Burnaby, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 14, 2020) -  Canlan Ice Sports Corp. (TSX: ICE) (the "Corporation") today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Overview of Q1 2020

• As at March 31, 2020, the Company was in a strong liquidity position with $13.4 million of cash on hand and access to available credit lines;

• As previously reported, the Corporation's recreation facilities were temporarily closed end of day March 13, 2020 in response to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19);

• Due to the closure, approximately 20% of the Company's quarterly sport surface inventory was unavailable for sale. As a result, total revenue of $20.9 million decreased by $5.1 million or 19.6% while same store revenue of $20.0 million decreased by $3.8 million or 15.9% mainly due to the facility closures; and

• The revenue decline resulted in EBITDA decreasing by 37.5% to $4.8 million compared to 2019.

First Quarter Results

¹ Earnings 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.

 

First Quarter Results
(three months ended March 31, 2020 compared with three months ended March 31, 2019)

• Total revenue of $20.9 million decreased by $5.1 million or 19.6% compared to 2019. Same store revenue of $20.0 million decreased by $3.8 million or 15.9% due to facility closures on March 13, 2020;

• Total facility expenses of $14.8 million decreased by $2.2 million or 13.0% compared to 2019. Same store facility expenses of $14.0 million decreased by $1.1 million or 7.3% also due to the closure of facilities;

• As a result, Q1 EBITDA of $4.8 million declined by $2.9 million or 37.5%; and

• After depreciation, financing costs, and foreign exchange gains, net earnings for the quarter were $1.0 million or $0.08 per share compared to $3.8 million or $0.28 per share a year ago.

Managing the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

The Company is presently managing the repercussions from the impact of the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that has resulted in a temporary closure of the Company's recreation facilities in Canada and the United States as at the end of business day March 13, 2020. As a result, the Company has established measures to preserve liquidity and to strengthen the Company's resilience to deal with the effects of a reduction in business activity. Measures taken to date include:

• reduction of labour and other operating costs;
• payment deferrals arranged with various creditors where possible;
• application for government subsidies; and
• collaboration with the Company's senior lenders to enable the Company to access additional credit facilities if required.

The extent of the impact of the pandemic will vary depending on the duration of the closures, government regulations, and the general economic activity in Canada and the United States and the pace of recovery following the pandemic cannot be accurately predicted at this time.

"Certainly, since the onset of the pandemic, it has been a challenging time for Canlan, our customers, partners and for our staff. Many within our team have had to endure a temporary layoff, and those that remain are wearing many hats," said Canlan's CEO, Joey St-Aubin. "To all of the Canlan team, whether currently active or temporarily laid off, I am absolutely grateful for your support and dedication to Canlan, to our customers and everyone's safety. Besides the outstanding and progressive work that has been achieved by our team so far to enhance our resilience, I am so pleased and excited about the projects that are rapidly progressing related to facility maintenance, customer engagement, reopening scenario planning and the innovation that has come from this closure that will put us in a great position to restart operations as soon it is appropriate to do so. To our customers, I thank you for your patience and cooperation and to our suppliers and creditors that have worked with us to provide payment deferrals, we thank you for your ongoing support and commitment through this irregular period. We are all looking forward to resuming operations as soon as possible."

"Our past ability to build liquidity enabled us to enter this business interruption period in a position of strength. Our strong balance sheet has provided a reasonable financial runway upon which to navigate through this pandemic," added Canlan's CFO, Ivan Wu.

Dividend Policy

Given 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, Canlan's Board of Directors suspended the payment of dividends on March 24, 2020 and will continue to do so until further notice. 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 work towards plans for the resumption of business operations.

Filings

Canlan's financial statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis for the period ended March 31, 2020 will be available via SEDAR on or before May 15, 2020 and through the Company's website, .

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 18 facilities in Canada and the United States with 49 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
CFO
604 736 9152

To view the source version of this press release, please visit