CINCINNATI — Chemed Corp. shares soared more than 10% in midday trading Friday, climbing to around $424 after the healthcare services company delivered a solid first-quarter 2026 earnings beat, highlighted by strong performance at its VITAS hospice business and an upgraded full-year outlook that exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The stock (NYSE: CHE) opened sharply higher and sustained robust gains on April 24, with trading volume well above average. The move reflects investor relief and enthusiasm following Chemed’s report late Thursday, which showed resilience in its core end-of-life care operations amid a challenging environment for Medicare-funded services.

Chemed reported first-quarter revenue of $657.5 million, up 1.6% year-over-year and slightly ahead of analyst estimates around $649.8 million to $656.3 million. Adjusted diluted earnings per share reached $5.65, beating consensus forecasts of approximately $5.30 to $5.36. GAAP net income stood at $66.3 million, or $4.84 per share.

VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s largest provider of hospice services, drove much of the positive momentum. Net patient revenue rose 3.1% to $420 million, supported by an average daily census of 22,723 patients. Management noted improving admission trends and effective cost management despite ongoing Medicare rate pressures.

Roto-Rooter, Chemed’s plumbing and drain cleaning segment, delivered steady results with margins holding up well despite higher marketing investments. The dual-business model — combining stable healthcare cash flows with cyclical but high-margin service operations — continues to provide resilience.

Chemed raised its full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $24.00–$24.75 from the previous range of $23.25–$24.25. The midpoint represents roughly 13% growth over 2025 levels, signaling management’s confidence in sustained VITAS recovery and operational efficiencies.

CEO Kevin McNamara emphasized disciplined capital allocation during the earnings call. The company repurchased 500,000 shares for $197.7 million in the quarter at an average price of $395.36, demonstrating confidence in its valuation. Approximately $229.6 million remains under the current repurchase authorization.

Wall Street reacted positively to the beat-and-raise. Several analysts noted the stronger-than-expected VITAS trends as a key positive, helping alleviate concerns from prior quarters. Price targets have edged higher, though the stock’s valuation remains premium given its defensive healthcare exposure and consistent cash generation.

Chemed operates two distinct but complementary businesses. VITAS provides end-of-life care across 17 states and the District of Columbia, serving patients through interdisciplinary teams focused on comfort and quality of life. Roto-Rooter offers essential plumbing, drain, and excavation services through company-owned and franchise locations nationwide.

The company has long maintained a reputation for conservative management and shareholder-friendly policies, including regular share repurchases and a modest dividend. Its balance sheet remains solid with low leverage, providing flexibility for both organic growth and potential acquisitions.

Analysts view Chemed as a defensive play with growth potential. Demographic tailwinds in an aging U.S. population support long-term hospice demand, while Roto-Rooter benefits from consistent home maintenance needs. However, Medicare reimbursement rates and regulatory changes in healthcare remain ongoing watch items.

Friday’s surge marks a notable rebound and pushes shares toward recent highs. Year-to-date performance had been relatively muted before the earnings catalyst, making the double-digit move particularly eye-catching in a mixed broader market session.

For investors, Chemed offers exposure to stable, recession-resistant businesses with strong free cash flow characteristics. The company’s ability to generate consistent earnings and return capital through buybacks has historically appealed to value-oriented and income-focused portfolios.

Challenges include labor costs in healthcare, inflationary pressures on Roto-Rooter operations, and potential policy shifts affecting Medicare Advantage and hospice margins. Management has demonstrated skill in navigating these dynamics through pricing discipline and operational improvements.

As trading continued Friday afternoon, CHE shares consolidated some gains but remained firmly positive with elevated volume. The reaction underscores the market’s appreciation for companies that deliver reliable results and raise guidance in an uncertain economic environment.

Looking ahead, Chemed will focus on executing its expanded guidance while continuing share repurchases and investing in capacity where appropriate. The second half of 2026 will test whether recent VITAS momentum sustains amid any broader healthcare funding pressures.

The impressive intraday surge highlights Chemed’s appeal as a steady compounder with defensive qualities. With a strong balance sheet, improving operational trends and shareholder-friendly capital allocation, the company continues to navigate its dual-business model effectively in 2026.

