BURLINGTON, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – June 13, 2017) –
Attention Business/Financial Editors:
Evertz Technologies Limited (TSX:ET), the leader in Software Defined Video Network (“SDVN”) technology, today reported its results for the fourth quarter and year ended April 30, 2017.
Fiscal 2017 Highlights
- Record annual revenue of $384.4 million
- US/Canada revenue up 6% to $229.1 million for the year
- Net earnings of $69.8 million for the year
- Fully diluted earnings per share of $0.92 for the year
- Dividends paid of $137.5 million including a special dividend of $83.1 million
Fourth Quarter 2017 Highlights
- Record quarterly revenue of $106.7 million, up 11% from the prior year
- US/Canada revenue up 13% to $57.9 million for the quarter
- International revenue up 8% to $48.9 million for the quarter
- Net earnings of $20.7 million for the quarter
- Fully diluted earnings per share of $0.27 for the quarter
| Selected Financial Information |
| Consolidated Statement of Earnings Data |
| (in thousands of dollars, except earnings per share and share data) |
| Q4’17 | Q4’16 | YE’17 | YE’16 | |||||
| Revenue | $ | 106,734 | $ | 96,367 | $ | 384,432 | $ | 381,550 |
| Gross margin | 60,044 | 55,024 | 218,144 | 217,378 | ||||
| Earnings from operations | 27,513 | 11,311 | 92,608 | 96,433 | ||||
| Net earnings | 20,685 | 8,279 | 69,773 | 70,886 | ||||
| Fully-diluted earnings per share | $ | 0.27 | $ | 0.11 | $ | 0.92 | $ | 0.94 |
| Fully-diluted shares | 75,825,621 | 74,725,908 | 75,374,204 | 74,843,493 | ||||
| Selected Financial Information |
| Consolidated Balance Sheet Data |
| (in thousands of dollars) |
| YE’17 | YE’16 | |||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 54,274 | $ | 123,102 |
| Working capital | 264,586 | 314,912 | ||
| Total assets | 410,568 | 448,314 | ||
| Shareholders’ equity | 317,830 | 366,205 | ||
Revenue
For the quarter ended April 30, 2017, revenues were $106.7 million, up 11% or $10.3 million as compared to revenues of $96.4 million for the quarter ended April 30, 2016. For the quarter, revenues in the United States/Canada region were $57.9 million, up 13% or $6.7 million as compared to $51.2 million in the same quarter last year. The International region had revenues of $48.9 million, up 8% or $3.8 million as compared to $45.1 million in the same quarter last year.
For the year ended April 30, 2017, sales were $384.4 million, an increase of $2.8 million or 1% as compared to sales of $381.6 million for the prior year. For the year, revenues in the United States/Canada region were $229.1 million as compared to $216.0 million in the prior year. The International region had revenues of $155.4 million compared to $165.5 million in the prior year.
Gross Margin
For the quarter ended April 30, 2017 gross margin was $60.0 million as compared to $55.0 million in the same quarter last year. Gross margin percentage was approximately 56.3% as compared to 57.1% in the quarter ended April 30, 2016.
For the year ended April 30, 2017 gross margin was $218.1 million as compared to $217.4 million for the year ended April 30, 2016. Gross margin percentage was approximately 56.7% for the year ended April 30, 2017 as compared to 57.0% for the prior year.
Earnings
For the quarter ended April 30, 2017 net earnings were $20.7 million as compared to $8.3 million in the corresponding period last year.
For the year ended April 30, 2017 net earnings were $69.8 million as compared to $70.9 million in the corresponding period last year.
For the quarter ended April 30, 2017, earnings per share on a fully-diluted basis were $0.27 as compared to $0.11 in the corresponding period last year.
For the year ended April 30, 2017, earnings per share on a fully-diluted basis were $0.92 as compared to $0.94 in the same period in 2016.
Operating Expenses
For the quarter ended April 30, 2017 selling and administrative expenses were $16.4 million as compared to $16.2 million for the quarter ended April 30, 2016.
For the year ended April 30, 2017, selling and administrative expenses were $62.1 million as compared to $61.0 million for the year ended April 30, 2016.
