The CEO of a Hunt Valley-based real estate investment trust, which has a portfolio of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across the U.S., was awarded $7.3 million in compensation for 2013, a year that the firm's returns placed it among the top performing REITs in the country.
Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. CEO C. Taylor Pickett received a $700,000 base salary and a $1.05 million cash bonus in 2013. Chief Operating Office Daniel J. Booth was awarded $3.92 million in compensation for the year, while Chief Financial Officer Robert O. Stephenson received $3.03 million, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.
That compensation is slightly lower than 2011, but up significantly from 2012, thanks to a jump in stock awards. Pickett, for example, received $502,234 in stock awards in 2012, but $5.53 million in 2013.
For the three months ended March 31, Omega's net income rose to $55.8 million, or 45 cents per share, up from $38.1 million, or 34 cents per share, last year, according to a quarterly earnings report also released Tuesday.
First quarter funds from operations were $84.4 million or 68 cents per share, increasing from $70 million or 62 cents per share last year. Real estate investment trusts prefer to use funds from operations to measure performance because the metric adjusts for items such as depreciation.
Omega, which revised upward its performance expectations, owns or holds mortgages on more than 500 properties in 37 states, including 16 in Maryland. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Medicaid accounted for more than 54 percent of the revenue of the roughly 50 different operators of its facilities.
In the first quarter of 2014, Omega's operating revenues rose from $101.8 million to $121 million. The gains were driven by $717 million in net new investments since January 2013, including the $117 million acquisition of 10 new facilities in the most recent quarter, according to its quarterly statement.
Operating expenses rose from $37.3 million in the first quarter of 2013 to $38 million this year, including $31.4 million in depreciation and $4.2 million in general and administrative expense and $2.3 million of stock based compensation.