Parkland Fuel Corporation Announces Record 2019 First Quarter Results

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CaribPR Wire, CALGARY, Alberta, May 01, 2019: Parkland Fuel Corporation, (”Parkland”, “We”, the “Company”, or “Our”) (TSX:PKI) announced today the financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2019 (”Q1 2019″). All financial figures are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

“Parkland had a very strong start for 2019,” said Bob Espey, President and Chief Executive Officer. “As demonstrated by our KPI’s, the Parkland team delivered another standout quarter of growth on the back of disciplined execution, a robust marketing and logistics environment and healthy refining margins. This was also the first quarter with our new International business, and we are very pleased with the results to date.

2019 marks a significant milestone in the history of Parkland, as the Company celebrates its 50th anniversary as a publicly traded company. Parkland began as a single retail gas station in Red Deer, Alberta, and today supplies or owns over 2,600 retail sites across our operations. We are proud to service retail, commercial and wholesale customers throughout Canada, the United States, the Caribbean region and the Americas. I would like to thank the entire Parkland team for their hard work and continued focus on safety to deliver another strong quarter.”

Parkland also announces that Mike McMillan, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has decided to move back to Ontario where he can spend more time with his family. The Company will immediately begin a search process to replace Mike, and he has agreed to support us until a successor has been named and an appropriate transition period is completed.

“Mike has made exceptional contributions during his ten years with Parkland,” said Mr. Espey. “As CFO since 2015, his responsible stewardship of the Company’s financial position has allowed Parkland to execute on its growth strategy and deliver outstanding results. Mike has been instrumental in numerous initiatives across the Company, including supporting acquisition and integration efforts and driving synergies. On behalf of the Board of Directors, and all of his colleagues at Parkland, I thank Mike for his commitment to our success and offer my very best wishes in his future endeavors.”

Q1 2019 Highlights

• On January 1, 2019, Parkland adopted IFRS 16 – Leases (”IFRS 16″). The adoption of IFRS 16 increases Adjusted EBITDA by reducing operating costs and increasing depreciation, amortization, and finance and other costs. IFRS 16 also increases Parkland’s assets and liabilities and has no overall impact to cash flow. Refer to the Q1 2019 Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (”Q1 2019 FS”) and Q1 2019 Management’s Discussion and Analysis (”Q1 2019 MD&A”) for further information.
• First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $315 million and net earnings attributable to Parkland were $77 million ($0.53 per share, basic). Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, Parkland’s Adjusted EBITDA was $288 million, and net earnings were $80 million. This exceptional performance was primarily driven by additional contributions from the Sol Transaction (as defined herein), strong Supply results as a result of the 2018 Turnaround in the first quarter of 2018 (”Q1 2018″) and continued efforts in executing Parkland’s supply strategy.
• First quarter fuel and petroleum product volume was 5.3 billion litres, compared to 4.2 billion litres in Q1 2018. The increase was primarily driven by incremental volumes from the Sol Transaction.
• First quarter Adjusted distributable cash flow increased by $25 million to $135 million ($0.93 per share), resulting in an Adjusted dividend payout ratio of 32%. Adjusted distributable cash flow is a non-GAAP measure, which we have amended to remove the impact of IFRS 16 such that this metric is comparable year over year.
• Growth capital expenditures were $29 million and maintenance capital expenditures were $50 million. Combined growth and maintenance capital expenditures attributable to Parkland decreased $7 million compared to Q1 2018. First quarter capital expenditures reflects the addition of our new International segment and higher Canada Retail and Commercial growth investments, offset by lower maintenance expenditures related to a turnaround at the Burnaby refinery last year.
• Total Funded Debt to Credit Facility EBITDA ratio of 2.7 times as at March 31, 2019.
• We continue to expect that annual run-rate synergies on the Ultramar and Chevron acquisitions in 2017 will reach approximately $180 million by the end of 2020.
• Subsequent to the quarter, Parkland successfully completed the second and final phase of the Chevron Transitional Services Agreement (”TSA”). Parkland converted the Enterprise Resource Planning (”ERP”) system used in the Supply segment of the Chevron business to Parkland’s ERP system on April 1, 2019.
• In the first quarter, Parkland opened a Houston office which supports its growing supply and trading business in the U.S. and Caribbean markets.