Hello everybody and thank you for asking me. I will be running through some charts which were still first with the situation in the West. Then I will move on to charts on Asia and India. So I get the bad news out of way first. But this seems to be the wrong way around. So I am getting from back to front here. (Watch)

To start with the US situation, this is a big picture chart everybody needs to be aware of in the global economy. This is US total debt as a percentage of GDP. The story is very simple and the total amount of debt in the system in the US has been going down ever since the credit crisis erupted in 2007-2008. This the first time total debt has been falling in America since the Great Depression.

Mr Bernanke of the Federal Reserve has been trying to get the re-leveraging game going so far, they have not succeeded. My operating assumption is to assume that the leveraging will continue that we peaked out in the US super credit cycle in 2007, which has been running since the Second World War and now in a long-term de-leveraging cycle, which means lower trend GDP growth.

May be re-leveraging will kick in coming months in which case I will change my view, but for now I am assuming it’s a de-leveraging cycle until the data proves otherwise. Next chart you see US total net credit market borrowings and you can see the rate of growth of borrowing has been going down in the system despite the big kick up in Federal Government borrowing.

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Next chart is a long-term trend in US nominal GDP 10-year compound annual growth. As the Japanese example has shown in the last 20 years, when you get into a deflationary environment, it no longer makes sense to look at real GDP measures because when inflation zero level what gives a more realistic picture of what is going is nominal GDP. And in my view, nominal GDP growth in America will continue to trend down. We have seen a big rally in US government bond prices this year, as telling you the trend nominal GDP growth is lower and that means the trend earnings growth, trend revenue growth in America is also going to be lower.
Then next chart relates to the consumption story in America which in my view is going to remain anaemic. In my view the US consumers, western consumers in general, are going to be increasing savings rate. There is also a demographic kicking in… the baby boom as heading for retirement, but they cannot afford to retire. So topline is US real disposable personal income, the bottom line is real personal income excluding current transfer receipts. Transfer receipts basically mean welfare payments. So you can see without all the stimulus from the government the fundamental income trend is much weaker. What separates the emerging markets from the developed world is an emerging markets like India with healthy income growth and the developed countries, be it the US, Japan, Europe, we do not have healthy income growth.

Next chart highlights a significant rally in US Treasury Bond prices reflected in declining treasury bond yields which has happened this year. At the start of this year the biggest bearish consensus amongst global equity investors was that US Treasury bonds were screaming sells.

Everybody said that the treasury bond market is going to collapse, the Fed printing money inflation is coming back. Clearly that consensus was completely wrong. US Treasury Bond market has been rallying even with the recent pick in the S&P and recent weeks up to 1150 level which I think was a peak of this counter trend rally. Even with the stock market rally the bond market did not sell off. What this bond market is telling you is that nominal GDP growth is slowing in America, it is telling you it is not a normal recovery. The credit multiplier is not working.

Once the inventory cycles happen & the US capex cycle has ran through, there will be nothing left to sustain the economic momentum. So in a deflationary environment, government bond prices are lead indicator of nominal GDP growth. Right now this is a very important point because the US bond market is sending one message and the US stock market is sending another message and basically investors have a decision to make – do they believe the bond market is giving the correct signal or the stock market? My assumption is that it’s the bond market and my experience is that the bond market is no way smarter than the stock market 90% of the time. Meanwhile, this is US headline CPI inflation for the rest of this year we are going to see inflationary pressures falling throughout the world in the West. That’s going to lead to new deflation concerns.

In Asia and countries like China and India, falling inflationary pressures are going to be bullish and everybody is going to realise it does not make sense to worry about inflation in countries like India. The good news is that you have inflation because that reflects the fundamental growth dynamic. But the key point about the US is if the trend over the past 3 months has extrapolated forward, US CPI inflation will turn negative in October. If that happens, it’s not going to be bullish for equities, it’s going to be bullish for government bonds and it’s going to be a signal for Mr. Bernanke, if we have not done that already, to assume quantitative easing.

Next chart, US average duration of unemployment. So basically there are large groups of the structurally unemployed in America. So in this sense, the US is heading for the European systems situation were you have a large group of structurally unemployed living off the welfare state. The problem in America is that the welfare state is much more controversial than in Europe, hence the political divide in America, hence the growing trend under the so-called Tea Party movement.

