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Dienstag, 20.03.2018 13:15 von PR Newswire | Aufrufe: 94

Alimentation Couche-Tard Announces its Results for its Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2018

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PR Newswire

LAVAL, QC, March 20, 2018

Net earnings attributable to shareholders of the Corporation ("net earnings") of $463.9 million ($0.82 per share on a diluted basis) for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 compared with $287.0 million ($0.50 per share on a diluted basis) for the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Excluding certain items for both comparable periods, net earnings for the quarter would have been approximately $304.0 million¹ or $0.54 per share on a diluted basis, compared with $0.53 per share on a diluted basis¹ for the third quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 1.9%. The adjustments of the third quarter of fiscal 2018 include the net tax benefit of $196.3 million (of which $14.1 million is attributable to non-controlling interest) recorded following the approval of the new U.S. federal income tax legislation ("U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act").
Total merchandise and services revenues were $3.8 billion, an increase of 25.0%. Same‑store merchandise revenues, excluding the Holiday Stationstores, LLC. ("Holiday") stores network, increased by 0.1% in the U.S., by 3.6% in Europe and by 0.5% in Canada.
Merchandise and service gross margin increased by 0.2% in the U.S., to 33.1%, by 0.2% in Canada, to 34.0% and decreased by 0.3% in Europe, to 42.2%.
Total road transportation fuel volumes grew by 34.7%. Same‑store road transportation fuel volumes, excluding the Holiday stores network, decreased by 0.4% in the U.S. and by 0.3% in Canada. Same-store volumes increased by 0.5% in Europe.
Road transportation fuel gross margin decreased by US 2.67¢ per gallon in the U.S. to US 15.66¢ per gallon while they increased by US 0.36¢ per litre in Europe, to US 7.87¢ per litre and by CA 1.13¢ per litre in Canada, to CA 9.33¢ per litre.
Closing of the Holiday acquisition on December 22, 2017.
Successful issuance of US-dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes for a total amount of US $900.0 million.
Anticipated synergies for the CST acquisition of $215.0 million while annual synergies run rate reached approximately $103.0 million.
Steady progression of the Circle K rebranding project in Poland and in North America. More than 2,500 stores in North America and more than 1,450 stores in Europe now display the new Circle K global brand.
Return on equity and return on capital employed at 23.7% and 11.8%, respectively, on a pro-forma basis.

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¹ Please refer to section "Net earnings and adjusted net earnings attributable to shareholders of the Corporation" of this press release for additional information on this performance measure not defined by IFRS.

LAVAL, QC, March 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - For its third quarter ended February 4, 2018, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX: ATD.A ATD.B) announces net earnings attributable to shareholders of the Corporation of $463.9 million, representing $0.82 per share on a diluted basis. The results for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were affected by a net tax benefit of $196.3 million (of which $14.1 million is attributable to non-controlling interest) following the approval of the "U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act", a pre-tax net foreign exchange loss of $9.8 million, a $6.6 million pre-tax accelerated depreciation and amortization expense and pre-tax incremental costs of $3.0 million, both in connection with the Corporation's global brand initiative, pre-tax restructuring and integration costs of $6.8 million, pre-tax acquisition costs of $4.2 million, pre-tax negative goodwill of $2.8 million as well as by pre-tax incremental expenses caused by hurricanes totaling $1.8 million. The results for the comparable quarter of fiscal 2017 included an $8.4 million pre-tax accelerated depreciation and amortization expense in connection with the Corporation's global brand initiative, pre-tax acquisition costs of $6.0 million, a pre-tax restructuring expense of $6.0 million, a pre-tax net foreign exchange loss of $3.0 million, as well as a $2.7 million pre-tax curtailment gain on defined benefits pension plan obligation. Excluding these items, the adjusted diluted net earnings per share would have been $0.54 for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 compared with $0.53 per share on a diluted basis for the third quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 1.9%, driven by the contribution from acquisitions and by the impact of a lower income tax rate, offset by lower road transportation fuel margins in the U.S. and by higher financing expenses following our recent acquisitions. All financial information is in US dollars unless stated otherwise.

