ZCL Composites Reports Record Third Quarter 2012 Financial Results

EDMONTON, Nov. 8, 2012 /CNW/ - ZCL Composites Inc. (TSX: ZCL) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012.

Q3 2012 compared with Q3 2011

• Record revenue of $50.1 million, up $13.7 million or 38% from $36.4 million;
• Record net income of $4.8 million or $0.16 per share (fully diluted), up $2.9 million or $0.09 per share from $1.9 million or $0.07 per share (fully diluted);
• Backlog of $47.5 million, down $2.1 million or 4% from $49.6 million; and
• Increased the quarterly dividend to $0.02 per share.

Record nine months results compared with a year earlier

• Revenue of $125.5 million, up $36.2 million or 40% from $89.3 million; and
• Net income of $10.6 million or $0.37 per share (fully diluted), up $9.1 million or $0.31 per share from $1.5 million or $0.05 per share (fully diluted).

ZCL continues to build upon a very strong year.  "As ZCL celebrates its 25^th Anniversary in October of 2012, I am pleased to report our sixth consecutive profitable quarter and the strongest nine month showing in corporate history," said Ron Bachmeier, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"The strong third quarter performance is attributable to both the Underground and Aboveground operating segments and in particular to the Petroleum and Corrosion Products groups which both achieved record revenues," said Ron Bachmeier.  "As a result of the strong performance, our Board has once again increased the quarterly dividend by $0.005 per share to $0.02 per share."

Financial Results

Revenue for the third quarter of 2012 was $50.1 million, up $13.7 million or 38% from $36.4 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011.  The Petroleum and Corrosion Products groups achieved revenue increases of 13% and 147% respectively over the third quarter of 2011, however this was partially offset by a 13% reduction of revenue in the Water Products group.

Underground revenue of $31.5 million was $2.7 million or 9% higher than the third quarter of 2011; this included a $3.2 million or 13% increase in Petroleum Products revenues. Aboveground revenue of $18.6 million increased by $11.0 million or 147% over the third quarter of 2011 and exceeded the previous quarterly record set in the second quarter of 2012 by 45%.

Gross profit for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012 was $9.9 million, up $3.9 million or 64% from September 30, 2011 gross profit of $6.1 million. Gross margin increased to 20% of revenue for the third quarter of 2012, up from 17% a year earlier with the increase coming primarily from the Aboveground operating segment.

Net income for the third quarter of 2012 was $4.8 million, up $2.9 million or 154% from $1.9 million a year earlier.  Net income per diluted share for the third quarter of 2012 was $0.16, up $0.09 from $0.07 per diluted share in the same quarter of 2011.  The improvement was attributable to a significant increase in revenue, increased gross profit, lower general and administration expenses and reduced finance expenses.

General and administration ("G&A") expense for the three months ended September 30, 2012 decreased $0.6 million or 23% over the same period in 2011.  The quarter over quarter reduction in G&A reflected the results of cost saving initiatives that were implemented in 2011.

Backlog and Financial Position

The September 30, 2012 backlog of $47.5 million was down 4% from $49.6 million a year earlier and down $14.3 million or 23% from June 30, 2012. The Aboveground operating segment accounted for $13.7 million of the decrease over June 2012 and is primarily attributable to the quarterly record revenue of $18.6 million resulting from the completion of some significant contracts. The Corrosion Products revenue was $11.0 million higher than the third quarter of 2011 and $5.8 million, or 45% higher than the previous quarterly record achieved in the second quarter of 2012. The nature of revenues in the Aboveground operating segment is more project oriented which leads to higher volatility in revenue and backlog when comparing points in time.

At September 30, 2012, ZCL's balance sheet had working capital (current assets less current liabilities) of $28.7 million up $5.3 million or 23% from $23.4 million at December 31, 2011.  Net debt (long term debt, including current portion, plus bank indebtedness, less cash and cash equivalents) totalled $8.5 million, up from $4.6 million at December 31, 2011, but down from $12.9 million a year earlier.  The net debt increase in 2012 helped to finance the redemption of the preferred shares along with an increase in working capital requirements.

Dividends

With the continued improvement in the financial results, the Board elected to increase the quarterly dividend payment to $0.02 per share, up from $0.015 per share, for the shareholders of record as of December 31, 2012, to be paid on January 15, 2013.

Outlook and Priorities

For the fourth quarter of 2012, we expect that results will surpass the corresponding quarter of 2011, but will be below the very strong third quarter of 2012.  We continue to drive toward targets of annual organic revenue growth of 10% to 20% in tandem with 12% to 15% EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.

We continue to remain optimistic with regard to profitable growth given:

• We have taken steps to ensure a strong group of brands within the ZCL corporate family with a single culture and mandate;
• We are focused on cost control and core assets;
• With a stronger focus on marketing and product groups, as opposed to operating groups, we have chosen to put forth a concerted effort to create a stronger customer value proposition; and
• We continue to focus on safety.