For the quarter ended April 30, 2017 gross research and development expenses were $19.9 million as compared to $17.3 million for the quarter ended April 30, 2016.
For the year ended April 30, 2017 gross research and development expenses were $73.7 million as compared to $66.9 million for the year ended April 30, 2016.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Company’s working capital as at April 30, 2017 was $264.6 million as compared to $314.9 million on April 30, 2016.
Cash and cash equivalents were $54.3 million as at April 30, 2017 as compared to $123.1 million on April 30, 2016.
Cash generated from operations was $6.0 million for the quarter ended April 30, 2017 as compared to cash generated of $10.1 million for the quarter ended April 30, 2016. Before taking into account taxes and the changes in non-cash working capital and current taxes, the Company generated $23.8 million from operations for the quarter ended April 30, 2017 compared to $12.7 million for the same period last year.
Cash provided by operations was $64.5 million for the 2017 fiscal year as compared to cash provided by operations of $91.2 million for the 2016 fiscal year. Before taking into account taxes and the changes in non-cash working capital, the Company generated $81.1 million from operations for fiscal 2017 as compared to $85.5 million for fiscal 2016.
For the quarter, the Company used $3.2 million in investing activities largely a result of purchases in capital assets.
For the year, the Company used $11.2 million in investing activities, largely a result of purchases of capital assets.
For the quarter ended, the Company used cash in financing activities of $13.3 million which was principally a result of the payment of dividends of $13.6 million.
For the year ended April 30, 2017, the Company used cash in financing activities of $119.0 million which was principally a result of the payment of dividends of $137.5 million, including a special dividend of $83.1 million, partially offset by the issuance of Capital Stock pursuant to the Company’s Stock Option Plan of $18.7 million.
Shipments and Backlog
At the end of May 2017, purchase order backlog was in excess of $93 million and shipments during the month of May 2017 were $36 million.
Dividend Declared
Evertz Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend on June 13, 2017 of $0.18 per share.
The dividend is payable to shareholders of record on June 23, 2017 and will be paid on or about June 30, 2017.
| Selected Consolidated Financial Information |
| (in thousands of dollars, except earnings per share and percentages) |
| Three month period ended April 30, |
Twelve month period ended April 30, |
||||||||||||
| 2017 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 106,734 | $ | 96,367 | $ | 384,432 | $ | 381,550 | |||||
| Cost of goods sold | 46,690 | 41,343 | 166,288 | 164,172 | |||||||||
| Gross margin | 60,044 | 55,024 | 218,144 | 217,378 | |||||||||
| Expenses | |||||||||||||
| Selling and administrative | 16,431 | 16,236 | 62,135 | 60,986 | |||||||||
| General | 2,417 | 1,460 | 8,951 | 6,200 | |||||||||
| Research and development | 19,942 | 17,284 | 73,699 | 66,892 | |||||||||
| Investment tax credits | (2,149 | ) | (3,081 | ) | (9,362 | ) | (10,495 | ) | |||||
| Foreign exchange (gain) loss | (4,110 | ) | 11,814 | (9,887 | ) | (2,638 | ) | ||||||
| 32,531 | 43,713 | 125,536 | 120,945 | ||||||||||
| Earnings before undernoted | 27,513 | 11,311 | 92,608 | 96,433 | |||||||||
| Finance income | (117 | ) | 317 | 1,321 | 772 | ||||||||
| Finance costs | (46 | ) | (84 | ) | (242 | ) | (534 | ) | |||||
| Other income and expenses | 47 | (237 | ) | (141 | ) | 124 | |||||||
| Earnings before income taxes | 27,397 | 11,307 | 93,546 | 96,795 | |||||||||
| Provision for (recovery of) income taxes | |||||||||||||
| Current | 6,969 | 1,270 | 25,160 | 24,582 | |||||||||
| Deferred | (257 | ) | 1,758 | (1,387 | ) | 1,327 | |||||||
| 6,712 | 3,028 | 23,773 | 25,909 | ||||||||||
| Net earnings for the period | $ | 20,685 | $ | 8,279 | $ | 69,773 | $ | 70,886 | |||||
| Net earnings attributable to non-controlling interest | 138 | 182 | 613 | 667 | |||||||||
| Net earnings attributable to shareholders | 20,547 | $ | 8,097 | 69,160 | 70,219 | ||||||||