"Several parts of our network, in particular Europe, Canada, and the CST sites, showed improving trends this quarter in same-stores fuel volumes, same-store merchandise revenues and merchandise gross margins," said Brian Hannasch, President and CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard, "I am particularly pleased with the progress on reversing the negative trends CST was experiencing prior to the acquisition and, while we are seeing solid U.S. fuel margins year to date, this quarter's results were negatively impacted by volatility in the crude oil market, particularly in the southwest US."

"A clear highlight of this quarter is the completion of the acquisition of Holiday Stationstores," said Brian Hannasch. "We are confident that Holiday's sustained record of solid consistent growth, strong U.S. Midwest market penetration, and truly talented team will bring superior value to our network. As part of the integration plan, we are excited to have put in place, for the first time, a senior leadership role to identify reverse synergies in Holiday's best practices to bring into our broader organization."

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"We continue to be pleased with the integration of the Esso and CST Brands acquisitions and the benefits they are bringing to the business. With CST, we are announcing expected synergies of $215.0¹ million over the three years following the close of the transaction, and we have already seen a run rate of $103.0 million after nine months," continued Brian Hannasch. "In terms of synergies with the Holiday purchase, our goal is $50.0 to $60.0¹ million over three years and like CST, we are off to a very strong start."

Claude Tessier, Chief Financial Officer stated, "We are continuing our push towards integration, digitalization, and mobilization of advanced technology to bring even more efficiencies to our operations. Additionally, after further review, our analysis indicates that with all else equal, the U.S. tax reform should bring our consolidated tax rate down to a range of approximately 17% to 19%, starting in fiscal year 2019. With these combined elements of cost control and greater cash flow from a lower expected income tax rate, we are positioned to deliver growth in the future as we continue to apply our customary financial discipline to add value for our shareholders."

Significant Items of the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2018

During the quarter, following the approval of the "U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act", we recorded a net tax benefit of $196.3 million (of which $14.1 million is attributable to non-controlling interest), mostly derived from the remeasurement of our deferred income tax balances using the new U.S. statutory federal income tax rate, which decreased from 35.0% to 21.0%, partly offset by the Deemed Repatriation Transition Tax ("Transition tax").
During the quarter, our stores network was impacted by increased repairs and maintenance and clean-up costs following the passage of two major hurricanes near the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2018. Incremental costs reached $1.8 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2018 as our stores continued to recover from these events.
During the quarter, as part of our cost reduction initiatives and the search for synergies aimed at improving our efficiency, we made the decision to proceed with the restructuring of certain of our European and U.S. operations. As such, an additional restructuring expense of $6.8 million was recorded during the third quarter.
On December 14, 2017, we issued US-dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes totaling $900.0 million, divided as follows:

	Notional amount	Maturity	Coupon rate	Effective rate as at February 4, 2018	Interest payment dates
Tranche 10	$600.0 million	December 13, 2019	2.350%	2.5571%	June 13^th and December 13^th
Tranche 11	$300.0 million	December 13, 2019	Three-month LIBOR plus 0.500%	2.0735%	March 13^th, June 13^th, September 13^th and December 13^th

The net proceeds from those issuances, which were $893.8 million, were mainly used to repay a portion of our term revolving unsecured operating credit facility and of our acquisition facility.

During the quarter, we finalized our assessment of the expected synergies associated with the CST acquisition. We expect that our synergies will reach $215.0¹ million over the 3 years following the transaction. These synergies should mainly result from reductions in operating, selling, administrative and general expenses as well as from improvements in road transportation fuel and merchandises distribution and supply costs. As of February 4, 2018, our annual synergies run rate for the CST acquisition reached approximately $103.0 million.
The rollout of our new Circle K global convenience brand in North America and in Poland is progressing steadily. More than 2,500 stores in North America and more than 1,450 stores in Europe are now proudly displaying our new global brand. In connection with this rebranding project, a pre-tax depreciation and amortization expense of $6.6 million as well as pre-tax incremental costs of $3.0 million were recorded to earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2018.