Canada Retail Highlights

• First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $73 million (Pre-IFRS 16: $68 million), driven by strong volume growth and convenience store sales, offset by weaker gasoline margins in most provinces. Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, Adjusted EBITDA was relatively flat compared the same period in 2018.
• First quarter Company Volume same-store-sales growth (”SSSG”) was 1.4%, demonstrating the success of our network development planning strategy which focuses on high growth areas, along with strategic marketing and operational efforts to increase volume.
• First quarter Company C-Store SSSG was 6.0%, our 13th consecutive quarter of positive Company C-Store SSSG. Growth was seen across all merchandise categories and was attributable to strong field level execution and the successful implementation of the On the Run / Marché Express store concepts, Parkland’s proprietary private label brand 59th Street Food Co., and higher forecourt to backcourt conversion rates.
• We continued to evolve our retail site composition, converting approximately 40 Company Owned, Company Operated (”COCO”) sites to Company Owned, Retailer Operated (”CORO”) sites in the quarter. As of March 31, 2019, we have approximately 50 COCO sites remaining to convert in 2019.
• We retrofitted 12 existing On the Run / Marché Express locations and constructed one new-to-industry (”NTI”) locations in the first quarter. We are now offering 28 “59th Street Food Co.” products at select locations and are encouraged by pilot market results from our “Journie” loyalty program. We continue to plan for a Q4 2019 roll out of our Journie program across our Canadian portfolio.

Canada Commercial Highlights

• First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $44 million (Pre-IFRS 16: $43 million), driven by strong fuel margins on cardlock, propane, and furnace oil (particularly in Ontario and Quebec), and lower operating costs. Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, Adjusted EBITDA increased by $5 million compared to the same period in 2018.
• First quarter fuel and petroleum product volume decreased 9% relative to Q1 2018, primarily due to margin improvement initiatives which decreased volume, but increased gross profit.
• We continue to evolve our customer value proposition by leveraging an integrated offering of delivered diesel and lubricants, propane, home heat and cardlock road diesel across the country.

USA Highlights

• First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $11 million (the impact of IFRS 16 was negligible), driven by strong lubricant margins and our focus on driving new business, growing organically and managing costs. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $7 million compared the same period in 2018, primarily due to the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of Rhinehart Oil Co., LLC and its affiliates (the “Rhinehart Acquisition”) in 2018.
• First quarter fuel and petroleum product volume was 331 million litres, an increase of 112 million litres compared to the same period in 2018. The increase was primarily due to the Rhinehart Acquisition and organic growth initiatives.
• The US remains our highest growth potential area and we will continue to evaluate opportunities in this market as they arise.

International Highlights

• Parkland successfully completed the acquisition of 75% of the outstanding shares of Sol Investments Limited (collectively, with its subsidiaries “Sol”) on January 8, 2019 (the “Sol Transaction”). Business continuity through the transition phase has been our key focus and is proceeding as planned.
• First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $71 million (Pre-IFRS 16: $57 million), which reflects Parkland’s 75% ownership in Sol. The performance was driven by strong fundamentals in the Eastern Caribbean and South American markets. We are encouraged by our first quarter with the new International segment and results have been tracking in-line with our expectations.
• First quarter Fuel and petroleum product volume was 1,063 million litres, consisting of 424 million litres sold through retail channels and 639 million litres sold through commercial and wholesale channels.
• The volumes and Adjusted EBITDA of the Eastern, Western, Spanish and French Caribbean are expected to be higher in the first and fourth quarters of the year during tourism high season. South America’s volumes and Adjusted EBITDA are expected to be influenced by activity in the natural resource industries. Adjusted EBITDA results may further be partly influenced by fluctuations in supply cost and weather.
• The first quarter with the Sol portfolio has reinforced our thesis for the acquisition. The business has strong local teams, fortress assets with unique regional scale, and significant growth potential in several business lines such as LPG, Aviation, Retail, Commercial and Wholesale. We continue to expect approximately $42 million of annual run-rate synergies (attributable to Parkland based on its 75% share of the Sol business) by the end of 2021.

