Manor Care

Manor Care Inc. yesterday tapped Taco Bell Corp.'s chief operating officer to become the top executive of its Choice Hotels International Inc. division, which is being spun off from the Gaithersburg health care firm next month.The appointment of William R. Floyd as chief executive officer and vice chairman of Choice Hotels comes before the anticipated Nov. 1 tax-free spinoff of the hotel business, the world's second-largest lodging franchise company."He's a brand builder who knows a lot about franchising," said Stewart Bainum Jr., Manor Care's chairman and chief executive officer, who will remain chairman of Choice Hotels.

Manor Care Inc., the Gaithersburg operator of long-term care and assisted-living facilities, yesterday reported earnings of $61.4 million for the third quarter, including $37.1 million from the sale of part of its interest in Vitalink Pharmacy Services.Without the Vitalink proceeds, Manor Care earned $24.3 million, or 38 cents a share, up 16.3 percent from $20.9 million, or 33 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.Earnings were 1 cent a share less than the average projected by nine analysts surveyed by I/B/E/S International.

Manor Care, the Gaithersburg operator of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, reported a $136.9 million profit yesterday for its fiscal year ending May 31.That total cannot be compared directly with the previous year because of the spinoff of Manor Care's lodging division into Choice Hotels and a series of transactions involving Vitalink, an institutional pharmacy company in which Manor Care now owns 51 percent of the stock.Without Vitalink and other one-time charges, income from continuing operations was $94.7 million, or $1.50 per share, up 16.4 percent from $81.4 million, or $1.30 a share.

Manor Care Inc.'s net income shot up 16.7 percent in the first quarter on the strength of high occupancy in its nursing homes and hotels, the company reported yesterday.The Silver Spring-based health care and lodging company reported profits of $28.4 million, or 45 cents per share, in the quarter ending Aug. 31.Revenue increased 16.2 percent, from $321.4 million to $373.4 million.Scott Mackesy, a vice president of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., had nothing but praise for Manor Care."Another strong quarter in both of the company's operating units," he said.

Manor Care Inc., the Gaithersburg operator of nursing homes and assisted living units, posted $30.8 million in earnings yesterday for the quarter that ended May 31, before a one-time, after-tax restructuring charge of $8.1 million.That was up 17 percent from earnings of $26.4 million, exclusive of one-time charges, in the 1997 quarter.Earnings in the most recent quarter, the fourth quarter of Manor Care's fiscal year, amount to 48 cents a share, in line with analysts' estimates.Factoring in restructuring charges, net income was $22.7 million, or 36 cents a share vs. $19.4 million, or 31 cents, in the year-ago quarter.

TCManor Care Inc. will open 10 extended-stay hotels by next year, pushing the Silver Spring company into a segment of the lodging market that has been expanding even faster than traditional hotels as the whole industry recovers briskly from a deep early-1990s downturn.Manor Care told an investor conference in California that it will spend $100 million on the expansion, and will name the new hotels MainStay Suites.Like Marriott International Inc.'s Residence Inn chain, the hotels will be aimed at business travelers who plan to stay five nights or longer, and MainStay will be run by an executive who worked for Residence Inn before Marriott bought that chain in 1987.

Manor Care Inc. has spent the last quarter century building itself into one of the largest franchised hotel and nursing home chains in the world.Now, as it aims to become a $2 billion company, the Silver Spring-based giant is preparing to play catch-up in a marketplace marked by uncertainty in the face of national health reform.During its first two decades, Manor Care grew the old-fashioned way -- driven in one direction and then another by the instincts of its entrepreneurial founder and a handful of aides.

Aided by an improving economy and more hotels and nursing homes, Manor Care Inc. saw profits rise 19.7 percent during its fiscal third quarter that ended Feb. 28.The Silver Spring-based lodging and health care company saw quarterly profits hit $18.7 million compared to $15.7 million for previous third quarter. Sales rose 13.4 percent to $322.1 million from $284.1 million a year before."We're optimistic about both our businesses and we're trying to grow both," said James A. MacCutcheon, senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Manor Care.

Manor Care Inc.'s profits rose 15 percent in its second quarter, spurred by expansion programs and the improving health of the hotel industry.Net income totaled $28.8 million, or 46 cents a share in the quarter that ended Nov. 30, the Silver Spring health-care and lodging company reported yesterday. Revenue totaled $394.9 million, an increase of 21.8 percent.Manor Care also announced a third-quarter cash dividend of 2.2 cents, which will be paid Feb. 27."Another good, strong performance by one of the better companies in the entire industry," said D. Scott Mackesy of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. "Continued good operations in both lodging and health care."

Manor Care Inc. said yesterday that it will take $34 million in after-tax charges as part of a plan to clean up minor problems before a $100 million bond offering the company hopes to complete as soon as next week.The two write-offs will reduce Manor Care's profits for the three months ending in May, the last quarter of its fiscal year. They are a $30 million charge to reduce the Silver Spring company's estimate of the value of its network of European hotels and a write-off of obsolete information equipment, along with a $4 million charge to cover legal and investment banking fees expected when the company spins off its hotel business to separate it from Manor Care's nursing homes and other health care businesses.