Altus Group Limited Announces Solid Year End Results with 19% Year-Over-Year Increase in Revenue

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 14, 2012) - Altus Group Limited ("Altus") AIF today announced its fourth quarter and annual financial and operating results for the year ended December 31, 2011.

2011 Performance Highlights:

--  Year-over-year revenue growth of 19.3%; 
--  Adjusted EBITDA of $39.2 million for the year; 
--  Adjusted earnings per share of $0.52 for the year; and 
--  Completed acquisition of Realm Solutions Inc. ("Realm"), owner of ARGUS
    Software. 

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $86.3 million, compared to $68.0 million for the comparable period in 2010, representing an increase of 26.9%. Acquisitions contributed 11.3% to overall growth in the quarter. Revenue was $301.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, up 19.3% from $252.5 million in 2010. Acquisitions contributed 10.9% to overall growth in the year.

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $13.2 million, up 131.1% from $5.7 million in the same period last year. For the year ended December 31, 2011, adjusted EBITDA was $39.2 million, compared to $36.9 million in 2010, representing an increase of 6.2%.

"Altus Group's encouraging results for 2011 serve to highlight the strength of our business model and diversity of our service offerings - supporting prospects for the year to come," said Stuart Smith, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Altus. "We believe the breadth and depth of our client base offer the opportunity to provide a more comprehensive suite of services, further enhancing Altus' inherent value to their business."

Profit (loss) for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $2.3 million, or $0.10 per share, basic and diluted, compared to $1.5 million, or $0.07 per basic unit and $(0.07) per diluted unit, for the fourth quarter of 2010. For the year ended December 31, 2011, profit (loss) was $(18.3) million, or $(0.80) per share, basic and diluted, compared to $(9.3) million, or $(0.46) per unit, basic and diluted, in 2010.

Adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $0.27, compared to $0.15 for the same period in 2010. For the year ended December 31, 2011, adjusted earnings per share was $0.52, compared to $1.17 in 2010.

"Our management team has set clear and resolute priorities that include: addressing Altus' debt through targeted divestiture opportunities and other measures, stabilizing the balance sheet and unlocking the company's full growth potential," emphasized Smith. "Accordingly, we have increased the level of rigour across the business, clarified our mandate going forward and established the metrics to ensure progress and additional flexibility for the longer term."

For the fourth quarter, dividends declared totalled $0.15 per common share. For the year ended December 31, 2011, dividends declared totalled $0.75 per common share.

In 2011, Altus acquired Realm Solutions Inc. ("Realm"), owner of ARGUS Software, for aggregate consideration of approximately US$126.4 million, subject to adjustments. The consideration paid to the vendors included a cash payment of US$80.0 million and US$49.4 million principal amount of convertible unsecured debentures issued by Altus to certain shareholders of Realm. This acquisition will enable Altus to build on a powerful new platform to offer clients additional value-added commercial real estate data and analytics.

Analyst Call Details

Altus Group Limited will hold an analyst conference call at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, March 15, 2012 to discuss these financial results and current industry conditions. Please dial 1-877-240-9772 (toll free) or 416-340-8530 (GTA) to access the call. You will be required to identify yourself and your organization. A recording of this call will be made available beginning at 11:00 a.m. EDT. To access the recording, please call 1-800-408-3053 or 905-694-9451 (passcode: 8481609). The recording will also be available at www.altusgrouplimited.com.

About Altus Group Limited

Altus leads the global real estate industry in offering professional real estate advisory services, data solutions and intelligence about an organization's assets, generating a wealth of knowledge and insight. With a staff of over 1,700, Altus has a network of over 60 offices in 14 countries worldwide, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the United States. We operate five interrelated Business Units, bringing years of experience and a broad range of expertise together into one comprehensive platform: Research, Valuation and Advisory; Cost Consulting and Project Management; Realty Tax Consulting, Geomatics and ARGUS Software. Altus' clients include banks, financial institutions, governments, pension funds, asset and fund managers, developers and landlords and companies engaged in the oil and gas industry.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this press release may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by use of words such as "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "plan", "would", "could" and other similar terminology. Inherent in the forward-looking information are known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results, performance or achievements of Altus, or industry results, to differ materially from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Those risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information include: general state of the economy; competition in the industry; ability to attract and retain professionals; integration of acquisitions; dependence on oil and gas sector; dependence on Canadian multi-residential market; customer concentration; currency risk; interest rate risk; reliance on larger software transactions with longer and less predictable sales cycles; success of new product introductions; ability to respond to technological change and develop products on a timely basis; ability to maintain profitability and manage growth; revenue and cash flow volatility; credit risk; protection of intellectual property or defending against claims of intellectual property rights of others; weather; fixed-price and contingency engagements; operating risks; performance of obligations/maintenance of client satisfaction; appraisal mandates; legislative and regulatory changes; risk of future legal proceedings; insurance limits; income tax matters; ability to meet solvency requirements to pay dividends; leverage and restrictive covenants; unpredictability and volatility of common share price; capital investment; and issuance of additional common shares diluting existing shareholders' interests, as well as those described in Altus' publicly filed documents, including the Annual Information Form (which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com).
Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information as a prediction of actual results. The forward-looking information reflects Altus and management's current expectations and beliefs regarding future events and operating performance and is based on information currently available to management. Although Altus has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information contained herein, there are other factors that could cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained herein is current as of the date of this press release and, except as required under applicable law, Altus does not undertake to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances. Additionally, Altus undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Altus, its financial or operating results, or its securities.

Non-IFRS Measures

Altus uses certain non-IFRS measures as indicators of financial performance. Readers are cautioned that they are not defined performance measures under IFRS and may differ from similar computations as reported by other similar entities and, accordingly, may not be comparable to financial measures as reported by those entities. We believe that these measures are useful supplemental measures that may assist investors in assessing an investment in shares of Altus and provides more insight into our performance.

Adjusted Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization, ("Adjusted EBITDA"), represents operating profit (loss) adjusted for the effect of amortization of intangibles, depreciation of property, plant and equipment, acquisition related expenses (income), restructuring costs, corporation conversion and legal reorganization costs, share of profit or loss of associate, unrealized foreign exchange gains (losses), gains (losses) on sale of property, plant and equipment, asset impairments, the effect of stock options and other equity-settled performance plans, gains (losses) on hedging transactions and other expenses or income of a non-operating and/or non-recurring nature.

Adjusted Earnings (Loss) per Share/Unit, ("Adjusted EPS"), represents basic earnings per share/unit adjusted for the effect of amortization of intangibles acquired as part of business acquisitions, non-cash finance costs (income) related to the revaluation of unitholders' liabilities, distributions on unitholders' liabilities, acquisition related expenses (income), restructuring costs, corporate conversion and legal reorganization costs, share of profit or loss of associate, unrealized foreign exchange gains (losses), gains (losses) on sale of property, plant and equipment, interest accretion on vendor payables, asset impairments, the effect of stock options and other equity-settled performance plans, gains (losses) on hedging transactions and other expenses or income of a non-operating and/or non-recurring nature. All of the adjustments are made net of tax.