Meanwhile the classic monetary measures are highlighting the fact that we are not in a re-leveraging cycle, we are still in a deleveraging cycle. This is the US money multiplier representing the velocity of money in circulation. Velocity of money in circulation is declining. So long as that line is declining, it’s deflationary. We don’t have to worry about inflation picking up, and this chart highlights the growing deflationary threat.

Next chart is US broad money supply growth. Again, money supply growth is going down. That’s why the bond market’s rallying, that’s why inflation is not an issue, that’s why Mr. Bernanke is now looking for an excuse to resume quantitative easing.

Next chart is US bank lending. Again, no real sign of any kind of meaningful pick up in bank lending annualise lending loan growth continue to slow another indication of a deleveraging cycle. This is not just about banks restricting credit, it is also about a change in psychology, economic agents be it the companies or consumers have become more risk averse about borrowing.

Next chart is US total securitisation issuance. In the recent credit boom before the bust a large part of the credit cycle was driven by securitization, therefore we are going to get re-leveraging in America. We need to see a healthy pick up in securitisation as well as banking lending, but the only area that has picked up since the crisis is the dark blue line here.

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This is agency mortgage bank securities, that’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These entities are guaranteed by the Federal Government and therefore they do not really count. Any private sector securitisation has barely recovered. Meanwhile the huge role played by Fannie and Freddie should not be ignored in terms of supporting the housing market.
Basically about 96% of the America mortgage market now is government guaranteed. So that’s the US situation. The big picture is still deflationary. However, in terms of macroeconomic shocks that could cause another steep fall in global equities this year for the rest of 2010, I still believe there is going to be another sharp decline in equities like we saw in April and May. It’s more likely to be triggered by the Eurozone where you have systemic risk relating to government debt.
So this chart relates to the ECBs net buying of Euroland government bonds. The key point here is this ECB was forced reluctantly to stop buying junk government bonds in Europe like Greek government bonds in May when the Greek crisis blew up. The interesting point is the ECB is only doing this reluctantly and as equity markets have rallied and the credit spreads have come in, the ECB has progressively bought less and less junk government paper.
Basically last week they hardly bought anything – they’re probably going to go down to zero just as this counter trend rally peaks.

How early we go down depends on whether there is another bout of risk aversion or markets are just focusing on waning growth. This is Greek and PIG government bond yield spreads. I was recommending for several years the investor should bet on wise widening PIG spread. PIG spread, for people who don’t know this, is the average bond yield of Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain over the German bond yields-I closed out that just about when the Greek crisis peaked. And I think a better trade is going forward is what I called a Spanish flu trade, betting on rising Spanish CDS.

For now the jury doubts on whether these European countries can make the fiscal adjustments being demanded by the Germans, but people should understand that the Germans have a completely diametrically opposite view to the Americans – they simply do not believe that fiscally stimulating is the way to get yourself out of the economic problem. So right now the weaker part of Euroland has embarked on a fiscal adjustments which is intrinsically deflationary, given the downturn they are facing.

The stress test is being led by Ireland. Last year the Irish economy contracted in nominal terms by more than 10 percentage points. So far the Irish are taking the pain probably because the only boom they have had in the last 1000 years was when they join Euroland community. So in that sense willing to take quite a lot of pain, but in the big stress test it is going to be Spain.

Spain is a big important country. They had a massive private sector debt binge, they got the biggest housing bust in the west, even bigger than the US. So it is going to be interesting to see whether the Spanish political system can make this fiscal adjustment, given the fact they already have nearly 20% unemployed. I have an open mind on this. We just have to see what happens and may be the Europeans can make this fiscal adjustment, in which case it’s going to be a lot of pain, but the Euro as a currency is going to merge with huge credibility.

On the other hand, it may well be that this level of fiscal austerity is simply incompatible with the political systems of these Mediterranean countries. Right now, it is impossible to tell the European who is watching the football and now at the beach we can have a much better ideas they can take this pain by about January-February next year.

But in the meantime if the markets will test or are bound to test the European’s willingness to take this fiscal adjustment in the next few months. Tactically I would be selling the Euro against the dollar here as we had a significant bounce back in the Euro. So those are my thoughts on basically the West. It’s a deflationary environment. But in the US we are going to continue to stimulate in the Europeans because the Europe’s case is going to follow the German President.