ZCL continues to execute the "simplify to grow" strategy, initiated by our previous CEO, Rod Graham, emphasizing profitable growth.  The hiring of our new COO in September of this year will keep us on this path. His mandate is to continuously improve all aspects of ZCL's operations with a particular focus on reducing costs through the elimination of waste and building upon the lean initiatives that were already being put in place.  This includes establishing key performance indicators to measure the operational effectiveness and performance of the Company. Our new COO is proving to be a strong leader and ZCL and its stakeholders will benefit from having him as a member of the team.

Summary Financial Results

For the three months ended		2012		2011				2010
(in thousands of dollars,		Sep 30	Jun 30	Mar 31	Dec 31	Sep 30	Jun 30	Mar 31	Dec 31
except per share amounts)		$	$	$	$	$	$	$	$
Revenue		50,067	42,850	32,576	37,716	36,352	29,820	23,158	35,028
Net income (loss)
	Continuing operations	4,805	4,207	1,602	1,840	1,892	969	(1,247)	(1,102)
	Discontinued operations^1	-	-	-	-	-	(181)	17	287
	Total	4,805	4,207	1,602	1,840	1,892	788	(1,230)	(815)
Basic earnings (loss) per share
	Continuing operations	0.17	0.15	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.03	(0.04)	(0.04)
	Total	0.17	0.15	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.02	(0.04)	(0.03)
Diluted earnings (loss) per share
	Continuing operations	0.16	0.15	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.03	(0.04)	(0.04)
	Total	0.16	0.15	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.02	(0.04)	(0.03)

(1) The discontinued operations are the steel tank division sold May 31, 2011 because they were not part of ZCL's core business.

MD&A and Financial Statements

The Company's management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") and unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, are available on Sedar at www.sedar.com and the ZCL website at this link: http://www.zcl.com/investor-relations/financials.html.

Conference Call

ZCL Composites Inc. has scheduled an investor conference call for 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time (11:00 a.m. Eastern Time) on Friday November 9, 2012, to discuss its financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2012.

To access the conference call by telephone, please call 647-427-7450 from the greater Toronto area, or dial toll free 888-231-8191 from anywhere in North America. An audio webcast may be accessed through the investor events tab on the ZCL Composites website. Audio replays will be available on the ZCL Composites website shortly after the conclusion of the conference call.

The conference call will include prepared remarks by ZCL President and Chief Executive Officer, Ron Bachmeier and ZCL's Chief Financial Officer, Kathy Demuth. After the prepared remarks, ZCL will accept questions from analysts and institutional investors. The public is invited to listen to the conference call in real time or by replay.

Note on Backlog

Backlog is defined as the total value of orders that management has assessed as having a high certainty of being performed because of the existence of a contract or purchase order specifying the scope, value and timing of an order.

Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains forward-looking statements under the heading "Outlook" and elsewhere concerning future events or the Company's future performance, including the Company's objectives or expectations for revenue and earnings growth, income taxes as a percentage of pre-tax income, business opportunities in the Petroleum Products, Water Products, Corrosion Products markets, efforts to reduce administrative and production costs, manage production levels, anticipated capital expenditure trends, activity in the petroleum and other industries and markets served by the Company and the sufficiency of cash flows and credit facilities available to cover normal operating and capital expenditures. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek," "anticipate," "plan," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "may," "will," "project," "predict," "potential," "targeting," "intend," "could," "might," "should," "believe" and similar expressions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those reflected in the Company's forward-looking statements due to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting the Company's business and the industries the Company serves generally.

These factors include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in the level of capital expenditures in the Petroleum Products, Water Products, and Corrosion Products markets, drilling activity and oil and natural gas prices, and other factors that affect demand for the Company's products and services, industry competition, the need to effectively integrate acquired businesses, uncertainties as to the Company's ability to implement its business strategy effectively, political and economic conditions, the Company's ability to attract and retain key personnel, raw material and labour costs, fluctuations in the US and Canadian dollar exchange rates, and other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form, and elsewhere in this document and other documents filed with Canadian provincial securities authorities. These documents are available to the public at www.sedar.com.  Unless otherwise indicated, the consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and the reporting currency is in Canadian dollars.

In addition to the factors noted above, management cautions readers that the current economic environment could have a negative impact on the markets in which the Company operates and on the Company's ability to achieve its financial targets. Factors such as continuing economic uncertainty in the US and Canada, tighter lending standards, volatile capital markets, fluctuating commodity prices, and other factors could negatively impact the demand for the Company's products and the Company's ability to grow or sustain revenues and earnings. Fluctuations in the US to Canadian dollar conversion rate also have the potential to impact the Company's revenues and earnings.

The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this report should not be unduly relied upon.

The forward-looking statements in this report speak only as of the date of this report. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on the Company's behalf, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE: ZCL Composites Inc.

Ron Bachmeier
President & CEO
ZCL Composites Inc. 
[phone]
[email protected]

Kathy Demuth
Chief Financial Officer
ZCL Composites Inc.
[phone]
[email protected]