CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – May 13, 2016) – Foremost Income Fund (“Foremost” or the “Fund“) announces the financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016.
OVERVIEW
The Fund is an unincorporated open end mutual fund trust conducting its business through two operating segments, Foremost Energy Equipment (“FEE”) and Foremost Mobile Equipment (“FME”). FEE’s overall business is focused on the oil and gas industry and includes activity from six manufacturing sites throughout Alberta. FME manufactures off‐highway large wheeled and tracked vehicles, hydrovac and vacuum trucks, equipment for custom drilling, construction, water wells, and mining sectors. FME has three manufacturing facilities located in Alberta.
MESSAGE TO UNITHOLDERS
The hard lifting and enormous headwinds that Foremost faced in 2015 have only intensified at the start of 2016. The sharp, broad based drop in commodity prices at the start of 2016 severely changed the sales trajectory for all of Foremost’s product lines. This forced Foremost’s management to make additional cuts across all spend categories including headcount, SG&A costs and the already thin discretionary costs bucket. As of Q1 2016 Foremost had less than 500 employees, which is the lowest number in many years.
Financial performance in these challenging conditions was fair. The Fund recorded a $1.15 million loss on $35.84 million of revenue.
The Foremost senior and operational management teams continually drive to find efficiencies in direct product costs by sourcing better‐priced materials and by investigating ways to automate operations in the plants. The push to consolidate operations across Foremost continues as market demand reduces further. Competitors in the Alberta space continue to fall by the wayside, the victims of harsh conditions in the energy markets. This provides opportunities for Foremost to capture business that was otherwise unavailable.
The Foremost balance sheet remains strong, and management maintains a strong will to convert non‐working inventory into cash at the best prices possible.
Kevin Johnson, President
Highlights from Q1 2016:
- Revenue decreased by $20.8 million, or 37%, when comparing quarter over quarter. This is a result of ongoing weak demand for most product lines in response to low commodity prices. Field tank and vehicle revenue experienced slight growth compared to 2015, while all other product lines fell. During the first quarter of 2016, $1.5 million in cancellation fee revenue was recognized in the FEE segment. More information can be found in the Segmented Results of Operations section of the MD&A.
- Gross profit decreased to 10% in 2016, compared with 14% in the first quarter of 2015. Included in the 2016 gross profit is a cancellation fee charge on a customer contract recognized in the period. Overall the drop in margin reflects the slowdown in the oil and gas market and the increased pricing pressures.
- Administration costs decreased $1.2 million, from $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2015 to $3.2 million in 2016. Reduction of personnel costs accounted for $0.6 million of the overall savings as headcount continues to drop.
- During the first three months of 2016 the Fund recognized a $0.5 million foreign exchange loss compared to a $1.3 million gain for the same period in 2015. The foreign exchange gain or loss reflects changes in the value of U.S. dollar‐denominated net monetary assets and liabilities. The Fund’s monetary assets consist of cash and accounts receivable, both of which have decreased during the first quarter of 2016.
| SUMMARY OF QUARTERLY INFORMATION | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (000’s, except per Trust Unit amount) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 35,847 | $ | 35,847 | ||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit ($) | $ | 3,657 | $ | 3,657 | ||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit (%) | 10 | % | 10 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Admin. expenses ($) | $ | 3,198 | $ | 3,198 | ||||||||||||||||
| Admin. expenses (% of total revenue) | 9 | % | 9 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Exchange rate loss | $ | (454 | ) | $ | (454 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| EBITDA | $ | 16 | $ | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| Loss from operations | $ | (659 | ) | $ | (659 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive (loss) | $ | (1,146 | ) | $ | (1,146 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Trust units redeemed | 5,000 | 5,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Redemptions | $ | 29 | $ | 29 | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted earnings per trust unit | $ | (0.06 | ) | $ | (0.06 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 56,672 | $ | 48,358 | $ | 43,538 | $ | 43,639 | $ | 192,207 | ||||||||||
| Gross profit ($) | $ | 8,021 | $ | 3,342 | $ | 7,290 | $ | 9,549 | $ | 28,202 | ||||||||||
| Gross profit (%) | 14 | % | 7 | % | 17 | % | 22 | % | 15 | % | ||||||||||
| Admin. expenses ($) | $ | 4,428 | $ | 4,310 | $ | 3,916 | $ | 4,062 | $ | 16,716 | ||||||||||
| Admin. expenses (% of total revenue) | 8 | % | 9 | % | 9 | % | 9 | % | 9 | % | ||||||||||
| Exchange rate gain/(loss) | $ | 1,254 | $ | (168 | ) | $ | 289 | $ | 4 | $ | 1,379 | |||||||||
| EBITDA | $ | 4,769 | $ | (1,126 | ) | $ | 3,696 | $ | 5,470 | $ | 12,809 | |||||||||
| Income/(loss) from operations | $ | 2,362 | $ | (2,177 | ) | $ | 2,136 | $ | 4,275 | $ | 6,596 | |||||||||
| Comprehensive income/(loss) | $ | 2,775 | $ | (1,874 | ) | $ | 2,567 | $ | 6,436 | $ | 9,904 | |||||||||
| Trust units redeemed | 77,350 | 1,379 | 267 | ‐ | 78,996 | |||||||||||||||
| Redemptions | $ | 484 | $ | 8 | $ | 1 | $ | ‐ | $ | 493 | ||||||||||
| Basic and diluted earnings per trust unit | $ | 0.15 | $ | (0.10 | ) | 0.14 | 0.34 | $ | 0.53 | |||||||||||
TRUST UNIT REDEMPTIONS AND DISTRIBUTIONS
The Fund redeemed 5,000 Trust Units during the quarter through its normal redemption program resulting in promissory notes payable of $29,250. During Q1 2015 the Fund redeemed 77,350 Trust Units for cash payments of $400,000 and promissory notes payable equal to $83,438.
The Trustees have determined that, as of May 11, 2016 the Fund will redeem tendered Trust Units at tangible book value of $6.05 per unit.
On behalf of the Trustees Foremost Income Fund
Bevan May, Trustee
FORWARD‐LOOKING STATEMENT
Certain statements in this news release may constitute “forward‐looking” statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Fund to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward‐looking statements. When used in this news release, such statements use words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “believe”, “plan” and other similar terminology. These statements include statements the Fund’s intention to proceed with a Unitholders’ meeting and information regarding the Trustees’ views of the future prospects and tax treatment of the Fund and tax treatment of the Special Redemption, the Fund’s expectations regarding the future availability of cash to meet redemption requests and the Trustee’s expectations for redemption prices in December 2011 and January 2012. These statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this news release. These forward‐looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including: the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, changes in laws and regulations, increased competition, fluctuations in commodity prices and foreign exchange, and interest rates and stock market volatility.
Foremost Income Fund
Jackie Schenn, CA
(403) 295-5800 or toll free 1-800-661-9190 (Canada/US)
(403) 295-5832 (FAX)
investorrelations@foremost.ca
www.foremost.ca