Star Equity Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRR) Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call May 23, 2022 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Jeff Eberwein - Executive Chairman

Richard Coleman - Chief Executive Officer

David Noble - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Theodore O'Neill - Litchfield Hills Research

Tate Sullivan - Maxim Group

Operator

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Star Equity Holdings Inc. First Quarter 2022 Results Conference Call. Please be advised that discussions on today's call may include forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties and that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to Star Equity's most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings for a more complete description of risk factors that could affect those projections and assumptions. The company assumes no obligations to update forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Please also note, that on this call, management will reference non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, and adjusted earnings per share, which are all financial measures not recognized under US GAAP. As required by SEC rules and regulations, these non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to their most comparable GAAP financial measures in our earnings release issued this morning.

If you did not receive a copy of the earnings release and would like one after the call, please contact Star Equity, at 203-489-9500 or its Investor Relations representative, Lena Cati at the Equity Group, at 212-836-9611. Also, this call is being broadcast live over the Internet and may be accessed at Star Equity's Web site via www.starequity.com. Shortly after the call, a replay will also be available on the company's Web site. It is now my pleasure to introduce Jeff Eberwein, Executive Chairman of Star Equity.

Jeff Eberwein

Thank you, Operator. Good morning and thank you all for joining us today for our first quarter 2022 results conference call. On the call with me today are Chief Executive Officer, Rick Coleman; and Chief Financial Officer, David Nobel.

In the first quarter of 2022, we recorded improved financial and operating performance, with a 12% increase in revenues, and an improvement in our margins. Our Healthcare division grew revenue by 0.8% versus the prior year quarter, and gross margin improved by four percentage points to 23.7%. Our Construction division grew revenue by 28.6% due to large commercial projects at EdgeBuilder, and pricing increases that we implemented to mitigate the impact of higher raw material costs. Gross margin improved substantially due to increased pricing, improved operations, and commodity price mitigation.