Turning to Asia, Asia is a fundamentally healthy story unlike the West. In my view, the peak of the Asia ex-Japan index you saw prior to the credit crisis will be exceeded sooner or later because the Asian economies are growing healthily and have effectively decoupled from the West even though the markets haven’t. This is MSCI Asia ex-Japan relative to MSCI world index. They’ve been in & outperforming trend since the bottom of the Asian crisis in 1998 and that outperforming trend is resuming when the Chinese stock tightening and then formally start easing again which will happen in the next few months. That will reaccelerate Asian outperformance.

Valuation wise, Asia is trading in line with the US on the 12-month forward PE basis. In my view, sooner or later Asia is going to trade at a sustainable premium over the West because the fundamental growth story is so superior. In terms of my relative return asset allocation, I’m going to take a detour here. I am structurally overweight on India and Indonesia as these are the two best long-term stories in Asia. But tactically I have reduced India a bit and raised China because we are going to get a policy inflection points in China in the next few months which will be bullish for Chinese stocks.

But my big underweight in Asia Pac portfolio is Australia which is why I’m weaving more money into China because it has become cheap. What I am underweight on is those stock, sectors, countries which are perceived as beneficiaries of Chinese growth like the commodities sector, because in my view, Chinese growth is going to be slowing for the rest of this year and that’s a negative headwind for the commodities complex.

From an Indian standpoint that was obviously positive. I think oil is going this week to be as high as it’s going to get on its counter trend move. Clearly if you are more bullish on oil, you will be more bearish on India and this is my long only portfolio on Asia or ex-Japan.

I started this portfolio beginning of fourth quarter 2002, sent about 25 to 30 stocks in it, mostly large cap. I cannot have any cash and it’s long only and is basically playing the domestic story in Asia as always. Mostly has the biggest weight being in India because India since always has been my favourite equity story in Asia. It’s still got a big weighting in India. We can argue about the details of what stocks to own etc, but fundamentally this has India. Secondly, China if I did not have a big capital orientation, then I would have less in China, more in smaller Asian markets like Indonesia and Philippines.

That’s the performance of my long-only portfolio compared with the benchmarks. Since I cannot really have cash, as I said, so I cannot really hedge it, but for those who want to hedge I have been recommending since the middle of over 2007 that investors hedge this long Asian exposure by shorting western financial stocks. I have now narrowed that down in recent months into not shorting western financial stocks, but shorting European financial stocks because European financial stocks are much more geared to the systemic risk from junk European government debt and they are also in a much more leverage than American financial stocks.

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This is my global portfolio I have also been running since 2002. This has run on a theoretical US dollar denominated pension fund on a 5-year view and this portfolio I have simplified in recent months have got 15% weighting in US 30 year treasury bonds.
That might seem crazy to people given the fact that the US government debt is getting bigger & bigger, but one of my views is that the most likely end game is a sovereign debt crisis in the US and the collapse of the US dollar paper standard. I don’t think that end game happens this year and in my view before this oust in the game is played out the deflationary pressures in the US will take bond yields much lower. So I think it’s quite possible the 10-year Treasury goes 2%, 30 year treasury goes to 3%. For people who think that’s insane, I should point out that the 10-year GDP went below 1% this week and in 2003 got to 0.45 basis points.
So the message is that in deflationary environment bond thing gets very low indeed because the risk aversion causes people like banks, insurance companies, individuals to buy bonds to lock in income because in deflationary environment there is not much income around. So that’s the deflationary hedge, but 45% of my portfolio is geared to the best story in the world, which is Asia.
So I got 15% in Asia or ex-Japan physical property, 30% in my long-only Asia or ex-Japan portfolio. Then I got a longstanding position in gold and gold mining stocks which I have since inception of this portfolio and this position in gold is basically hedging for US dollar denominated pension funds. The big picture risk is that one day simply the world revolt against the ongoing US stimulus and there is a sovereign debt crisis in the US dollar, US government debt, which means the end of the US paper standard and the end of the post 1945 Western paper currency system. And in that environment gold can go parabolic. My longstanding target for gold that can peak in this bull market is $35000 per ounce.

So this is a gold bullion chart in US dollar terms. The key point about this chart is that it’s quite obvious gold is in a bull market and remains in a bull market and this bull market, when it ends, will end in a parabolic spike which we have not seen yet. The next obvious trigger for the next big move in gold will be the next time Mr. Bernanke adopts quantitative easing and the next time he does it he who is going to have to expand the balance sheet more than the last time (because otherwise people are going to worry if it’s going to work), but cannot do it right now because the news flow is not bad enough.

