Alaris Royalty Corp. Releases Q3 2017 Financial Results

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CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alaris Royalty Corp. (“Alaris” or the "Corporation") (TSX:AD) is pleased to announce its results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017. The results are prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).

Highlights:

• Made the single largest investment in the Corporation’s history in the quarter with a USD$85 million contribution to Sales Benchmark Index, LLC (“SBI”) for new annual distributions of USD$11.05 million;
• Completed follow on contributions in the quarter to two current partners: Sandbox (USD$6.0 million) and ccComm (USD$2.2 million) for new annual distributions of USD$1.4 million;
• Year to date gross deployment of approximately CAD$146.5 million;
• Recorded a significant gain on redemption of the units in Sequel Youth and Family Services, LLC (“Sequel”) as a result of the sale of Sequel to a third party. The Corporation contributed USD$73.5 million and received USD$95.6 million on exit in addition to the USD$47.2 million in distributions received resulting in a gain of USD$21.7 million and an IRR of 29% (CAD);
• As a result of a significantly smaller than expected award from an international tribunal for Group SM, the Corporation wrote off all of the CAD$9.8 million of unpaid distributions, the entire $41.0 million in value for preferred units and moved unsecured promissory notes of $17 million from current to long term;
• Increased net cash from operating activities by 39.5% on a per share basis due to reduced corporate costs, legal and accounting fees, change in taxes payable and realized gains on forward contracts that were well in excess of the spot rate;
• Recorded revenue from Partners of $23.8 million, $0.65 per share, up from the second quarter of 2017 ($22.8 million, $0.62 per share) and up from the prior year period ($22.3 million, $0.64 per share) due to positive distribution resets from a number of current Partners and net new capital deployment; and
• Recorded Normalized EBITDA of $20.8 million, $0.578 per share, up from the second quarter of 2017 ($19.1 million, $0.52 per share), and up from the prior year period ($20.7 million, $0.57 per share).

¹Using the weighted average shares outstanding for the period.

The Corporation recorded a loss of $22.0 million, Normalized Earnings of $16.1 million, EBITDA of negative $9.8 million and Normalized EBITDA of $20.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2017 compared to earnings of $17.0 million, Normalized Earnings of $13.7 million, EBITDA of $24.6 million and Normalized EBITDA of $20.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2016. The three months ended September 30, 2017 saw increases in both revenue and normalized EBITDA on a per share basis. The 0.5% increase in Normalized EBITDA is a result of the addition of new partners and follow on contributions (SBI, Accscient, ccComm (original transaction and the follow on in the current period), Matisia and Sandbox follow on transaction), higher distributions from existing partners (Labstat, FED, DNT, Planet Fitness, Sandbox, SCR) and lower corporate costs. These were partially offset by the redemptions from Solowave (September 2016) and MAHC (December 2016) and no distributions from Kimco, and the Corporation only recorded distributions as received for Group SM ($0.3 million in the three months ending September 30, 2017 compared to $1.6 million for the comparable 2016 period). The driver of the decrease in earnings is attributable to a $41.0 million impairment to the Group SM units, $7 million of unrealized non-cash foreign exchange losses (primarily on intercompany loans) and $14.5 million of current taxes as a result of the gain on redemption of the Sequel units, which was partially offset by gain from Sequel of $26.7 million.

The redemption for Sequel was the ninth exit event (seven with positive returns, two with negative) in the Corporation’s history and adds to an impressive track record where on CAD$350 million invested, the Corporation has received CAD$420 in exit proceeds in addition to CAD$214 million in annual distributions. Of note, in only one of those nine exits was Alaris refinanced – most redemptions occurring as a result of the sale of the underlying business. The details of each exit event are available in the Corporate Presentation available on Alaris’ website.

“A busy quarter that included our largest investment ever in SBI, a couple of follow on investments and the conclusion of an enormously successful investment in Sequel was tempered by the disappointing news out of Group SM. However, the impact of Group SM was balance sheet focused as our payout ratio and dividend sustainability were not impacted as we have not been counting on any material distributions from Group SM for some time. Our pipeline of opportunities with new and current partners remains robust and we look forward to delivering continued growth in revenue and Normalized EBITDA on a gross and per share basis,” said Darren Driscoll, Chief Financial Officer.

