Royal Canadian Mint celebrates record profit in 2009

Corporation surpasses milestone of $2 billion in revenue

OTTAWA, April 23 /CNW Telbec/ - In 2009, the Royal Canadian Mint recorded an unprecedented profit of $68.6 million, almost doubling the corporate plan target for the year. During 2009, the Mint also surpassed the extraordinary milestone of $2 billion in revenue, in large part due to the strong global demand for gold and silver bullion products.

"The past year was one of outstanding accomplishment for the Mint, with every business line recording strong profits and all employees contributing to the revenues generated by our world-class organization," said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "As we move forward, we will continue to be innovative, expand our customer base both in Canada and abroad and remain flexible to take advantage of emerging opportunities."

Other notable achievements for the Royal Canadian Mint in 2009 included:

    
    -   A record dividend payment of $7 million to its shareholder, the
        Government of Canada (previous dividend payments included $5 million
        in 2008 and $1 million in 2007)
    -   A continued increase in sales of Gold Maple Leaf and Silver Maple
        Leaf coins;
    -   The production of 1.4 billion Canadian circulation coins;
    -   Proudly crafting the 1,014 innovative and unique athlete medals for
        the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games;
    -   The production of 1.1 billion coins and blanks for 18 countries
        around the world including the Philippines, Oman and Panama. Over
        half of these contracts were for the production of coins featuring
        the Mints patented multi-ply plated steel technology;
    -   The issuing of innovative collector coins featuring special effects
        such as ultra-high relief and embedded crystals, while recording
        10 sell-outs throughout the year;
    -   Further leveraging the revamped www.mint.ca and increasing unique
        visitors to the site by 68%;
    -   Winning the Most Inspirational coin of 2009 in the prestigious Krause
        Publications Coin of the Year Awards ("Towards Confederation", a fine
        kilo gold coin); and
    -   The ranking among Canadas top 100 employers (Maclean's Magazine) for
        the fourth consecutive year.
    

The Royal Canadian Mint's vision is to be the best mint in the world and will continue to evaluate this vision through cost effectiveness, quality and customer satisfaction, human development, innovation and an ongoing commitment to Canadian values and heritage. The Mints focus on flexibility, Lean enterprise initiatives and cost control further positions the Corporation to be profitable in the uncertain economic and financial environment in 2010.

To read more from the Mint's 2009 Annual Report, entitled "World-Class Performance", please visit www.mint.ca.

About the Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown Corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canadas circulation coins. An ISO 9001-2008 certified company, the Mint is recognized as one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mints history, its products and services, please visit www.mint.ca.

For further information: Alex Reeves, Manager, Communications, Royal Canadian Mint, Tel: [phone], [email protected]