Gold stocks relative to gold bullion price. In my view gold stocks made that relative low to gold bullion price in 2008 when commodities collapsed. So for equity managers who cannot buy pure bullion I would say look at gold mining stocks because if gold goes $35000 per ounce, it is going to be massive operating leverage for those mine. Gold stocks that actually produce gold haven’t hedge the gold and on jurisdictions where governments don’t cease the gold often.

I am turning to some Asian Pacific charts. I will just run through few charts on China that’s a big story for everywhere as I say Chinese market has underperformed this year. The key point to understand about Chinese stocks is that they are policy-driven. Indian stocks are earnings-driven while Chinese stocks are policy-driven. The Chinese government is tightening, that is why the market has been going down. When the Chinese government starts easing, the Chinese stocks will go up and then may be outperforming Indian stocks for a period.

Real GDP growth in China. China growth peaked in my view first quarter. It’s going to be slowing for the rest of this year probably an annualised growth 12% first quarter, may be down to 1% by the fourth quarter. That is going to create a lot of market noise. It will be negative for commodities. It’s not a big deal, but it will create a lot of noise. Chinese bank landing has slowed dramatically this year from the surge last year. China is a command economy banking system. So that looks dramatic, but that has seen the loan growth slowing to 18% which is still respectable, it’s not cold turkey.

China has been tightening on the property market. So what the stock market in China wants to see is more and more developers willing to cut property prices because it’s more than evident that developers are stopping raising prices and starting to cut prices. The greater the hope that the Chinese government stops tightening that process should play out in the next few months. As you can see here average daily residential sales of Chinese properties have fallen pretty dramatically since April when the government got more aggressive on tightening. You’d have read a lot about Chinese property bubbles, especially in America.

The Chinese property markets have a lot of excess supply, but it’s not a bubble because you have very conservative mortgage financing. What you do have there is a lot of high end developments sitting 80% empty. So Chinese people like to have lot of flat value and don’t like to have flats once used because they think a used flat is devalued just like a used car.

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What about the currency? When the renminbi starts to rise against the US dollar incrementally, maximum incremental appreciation will be of 5%. So the Chinese are going to let their currency go up slightly, but you are not going to get any aggressive moves.
I got a chart on Hong Kong just to highlight that we have got a big long-term asset inflation story in Asia. The quintessential asset inflation story in Asia is Hong Kong because of the supply constraints. In my view, Hong Kong property would sooner or later exceed 1997 peaks. You can get a mortagage in Hong Kong today for less than 1%. There you see, apart from Mumbai, this is a one property market in Asia with the massive supply constraint. This is a new supplier residential properties. So Hong Kong I think is a classic asset inflation story to monitor.
Turning to India, I would not go too much linked to India because everybody over here would know more about it than me, but we probably had a big inflation scare at the start of this year. In my view, it’s fundamentally silly to worry too much about inflationary pressures in Asia.
We should be celebrating the fact that there is inflation because if there wasn’t inflationary pressures in Asia, it would mean the world is facing a global depression because there is no growth dynamics in the developed world. So I am glad there is inflationary pressure. Having said that inflation is going to be coming off in India for the rest of this year which means that concern should recede. The central bank will continue to tighten incrementally. I think that’s sensible given the external environment, but I think incremental tightening that the RBI is doing is enough to upset stocks here unduly.

Bank credit growth. This I think is a very important chart. The Indian banking sector is a capitalist banking system unlike the Chinese system. So when the economies slow, the banks slow their lending whereas in China they were ordered to lend more. Now the credit cycle is picking up again, that’s a very healthy development. We are looking at about 20% loan growth in India this year. But I think the most important positive points of all is that the credit cycle is being led by infrastructure loans, not personal loans, as you can see from this chart. This raises the key point which in my view is the critical bearable for the Indian macroeconomic story this year and for the next 5 to 10 years is whether we can get an infrastructure cycle playing out.

The fact that infrastructure loans are leading the credit cycle is anecdotal evidence that is happening. If we get infrastructure happening in India, it’s quite possible that India can grow at 9% plus a year for the next 5 years at least, if not 10 years, which means that India in my view is going to be growing more rapidly than China. In my view a more basic trend growth in China is going to be 8% and that’s a growth rate that Chinese Communist party is going to be comfortable with. So the higher growth rate in India than in China, if the infrastructure story happens, is going to raise the profile of the Indian story globally.