Supply Highlights

• First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $143 million (Pre-IFRS 16: $137 million), driven by profitable supply sourcing initiatives, propane marketing and strong refining margins near the end of the quarter. Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, Adjusted EBITDA increased by $66 million compared to Q1 2018, which was lower due to the turnaround at the Burnaby refinery. Parkland continues to drive ongoing cost improvements in our storage and distribution operations as part of our supply advantage strategy.
• Refinery utilization, which measures the amount of crude oil processed and converted to products in the Burnaby Refinery, was 92.0% for the first quarter, compared to 33.2% for Q1 2018 which was lower due to the turnaround at the Burnaby refinery.

Corporate Segment Highlights

• First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was negative $27 million (Pre-IFRS 16: negative $28 million). Marketing, general and administrative expenses were relatively flat compared to Q1 2018, and as a percentage of total adjusted gross profit, favorably decreased to 3.9% (down from 6.0% in Q1 2018). Parkland’s objective is to manage corporate expenses tightly so that they increase at a slower pace than Parkland’s adjusted gross profit.

Consolidated Financial Overview

⁽¹⁾ Measure of segment profit. See Section 13 of the MD&A.
⁽²⁾ Non-GAAP financial measure. See Section 13 of the MD&A.
⁽³⁾ Calculated using the weighted average number of common shares.
⁽⁴⁾ Fuel and petroleum product volume represents external volumes only. Intersegment volumes, including volumes produced by the Burnaby Refinery and transferred to the Canada Retail and Canada Commercial segments, are excluded from this reported volume.
⁽⁵⁾ “cpl” stands for cents-per-litre and is a key performance indicator. See Section 13 of the MD&A.
⁽⁶⁾ For comparative purposes, fuel and petroleum product volume, and sales and operating revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were restated due to a change in segment presentation, resulting from a reclassification of wholesale customers from the Supply segment to the Canada Commercial segment, reflecting a change in organizational structure in 2019.
⁽⁷⁾ Key performance indicator. See Sections 4 and 13 of the MD&A.

The following table outlines the impact of IFRS 16 on Adjusted EBITDA as reported for the three months ended March 31, 2019:

⁽¹⁾ Pre-IFRS 16 amounts are comparable to the reported information in Q1 2018, which was calculated under IAS 17.

2019 Outlook & Guidance Range

Parkland will remain focused on its key strategies of organic growth, building a strong supply advantage and acquiring prudently. Our 2019 Guidance for Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Parkland, prior to the impact of IFRS 16, remains $960 million with anticipated variance of up to 5 percent.

The Adjusted EBITDA impact of adopting IFRS 16 was $27 million during Q1 2019 and is expected to be approximately $105 million for full-year 2019. As a result, our 2019 Guidance for Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Parkland, including the impact of IFRS 16, is $1,065 million with an anticipated variance of up to 5% (the “2019 Guidance Range”). Our Q1 2019 results give us a high level of confidence in our 2019 Guidance Range.

In addition, the Company continues to expect approximately $200 million of growth capital expenditures and $200 million of maintenance capital expenditures in 2019.

The 2019 Guidance Range includes some key assumptions highlighted below:

• Includes the 75% of Sol’s Adjusted EBITDA that is attributable to Parkland
• Burnaby refining margins forecast is based on our view of future market conditions
• The performance of recently acquired businesses, general market conditions, including but not limited to fuel margins and weather, will remain substantially consistent for the remainder of 2019
• The low end of our 2019 Guidance Range accounts for potential adverse market conditions across our areas of operations, as well as the potential for lower refining margins than currently observable, while the high end of our 2019 Guidance Range accounts for greater than expected contributions from acquisition synergies, refining margins and organic growth

In addition, the factors and assumptions which contribute to Parkland’s assessment of the 2019 Guidance Range are consistent with existing Parkland disclosure and such guidance range is subject to risks and uncertainties inherent in Parkland’s business. Readers are directed to the “Risk Factors” section in the Annual MD&A and the Annual Information Form for a description of such factors, assumptions, risks and uncertainties.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Parkland will host a webcast and conference call on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 6:30am MDT (8:30am EDT) to discuss the results.

To listen to the live webcast and watch the presentation, please use the following link:

https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1985616/DF7D3C78C608DF8C797A716E1CE5B7A1

Analysts and institutional investors interested in participating in the question and answer session of the conference call may do so by calling 1-888-390-0605 (toll-free) (Conference ID: 86334895). International participants can call 1-587-880-2175 (toll) (Conference ID: 86334895).

Please connect and log in approximately 10 minutes before the beginning of the call.

