Premium Brands Holdings Corporation Announces Record Fourth Quarter 2016 Results and 10.5% Increase in its Dividend

VANCOUVER, March 16, 2017

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE QUARTER

• Record fourth quarter revenue of $532.6 million representing a 33.1% increase as compared to the fourth quarter of 2015
  
  
• Record fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA of $45.6 million representing a 44.8% increase as compared to the fourth quarter of 2015
  
  
• Record fourth quarter earnings, earnings per share and adjusted earnings per share of $20.0 million, $0.67 per share and $0.71 per share, respectively
  
  
• Record 2016 free cash flow of $121.5 million resulting in a dividend to free cash flow ratio of 36.6%
  
  
• Completed a $113.0 million issuance of convertible debentures bearing interest at 4.60% and maturing in December 2023
  
  
• Invested $81.4 million in four business acquisitions
  
  
• Subsequent to the quarter raised dividend rate by 10.5% and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share
  
  
• Also subsequent to the quarter invested $15.7 million in three business acquisitions

SUMMARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(In millions of dollars except per share amounts and ratios)

	14 weeks ended Dec 31, ARIVA.DE Börsen-Geflüster Kurse PREMIUM BRANDS HLDGS(NEW) 65,08 $ +1,77% 2016	13 weeks ended Dec 26,  2015	53 weeks ended Dec 31, 2016	52 weeks ended Dec 26, 2015
Revenue	532.6	400.3	1,857.5	1,484.5
Adjusted EBITDA	45.6	31.5	154.8	111.6
Earnings	20.0	8.6	68.8	11.6
EPS	0.67	0.34	2.39	0.48
Adjusted earnings	21.1	13.4	71.3	44.1
Adjusted EPS	0.71	0.53	2.48	1.81

"We are pleased to announce another quarter of solid results.  Our sales and earnings continued to reach record highs as we progress towards our goal of becoming one of North America's leading specialty foods companies," said Mr. Paleologou, President and CEO.

"A significant driver of our results has been and will continue to be the investments we have made in recent years in both organic growth initiatives and business acquisitions.  Furthermore, our business model, which focuses on developing entrepreneurial cultures, continuous innovation and capitalizing on emerging consumer trends, has enabled us to grow our sales and earnings despite having faced several major challenges, including the downturn in western Canada's economy," added Mr. Paleologou.

"Looking forward, we are continuing to make investments that will further help to ensure the sustainability of our growth.  In terms of capital projects, we have two major construction initiatives underway, namely a new 212,000 square foot sandwich plant in Phoenix and a new 105,000 square foot distribution and custom processing facility in Toronto.  The sandwich plant, which will complement our facilities in Reno, Columbus, Montreal and Edmonton, will increase our sandwich production capacity to 610,000 square feet and will uniquely position us to service a wide range of customers across the U.S. and Canada.  The new distribution facility, which will be somewhat unique to the Ontario market as it will have both seafood and traditional protein processing abilities, will not only provide our seafood distribution businesses with much needed capacity but will also enable our western Canada based foodservice distribution business to enter this market.  Both of these projects are scheduled to come into operation in the second half of 2017.

"In terms of acquisitions, we have executed several small but very strategic transactions over the past few months and we fully expect to complete several more in 2017.  These types of transactions not only expand the capabilities and capacities of our legacy platforms, both operationally and geographically, but also generally bring with them talented and entrepreneurial management teams that further strengthen our business," added Mr. Paleologou.

"We are also pleased to announce a 10.5% increase in our quarterly dividend rate to $0.42 per share or $1.68 per share on an annual basis.  This represents the third year in a row in which we have increased our dividend rate by 10% or more," said Mr. Paleologou.

FOURTH QUARTER 2016 DIVIDEND

The Company's Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of $0.42 per share for the first quarter of 2017, which will be payable on April 17, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2017.

Unless indicated otherwise in writing at or before the time the dividend is paid, each dividend paid by the Company in 2017 or a subsequent year is an eligible dividend for the purposes of the Enhanced Dividend Tax Credit System.

ABOUT PREMIUM BRANDS

Premium Brands owns a broad range of leading specialty food manufacturing and differentiated food distribution businesses with operations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Nevada, Ohio, Arizona and Washington State.  The Company services a diverse base of customers located across North America and its family of brands and businesses include Grimm's, Harvest, McSweeney's, Piller's, Freybe, Expresco, Belmont Meats, Hempler's, Isernio's, Fletcher's U.S., Direct Plus, Audrey's, SK Food Group, OvenPride, Bread Garden Go, Hygaard, Quality Fast Foods, Deli Chef, Creekside Bakehouse, Stuyver's Bakestudio, Island City Bakery, Conte Foods, Larosa Foods, Gourmet Chef, Duso's, Centennial Foodservice, B&C Food Distributors, Shahir, Wescadia, Harlan Fairbanks, Maximum Seafood, Ocean Miracle, Hub City Fisheries, Diana's Seafood, C&C Packing,  Premier Meats and Interprovincial Meat Sales.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Extra Week of Operations

The Company's fiscal year is the fifty-two week or fifty-three week period ending on the nearest Saturday on or before December 31.  For 2016 this was the 53 week period ended on December 31, 2016 and for 2015 this was the 52 week period ended on December 26, 2015.  Correspondingly, the Company's results for 2016 and for the fourth quarter of 2016 include an extra week of operations as compared to 2015 (the "Extra Week").

Revenue

(in millions of dollars except percentages)
		14 weeks ended Dec 31, 2016	%	13 weeks ended Dec 26, 2015	%	53 weeks ended Dec 31, 2016	%	52 weeks ended Dec 26, 2015	%
Revenue by segment:
	Specialty Foods	326.9	61.4%	274.5	68.6% Werbung Mehr Nachrichten zur PREMIUM BRANDS HLDGS(NEW) Aktie kostenlos abonnieren E-Mail-Adresse Bitte überprüfe deine die E-Mail-Adresse. Benachrichtigungen von ARIVA.DE (Mit der Bestellung akzeptierst du die Datenschutzhinweise) -1 Vielen Dank, dass du dich für unseren Newsletter angemeldet hast. Du erhältst in Kürze eine E-Mail mit einem Aktivierungslink. Hinweis: ARIVA.DE veröffentlicht in dieser Rubrik Analysen, Kolumnen und Nachrichten aus verschiedenen Quellen. Die ARIVA.DE AG ist nicht verantwortlich für Inhalte, die erkennbar von Dritten in den „News“-Bereich dieser Webseite eingestellt worden sind, und macht sich diese nicht zu Eigen. Diese Inhalte sind insbesondere durch eine entsprechende „von“-Kennzeichnung unterhalb der Artikelüberschrift und/oder durch den Link „Um den vollständigen Artikel zu lesen, klicken Sie bitte hier.“ erkennbar; verantwortlich für diese Inhalte ist allein der genannte Dritte. Andere Nutzer interessierten sich auch für folgende News 08:55 - PR Newswire Samson Rock Capital LLP - Form 8.3 - Wincanton Plc 08:54 - PR Newswire Samson Rock Capital LLP - Form 8.3 - Spirent Communications PLC SolarBank    Wie die Revolution der sauberen Energie eine solide Investitionsmöglichkeit bieten könnte weiterlesen» Anzeige wo-site-teaser-box-16755_site-teaser-box_2024-04-25_09%253A00%253A00_2024-04-26_09%253A00%253A59