Axia Reports Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2014

CALGARY, March 5, 2015 /CNW/ -

2014 Highlights

• Customer connections of 11,260 increased 21% from 9,328 in the prior year.
  
  
• Business unit revenue of $127.5 million increased 16% year over year.
  
  
• Business unit EBITDA of $32.7 million grew 11% from $29.5 million in the prior year.
  
  
• IFRS net loss of $0.1 million or $0.00 per share compared to a profit of $1.8 million or $0.03 per share for the prior year. On a comparative basis, 2013 net income was $0.7 million or $0.01 per share. The comparative figure excludes net gains from discontinued businesses and a one-time transaction.
  
  
• Cash on hand totalled $29.3 million at December 31, 2014 compared to $38.8 million a year ago. Loans payable increased to $9.9 million from $2.3 million at December, 31, 2013.

Q4 2014 Highlights

• Business unit revenue of $33.6 million increased 7% from $31.5 million in the prior year.
  
  
• Business unit EBITDA of $8.8 million grew 9% year over year.
  
  
• IFRS net loss of $0.5 million or $0.00 per share compared to a loss of $2.0 million or $(0.03) per share for the prior year.
  
  
• Subsequent to year-end, Covage was awarded an agreement to partner with local governments to deploy a Fibre to the Home network in Seine-et-Marne which will pass 319,000 homes when complete.

Business Unit Results

* 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, 2014 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 Thursday, March 5, 2015 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/1469493/1635671

A replay of the conference call will be available at [phone] or 1-855-859-2056, passcode 63060817 from 6 p.m. (Eastern) Thursday, March 5, 2015 to midnight (Eastern) Thursday, March 12, 2015 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

please visit Axia's website at www.axia.com, or contact: Glenn Jamieson, Investor Relations, Axia NetMedia Corporation, [phone], [email protected]