Boyd Group Income Fund Reports First Quarter Results

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- Acquisitions, same-store sales and operational initiatives combine to deliver strong results -

WINNIPEG, May 14, 2014 /CNW/ - Boyd Group Income Fund (TSX: BYD.UN) ("the Fund", "the Boyd Group" or "Boyd") today reported its financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2014. The Fund's first quarter 2014 financial statements and MD&A have been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). This news release is not in any way a substitute for reading the Boyd Group's financial statements, including notes to the financial statements, and Management's Discussion & Analysis.

Q1 2014 Highlights

• Sales increased by 40.6% to $183.6 million from $130.6 million in 2013, including same-store sales increases of 7.6%.
• Added 3 single locations during the quarter, with two additional locations added after March 31.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ increased 84.0% to $15.0 million, compared with $8.2 million in 2013.
• Adjusted net earnings¹ increased to $7.3 million compared with $3.7 million in 2013.
• Subsequent to the end of the quarter, Boyd acquired Collision Revision, with 25 locations in Illinois, Indiana, and Florida.

"We had a very strong start to 2014 with severe weather conditions, in contrast to a mild winter in 2013, driving double-digit sales growth in several of our markets," said Brock Bulbuck, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Group. "We were also pleased by the positive impact of our new paint supply agreement on our results, as well as our continued progress on many operational and growth initiatives."

Financial Results

For the three months ended March 31, 2014

Total sales increased by 40.6% to $183.6 million, compared with sales of $130.6 million for the same period last year.  The $53.0 million increase was due largely to the contributions from acquisitions of $21.6 million, incremental sales of $11.5 million from the glass business, and same-store sales increases, excluding foreign exchange, of $9.4 million. In addition, Boyd benefited from favourable currency translation in the amount of $10.7 million from same-store sales converted at a higher U.S. dollar exchange rate.

Sales in Canada were $20.5 million, an increase of $1.1 million over the first quarter of 2013. This increase was the result of a $1.2 million contribution from a new location and same-store sales increases of $0.1 million, or 0.9%, offset by a $0.2 million decrease from the closure of an underperforming glass facility.

Sales in the U.S. were $163.1 million, an increase of $51.9 million or 46.6%, over the same period in 2013.  The increase resulted from contributions of $9.4 million from 20 new locations, $11.0 million from 25 Hansen Collision and Glass locations, $11.5 million incremental sales from the glass business, as well as a $9.3 million, or 8.8%, increase in same-store sales, excluding foreign exchange.  Applying foreign exchange, same-store sales by increased by $10.7 million due to higher U.S. dollar exchange rates.

Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, adjusted for fair value adjustments to financial instruments and acquisition, transaction and process improvement costs ("Adjusted EBITDA"¹) increased to $15.0 million, or 8.2% of sales, compared with Adjusted EBITDA of $8.2 million, or 6.3% of sales, for the same period a year ago. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily the result of EBITDA contributions from same-store sales improvements and acquisitions combined with improved gross profit from the new paint supply agreement and a favourable U.S. dollar exchange rate.

The net loss for the first quarter of 2014 was $1.7 million or $0.112 per unit (fully diluted) compared to net earnings of $30 thousand or $0.002 per unit (fully diluted) for the same period last year.  The loss was attributable to fair value adjustments to financial instruments of $7.4 million as well as acquisition, transaction and process improvement costs, and brand name amortization. Excluding the impact of these adjustments, adjusted net earnings would have increased to $7.3 million, or $0.486 per unit.  This compares to adjusted net earnings of $3.7 million, or $0.292 per unit for the same period in 2013.  The increase in adjusted net earnings is the result of acquisition and new location contributions, increases in same-store sales and improved gross profit from the new paint supply agreement.

During the quarter, the Fund generated adjusted distributable cash of $10.6 million and declared distributions and dividends of $1.8 million, resulting in a payout ratio based on adjusted distributable cash of 17.3% for the quarter.  This compares with adjusted distributable cash of $2.4 million, distributions and dividends of $1.5 million, and a payout ratio of 64.2% a year ago.  On a trailing four-quarter basis at March 31, 2014, the Fund's payout ratio stands at 21.5%.

Outlook

"The first quarter of 2014 once again demonstrated that our growth strategy, along with our targeted growth goals, remain achievable," added Mr. Bulbuck. "We continue to model 6% to 10% growth in single location additions. We have added five new single locations so far this year and expect to add a total of 16 to 26 in 2014. Although there is more competition for larger multi-shop operation ("MSO") acquisitions, we will maintain our discipline to acquire only those that will be accretive to the Fund. Our ability to acquire quality MSOs is again demonstrated by our acquisition of the 25 Collision Revision locations just last month. Our first quarter same-store sales growth of 7.6%, while enhanced by some unusual events, demonstrates that we are on track to take advantage of industry trends to achieve same-store sales growth. Our strong balance sheet, along with our expanded credit facility, positions us extremely well for continued growth and continued investment in our business."

