From New Zealand to Aussie growth: Ryman Healthcare's vision for the future

Wed 18 March 2026
10 MIN READ

Alexandra Cain

Freelance Finance Journalist

With a new capital stack and a commitment to return to paying dividends, Ryman Healthcare CEO, Naomi James, reflects on the company’s life after its 2025 ASX listing and the path ahead.

Listed@ASX March 2026 cover image with Naomi James, Ryman Healthcare

Operating in an industry poised for unprecedented growth, with the number of 80-year-olds expected to double by 2050, a dual-listing on ASX was the natural progression for Ryman Healthcare. Founded in 1984 in New Zealand, the company operates 49 retirement villages across New Zealand and Australia.

The retirement living and aged care operator, which listed on ASX in October 2025, has an ambitious turnaround strategy, one of the reasons a dual listing was a natural progression. A year into her role, CEO Naomi James is bullish about the future.

“When I joined just over a year ago, what I saw was a business that had grown too fast, performing well below its full potential. Ryman has exceptional foundations, but it hadn't built and scaled the systems, processes and disciplines needed to consistently convert those strengths into performance,” she says.

Nevertheless, James was confident in Ryman’s competitive advantages, including a deeply engaged workforce committed to providing exceptional care for residents.

“Our residents' experience is and remains industry leading. We talk about it being good enough for mum and dad. Our clinical care is of a really high standard and Ryman is a trusted brand, with strong community confidence.

“So, the opportunity for us was to align those strengths with best practice execution. The task over the last year has been to stabilise the business, reset performance and make more disciplined choices about growth. Twelve months on, we have done just that.”

“Our residents' experience is and remains industry leading... Our clinical care is of a really high standard and Ryman is a trusted brand, with strong community confidence."

More good news

In its results for the first half of FY26, Ryman delivered free cash flow of $56 million, the first time this measure has moved into positive territory for more than a decade, a major milestone.

“This reflects how much the business has stabilised and that momentum is returning,” says James.

Alongside the reset of the business James has led, in February, Ryman announced a refreshed strategy at its investor day, which involves a shift in focus.

“We know we've got this huge demand ahead of us with the doubling of the population over 80 by 2050. So, portfolio growth is still a key part of our future.”

“In the past the emphasis was on rapid growth through development and that relied on capital gains in the property market to create value. Now, we’re focused on sustainable value creation for our customers and our shareholders,” says James.

“The strategy is on growing our recurring earnings, optimising our $12 billion property portfolio and getting back to value-creative portfolio growth in a more disciplined way. We know we've got this huge demand ahead of us with the doubling of the population over 80 by 2050. So, portfolio growth is still a key part of our future.”

This means a different approach to the past.

“We are working on fewer projects we're confident we can deliver returns from, rather than growth for the sake of growth, which in some cases might have occurred in the past. But through all that, and with that fantastic demand outlook, what's not changing is our focus on being industry leading in meeting the needs of our residents. We are also continuing to evolve our offering as our residents’ needs and their expectations change,” James adds.

Prudent growth capital

Ryman has introduced a new capital management framework, outlining key long-term financial targets for performance and a new dividend policy with a return to dividends targeted from FY28.

“Our dividend policy is to pay out 20 per cent to 50 per cent of cash flow from existing operations, which in simple terms is the sustainable business cash flow we generate. It means we won't be paying dividends from debt, which Ryman had done in the past,” says James.

With its balance sheet reset now complete following its equity raise and a full bank refinancing last year, the company is set up for its return to paying dividends and value-creating portfolio expansion.

“We have a flexible and resilient balance sheet, with the lowest in industry gearing,” she adds.

Ahead of its time

Ryman led the industry in developing the continuum of care model in New Zealand. The concept is based around a resident-focused approach to meeting changing needs through ageing at a single location. The idea is to provide people with a home for life and confidence the care and support they might need will be available to them as and when they need it. It offers three options: independent living, serviced apartments for assisted living and residential aged care, which includes rest home, respite, hospital and specialist dementia care.

“We have the flexibility to provide increasing levels of service along the continuum as residents’ needs change. We're the only provider of scale in Victoria offering fully integrated retirement, assisted living and all levels of aged care at each of our villages,” says James.

“So, we think it's a really unique offering. As we look forward, taking into consideration government policy and the growing ageing population, we are going to see an increase in the scarcity of aged care capacity and in the demand for it.”

As the population ages, the strongest growth in demand will be for assisted living and higher acuity residential care.

“As those trends play out, we see significant opportunity to differentiate our offering and portfolio, with increased revenue from services right across our villages. We're uniquely placed for what's ahead, with 50 per cent of our capacity in independent living, 20 per cent in serviced apartments or assisted living and 30 per cent in care. This gives us the ability to flex the level of support and care we're providing, not just across the village, but for each of our 15,000 residents,” says James.

Funding reforms update

With retirement, living and aged care reforms complete in Australia and underway in New Zealand, being able to manage growth responsibly is a priority.

“Sustainability is a critical issue in Australia and New Zealand, not just for our business, but to maintain and grow capacity and to match that growing level of demand,” James explains.

Older demographic groups are likely to seek integrated living and care and that's where Ryman already has a strong competitive advantage.

“With operations on both sides of the Tasman, we've already seen firsthand how reforms already completed in Australia can strengthen the delivery and sustainability of aged care and support the required long-term investment by the private sector. We're looking forward to that opportunity as the aged care reforms progress in New Zealand,” she adds.

“Our ASX listing was a turning point... We're looking forward to spending more time on that side of the Tasman as part of our investor relations plans in 2026.”

Australia represents a significant long-term growth market for aged care and retirement living. With property markets stabilising, aged care reforms complete in Australia and supply lagging demand, there’s real momentum for Ryman to expand its footprint.

“Our ASX listing was a turning point. We have already raised our profile within the investment community. We've seen really strong interest in the Ryman story out of Australia and really strong engagement with Australian investors. We're looking forward to spending more time on that side of the Tasman as part of our investor relations plans in 2026.”

What’s ahead?

Having spent much of her career in large, regulated and capital-intensive environments, James is adept at turning businesses going through periods of transformational change into success stories.

“It starts with a real belief humans and organisations have a huge capacity for change. There is often an imperative in businesses that are asset and people-intensive, highly regulated and that have been heading in a particular direction for a long time. But they can be big ships to turn.

“Change starts with leadership and getting the right team in place to inspire, empower and manage risks along the way. You need resilience to see through the ups and downs. But human capacity to adapt is at the core.”

James says meeting people where they are in their journey, rather than forcing them to be where you'd like them to be, creating clarity on what matters and leading with transparency is vital.

“That’s the way to build the trust that's needed and get that alignment right the way across the organisation to get plans, processes and systems all working in the same direction to deliver change.”

When this is done well, people and organisations come through change stronger and better, more resilient and more capable.

Says James: “That's why I choose to be a leader in organisations going through that stage in their journey. There are wonderful opportunities ahead for Ryman. So, it’s great to be joining ASX at this time and expanding the Australian part of our story as part of it.”