HLF High Liner Foods Inc

- Delivers Year-over-Year Adjusted EBITDA and Net Income Growth for Fiscal 2021 -

LUNENBURG, NS, Feb. 23, 2022 /CNW/ - High Liner Foods Incorporated (TSX: HLF) ("High Liner Foods" or "the Company"), a leading North American value-added frozen seafood company, today reported improved financial results for the fifty-two weeks ended January 1, 2022.

"We are pleased, despite the multi-headwind environment, that we grew sales, increased our profitability and, for the third successive year, delivered on our goal of generating year-over-year EBITDA improvement," said Rod Hepponstall, President and CEO of High Liner Foods. "This is the result of executing against our branded, value-added strategy, strong execution across our organization, and excellent work by our supply chain team to maximize our product availability by mitigating the impact of major global issues."

"We continue to benefit from our early action on supply chain diversification, however given the extent of the global supply chain challenges, we were unable to fully satisfy demand for our products in the fourth quarter, impacting overall volumes. We will continue to pursue all potential avenues to satisfy the strong demand and build inventory in the face of supply challenges that we anticipate will prevail for the first half of 2022."

Key financial results, reported in U.S. dollars ("USD"), for the fifty-two weeks ended January 1, 2022, or Fiscal 2021, are as follows (unless otherwise noted, all comparisons are relative to the fifty-three weeks ended January 2, 2021, or "Fiscal 2020"):

• Sales increased by $47.9 million, or 5.8%, to $875.4 million compared to $827.5 million and sales volume decreased by 7.2 million pounds, or 3.0%, to 233.7 million pounds compared to 240.9 million pounds;
• Gross profit as a percentage of sales increased to 22.7% compared to 21.5% and gross profit increased by $20.6 million, or 11.6%, to $198.5 million compared to $177.9 million;
• Adjusted EBITDA^([1]) increased by $2.4 million, or 2.7%, to $90.4 million compared to $88.0 million and Adjusted EBITDA as a Percentage of Sales⁽¹⁾ decreased to 10.3% compared to 10.6%;
• Net Debt⁽¹⁾ to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ was 3.0x at January 1, 2022 compared to 2.8x at October 2, 2021 and 3.0x at the end of Fiscal 2020;
• Net income increased by $13.4 million, or 46.5%, to $42.2 million compared to $28.8 million and diluted earnings per share ("EPS") increased to $1.20 per share compared to $0.83 per share; and
• Adjusted Net Income⁽¹⁾ increased by $9.6 million, or 27.3%, to $44.8 million compared to $35.2 million and Adjusted Diluted EPS⁽¹⁾ increased to $1.28 per share compared to $1.02 per share.

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Key financial results, reported in USD, for the thirteen weeks ended January 1, 2022, or the fourth quarter of 2021, are as follows (unless otherwise noted, all comparisons are relative to the fourth quarter of 2020):

• Sales increased by $29.5 million, or 14.9%, to $227.9 million compared to $198.4 million and sales volume decreased by 0.9 million pounds, or 1.5%, to 58.7 million pounds compared to 59.6 million pounds;
• Gross profit as a percentage of sales decreased to 21.3% compared to 21.9% and gross profit increased by $5.1 million, or 11.7%, to $48.6 million compared to $43.5 million;
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $0.6 million, or 2.8%, to $20.6 million compared to $21.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA as a Percentage of Sales decreased to 9.0% compared to 10.7% ;
• Net income decreased by $0.2 million, or 2.7%, to $7.2 million compared to $7.4 million and diluted earnings per share ("EPS") decrease to $0.20 per share compared to $0.21 per share; and
• Adjusted Net Income decreased by $1.2 million, or 11.7%, to $9.1 million compared to $10.3 million and Adjusted Diluted EPS decreased to $0.26 per share compared to $0.29 per share.

Q4 Operational Update 

The Company's foodservice business continues to rebound and demand from hospitality and institutional customers continues to increase. High Liner  Foods is taking all available steps to satisfy customer demand but is constrained from doing so due to global supply chain challenges, which impacted the Company's sales volumes by approximately 4 million pounds in the fourth quarter. Like others in the industry, the Company is experiencing shipping delays and raw material supply issues due to global labour shortages, limited shipping container availability, and port congestion and shutdowns. Without the various steps taken to mitigate the impact of these supply challenges, the impact to the Company would have been more pronounced.

