Sunrise Senior Living / SRZ

About Sunrise Senior Living

7902 Westpark Dr., McLean, Va. 22102
www.sunriseseniorliving.com | 703-273-7500 | Founded: 1981

Industry: Health Care | Category: Public Companies

Sunrise opened 30 communities in 2006. In its fourth-quarter earnings release, it said that its occupancy rate was about 94 percent and that the average daily rate charged for its units rose 5.9 percent, to $148.41, from the fourth quarter a year earlier.
In January, Sunrise formed a $1 billion joint venture with Prudential Real Estate Investors to develop and own communities in Britain.
Those developments, however, were overshadowed by accounting troubles announced in May. The company said it would have to restate $98 million to $107 million in profit recorded from 1999 to 2005 because of a new accounting method it was adopting for profit and loss from certain joint ventures. The restatements triggered shareholder complaints, a stock-price slide and a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry.
One large shareholder, the Service Employees International Union, also questioned the timing of stock sales by company insiders. The company's management said that no stock sales were based on insider knowledge and that no options were backdated. It said the allegations appeared to be an attempt to pressure management as the union tries to organize workers. Nevertheless, Sunrise appointed an independent committee to review allegations and the union's concerns.
In April of this year, Sunrise suspended its chief financial officer, alleging that he violated its document retention policy. At the time, the company had not completed its restatement of results for 2005 and much of 2006. He was dismissed in May.
The company has maintained that its financial restatements have not affected its cash flow.

Chairman and founder: Paul J. Klaassen

2006 Financial Data

Total employees: 40,000 | Local employees: 5,323