Dundee Corporation Announces Board Appointments and Reports Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

TORONTO, Aug. 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dundee Corporation (TSX: DC.A) (the “Corporation” or “Dundee”) today announced two appointments to its board of directors and is also reporting its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018. The Corporation is pleased to announce the appointment of Lila A. Murphy and Peter B. Nixon to its board of directors, effective immediately.

Lila A. Murphy was most recently Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Federated Investors, one of the largest U.S. investment management firms with over $360 billion in assets under management. Based in Dallas, Texas, she has also developed deep industry expertise in the natural resources sector and in her role was responsible for portfolio management and fundamental analysis in the alternative equity investment area. She has more than 25 years of investment experience and previously held senior positions at David W. Tice & Associates Inc. and Lee Financial Corporation. Ms. Murphy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Peter B. Nixon has spent more than three decades in the investment industry, specializing in the natural resource sector and working primarily in research and institutional sales. He was also a founder of the investment firm Goepel Shields & Partners and was subsequently President of the firm’s subsidiary in the United States. Mr. Nixon was Vice President of Dundee Securities Corporation from June 1998 to December 2000, where his mandate was to expand the company’s activities in the United States. He has served on the board of directors of a number of publicly traded mining companies over the last several years. He is also a member of The Institute of Corporate Directors.

“On behalf of my fellow directors I would like to welcome Lila and Peter to the board at Dundee Corporation,” said Jonathan Goodman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Lila and Peter both bring decades of experience in the natural resources sector and investment industry to our board. Their combined expertise will be a significant addition to the skills matrix of our board and will help us as we continue with the strategic initiatives which are focused on increasing our merchant banking capabilities in the resources sector.”

FINANCIAL RESULTS
During the second quarter of 2018, the Corporation incurred a net loss attributable to owners of Dundee Corporation of $76.9 million, or a loss of $1.34 per share, compared to a net loss of $24.5 million or $0.45 per share generated in the second quarter of the prior year.  Operating results in the second quarter of 2018 include losses from discontinued operations of $1.9 million, compared with earnings from discontinued operations of $4.3 million during the same quarter of the prior year.

“Our focus in the second quarter was on the ongoing repositioning of our overall investment portfolio,” said Mr. Goodman. “As an investment company we are focused on improving capital allocation. To that end, we will make decisions that are in the best long-term interests of the Corporation and this could include the sale or restructuring of any portfolio holdings as we deem necessary and prudent.”

“At Parq Vancouver, the ramp up of operations proceeded at a slower than anticipated pace, and continues to be exacerbated by the recent implementation of anti-money laundering initiatives which are having an adverse impact on the gaming industry in British Columbia,” added Mr. Goodman.

• During the second quarter of 2018, loss from investments was $16.1 million, compared with loss from investments of $24.8 million in the same period of the prior year.
   
• Consolidated revenues were $43.5 million during the second quarter of 2018, compared with revenues of $51.4 million in the same quarter of the prior year.
   
• During the current quarter, the Corporation recognized a loss from its equity accounted investments of $38.6 million, compared with a gain of $0.1 million in the second quarter of 2017.
   
• On a year-to-date basis, the Corporation incurred a loss attributable to owners of the Corporation of $101.7 million, compared with net earnings attributable to owners of the Corporation of $5.0 million in the same period of 2017.
   
• At the head office level, the Corporation held cash of $30.5 million and a portfolio of publicly traded securities with a total value of $164.4 million at the end of June 2018.  There were no amounts owing pursuant to the Corporation’s bank debt arrangements at June 30, 2018. 

OPERATIONAL REVIEW

• United Hydrocarbon International Corp. (“UHIC”) continues to advance its assets in Chad and it is expected that the first oil wells will be drilled in the third quarter of 2018. UHIC recognized net earnings of $0.7 million for the current quarter of 2018, including the $0.9 million of fair value changes.
• The Corporation holds a 20.38% interest in Dundee Precious Metals (“DPM”), an international precious metals mining company. In the second quarter, DPM produced 48,272 ounces of gold and 8.5 million pounds of copper and increased its full-year gold guidance range from 165,000 – 195,000 ounces, to 180,000 – 200,000 ounces. Construction of DPM’s Krumovgrad mine in Bulgaria is proceeding under budget and remains on track for first gold production in the fourth quarter of 2018.
• During the quarter, the Corporation incurred a $38.8 million equity loss from its investment in Parq Vancouver, which was comprised of $16.5 million proportional losses and an additional write down of $22.3 million, resulting from changes to the long term forecasts at Parq Vancouver. The Corporation also provided $15.5 million in funds to Parq Vancouver in the form of a promissory note.
• Dundee Sustainable Technologies Inc. (“Dundee Technologies”) incurred a pre-tax operating loss of $1.5 million during the first half of 2018, compared with a pre-tax operating loss of $1.8 million incurred in the first half of 2017.  Dundee Technologies continues to expand the provision of technical services in the mining industry to evaluate processing alternatives using its state of the art metallurgy plant and skilled technical team.
  
• Operational expenses at head office were higher in the second quarter as a result of additional costs for severance, committed bonus, leasehold and furniture write offs relating to space the Corporation sublet and additional rent costs  related to the continued transition to smaller operations.
• As previously disclosed, and as a result of a transfer out of $134.0 million of AUM to an external manager in May 2018, Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel Inc. (“GCIC”) reported its AUM of $66.9 million at June 30, 2018, compared with $194.1 million at December 31, 2017.

SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY ON A PER SHARE BASIS

SECOND QUARTER 2018 CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST DETAILS
The Corporation’s unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements, along with the accompanying management’s discussion and analysis have been filed on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“SEDAR”) and may be viewed by interested parties under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com or the Corporation’s website at www.dundeecorp.com.

The Corporation will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its second quarter 2018 financial results. The details for the event are as follows:

The conference call will be archived for replay until Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at midnight. To access the archived conference call, please dial 1.855.859.2056 or 1.416.849.0833 and enter the encore code 3482877. An archive of the audio webcast will also be posted to Dundee Corporation’s website.

ABOUT DUNDEE CORPORATION
Dundee Corporation is a public Canadian independent holding company, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “DC.A”. Through its operating subsidiaries, Dundee Corporation is engaged in diverse business activities in the areas of investment advisory, corporate finance, energy, resources, agriculture, real estate and infrastructure. Dundee Corporation also holds, directly and indirectly, a portfolio of investments mostly in these key areas, as well as other select investments in both publicly listed and private enterprises.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects Dundee Corporation’s current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Dundee Corporation’s control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Annual Information Form of Dundee Corporation and subsequent filings made with securities commissions in Canada. Dundee Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

John Vincic
Investor and Media Relations
Dundee Corporation
(647) 402-6375