Axia Reports Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2013

CALGARY, March 11, 2014 /CNW/ -

2013 Highlights

• Business unit revenue of $110.0 million grew 17% year over year.
  
  
• Business unit EBITDA of $29.5 million was up 34% from $22.0 million in 2012.  EBITDA margin expanded to 27% in 2013 from 23% in 2012.
  
  
• IFRS net income of $1.9 million or $0.03 per share compared to $6.2 million or $0.11 per share for the prior year.  Net income, excluding the adjustments related to the sale of investments, the non-cash expenses in Corporate and the change in tax estimate was $7.8 million or $0.12 per share.
  
  
• Axia completed the sale of its interest in OpenNet and in Xarxa Oberta for total proceeds of $39.4 million.
  
  
• In Alberta, Axia extended a key contractual relationship with the Government of Alberta through to June 30, 2018 and simplified its historically complex relationship with Bell into a standard commercial relationship.
  
  
• Cash and investments were $38.8 million at December 31, 2013 compared to $2.3 million a year ago.

Q4 2013 HIGHLIGHTS

• Business unit revenue of $31.5 million grew 28% from $24.6 million in Q4 2012.
  
  
• Business unit EBITDA of $8.1 million was up 12% year-over-year.
  
  
• IFRS net loss of $2.0 million or $(0.03) per share compared to a loss of $2.9 million or $(0.03) per share for the prior year.  Excluding the adjustment related to the change in tax estimate, net loss was $0.2 million or $0.00 per share.
  
  
• Customer connections of 9,328 grew 10% from 8,512 in Q4 2012.
  
  
• Covage continues to generate positive results. As a result, during the quarter Covage made its first annual cash interest payment of $2.8 million to Axia.

CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS

• On January 6, 2014, Axia declared an initial quarterly dividend of $0.0125 per share.
  
  
• On March 7, 2014, Axia entered into a senior secured Credit Facility with a Canadian chartered bank for $20.0 million.  The facility will be used to finance the construction of fibre connecting to the Alberta SuperNet with principle repayments amortized until June 30, 2018. Advances under the Credit Facility are subject to fees and interest at an indicative fixed term rate of less than 4.0%.

* Axia's business unit summary includes 100% of the financial and operational results of Axia North America and Covage.  Please see the audited consolidated financial statements and related Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) for more details.

The audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2013 and related MD&A have been reviewed and approved by Axia's Audit Committee and Board of Directors. Axia recognizes that the majority of its investors are now accessing Axia's corporate and financial information either through pushed news services, directly from Axia's corporate website or SEDAR. Thus, Axia has prepared this truncated news release to alert investors to its results and that a more detailed explanation and analysis is readily available in the MD&A. These reports have been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and also posted at www.axia.com.

Notice of Conference Call

Axia will hold a conference call with the investment community on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 9 a.m. (Eastern), 7 a.m. (Mountain). To participate in the conference call, please dial [phone] in Toronto and internationally. If you are connecting from other parts of Canada, dial 1-888-231-8191. Please call ten minutes prior to the start of the call. In addition, a live webcast (listen only mode) of the conference call will be available at:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/1289157/1422231

A replay of the conference call will be available at [phone] or 1-855-859-2056, passcode 35371749 from 6 p.m. (Eastern) Tuesday, March 11, 2014 to midnight (Eastern) Tuesday, March 18, 2014 or through the webcast archives at www.newswire.ca.

About Axia

Axia owns, operates and sells services over fibre optic communications infrastructure.  Axia trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "AXX".

This News Release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "should", "believe", "anticipate", "may", "plan", "will", "continue", "intend", "expect", "estimate" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements are based on our current expectations, estimates, forecasts and assumptions about the operating environment, economies and markets in which we operate and are subject to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Examples of these statements would include those where Axia forecasts its success and timing in winning new NGN business, the timing and amount of future dividend payments, the timing of completion and estimated total costs of our networks, the revenues and operating costs associated with these networks over time, and Axia's ability to generate future cash flows and avail itself of other financing alternatives given current market conditions. The assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information, include, but are not limited to, changes in customer markets, changes in demand for our services, our inability to deliver services in a timely and cost efficient manner, technological change, general economic conditions and other risks detailed from time to time in our ongoing filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including those in our Annual Information Form, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Given these assumptions, risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

SOURCE: Axia NetMedia Corporation

For further information, please visit Axia's website at www.axia.com, or contact:

Glenn Jamieson
Investor Relations
Axia NetMedia Corporation
[phone]
[email protected]