The webcast will be available for replay two hours after the conference call ends at the link above. It will remain available for one year and will also be posted to www.parkland.ca.

Annual General Meeting

Parkland Fuel Corporation’s 2019 Annual General Meeting (”AGM”) will be held on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 9:00am MDT at the Metropolitan Conference Centre in Calgary, Alberta. This year’s AGM will mark a significant milestone in the history of Parkland, as the Company celebrates its 50th anniversary as a publicly traded company.

MD&A and Consolidated Financial Statements

The Q1 2019 MD&A and Q1 2019 FS provide a detailed explanation of Parkland’s operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2019. An English version of these documents will be available online at www.parkland.ca and SEDAR immediately after the results are released by newswire under Parkland’s profile at www.sedar.com. French Financial Statements and MD&A will be posted to www.parkland.ca and SEDAR as soon as they become available.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information and statements (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). When used in this news release the words “expect”, “will”, “could”, “would”, “believe”, “continue”, “pursue” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, cash flow growth, run-rate synergies, private label program expansion, fuel volume growth, new business objectives, organic growth initiatives, growth of supply and trading business in the U.S. and Caribbean, Adjusted EBITDA Guidance, capital and maintenance expenditure forecasts, contribution of the Sol business and 2018 U.S. acquisitions, strategic marketing and operational efforts to increase fuel volume, expected launch of marketing and loyalty programs, forecast crack spreads and refining margins, U.S. growth opportunities, seasonal EBITDA and volume projections, and supply improvement and optimization and plans and objectives of or involving Parkland.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Parkland does not undertake any obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by securities law. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of numerous risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, general economic, market and business conditions; industry capacity; competitive action by other companies; refining and marketing margins; the ability of suppliers to meet commitments; actions by governmental authorities and other regulators including but not limited to increases in taxes or restricted access to markets; changes and developments in environmental and other regulations; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Parkland. See also the risks and uncertainties described in “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” included in Parkland’s Annual Information Form dated March 27, 2019 and in “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” in the Q1 2019 MD&A, each as filed on SEDAR and available on the Parkland website at www.parkland.ca.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This news release refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures that are not determined in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (”IFRS”). Distributable cash flow, distributable cash flow per share, adjusted distributable cash flow, adjusted distributable cash flow per share, dividend payout ratio and adjusted dividend payout ratio are not measures recognized under IFRS and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. Management considers these to be important supplemental measures of Parkland’s performance and believes these measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in its industries. See Section 13 of the Q1 2019 MD&A for a discussion of non-GAAP measures and their reconciliations to the nearest applicable IFRS measure.

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted gross profit are measures of segment profit. See Section 13 of the Q1 2019 MD&A and Note 20 of the Q1 2019 FS for a reconciliation of these measures of segment profit. Annual Synergies is an annualized measure and is considered to be forward-looking information. See Section 10 of the Q1 2019 MD&A. Investors are encouraged to evaluate each measure and the reasons Parkland considers it appropriate for supplemental analysis.

Effective January 1, 2019, Parkland adopted the new accounting standard, IFRS 16 – Leases (”IFRS 16″). The adoption of IFRS 16 has a significant effect on Parkland’s reported results. Due to Parkland’s selected transition method, it has not restated its prior year comparatives. Certain financial statement measures are presented excluding the impact of IFRS 16 (”Pre-IFRS 16 measures”). Refer to the Q1 2019 FS and Q1 2019 MD&A for reconciliations of Pre-IFRS 16 measures.

Investors are cautioned, however, that these measures should not be construed as an alternative to net earnings determined in accordance with IFRS as an indication of Parkland’s performance. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

About Parkland Fuel Corporation

Parkland is an independent supplier and marketer of fuel and petroleum products and a leading convenience store operator. Parkland services customers across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean region and the Americas through three channels: Retail, Commercial and Wholesale. Parkland optimizes its fuel supply across these three channels by operating and leveraging a growing portfolio of supply relationships and storage infrastructure. Parkland provides trusted and locally relevant fuel brands and convenience store offerings in the communities it serves.

Parkland creates value for shareholders by focusing on its proven strategy of growing organically, realizing a supply advantage and acquiring prudently and integrating successfully. At the core of our strategy are our people, as well as our values of safety, integrity, community and respect, which are embraced across our organization.

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