."
Asked about investment in Australia, he said the business would finish existing development sites.
“We have 10 bits of land, not built on – five in Australia, five in New Zealand. We have choices. What we’ll be doing when we do get back into building new villages, we will look at total care return, demand, cost of debt. We need to be very sure when we start a village that we complete it.”
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