Clearly if I am wrong and infrastructure does not happen in India, the whole Indian story becomes much less interesting. It’s not a disaster, but the country only grows just 5%-6%. So this is fixed investment relative to GDP in India. I am expecting this line to pick up again. Car sales, two-wheelers sales are going up. So the consumer story is still perfectly good story in India. It has picked up with the monetary easing, but as I say the key variable for me is infrastructure.

In terms of risks to the Indian markets, probably the biggest risk to the Indian market is simply the huge amount of foreign money. My own guess is that the next time there is a global hiccup, foreigners will sell India less aggressively than in 2008 for the simple reason that India has shown it can decouple from the US economic cycle.

The other point is the fact that foreign investors stay much in India is basically confirmation that India is a good story and those foreign investors who have not yet invested in India are all desperately waiting for a correction. So they can invest, that’s the mindset of them.

One year forward price to book. India is not cheap, but it’s not expensive in the context of Indian stock market history and in my view the Indian stock market will continue to trade at a premium to Asian and mother of emerging markets because the Indian market is like one big growth stock and growth stocks trade at a premium. Clearly, if you want to enter in an equity portfolio for dividends & you don’t buy India, then you should go and look at Singapore.

This chart perceives a useful chart for anybody who is trying to raise Indian funds in the room because it shows a huge outperformance of India – MSCI India relative to MSCI China in recent history. I will just end with the 3 charts on Japan & the reason I am doing this is because of my experience when I lived in Japan in the early 90s and the experience of Japan in the last 20 years is a potential lead indicator of what is going to happen in the West.

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“Though the market has been moving up it seems to be running out of steam as the indices are still moving within a strong range,” according to broking house ICICI Direct.

“In terms of valuation and from the angle of risk-return trade-off also, the domestic market is looking slightly vulnerable and is likely to see some downward correction in the short-term,” it adds.

Despite the overall rise, the domestic market has been under-performing against most of its global peers including China, which has seen a 19% rise in the same time period.

“Investors are cautious and the market is likely to see a side-way trading this week,” said Bonanza Portfolio assistant vice-president for research Avinash Gupta.

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Analysts further say, following the negative global cues, the market may open with negative bias on Monday, however, it may bounce back later on fund inflow.
“Tracking the weak US and European markets, Dalal Street may open with a negative bias on Monday. However, FIIs are still bullish about the India growth story and a sustained inflow will help the market to bounce-back,” said Geojit BNP Paribas research head Alex Mathews.Foreign Institutional Investors are positive on the domestic market and last week itself infused a net of `5,590 crore in local stocks, taking their total investment so far in 2010 to `51,185 crore as per the data with Sebi.

“Global parameters will be important to decide the direction of the domestic markets,” added Mr Mathews .

On the domestic front, the faster progress of the monsoon remains the key factor for the market. The IIP figures for June, which are due this week, will also be important and needs to be watched.

Domestic markets recovered during the past week and both indices made their fresh 2010 highs, as FIIs continued their buying spree. On a week-on-week basis, the Sensex went up by about 276 points, or 1.5%, to close at 18,143.99.

On Friday, Wall Street too settled in the red on sluggish jobs market data and unimpressive July retail sales figures. The Dow Jones lost 0.20% and S&P 500 ended 0.37% lower.

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Hotel was approved in 2024 but new plans for building now lodged

Plans for a new Hilton Hotel in Liverpool’s famous Mathew Street look to have been scrapped. In October 2024, the city council’s planning committee signed off on an expanded proposal for a 283-room hotel within the Cavern Walks shopping centre.

It was expected that through an agreement between JSM Company Group and entrepreneur Craig Greenwood, Hilton would bring its new line Motto by Hilton to the city. Plans for the venue also included a cinema room, function room and a bar.

However, new documents have been lodged with Liverpool City Council planners, solely by JSM, seeking to carry out internal change of use to install 85 serviced apartments on the first to seventh floors. Mr Greenwood had acquired Cavern Walks in a £7m joint venture with JSM in October 2022.

