News Details

NHI Reports Fourth Quarter and 2008 Year-end Results

February 20, 2009

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- National Health Investors, Inc., (NYSE:NHI) announced today its net income and funds from operations ("FFO") for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2008.

Net income for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $57,510,000 or $2.08 per basic common share and $2.07 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $96,435,000 or $3.48 per basic common share and $3.47 per diluted common share for 2007. The comparability of net income for the year ended December 31, 2008 to the same period one year ago was affected by income from recoveries of previous writedowns, gains on the sale and deconsolidation of certain facilities, gains from loan payoffs and other asset sales, gains on the disposal of certain non-realty assets and certain writedowns of discontinued operations and marketable securities. Adjusting for the above-mentioned items, net income for 2008 would have been $56,127,000 or $2.03 per basic and $2.02 per diluted common share, compared to $57,519,000 or $2.08 per basic and $2.07 per diluted common share for 2007. Revenues for 2008 were $63,005,000 compared to $62,158,000 in 2007.

FFO for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $65,207,000, or $2.35 per basic and diluted common share compared to $94,912,000 or $3.43 per basic and $3.42 per diluted common share in 2007. Adjusting for the above-mentioned items which affect the comparability of results to the same period one year ago, FFO for 2008 would have been $63,824,000 or $2.30 per basic and diluted common share, compared to $69,176,000 or $2.50 per basic and $2.49 per diluted common share for 2007.

Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2008 was $13,367,000 or $.48 per basic and diluted common share compared to net income of $29,435,000 or $1.06 per basic and diluted common share for the same period in 2007. Adjusting for the above-mentioned items which affect the comparability of results to the same period one year ago, net income for the fourth quarter of 2008 would have been $13,505,000 or $.49 per basic and diluted common share compared to net income of $14,698,000 or $.53 per basic and diluted common share for the same period in 2007. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2008 were $15,774,000 compared to $15,014,000 for the fourth quarter of 2007.

FFO for the three months ended December 31, 2008, was $15,297,000 or $.55 per basic and diluted common share compared to $19,735,000 or $.71 per basic and diluted common share for the same period in 2007. Adjusting for the above-mentioned items which affect the comparability of results to the same period one year ago, FFO for the fourth quarter of 2008 would have been $15,435,000 or $.56 per basic and diluted common share compared to $17,467,000 or $.63 per basic and diluted common share for the same period in 2007.

National Health Investors, Inc. is a long-term health care real estate investment trust that specializes in the financing of health care real estate by first mortgage and by purchase and leaseback transactions. The common stock of the company trades on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol NHI. Additional information including NHI's most recent press releases may be obtained on NHI's web site at www.nhinvestors.com

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. NHI cautions investors that any forward-looking statements made involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. All forward-looking statements represent NHI's judgment as of the date of this release.

Condensed
Statements of
Income

(in thousands, except share and
per share amounts)

                    Three Months Ended              Twelve Months Ended

                    December 31                     December 31

                      2008            2007            2008          2007

Revenues:

 Mortgage interest  $ 2,452         $ 2,216         $ 9,666       $ 11,308
 income

 Rental income        13,322          12,798          53,339        50,850

                    $ 15,774        $ 15,014        $ 63,005      $ 62,158

Expenses:

 Interest expense   $ 60            $ 150           $ 308         $ 4,625

 Depreciation         1,952           2,029           7,888         8,192

 Amortization of      3               4               15            75
 loan costs

 Legal expense        557             525             1,598         1,079

 Franchise, excise    121             (57        )    647           273
 and other taxes

 General and          1,346           1,219           3,585         5,657
 administrative

 Loan and realty
 losses               -               (1,238     )    -             (24,238    )
 (recoveries)

                    $ 4,039         $ 2,632         $ 14,041      $ (4,337     )

Income Before
Non-Operating       $ 11,735        $ 12,382        $ 48,964      $ 66,495
Income

 Non-operating
 income (investment   2,023           3,454           6,487         12,464
 Interest and
 other)

Income From
Continuing          $ 13,758        $ 15,836        $ 55,451      $ 78,959
Operations

Discontinued
Operations

 Income from
 operations -         (391       )    1,130           2,059         4,338
 discontinued

 Net gain on sale     -               12,469          -             13,138
 of real estate

                    $ (391       )  $ 13,599        $ 2,059       $ 17,476

Net income          $ 13,367        $ 29,435        $ 57,510      $ 96,435

Weighted average
common shares
outstanding:

 Basic                27,573,294      27,703,539      27,706,106    27,703,464

 Diluted              27,578,380      27,772,637      27,731,951    27,783,862

Earnings per share:

 Basic:

  Income from
  continuing        $ 0.49          $ 0.57          $ 2.00        $ 2.85
  operations

  Discontinued        (0.01      )    0.49            0.08          0.63
  operations

  Net income
  available to      $ 0.48          $ 1.06          $ 2.08        $ 3.48
  common
  stockholders

 Diluted:

  Income from
  continuing        $ 0.49          $ 0.57          $ 2.00        $ 2.84
  operations

  Discontinued        (0.01      )    0.49            0.07          0.63
  operations

  Net income
  available to      $ 0.48          $ 1.06          $ 2.07        $ 3.47
  common
  stockholders

Funds from
operations

 Basic              $ 15,297        $ 19,735        $ 65,207      $ 94,912

 Diluted            $ 15,297        $ 19,735        $ 65,207      $ 94,912

Funds from
operations per
common share

 Basic              $ 0.55          $ 0.71          $ 2.35        $ 3.43

 Diluted            $ 0.55          $ 0.71          $ 2.35        $ 3.42

Dividends declared  $ 0.69          $ 1.35          $ 2.42        $ 2.85
per common share

In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 144, the
results of operations for facilities meeting the accounting criteria as being
sold or held for sale, including the gain or loss on such sales, have been
reported in the current and prior periods as discontinued operations. The
reclassifications to retrospectively reflect the disposition of these facilities
had no impact on previously reported net income.



Selected Income Statement Data

(in thousands)

                                                     December 31,  December 31,

                                                       2008          2007

Net income as reported in financial statements       $ 57,510      $ 96,435

Less: income from recoveries of previous writedowns,
gains on the sale and deconsolidation of certain
facilities, gains from loan payoffs and other asset    (1,383 )      (38,916 )
sales, gains on the disposal of certain non-realty
assets and certain writedowns of discontinued
operations and marketable securities.

Net income adjusted by items affecting comparability $ 56,127      $ 57,519



Selected Balance Sheet Data

(in thousands)

                               December 31  December 31

                               2008         2007

Real estate properties, net    $ 181,332    $ 187,455

Mortgages receivable, net        108,640      141,655

Preferred stock investment       38,132       38,132

Cash and marketable securities   126,836      131,172

Notes and bonds payable          3,987        9,512

Stockholders' equity             429,615      446,138



Reconciliation of Funds From Operations(1)(2)

The following table reconciles net income to funds from operations available to
common stockholders:

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

                     Three Months Ended              Twelve Months Ended

                     December 31                     December 31

                       2008           2007             2008           2007

Net income             13,367         29,435           57,510         96,435

Elimination of
non-cash items in
net income:

 Real estate           1,930          1,823            7,658          7,868
 depreciation

 Real estate
 depreciation in       -              946              39             3,789
 discontinued
 operations

 Gain on sale of
 real                  -              -                -              (42        )
 estate-continuing
 operations

 Gain on sale of
 real                  -              (12,469    )     -              (13,138    )
 estate-discontinued
 operations

Basic funds from       15,297         19,735           65,207         94,912
operations

Other Adjustments      -              -                -              -

Diluted funds from   $ 15,297       $ 19,735         $ 65,207       $ 94,912
operations

Basic funds from     $ 0.55         $ 0.71           $ 2.35         $ 3.43
operations per share

Diluted funds from   $ 0.55         $ 0.71           $ 2.35         $ 3.42
operations per share

Shares for basic
funds from             27,573,294     27,703,539       27,706,106     27,703,464
operations per share

Shares for diluted
funds from             27,578,380     27,772,637       27,731,951     27,783,862
operations per share

1)Management believes that funds from operations (FFO) is an important
supplemental measure of operating performance for a real estate investment trust.
Because the historical cost accounting convention used for real estate assets
requires straight-line depreciation (except on land), such accounting presentation
implies that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time.
Since real estate values instead have historically risen and fallen with market
conditions, presentations of operating results for a real estate investment trust
that uses historical cost accounting for depreciation could be less informative,
and should be supplemented with a measure such as FFO. The term FFO was designed
by the real estate investment trust industry to address this issue. Our measure
may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other REITs.
Consequently, our funds from operations may not provide a meaningful measure of
our performance as compared to that of other REITs. Since other REITs may not use
our definition of FFO, caution should be exercised when comparing our Company's
FFO to that of other REITs. Funds from operations in and of itself does not
represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP (funds
from operations does not include changes in operating assets and liabilities) and
therefore should not be considered an alternative to net earnings as an indication
of operating performance, or to net cash flow from operating activities as
determined by GAAP in the United States, as a measure of liquidity and is not
necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs.