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¹ As our previously stated goal is considered a forward looking statement, we are required, pursuant to securities laws, to clarify that our synergies estimate is based on a number of important factors and assumptions. Among other things, our synergies objective is based on our comparative analysis of organizational structures and current level of spending across our network as well as on our ability to bridge the gap, where relevant. Our synergies objective is also based on our assessment of current contracts in North America and how we expect to be able to renegotiate these contracts to take advantage of our increased purchasing power. In addition, our synergies objective assumes that we will be able to establish and maintain an effective process for sharing best practices across our network. Finally, our objective is also based on our ability to integrate CST and Holiday's system with ours. An important change in these facts and assumptions could significantly impact our synergies estimate as well as the timing of the implementation of our different initiatives.

Holiday Stationstores, LLC. acquisition

On December 22, 2017, we acquired all the membership interest of Holiday Stationstores, LLC. and certain affiliated companies ("Holiday") for a total cash consideration of approximately $1.6 billion. Holiday is an important convenience store and fuel player in the U.S. Midwest region. As of the closing of the transaction, it had 516 sites, of which 373 were operated by Holiday and 143 were operated by franchisees, as well as 27 dealer contracts. Holiday also operates a strong car wash business with 234 locations at the closing date, 2 food commissaries and a fuel terminal in Newport, Minnesota. Its stores are located in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan and Alaska. This acquisition was financed using our available cash and existing credit facilities.
From December 22, 2017, Holiday's results, balance sheet and cash flows are included in our consolidated financial statements.
During the quarter, we finalized our assessment of the expected synergies associated with the Holiday acquisition which we expect will range from $50.0 to $60.0¹ million over the 3 to 4 years following the closing of the transaction. These synergies should mainly result from reductions in operating, selling, administrative and general expenses, from improvements in road transportation fuel and merchandises distribution and supply costs, as well as from retail pricing optimization.

_______________________________

¹ As our previously stated goal is considered a forward looking statement, we are required, pursuant to securities laws, to clarify that our synergies estimate is based on a number of important factors and assumptions. Among other things, our synergies objective is based on our comparative analysis of organizational structures and current level of spending across our network as well as on our ability to bridge the gap, where relevant. Our synergies objective is also based on our assessment of current contracts in North America and how we expect to be able to renegotiate these contracts to take advantage of our increased purchasing power. In addition, our synergies objective assumes that we will be able to establish and maintain an effective process for sharing best practices across our network. Finally, our objective is also based on our ability to integrate Holiday's system with ours. An important change in these facts and assumptions could significantly impact our synergies estimate as well as the timing of the implementation of our different initiatives.

Other changes in our Network

On November 28, 2017, we acquired certain assets from Jet Pep, Inc., including a fuel terminal, associated trucking equipment and 18 retail sites located in Alabama. In addition, through a distinct transaction, CrossAmerica Partners LP purchased other assets from Jet Pep, Inc. consisting of 101 commission operated retail sites, including 92 owned sites, 5 leased sites and 4 independent commission accounts.
During the third quarter of fiscal 2018, we acquired one company-operated store through a distinct transaction, for a total of seven company-operated stores since the beginning of the fiscal year 2018.
During the third quarter of fiscal 2018, we completed the construction, relocation or reconstruction of 22 stores, reaching a total of 66 stores since the beginning of fiscal 2018. As of February 4, 2018, 54 stores were under construction and should open in the upcoming quarters.

Summary of changes in our store network during the third quarter of fiscal 2018

The following table presents certain information regarding changes in our store network over the 16-week period ended February 4, 2018:

		16-week period ended February 4, 2018
Type of site		Company- operated	CODO	DODO	Franchised and other affiliated	Total
Number of sites, beginning of period		9,327	737	1,045	1,106	12,215
	Acquisitions	392	-	27	143	562
	Openings / constructions / additions	21	1	8	24	54
	Closures / disposals / withdrawals	(28)	(1)	(32)	(20)	(81)
	Store conversion	11	(22)	10	1	-
Number of sites, end of period		9,723	715	1,058	1,254	12,750
CAPL network						1,307
Circle K branded sites under licensing agreements						1,913
Total network						15,970
Number of automated fuel stations included in the period-end figures						989

Outstanding transaction

On November 27, 2017, we reached an agreement to sell 100% of our shares in Statoil Fuel & Retail Marine AS to St1 Norge AS. The transaction is subject to the customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close during calendar year 2018.

Exchange Rate Data

We use the US dollar as our reporting currency, which provides more relevant information given the predominance of our operations in the United States.

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