Two years later, the local authority gave its approval for the hotel plans to almost double, having already said yes to a 150-room set up previously. According to planning records, this was the subject of an article 40 disposal in February this year, meaning it was no longer held on file by the city council.

Initial plans sought to provide multi-bedded rooms, ranging from six to one within each room, to accommodate groups as well as individuals and couples. Speaking previously, Mr Greenwood, managing director of Greenwood Developments, said: “We are grateful to Liverpool City Council for their support as we progress with the development.

“The brand is a natural fit for the Cavern Quarter, and with its exceptional location in the heart of the action, the hotel will perfectly complement the area’s vibrant tourism scene.” The new proposal submitted by JSM in March said it would look to redevelop the site with a change of use from the previously approved hotel scheme to 85 serviced apartments located on the first to seventh floors, along with a gym and spa area located within the mezzanine floor.

The existing lower and upper ground floors will be refurbished, continuing their use of retail units. There are to be no external alterations to the property.

A design and access statement said the apartments will consist of a mixture of one and two beds, “providing luxury accommodation for visitors to Liverpool city centre. Each apartment has a large open plan kitchen/living/dining, along with spacious bedrooms and a bathroom.”

It added: “With the increase of visitors to the city centre, new serviced apartments in this significant, lively area will be a positive impact to Liverpool’s tourism. The application supports the need for varying developments to sustain population levels and to address the issues of urban density.

“The development can contribute to the identified regeneration programmes of the area and reduce the worsening decay of historic buildings within Liverpool city centre.” The LDRS attempted to contact JSM Company Group, Greenwood Developments and Hilton for comment.

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Michael P. Sealy is a Dallas-based real estate executive and Director of Corporate Strategy at Sealy & Company. He is known for his broad experience across the commercial real estate sector and his long-term, systems-based approach to business.

Sealy grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, in a family closely tied to the industry. His father spent more than six decades in commercial real estate, which shaped his early understanding of the business. He attended Loyola College Prep, where he played competitive sports and reached the state football final in his senior year. That experience helped build his discipline and focus.

He later graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in economics and a minor in anthropology. He began his career at Colliers International as a leasing broker. There, he developed a strong foundation in deal execution, market analysis, and client relationships.

In 2000, Sealy joined Sealy & Company. Over time, he worked across construction, development, capital markets, and investment analysis. He held several senior roles, including Chief Capital Markets Officer, before moving into corporate strategy.

Today, he focuses on long-term planning, cross-functional alignment, and strategic growth. His leadership style is shaped by hands-on experience across the full business.

Outside of work, Sealy is active in community and conservation efforts. He supports organizations such as the Momentous Institute, Habitat for Humanity, and United Way. He also spends time on wildlife conservation and land management, reflecting his interest in long-term stewardship.

Michael Sealy Dallas on Strategy, Experience, and Long-Term Thinking

Q: Let’s start at the beginning. How did your early life shape your career path?

I grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, in a family that was already in the real estate business. My father spent more than 60 years in the industry, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, so I was exposed to it early on. It was not just about business, though. It was about work ethic, accountability, and being consistent. That had a big impact on me.

I was also very involved in sports. I played football in high school, and we made it to the state final my senior year. That experience stayed with me. It teaches you discipline and how to work as part of a team.

Q: What did you take from your time at Southern Methodist University?

At SMU, I studied economics with a minor in anthropology. That combination was useful. Economics gives you a framework for understanding markets. Anthropology helps you understand people and behavior. In real estate, you need both.

It also gave me time to think about what I wanted to do in the long term. I knew I wanted to be in business, but I did not want to rush into one narrow role.

Q: Your first role was at Colliers International. What did that experience teach you?

I started as a leasing broker. It was a good place to begin because you learn quickly how deals actually happen. You deal with clients, you look at market data, and you have to execute.

It also teaches you that relationships matter. You can have all the data in the world, but if you cannot build trust, it is hard to move forward.

Q: You joined Sealy & Company in 2000. What was your approach to growing within the firm?

I did not want to stay in one area. I wanted to understand the full business. So I worked across different departments. Construction, development, capital markets, investment analysis.

Each role gave me a different view. Over time, that builds a more complete picture. It also helps when you make decisions later because you understand how those decisions affect different teams.

Q: How did those roles prepare you for your current position in corporate strategy?