Outlook

Based on Alaris’ current agreements with its partners, it expects revenues of approximately $90.0 million for 2017 (no revenue accrued for Kimco or Group SM, $100 thousand per month for SCR).  Under those same assumptions, for the fourth quarter of 2017 those same agreements provide for revenues of approximately $22.6 million for the Corporation. Annual general and administrative expenses are currently estimated at $8.3 million annually and include all public company costs.

The Corporation’s Annualized Payout Ratio is under 95% with partial distributions from SCR which re-commenced in July 2017.

The senior debt facility was drawn to $115.1 million at September 30, 2017, with the capacity to draw up to another $81 million based on current covenants. The annual interest rate on that debt was approximately 4.95% at September 30, 2017 and remains at that level today.

The Consolidated Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Comprehensive Income, and Statement of Cash Flows are attached to this news release. Alaris’ financial statements and MD&A are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on our website at www.alarisroyalty.com.

About the Corporation:
Alaris provides alternative financing to private companies (“Partners”) in exchange for royalties or distributions with the principal objective of generating stable and predictable cash flows for dividend payments to its shareholders.  Distributions from the Partners are adjusted annually based on the percentage change of a “top-line” financial performance measure such as gross margin or same store sales and rank in priority to the owner’s common equity position.

Non-IFRS Measures
The terms EBITDA, Normalized EBITDA and Annualized Payout Ratio are financial measures used in this news release that are not standard measures under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). The Corporation’s method of calculating EBITDA, Normalized EBITDA and Annualized Payout ratio may differ from the methods used by other issuers. Therefore, the Corporation’s EBITDA, Normalized EBITDA and Annualized Payout Ratio may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. 

Annualized Payout Ratio:  Annualized payout ratio refers to Alaris’ total annualized dividend per share expected to be paid over the next twelve months divided by the estimated net cash from operating activities per share Alaris expects to generate over the same twelve-month period (after giving effect to the impact of all information disclosed as of the date of this report).

EBITDA refers to net earnings (loss) determined in accordance with IFRS, before depreciation and amortization, net of gain or loss on disposal of capital assets, interest expense and income tax expense. EBITDA is used by management and many investors to determine the ability of an issuer to generate cash from operations. Management believes EBITDA is a useful supplemental measure from which to determine the Corporation’s ability to generate cash available for debt service, working capital, capital expenditures, income taxes and dividends. The Corporation has provided a reconciliation of net income to EBITDA in this news release.

Normalized EBITDA refers to EBITDA excluding items that are non-recurring in nature and is calculated by adjusting for non-recurring expenses and gains to EBITDA.  Management deems non-recurring items to be unusual and/or infrequent items that the Corporation incurs outside of its common day-to-day operations. For the period ended September 30, 2017, the gain on the redemption of the LifeMark, Solowave, MAHC and Sequel units, the impairment of the KMH and Group SM units, the write off of the interest on the KMH promissory notes, bad debt expense related to unpaid distributions from Group SM, the impairment and accretion of the KMH secured note, one-time penalties and fees related to the CRA GST audit (and the subsequent recovered amount) are considered by management to be non-recurring charges. Foreign exchange realized and unrealized gains and losses are recurring but not considered part of operating results and excluded from EBITDA on an ongoing basis.  Adjusting for these non-recurring items allows management to assess EBITDA from ongoing operations.

Normalized Earnings refers to earnings excluding items that are non-recurring in nature and is calculated by adjusting for non-recurring expenses, gains, non-cash unrealized gains and losses on foreign exchange items and the net tax impact of the above adjustments to earnings. Management deems non-recurring items to be unusual and/or infrequent items that the Corporation incurs outside of its common day-to-day operations. The corresponding tax impact of the all non-recurring items is adjusted in Normalized Earnings. For the period ended September 30, 2017, the gain on the redemption of the LifeMark, Solowave, MAHC and Sequel units, the impairment of the KMH and Group SM units, the write off of the interest on the KMH promissory notes, bad debt expense related to unpaid distributions from Group SM, the impairment and accretion of the KMH secured note are considered by management to be non-recurring charges. Foreign exchange realized and unrealized gains and losses are recurring but not considered part of operating results and excluded from earnings on an ongoing basis.