The Company continued to take appropriate pricing actions during the quarter to offset the additional costs incurred and manage the inflationary environment. These pricing actions, along with favorable product mix due to increased branded and commodity sales, resulted in a 14.9% increase in net sales in the fourth quarter versus a year ago.

"Our sales revenue growth speaks to our successful early action on pricing and is indicative of our commitment to tackle the challenges in our operating environment proactively, while maximizing the benefits of our integrated supply chain, scale and longstanding customer and supplier relationships," said Mr. Hepponstall.

High Liner Foods continues to take prudent and proactive measures designed to protect the health and safety of its employees and mitigate disruption to the Company's supply chain and operations.

Financial Results

For the purpose of presenting the Consolidated Financial Statements in USD, CAD-denominated assets and liabilities in the Company's operations are converted using the exchange rate at the reporting date, and revenue and expenses are converted at the average exchange rate of the month in which the transaction occurs. As such, foreign currency fluctuations affect the reported values of individual lines on our balance sheet and income statement. When the USD strengthens (weakening CAD), the reported USD values of the Parent's CAD-denominated items decrease in the Consolidated Financial Statements, and the opposite occurs when the USD weakens (strengthening CAD).

Investors are reminded for purposes of calculating financial ratios, including dividend payout and share price-to-earnings ratios, to take into consideration that the Company's share price and dividend rate are reported in CAD and its earnings, EPS and financial statements are reported in USD.

The financial results for the thirteen and fifty-two weeks ended January 1, 2022 and fourteen and fifty-three weeks ended January 2, 2021 are summarized in the following table:

Sales volume for the thirteen weeks ended January 1, 2022, or the fourth quarter of 2021, decreased by 0.9 million pounds, or 1.5%, to 58.7 million pounds compared to 59.6 million pounds in the fourteen weeks ended January 2, 2021, or the fourth quarter of 2020. In our foodservice business, sales volume was lower due to the impact of global supply chain challenges on raw material supply to North America. In our retail business, sales volume was consistent with the same period last year due to evolving consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales volume was favorably impacted by new business and new product sales.

Sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 increased by $29.5 million to $227.9 million compared to $198.4 million in the same period in 2020, reflecting pricing actions related to inflationary increases on input costs and favorable changes in sales mix, partially offset by the lower sales volumes discussed above. In addition, the stronger Canadian dollar in fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of 2020 increased the value of reported USD sales from our CAD-denominated operations by approximately $1.9 million relative to the conversion impact last year.

Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2021 increased by $5.1 million to $48.6 million compared to $43.5 million in the same period in 2020 and gross profit as a percentage of sales decreased by 60 basis points to 21.3% compared to 21.9%. The increase in gross profit reflects favorable changes in product mix, offset by higher than expected inflation and the lower sales volume discussed above. In addition, the stronger Canadian dollar increased the value of reported USD gross profit from our Canadian operations in 2021 by approximately $0.4 million relative to the conversion impact last year.

Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2021 decreased by $0.6 million to $20.6 million compared to $21.2 million in the same period in 2020 and Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of sales decreased to 9.0% compared to 10.7%. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA reflects the increase in gross profit, partially offset by an increase in distribution expenses and net SG&A expenses.

Reported net income in the fourth quarter of 2021 decreased by $0.2 million to net income of $7.2 million (diluted EPS of $0.20) compared to $7.4 million (diluted EPS of $0.21) in the same period in 2020. The decrease in net income reflects the decrease in Adjusted EBITDA, a decrease in share-based compensation expense and a decrease in finance costs, partially offset by an increase in income tax expense.

Reported net income in the fourth quarter of 2021 included certain non-routine expenses classified as "business acquisition, integration and other expense". Excluding the impact of these non-routine items or other non-cash expenses and share-based compensation, Adjusted Net Income in the fourth quarter of 2021 decreased by $1.2 million or 11.7% to $9.1 million compared to $10.3 million in 2020. Correspondingly, Adjusted Diluted EPS decreased by $0.03 to $0.26 compared to $0.29 in 2020.

Net cash flows provided by operating activities in the fourth quarter of 2021 decreased by $30.3 million to an outflow of $8.0 million compared to an inflow of $22.3 million in the same period in 2020 due to unfavorable changes in non-cash working capital, offset by lower interest and income taxes paid, and higher cash flows provided by operations.

Net Debt increased by $18.5 million to $271.0 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 as compared to $252.6 million at October 2, 2021, primarily reflecting higher bank loans on January 1, 2022 as compared to the third quarter of 2021, partially offset by lower cash and lease liabilities.