| Net earnings for the period | $ | 20,685 | $ | 8,279 | $ | 69,773 | $ | 70,886 | |||||
| Earnings per share | |||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.27 | $ | 0.11 | $ | 0.92 | $ | 0.94 | |||||
| Diluted | $ | 0.27 | $ | 0.11 | $ | 0.92 | $ | 0.94 | |||||
| April 30, 2017 |
April 30, 2016 |
April 30, 2015 |
|||||
| Assets | |||||||
| Current assets | |||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 54,274 | $ | 123,102 | $ | 100,681 | |
| Trade and other receivables | 111,664 | 97,435 | 95,403 | ||||
| Prepaid expenses | 4,075 | 6,307 | 8,426 | ||||
| Inventories | 178,208 | 155,957 | 154,259 | ||||
| Income tax receivable | – | 4,256 | – | ||||
| 348,221 | 387,057 | 358,769 | |||||
| Property, Plant and Equipment | 44,152 | 42,971 | 49,080 | ||||
| Goodwill | 18,195 | 18,286 | 18,313 | ||||
| $ | 410,568 | $ | 448,314 | $ | 426,162 | ||
| Liabilities | |||||||
| Current liabilities | |||||||
| Trade and other payables | $ | 50,321 | $ | 49,815 | $ | 44,265 | |
| Provisions | 3,817 | 3,563 | 2,229 | ||||
| Deferred revenue | 28,272 | 18,529 | 15,427 | ||||
| Current portion of long term debt | 280 | 238 | 254 | ||||
| Income tax payable | 945 | – | 1,699 | ||||
| 83,635 | 72,145 | 63,874 | |||||
| Long term debt | 733 | 888 | 996 | ||||
| Deferred taxes | 4,427 | 5,545 | 4,432 | ||||
| 88,795 | 78,578 | 69,302 | |||||
| Equity | |||||||
| Capital stock | 124,695 | 100,483 | 95,708 | ||||
| Share based payment reserve | 10,091 | 13,835 | 12,418 | ||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive income | 747 | 1,567 | 3,077 | ||||
| Retained earnings | 182,297 | 250,320 | 242,268 | ||||
| 183,044 | 251,887 | 245,345 | |||||
| Total equity attributable to shareholders | 317,830 | 366,205 | 353,471 | ||||
| Non-controlling interest | 3,943 | 3,531 | 3,389 | ||||
| 321,773 | 369,736 | 356,860 | |||||
| $ | 410,568 | $ | 448,314 | $ | 426,162 | ||
Forward-Looking Statements
The report contains forward-looking statements reflecting Evertz’s objectives, estimates and expectations. Such forward looking statements use words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “intend”, “project”, “continue” and other similar terminology of a forward-looking nature or negatives of those terms.
Although management of the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, all forward-looking statements address matters that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Accordingly, there are or will be a number of significant factors which could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results to be materially different from any future results performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Conference Call
The Company will hold a conference call with financial analysts to discuss the results on June 13, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. (EDT). Media and other interested parties are invited to join the conference call in listen-only mode. The conference call may be accessed by dialing 647-793-2625 or toll-free (North America) 1-888-297-0356, access code 8673665.
For those unable to listen to the live call, a rebroadcast will also be available until July 13, 2017. The rebroadcast can be accessed at 647-436-0148 or toll-free 1-888-203-1112. The pass code for the rebroadcast is 8673665.
About Evertz
Evertz Technologies Limited (TSX:ET) designs, manufactures and markets video and audio infrastructure solutions for the television, telecommunications and new-media industries. The Company’s solutions are purchased by content creators, broadcasters, specialty channels and television service providers to support their increasingly complex multi-channel digital, and high and ultra-high definition television (“HDTV” and “UHD”) and next generation high bandwidth low latency IP network environments and by telecommunications and new-media companies. The Company’s products allow its customers to generate additional revenue while reducing costs through the more efficient signal routing, distribution, monitoring and management of content as well as the automation of previously manual processes.
Anthony Gridley
Chief Financial Officer
(905) 335-7580
ir@evertz.com