The terms EBITDA and Normalized EBITDA should only be used in conjunction with the Corporation’s annual audited and quarterly reviewed financial statements, excerpts of which are available below, while complete versions are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this news release are forward‑looking statements, including, without limitation, management's expectations, intentions and beliefs concerning the growth, results of operations, performance of the Corporation and the Private Company Partners, the future financial position or results of the Corporation, business strategy, and plans and objectives of or involving the Corporation or the Partners.  Many of these statements can be identified by looking for words such as "believe", "expects", "will", "intends", "projects", "anticipates", "estimates", "continues" or similar words or the negative thereof. In particular, this news release contains forward‑looking statements regarding the anticipated financial and operating performance of the Partners in 2017, the revenues/contractual distributions to be received by Alaris in 2017 (annually and quarterly), the Annualized Payout Ratio, its general and administrative expenses in 2017, and the cash requirements of the Corporation in 2017. To the extent any forward-looking statements herein constitute a financial outlook, they were approved by management as of the date hereof and have been included to provide an understanding with respect to Alaris' financial performance and are subject to the same risks and assumptions disclosed herein. There can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which these forward looking statements are based will occur.

By their nature, forward-looking statements require Alaris to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties.  Assumptions about the performance of the Canadian and U.S. economies in 2017 and how that will affect Alaris’ business and that of its Partners are material factors considered by Alaris management when setting the outlook for Alaris.  Key assumptions include, but are not limited to, assumptions that the Canadian and U.S. economies will grow moderately in 2018, that interest rates will not rise in a material way over the next 12 to 24 months, that the Partners will continue to make distributions to Alaris as and when required, that the businesses of the Partners will continue to grow, that the Corporation will experience net positive resets to its annual royalties and distributions from its Partners in 2018, more private companies will require access to alternative sources of capital, and that Alaris will have the ability to raise required equity and/or debt financing on acceptable terms.  Management of Alaris has also assumed that capital markets will remain stable and that the Canadian and U.S. dollar trading pair will remain in a range of approximately plus or minus 10% over the next 6 months.  In determining expectations for economic growth, management of Alaris primarily considers historical economic data provided by the Canadian and U.S. governments and their agencies.

There can be no assurance that the assumptions, plans, intentions or expectations upon which these forward‑looking statements are based will occur.  Forward‑looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions and should not be read as guarantees or assurances of future performance. The actual results of the Corporation and the Partners could materially differ from those anticipated in the forward‑looking statements contained herein as a result of certain risk factors, including, but not limited to, the following: the dependence of Alaris on the Partners; reliance on key personnel; general economic conditions; failure to complete or realize the anticipated benefit of Alaris’ financing arrangements with the Partners; a failure to obtain required regulatory approvals on a timely basis or at all; changes in legislation and regulations and the interpretations thereof; risks relating to the Partners and their businesses, including, without limitation, a material change in the operations of a Partner or the industries they operate in; inability to close additional Partner contributions in a timely fashion, or at all; a change in the ability of the Partners to continue to pay Alaris’ preferred distributions; a change in the unaudited information provided to the Corporation; and a failure to realize the benefits of any concessions or relief measures provided by Alaris to any Partner.  Additional risks that may cause actual results to vary from those indicated are discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” and “Forward Looking Statements” in the Corporation’s Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, which is filed under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com and on its website at www.alarisroyalty.com.  Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information contained in this news release.  Statements containing forward‑looking information reflect management's current beliefs and assumptions based on information in its possession on the date of this news release.  Although management believes that the expectations represented in such forward‑looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

For more information please contact:

Curtis Krawetz
Vice President, Investments and Investor Relations
Alaris Royalty Corp.
403-221-7305