Net Debt to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA was 3.0x at January 1, 2022 compared to 2.8x at October 2, 2021 and 3.0x at the end of Fiscal 2020. In the absence of any major acquisitions or unplanned capital expenditures in 2022, we expect this ratio to be below the Company's long-term target of 3.0x at the end of Fiscal 2022.

Outlook

"We have demonstrated our resilience and our ability to execute as we have delivered ongoing Adjusted EBITDA growth and strengthened our customer relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Mr. Hepponstall. "We are confident that we will continue to accelerate sales growth and generate year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA growth in Fiscal 2022 as we execute on our strategy to be the leader in branded, value-added seafood in North America."

Demand for the Company's products remains strong, however, like others in the retail and foodservice space, the Company continues to navigate global supply challenges, inflationary pressures on raw material and ongoing uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. High Liner Foods is taking all necessary steps to mitigate ongoing supply challenges by drawing on the scale of its global supply chain and the diversification of species, product, procurement and strong customer and supplier relationships to support its position.

With a strong balance sheet and cash flow, the Company is well equipped to navigate current market conditions and invest in the business, with anticipated capital expenditures of approximately $25.0 million in Fiscal 2022, as we modernize our asset base, explore automation opportunities and maintain and upgrade our facilities.

The Company does not have any impending debt maturities and will continue to utilize its $150.0 million working capital credit facility, if required, and remains confident in its liquidity position. High Liner Foods expects its Net Debt to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA ratio to be below the Company's long-term target of 3.0x at the end of Fiscal 2022.

Dividend

Today, the Company's Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of CAD$0.10 per share on the Company's common shares, payable on March 15, 2022 to holders of record on March 2, 2022. These dividends are considered "eligible dividends" for Canadian income tax purposes.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. ET (3:00 p.m. AT) during which Rod Hepponstall, President & Chief Executive Officer and Paul Jewer, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, will discuss the financial results for the fourth quarter of 2021. To access the conference call by telephone, dial 416-764-8659 or 1-888-664-6392. Please connect approximately 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the call to ensure participation. The conference call will be archived for replay by telephone until Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at midnight (ET). To access the archived conference call, dial 1-888-390-0541 and enter the replay entry code 738813#.

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available at www.highlinerfoods.com. Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to join the webcast.

The Company's Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and MD&A as at and for the fifty-two weeks ended January 1, 2022 were filed concurrently on SEDAR with this news release and are also available at www.highlinerfoods.com.

Non-IFRS Measures

The Company reports its financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). Included in this media release are the following non-IFRS financial measures: Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA as a Percentage of Net Sales, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted EPS, Net Debt and Net Debt to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA.

The Company believes these non-IFRS financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors in measuring the financial performance and financial condition of the Company for the reasons outlined below. These measures do not have any standardized meaning as prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other publicly traded companies, nor should they be construed as an alternative to other financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as a Percentage of Sales

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization adjusted for items that are not considered representative of ongoing operational activities of the business. The related margin, Adjusted EBITDA as a Percentage of Sales, is defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by net sales, where net sales is defined as "Sales" on the consolidated statements of income.

We use Adjusted EBITDA (and Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of sales) as a performance measure as it approximates cash generated from operations before capital expenditures and changes in working capital, and it excludes the impact of expenses and recoveries associated with certain non-routine items that are not considered representative of the ongoing operational activities, as discussed above, and share-based compensation expense related to the Company's share price. We believe investors and analysts also use Adjusted EBITDA (and Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of sales) to evaluate the performance of our business. The most directly comparable IFRS measure to Adjusted EBITDA is "Net income" on the consolidated statements of income. Adjusted EBITDA is also useful when comparing to other companies, as it eliminates the differences in earnings that are due to how a company is financed. Also, for the purpose of certain covenants on our credit facilities, "EBITDA" is based on Adjusted EBITDA, with further adjustments as defined in the Company's credit agreements.

The following table reconciles Adjusted EBITDA with measures that are found in our Consolidated Financial Statements, and calculates Adjusted EBITDA as a Percentage of Sales.

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted EPS

Adjusted Net Income is net income adjusted for the after-tax impact of items which are not representative of ongoing operational activities of the business and certain non-cash expenses or income. Adjusted Diluted EPS is Adjusted Net Income divided by the average diluted number of shares outstanding.

We use Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted EPS to assess the performance of our business without the effects of the above-mentioned items, and we believe our investors and analysts also use these measures. We exclude these items because they affect the comparability of our financial results and could potentially distort the analysis of trends in business performance. The most comparable IFRS financial measures are net income and EPS.