"Looking ahead, we have seen some of the positive impact of the severe winter weather continue into the second quarter, but we expect that its impact will continue to diminish as the second quarter progresses. We therefore expect business conditions to return to more historical norms by the end of the second quarter."

2014 First Quarter Conference Call & Webcast

Management will hold a conference call on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) to review the Fund's 2014 first quarter results. You can join the call by dialing 888-231-8191 or 647-427-7450.  A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available through www.boydgroup.com.  An archived replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days.  A taped replay of the conference call will also be available until Wednesday, May 21, 2014, at midnight by calling 1-855-859-2056 or 416-849-0833, reference number 30802811.

(¹) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, distributable cash, adjusted distributable cash and adjusted net earnings are not recognized measures under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). Management believes that in addition to revenue, net earnings and cash flows, the supplemental measures of distributable cash, adjusted distributable cash, adjusted net earnings, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are useful as they provide investors with an indication of earnings from operations and cash available for distribution, both before and after debt management, productive capacity maintenance and non-recurring and other adjustments. Investors should be cautioned, however, that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, distributable cash, adjusted distributable cash and adjusted net earnings should not be construed as an alternative to net earnings determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of the Fund's performance. Boyd's method of calculating these measures may differ from other public issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers. For a detailed explanation of how the Fund's non-GAAP measures are calculated, please refer to the Fund's MD&A filing for the period ended December 31, 2013, which can be accessed via the SEDAR Web site (www.sedar.com).

About The Boyd Group Inc.
The Boyd Group Inc. is the largest operator of non-franchised collision repair centers in North America in terms of number of locations and one of the largest in terms of sales. The Company operates locations in five Canadian provinces under the trade name Boyd Autobody & Glass (http://www.boydautobody.com), as well as in 15 U.S. states under the trade names Gerber Collision & Glass (http://www.gerbercollision.com), Hansen Collision and Collision Revision. The Company is also a major retail auto glass operator in the U.S. with locations across 28 U.S. states under the trade names Gerber Collision & Glass, Glass America, Auto Glass Services, Auto Glass Only, Auto Glass Authority, S&L Glass and Hansen Auto Glass.  The Company also operates Gerber National Glass Services, an auto glass repair and replacement referral business with approximately 3,000 affiliated service providers throughout the U.S. under the "Gerber National Glass Services" name. For more information on The Boyd Group Inc. or Boyd Group Income Fund, please visit our website at (http://www.boydgroup.com).

To view Boyd Group Income Fund's Q1 2014 financial statements and notes, please click here: http://files.newswire.ca/698/BGIFQ12014.pdf

About The Boyd Group Income Fund
The Boyd Group Income Fund is an unincorporated, open-ended mutual fund trust created for the purposes of acquiring and holding certain investments, including a majority interest in The Boyd Group Inc. and its subsidiaries. The Boyd Group Income Fund units trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol BYD.UN. For more information on The Boyd Group Inc. or Boyd Group Income Fund, please visit our website at http://www.boydgroup.com.

Caution concerning forward-looking statements
Statements made in this press release, other than those concerning historical financial information, may be forward-looking and therefore subject to various risks and uncertainties. Some forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "may", "will", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements, as actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause results to vary include, but are not limited to: dependence upon The Boyd Group Inc. and its Subsidiaries; cash distributions not guaranteed; inability to successfully integrate acquisitions; economic downturn; operational performance; rapid growth; loss of key customers; brand management and reputation; insurance risk; quality of corporate governance; tax position risk; risk of litigation; acquisition risk; credit & refinancing risks; dependence on key personnel; employee relations; decline in number of insurance claims; market environment change; reliance on technology; weather conditions; expansion into new markets; fluctuations in operating results and seasonality; increased government regulation and tax risk; Canadian tax related risk; execution on new strategies; operating hazards; energy costs; U.S. health care costs and workers compensation claims; low capture rates; key supplier relationships; capital expenditures; competition; potential undisclosed liabilities associated with acquisitions; foreign currency risk; margin pressure; acquisition and start-up growth and ongoing access to capital; environmental, health and safety risk; interest rates;  unitholder liability limitation and the Fund's success in anticipating and managing the foregoing risks.

We caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and that when reviewing our forward-looking statements, investors and others should refer to the "Risk Factors" section of the Fund's Annual Information Form, the "Risks and Uncertainties" and other sections of our Management's Discussion and Analysis of Operating Results and Financial Position and our other periodic filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. All forward-looking statements presented herein should be considered in conjunction with such filings.

 

PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2014/05/14/20140514_C8280_DOC_EN_40291.pdf

SOURCE: Boyd Group Income Fund

Brock Bulbuck
President & CEO
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]

Craig MacPhail
Investor Relations
Tel: [phone] or toll free 1-800-385-5451 (ext. 290)
[email protected]

Dan Dott
VP & CFO
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]