Akumin Inc. (NASDAQ:AKU) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

David Kretschmer: I come in here at the start. And what drove the impairment was that in Q4 €“ well, first of all, I will say, we didn’t make a lot of investment in the oncology business, as Riadh had noted. We are bringing the new leader. It didn’t feel fair to commit him to a lot of new investments. So, there has not been a lot of organic growth in 2021 and as Riadh said, we have repositioned the business in 2022. So, there was not a lot of new CapEx. So, the growth of that business is really going to come €˜24, €˜25, €˜26, €˜27 and the much higher interest rate environment when you start discounting those cash flows. So, 2022 is a little bit of a disappointment. It’s going to continue to take a little bit of time in the near-term to really get where we want the business position.

So, when you start discounting back those future cash flows, which are kind of out of a couple of years, you start discounting them back, they just present value to a lower number. So, that was really a key driver as well as revisiting our outlook for a couple of our longer term relationships, which would have €“ might impact the actual cash flow. We will see it two things, a little bit looking at the cash flows themselves and then discounting them back.

Endri Leno: Okay.

Riadh Zine: Just to add to a little bit to €“ and thanks, actually Endri, for the questions because we wanted to €“ we didn’t provide that color in our comments. So, it’s a good opportunity for us to provide additional color. But I think there was also a second part to your question, could we see more goodwill impairment. I think what David rightly so did took really other than the interest rate changes and the present value, like David explained, took really a very conservative view in Q4 on that €“ on the impairment side to basically leave the impairment behind us and move forward from here as we go into 2023 because to your point, Ednri, it’s not something you want to reopen in 2023. Now, what’s actually €“ I could tell you it’s going to happen in that segment is our focus and our expectation is new partnerships and new relationships and new facilities that will open later this year.

So, we will be actually new oncology revenue business because, obviously, with the new leadership, not only the repositioning happened, the pipeline has been building and new doors will open and announcements will be made when it’s the time to do so. So, we are excited about our oncology business from now on.

Endri Leno: No, that’s great to hear. Thank you. And on that note, I mean are you able to provide at least a rough guidance on the NCI for €˜23 because I

Riadh Zine: Yes. I think we missed that NCI question.

David Kretschmer: Is the question about €“ we are not going to

Riadh Zine: That was actually related €“ and that was also related to the impairment. So, I think what’s more reflective of NCI is looking at prior periods is the sort of…

David Kretschmer: Yes. That’s exactly right. Looking at the first three quarters, the Q4 was impacted as Riadh noted by the impairment.

Riadh Zine: Yes. So, that’s not the new run rate. So, if you were going to model it in 2023, please ignore that NCI in Q4 and look at prior periods that will be more reflective of what you would see in 2023, Endri.

Endri Leno: That’s great. Thank you. My next question is regarding €“ and you touched a little bit on this, but on the PIK interest on that Stonepeak loan, just kind of wondering like what other options might you explore and what might be there sort of reverting to cash interest?