The table below reconciles our Adjusted Net Income with measures that are found in our Consolidated Financial Statements and calculates Adjusted Diluted EPS.

Net Debt and Net Debt to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA

Net Debt is calculated as the sum of bank loans, long-term debt (excluding deferred finance costs and modification gains/losses) and lease liabilities, less cash.

We consider Net Debt to be an important indicator of our Company's financial leverage because it represents the amount of debt that is not covered by available cash. We believe investors and analysts use Net Debt to determine the Company's financial leverage. Net Debt has no comparable IFRS financial measure, but rather is calculated using several asset and liability items in the consolidated statements of financial position.

Net Debt to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as Net Debt divided by Adjusted EBITDA. We consider Net Debt to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA to be an important indicator of our ability to generate earnings sufficient to service our debt, that enhances understanding of our financial performance and highlights operational trends. This measure is widely used by investors and rating agencies in the valuation, comparison, rating and investment recommendations of companies; however, the calculations of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to those of other companies, which limits their usefulness as comparative measures.

The following table reconciles Net Debt to IFRS measures reported as at the end of the indicated periods in the consolidated statements of financial position and calculates Net Debt to Rolling Twelve-Month Adjusted EBITDA.

Forward Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of the conditional tense, the words "may", "should", "would", "could", "believe", "plan", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "foresee", "objective", "goal", "remain" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or variations of them or words and expressions of similar nature. Actual results could differ materially from the conclusion, forecast or projection stated in such forward-looking information. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statements will materialize. Assumptions, expectations and estimates made in the preparation of forward-looking statements and risks that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our current expectations are discussed in detail in the Company's materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time, including the Risk Factors section of our MD&A for the fifty-two weeks ended January 1, 2022 and the Risk Factors section of our 2021 Annual Information Form. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the operations, performance, development and results of High Liner Foods' business include, but are not limited to, the following factors: compliance with food safety laws and regulations; timely identification of and response to events that could lead to a product recall; volatility in the CAD/USD exchange rate; competitive developments including increases in overseas seafood production and industry consolidation; availability and price of seafood raw materials and finished goods and the impact of geopolitical events (and related economic sanctions) on the same; the impact of the U.S. Trade Representative's tariffs on certain seafood products; costs of commodity products, freight, storage and other production inputs, and the ability to pass cost increases on to customers; successful integration of acquired operations; potential increases in maintenance and operating costs; shifts in market demands for seafood; performance of new products launched and existing products in the market place; changes in laws and regulations, including environmental, taxation and regulatory requirements; technology changes with respect to production and other equipment and software programs; enterprise resource planning system risk; adverse impacts of cybersecurity attacks or breach of sensitive information; supplier fulfillment of contractual agreements and obligations; competitor reactions; completion and/or advancement of sustainability initiatives, including, without limitation, initiatives relating to the carbon workplan, waste reduction and/or seafood sustainability and traceability initiatives; High Liner Foods' ability to generate adequate cash flow or to finance its future business requirements through outside sources; credit risk associated with receivables from customers; volatility associated with the funding status of the Company's post-retirement pension benefits; adverse weather conditions and natural disasters; the availability of adequate levels of insurance; management retention and development; and the potential impact of a pandemic outbreak of a contagious illness, such as the 2019 coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, on general economic and business conditions and therefore the Company's operations and financial performance. Forward-looking information is based on management's current estimates, expectations and assumptions, which we believe are reasonable as of the current date. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. Except as required under applicable securities laws, we do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. We include in publicly available documents filed from time to time with securities commissions and The Toronto Stock Exchange, a discussion of the risk factors that can cause anticipated outcomes to differ from actual outcomes. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, we do not undertake to update forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About High Liner Foods Incorporated

High Liner Foods Incorporated is a leading North American processor and marketer of value-added frozen seafood. High Liner Foods' retail branded products are sold throughout the United States and Canada under the High Liner, Fisher Boy, Mirabel, Sea Cuisine, and Catch of the Day labels, and are available in most grocery and club stores. The Company also sells branded products to restaurants and institutions under the High Liner, Mirabel, Icelandic Seafood and FPI labels and is a major supplier of private label value-added seafood products to North American food retailers and foodservice distributors. High Liner Foods is a publicly traded Canadian company, trading under the symbol HLF on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

For further information about the Company, please visit our website at www.highlinerfoods.com or send an e-mail to investor@highlinerfoods.com. 

SOURCE High Liner Foods Incorporated