Brick Brewing Reports Record Full-year EBITDA, ex one-time costs, of $9.0MM

KITCHENER, Ontario, April 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fourth Quarter Highlights:

Net Revenue for the quarter increased to $10.7 million compared to $10.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.
Gross Profit margin for the quarter was 29.1%, a decrease from 32.1% in prior year.
Selling, Marketing and Administration expenses of $2.1 million, compared to prior year at $2.3 million.
EBITDA* for the quarter was $1.81 million, compared to prior year EBITDA of $1.77 million.
The Board of Directors re-affirmed the quarterly dividend, at $0.02/share, payable May 22, 2018 to shareholders of record as of May 8, 2018. The dividend is classified as an eligible dividend.

Full Year Highlights:

Net Revenue increased to $49.8 million, from $45.2 million in the prior year.
Gross Profit margin was 28.7% and 30.4% ex one-time costs, a decrease from 34.8% in prior year.
Selling, Marketing and Administration expenses decreased to $9.14 million, down from $9.25 million in prior year.
EBITDA was $8.2 million and $9.0 million, ex one-time costs, up from $8.8 million in the prior year.

Brick Brewing Co. Limited ("Brick" or the "Company") BRB, Ontario's largest Canadian-owned brewery, today released results for the fourth quarter and full year ended January 31, 2018. Brick recorded annual EBITDA (ex one-time costs) of $9.0 million on a Net Revenue of $49.8 million. EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $1.81 million.

George Croft, Brick President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are pleased with the growth of our owner brands and co-pack business. The integration of our operating facilities is now complete, and we look forward to the challenge of delivering exceptional results in the upcoming year. We experienced challenging market conditions during 2017 with a cool, wet summer which drove overall full-year industry volume lower by 5.1%. Despite the category declines, Laker grew 6% in the year, Waterloo was up 10% and the LandShark and Margaritaville family grew 45%. We are excited about a new can line upgrade project that is well under way and will double our canning capacity. We expect to leverage the increased capacity and improved supply chain efficiencies over the next fiscal year in both our own branded volumes and with our contract manufacturing.

Brick reported 28% growth or $2.3 million in contract manufacturing revenue for the year, the result of growth with both current and new customers.

Croft added, "We have recently announced a number of new products and packaging, including Chudleigh's Cider, Waterloo Radler Sampler and Landshark draft that we are confident will resonate with our consumers. We are also excited about the upcoming craft offerings which we believe will be a key element in realizing our growth targets in the year ahead. All of these contribute to our confidence in our ability to deliver value and growth to our shareholders for the long term."

The following financial information should be read in conjunction with the audited annual financial statements of the Company prepared under IFRS for the year ended January 31, 2018.


Reconciliation of Net Earnings to Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization, and Share Based Payments (EBITDA)*

	Fiscal year ended
(in thousands of dollars)		January 31, 2018		January 31, 2017

Net income	$	2,602	$	3,997

Add (deduct):
Income tax expense		1,044		1,345
Depreciation and amortization		3,528		2,876
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment and intangibles		131		-
Share-based payments		316		147
Finance costs		546		478
Subtotal		5,565		4,846

EBITDA*		8,167		8,843

STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Years ended January 31, 2018 and 2017

		January 31, 2018		January 31, 2017

Revenue	$	49,790,034	$	45,176,380
Cost of sales		35,509,607		29,464,917
Gross profit		14,280,427		15,711,463

Selling, marketing and administration expenses		9,142,571		9,248,039
Other expenses		814,256		643,273
Finance costs		545,990		478,181
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment and intangibles		131,068		-
Income before tax		3,646,542		5,341,970

Income tax expense		1,044,075		1,345,158
Net income and comprehensive income for the year	$	2,602,467	$	3,996,812


Basic earnings per share	$	0.07	$	0.11
Diluted earnings per share	$	0.07	$	0.11

STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION
As at January 31, 2018 and 2017

	January 31, 2018			January 31, 2017

ASSETS
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment	$	27,119,488		$	21,709,425
Intangible assets		15,381,578			15,499,186
Construction deposits		323,255			2,462,328
		42,824,321			39,670,939