(2) Our computations above are intended to comply with the SEC's interpretation
that recurring impairments taken on real property may not be added back to net
income in the calculation of FFO. The SEC's position is that recurring impairments
on real property are not an appropriate adjustment.



National Health Investors, Inc. Portfolio Summary December 31, 2008

Portfolio Statistics                                          Investment

                                 Properties  Investment       Percentage

 Real Estate Properties          72          $ 181,332,000      62.5        %

 Mortgages and Notes Receivables 51            108,640,000      37.5        %

 Total Portfolio                 123         $ 289,972,000      100.0       %

Real Estate Properties           Properties  Beds             Investments

 Long term Care Centers          49            6,788          $ 102,264,000

 Assisted Living Facilities      14            1,133            56,106,000

 Medical Office Buildings        4           124,427 sq.ft.     9,140,000

 Independent Living Facilities   4             458              7,531,000

 Hospitals                       1             55               6,291,000

 Total Real Estate Properties    72                           $ 181,332,000

Mortgages and Notes Receivables  Properties  Beds             Investments

 Long term Care Centers          34            3,581          $ 104,890,000

 Developmentally Disabled        17            108              3,750,000

 Total Mortgage Portfolio        51                           $ 108,640,000

 Total Portfolio                 123                          $ 289,972,000

Summary of Facilities by Type:

                                             Percentage of    Total

                                 Properties  Total Dollars    Dollars

 Long term Care Centers          83            71.4        %  $ 207,154,000

 Assisted Living Facilities      14            19.3        %    56,106,000

 Medical Office Buildings        4             3.2         %    9,140,000

 Independent Living Facilities   4             2.6         %    7,531,000

 Hospitals                       1             2.2         %    6,291,000

 Developmentally Disabled        17            1.3         %    3,750,000

 Total Portfolio                 123           100.0       %  $ 289,972,000



Portfolio by Operator Type

                           # of        Percentage of  Total

                           Properties  Total Dollars  Dollars

 Regional                  47          58.0  %        $ 168,263,000

 Public                    65          32.1  %          92,973,000

 Small Operator            11          9.9   %          28,736,000

 Total Portfolio           123         100.0 %        $ 289,972,000



Public Operators                 Percentage

                                 Of Total     Dollar

                                 Portfolio    Amount

 National HealthCare Corp.       19.7 %       $ 57,217,000

 Sunrise Senior Living Services  4.2  %         12,282,000

 Community Health Systems, Inc.  4.1  %         11,780,000

 Sun Healthcare                  2.8  %         7,944,000

 Res-Care, Inc.                  1.3  %         3,750,000

 Total Public Operators          32.1 %       $ 92,973,000



National Health Investors, Inc. Summary of Facilities by State December 31, 2008

                                                                               Percent

                    Acute       Dev.    Asst.   Retire-         Investment     Total

               LTC  Care   MOB  Disab.  Living  ment     Total  Amount         Portfolio

 Florida       11          1    14      4                30     $ 71,516,000   24.7  %

 Texas         8           2                             10       47,377,000   16.3  %

 Tennessee     20               3       3       2        28       26,072,000   9.0   %

 Missouri      8                                1        9        20,430,000   7.0   %

 Virginia      8                                         8        19,274,000   6.6   %

 Arizona       1                        4                5        16,898,000   5.8   %

 Kansas        5                                         5        13,382,000   4.6   %

 Massachusetts 4                                         4        14,596,000   5.0   %

 New Jersey                             1                1        12,282,000   4.2   %

 Georgia       6                                         6        9,445,000    3.3   %

 New Hampshire 3                                         3        8,862,000    3.1   %

 Kentucky      2    1                                    3        7,148,000    2.5   %

 South         4                        1                5        10,567,000   3.6   %
 Carolina

 Idaho         1                                1        2        4,829,000    1.7   %

 Pennsylvania                           1                1        4,069,000    1.4   %

 Alabama       2                                         2        1,860,000    0.6   %

 Illinois                  1                             1        1,365,000    0.5   %

               83   1      4    17      14      4        123    $ 289,972,000  100.0 %



    Source: National Health Investors, Inc.
Contact: National Health Investors, Inc. Roger R. Hopkins, 615-890-9100 Chief Accounting Officer