Burnaby, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2020) -   (TSX: ICE) (the "Corporation") today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019. The Corporation also provided an update on the temporary closure of recreation facilities to help slow the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19.

Overview of 2019

• Total revenue of $88.3 million increased by $0.7 million or 0.8% compared to 2018; same store revenue increased by $2.2 million or 2.7%;

• EBITDA of $13.2 million decreased by $1.4 million or 9.7% from 2018; same store EBITDA of $13.3 million decreased by $1.6 million or 10.5% as incremental costs of $1.3 million related to the Company's roof remediation program were incurred; For comparative purposes, excluding the effects of incremental roof project costs and changes to accounting policies on lease expense as required by International Financial Reporting Standards, same store EBITDA for 2019 was $14.6 million compared to $14.9 million a year ago;

• On March 19, 2019, the Company completed the purchase of a 3-pad ice rink facility in West Dundee, Illinois for US$10.0 million, increasing its footprint in Chicagoland. Post-acquisition capital projects to upgrade equipment, locker rooms and offices were completed and operating results have increased since the acquisition; and

• During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recognized a gain on sale of assets of $1.6 million which included divestiture of a recreation property and three parcels of vacant land.

Fourth Quarter and Annual Results

 

 

                                                          

¹Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is often used as a measure of financial performance. However, EBITDA is not a term that has specific meaning in accordance with IFRS, and may be calculated differently by other companies. Canlan reconciles EBITDA to its net earnings.

Fourth Quarter Results
(three months ended December 31, 2019 compared with three months ended December 31, 2018)

• Same store Q4 revenue of $22.9 million increased by $0.3 million or 1.2% due to higher contract ice rentals, increased pricing and registrations in adult hockey leagues and incremental food & beverage revenue;
• Same store operating costs of $16.9 million, increased by $0.8 million or 5.1% principally due to higher roof remediation expenses as planned and the expense of new business due diligence costs, offset by the effect of the adoption of IFRS 16 - Leases; and
• EBITDA was $4.5 million compared to $5.5 million in 2018.

2019 Year End Results
(year ended December 31, 2019 compared with year ended December 31, 2018)

• Same store revenue of $82.3 million increased $2.2 million or 2.7% compared to 2018;
• Main drivers of increase were pricing and growth in adult hockey leagues, soccer leagues, hockey tournament registrations, and contract ice/field rentals;
• Same store facility operating costs of $63.1 million in 2019 increased by $2.3 million or 3.7% compared to 2018;
• Higher roof remediation expense related to the Corporation's comprehensive roof refurbishment program plus increases on selling expenses are the main factors for the increase in operating costs;
• Corporate G&A expenses of $5.8 million remained steady compared to 2018;
• After G&A, same store EBITDA of $13.3 million decreased by $1.6 million or 10.5% as incremental costs of $1.3 million related to the Company's roof remediation program were incurred;
• During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recognized a gain on sale of assets of $1.6 million which included divestiture of a recreation property and three parcels of excess land;
• After recording a total of $10.8 million related to finance costs, depreciation, gain on sale of assets, foreign exchange, and income tax expense, net earnings for the year was $2.4 million or $0.18 per share compared to $4.5 million or $0.34 per share a year ago.
• Also, on March 19, 2019, the Company completed the purchase of a 3-pad ice rink facility in West Dundee, Illinois for US$10.0 million, increasing its footprint in Chicagoland. Post-acquisition capital projects to upgrade equipment, locker rooms and offices were completed and operating results have increased since acquisition;

"While 2018 was a year of labour optimization, 2019 was a year of asset optimization," said Canlan's CEO, Joey St-Aubin. "We transitioned ownership of our ice rink facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana back to a local investor group and we prepared our facility in Brossard, Quebec for sale. Several parcels of surplus land in our portfolio were also converted to cash during the year. In addition to divestitures, we purchased Ice Sports West Dundee and the team has successfully integrated this 3-pad ice-rink facility into the Canlan portfolio. Completing these projects, along with the continued execution of our comprehensive roof refurbishment plan and the implementation of a new customer relations management system certainly kept us all very busy during the year."

"The many transitions during the year resulted in a slight decrease to EBITDA; however, our major maintenance projects were on budget and our roof remediation program remains on track," added Canlan's CFO, Ivan Wu. "The addition of Ice Sports West Dundee is also anticipated to enhance our market position in the Chicagoland area. In addition, sale transactions related to our facility in Quebec and a parcel of excess land in Ontario are expected to close in 2020 and will increase our cash reserves."

COVID-19

"As we recently reported, Canlan has voluntarily suspended operations and closed all facilities to the public as a preventative measure against the spread of COVID-19, effective close of business Friday, March 13, 2020," said Mr. St-Aubin. "The ongoing health and safety of our communities remains our most important consideration at this time. Our current focus is to provide appropriate support for our staff and our customers and plan for a smooth return to full operations when it is safe to reopen our facilities. We thank all of our stakeholders for their patience during this period."

Dividend Policy

Notwithstanding our satisfaction with the Company's financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2019, steps recently implemented by management to preserve cash balances, combined with the austerity being asked of our employees, our customers, our suppliers and our financial partners in addition to the support granted by various levels of Government for the payment of taxes, Canlan's Board has suspended payment of dividends. Mr. St. Aubin said, "we thank all our business constituents for their patience and understanding and in this context, we can see no way to rationalize the continuation of dividends given the hardship that our various communities are enduring." Canlan's Board of Directors reviews the Corporation's dividend policy on a quarterly basis and will continue to monitor this situation and respond accordingly as we receive more clarity on what our future holds.

Canlan's financial statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019 will be available via SEDAR on or before March 30, 2020.

About Canlan

Canlan Ice Sports Corp. is the North American leader in the development, operations and ownership of multi-purpose recreation and entertainment facilities. We are the largest private sector owner and operator of recreation facilities in North America and currently own, lease and/or manage 20 facilities in Canada and the United States with 53 ice surfaces, as well as five indoor soccer fields, and 15 sport, volleyball, and basketball courts. To learn more about Canlan please visit .

Canlan Ice Sports Corp. is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ICE."

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this News Release may constitute ''forward looking'' statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. When used in this News Release, such statements may use such words as ''may'', ''will'', ''expect'', ''believe'', ''plan'' and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this News Release. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or underlying such forward-looking statements are the effects of, as well as changes in: international, national and local business and economic conditions; political or economic instability in the Corporation's markets; competition; legislation and governmental regulation; and accounting policies and practices. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

For more information:
Canlan Ice Sports Corp.
Ivan Wu
Chief Financial Officer
604 736 9152

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