My current role is about connecting the dots. Strategy is not just one thing. It is how everything works together.

Because I have worked in different parts of the business, I can look at opportunities from multiple angles. I can think about execution, capital, and long-term impact simultaneously.

That kind of perspective only comes from experience.

Q: What does your day-to-day work look like now?

Much of it focuses on evaluating opportunities and supporting long-term planning. I work with different teams across the company to align strategy and execution.

It is less about individual deals and more about the broader direction of the business. You are looking at how decisions today affect the company over time.

Q: How would you describe your leadership style?

It is shaped by experience. When you have worked in different roles, you understand the details. You know what teams are dealing with.

That makes you more collaborative. You listen more. You try to understand before making decisions.

I also think consistency matters. You cannot just react to short-term changes. You need to stay focused on long-term goals.

Q: Outside of work, you are involved in conservation and community efforts. Why is that important to you?

I spend a lot of time outdoors. Hunting, fishing, and managing land for wildlife. It is something I care about.

Conservation is a long-term effort. You are thinking about how to preserve something over time. That mindset is similar to business in some ways.

I am also involved with organizations like the Salesmanship Club of Dallas and the Momentous Institute. Giving back is important. It keeps you connected to the community.

Q: What lessons have stayed with you throughout your career?

Experience matters. The more you understand, the better decisions you can make.

I also think it is important to stay patient. Not everything happens quickly. Building knowledge over time is what makes a difference.

And finally, you need to stay adaptable. Markets change. Industries change. You have to be able to adjust while staying grounded in what you know.

When Republicans go for tax cuts and economic growth, they win elections. When they ignore the growth message, and especially when they ignore the growth message and spend more and more taxpayer money, they lose elections. It’s a simple formula, and I am worried that they are about to make a big mistake.

It’s not that our economy is collapsing, it is most certainly holding up very well during wartime. But there is $4 gas and a lot of prices are still rising. And affordability is important. And even the dependable TIPP poll shows that four out of 10 voters think their taxes are higher this year, and only one out of 10 think they’re lower. This despite the numerous tax cuts in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, which regrettably was never properly sold to American voters.

Last night, I respectfully suggested this to a Senate leadership Republican, Shelley Moore Capito. “I don’t understand what you all are doing with these bills. You’re not going to re-fund” the Department of Homeland Security, I said. “No tax cuts, no inflation indexing for capital gains, no Pentagon military supplement, no voting rights bill, no waste, fraud, and abuse.” 

I added: “Senator Capito, you have to help me because I don’t understand. I think you are all going down the wrong road, ma’am” And she defended the narrow bill.

Yet I think there’s only going to be room for one big budget bill that could pass with 50 votes plus the vice president. This is the reconciliation process. The way matters stand now, the Senate is pushing a so-called “skinny” bill that just finances ICE and CBP for 3.5 years, for about $70 billion. 

Now I’m all for border security and ICE and the Customs bureau. Oddly enough, though, the rest of DHS, Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Transportation Security Administration is not even included in this bill. Then again, the whole world wants voting rights reform to require photo identification and citizenship proof. But the GOP is ignoring that. Go figure. With $4 gas, a necessary casualty of destroying Iran, which I fully support, it’s a small price to pay. nonetheless working folks could use some more money in their pockets with more tax cuts.

Going back to President Reagan, supply-side tax cuts have always resonated positively with voters. President George W. Bush won the midterms by defending America against jihadists and by across-the-board tax cuts. That was back in 2002. Inflation index capital gains might perk up home sales to help the housing slump. Lowering marginal tax rates at least for the middle incomes. And what about waste, fraud, and abuse?

The Medicare administrator, Mehmet Oz, has already found $100 billion worth at Los Angeles alone. Where’s that in this budget? What about filling out the DOGE waste, fraud, and abuse? Hundreds of billions of dollars multiplied over 10 years would be phenomenal deficit reduction, on top of a growthier economy.

So far, we’re not hearing anything about these crucial policies. And they are popular policies. And my best guess is there’s only going to be one bite out of the fiscal apple, just like last year when I made the exact same argument. Let’s have popular policies that will attract all of the Republicans to a more ambitious budget bill that will show real leadership and accomplishment going into the midterm elections.

Please stop telling me what you can’t do and instead start telling working folks everywhere what can be done to help them out and make America growthier again. That’s a midterm victory.