Current assets
Cash		-			2,831,959
Accounts receivable		6,999,212			7,035,714
Inventories		7,891,364			5,619,329
Prepaid expenses		613,710			593,180
		15,504,286			16,080,182

TOTAL ASSETS		58,328,607		$	55,751,121

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Equity
Share capital		39,747,525			39,651,096
Share-based payments reserves		1,026,667			943,565
Deficit		(2,547,746	)		(2,758,560	)
TOTAL EQUITY		38,226,446			37,836,101

Non-current liabilities
Provisions		538,376			411,599
Obligation under finance lease		3,011,893			3,781,855
Long-term debt		6,019,245			2,498,580
Deferred income tax liabilities		1,126,464			82,389
		10,695,978			6,774,423

Current liabilities
Bank Indebtedness		787,843			-
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		6,516,382			9,655,405
Current portion of obligation under finance lease		769,962			741,297
Current portion of long-term debt		1,331,996			743,895
		9,406,183			11,140,597

TOTAL LIABILITIES		20,102,161			17,915,020

COMMITMENTS

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY	$	58,328,607		$	55,751,121

STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
Years ended January 31, 2018 and 2017

	January 31, 2018			January 31, 2017

Operating activities
Net income	$	2,602,467		$	3,996,812
Adjustments for:
Income tax expense		1,044,075			1,345,158
Finance costs		545,990			478,181
Depreciation and amortization of property, plant and equipment and intangibles		3,527,762			2,875,958
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment and intangibles		131,068			-
Share-based payments		316,209			147,292
Change in non-cash working capital related to operations		(5,422,741	)		1,320,659
Less:
Interest paid		(463,782	)		(395,851	)
Cash provided by operating activities		2,281,048			9,768,209

Investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment		(8,160,391	)		(2,578,913	)
Construction deposit paid		(323,255	)		(2,462,328	)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment, net		2,032,266			-
Purchase of intangible assets		(281,417	)		(144,194	)
Cash used in investing activities		(6,732,797	)		(5,185,435	)

Financing activities
Increase in bank indebtedness		787,843			-
Issuance of long-term debt, net of fees		5,126,215			2,000,000
Repayment of long-term debt		(1,024,640	)		(1,597,179	)
Repayment of obligation under finance lease		(741,297	)		(713,699	)
Dividends paid		(2,391,653	)		(1,822,177	)
Issuance of shares, net of fees		60,050			45,867
Shares repurchased and cancelled, including fees		(322,629	)		(266,856	)
Proceeds from stock option exercise		125,901			209,584
Cash generated from (used in) financing activities		1,619,790			(2,144,460	)

Net increase/(decrease) in cash		(2,831,959	)		2,438,314

Cash, beginning of year		2,831,959			393,645
Cash, end of year	$	-		$	2,831,959

About Brick Brewing

Brick is Ontario's largest Canadian-owned brewery. The Company is a regional brewer of award-winning premium quality and value beers and is officially certified under the Global Food Safety Standard, one of the highest and most internationally recognized standards for safe food production. Founded in 1984, Brick Brewing Co. was the first craft brewery to start up in Ontario and is credited with pioneering the present-day craft brewing renaissance in Canada. Brick has complemented its Waterloo premium craft beers with the popular Laker brand. In 2011, Brick purchased the Canadian rights to Seagram Coolers and in 2015, secured the exclusive Canadian rights to both LandShark and Margaritaville. In addition, Brick utilizes its leading-edge brewing, blending and packaging capabilities to provide an extensive array of contract manufacturing services in beer, coolers and ciders. Brick trades on the TSX under the symbol BRB. Visit us at www.brickbeer.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "seek", "plan", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause actual performance and financial results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only at the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation does not undertake to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

* EBITDA is a non-IFRS earnings measure, therefore it does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards and may not be similar to measures presented by other companies. EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, gain on disposal of property, plant, and equipment, and share based payments. Management uses this measurement to evaluate the operating results of the Company. This measure is also important to management since it is used by the Company's lenders to evaluate the ongoing cash generating capability of the Company and therefore the amounts those lenders are willing to lend to the Company. Investors find EBITDA to be useful information because it provides a measure of the Company's operating performance.

Contact Information
For further information:
David Birch, Chief Financial Officer
(519) 742-2732 Ext. 106
E-mail: info@brickbeer.com

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