Velan Inc. Reports its Third Quarter 2016/17 Financial Results


MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Jan. 12, 2017) - Velan Inc. (TSX:VLN) (the "Company"), a world-leading manufacturer of industrial valves, announced today its financial results for its third quarter ended November 30, 2016.

Highlights

  • Sales of US$80.4 million for the quarter
  • Net earnings1 of US$1.5 million for the quarter
  • Order backlog of US$416.1 million at the end of the quarter
  • Net new orders received ("Bookings") of US$134.9 million for the quarter
  • Net cash2 of US$72.5 million at the end of the quarter
Three-month periods ended Nine-month periods ended
(millions of U.S. dollars, excluding per share November 30 November 30
amounts) 2016 2015 2016 2015
Sales $ 80.4 $ 104.0 $ 228.9 $ 318.7
Gross Profit 21.7 26.0 59.6 76.2
Gross profit % 27.0 % 25.0 % 26.0 % 23.9 %
Net income attributable to Multiple and
Subordinate Voting Shares 1.5 3.6 4.0 11.5
Net income per share - basic and diluted 0.07 0.16 0.19 0.52

Third Quarter Fiscal 2017 (unless otherwise noted, all amounts are in U.S. dollars and all comparisons are to the third quarter of fiscal 2016):

  • Net earnings1 amounted to $1.5 million or $0.07 per share compared to $3.6 million or $0.16 per share last year. Adjusted net earnings2, which excludes from net earnings1 the after-tax impact of the restructuring costs incurred in the prior year quarter, amounted to $1.5 million or $0.07 per share compared to $5.2 million or $0.23 per share last year. The $3.7 million decrease in adjusted net earnings2 is primarily attributable to a lower sales volume and an increase in costs recognized in connection with the Company's ongoing asbestos litigation, which were partially offset by gross margin improvements and mark to market foreign exchange gains on certain forward contracts.

  • Bookings amounted to $134.9 million, an increase of $45.4 million or 50.7% compared to last year. This increase is due primarily to new large project orders booked by the Company's French operations, primarily in the nuclear sector, and by its German operations, primarily in the power sector.

  • Sales amounted to $80.4 million, a decrease of $23.6 million or 22.7% from the prior year. Sales were negatively impacted by the decreased bookings received over the last fiscal year as well as delays in shipments of certain large project orders caused by various customer-related, supply chain and internal operational issues.

  • Gross profit percentage increased by 200 basis points from 25.0% to 27.0%. Despite the lower sales volume, the increase in the gross profit percentage was mainly attributable to a product mix with a greater proportion of higher margin product sales, material cost savings, as well as labour and overhead savings stemming from the restructuring initiatives implemented in the prior fiscal year.

First Nine Months Fiscal 2017 (unless otherwise noted, all amounts are in U.S. dollars and all comparisons are to the first nine- months of fiscal 2016):

  • Net earnings1 amounted to $4.0 million or $0.19 per share compared to $11.5 million or $0.52 per share last year. Adjusted net earnings2, which excludes from net earnings1 the after-tax impact of the restructuring costs incurred in the prior year, amounted to $4.0 million or $0.19 per share compared to $13.1 million or $0.59 per share last year. The $9.1 million decrease in adjusted net earnings2 is primarily attributable to a lower sales volume which was partially offset by gross margin improvements and decreased administration costs.

  • Bookings amounted to $322.3 million, an increase of $79.5 million or 32.7% compared to last year. Excluding the effect of an order cancellation of $23.6 million in the prior year period, bookings would have increased by $55.9 million or 21.0%. This increase is due primarily to new large project orders booked by the Company's French, German and Italian operations, which was partially offset by a decrease in orders booked in the Company's North American operations.

  • Sales amounted to $228.9 million, a decrease of $89.8 million or 28.2% from the prior year. Sales were negatively impacted, particularly in our Italian and North American operations, by the decreased bookings received over the last fiscal year. Delays in shipments of certain large project orders caused by various customer-related, supply chain and internal operational issues, particularly in our North American operations, also had a negative impact on sales for the period.

  • As a result of bookings outpacing sales in the period, the Company ended the period with a backlog of $416.1 million, an increase of $84.9 million or 25.6% since the beginning of the current fiscal year. This increase in backlog occurred despite the negative impact related to the weakening of the euro spot rate against the U.S. dollar over the course of the period.

  • Gross profit percentage increased by 210 basis points from 23.9% to 26.0%. Despite the lower sales volume, the increase in the gross profit percentage was mainly attributable to a product mix with a greater proportion of higher margin product sales, material cost savings, as well as labour and overhead savings stemming from the restructuring initiatives implemented in the prior fiscal year.

  • Administration costs amounted to $56.9 million, a decrease of $0.7 million or 1.2%. The decrease was achieved despite a $2.2 million increase in costs recognized in connection with the Company's ongoing asbestos litigation. The fluctuation in asbestos costs for the period is due more to the timing of settlement payments in these two periods rather than to changes in long-term trends.

  • The Company ended the period with net cash2 of $72.5 million, a decrease of $9.5 million or 11.6% since the beginning of the year. This decrease is primarily attributable to long-term debt repayments and distributions to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases.

  • Foreign currency impacts:

    • Based on average exchange rates, the euro strengthened 1.0% against the U.S. dollar when compared to the same period last year. This strengthening resulted in the Company's net profits and bookings from its European subsidiaries being reported as higher U.S. dollar amounts in the current period.

    • Based on average exchange rates, the Canadian dollar weakened 2.2% against the U.S. dollar when compared to the same period last year. This weakening resulted in the Company's Canadian dollar expenses being reported as lower U.S. dollar amounts in the current period.

    • The net impact of the above currency swings was generally favourable on the Company's net earnings1.

"The Company continued to feel the impact on sales of a depleted backlog in Fiscal 2016," said John Ball, CFO of Velan Inc. "However, we were able to improve margin and maintain expenses, while our foreign currency hedging policy blunted the negative impact of currency swings."

Yves Leduc, President of Velan Inc., said, "The market downturn has continued to affect our performance in the third quarter, mainly in our North American division, hit by a lower backlog, customers postponing shipments, and large complex orders causing supply chain delays. Also, we are progressing with the deployment of our strategic plan, the first phase of which is heavily focused on driving efficiencies and reducing lead times through operational excellence; in parallel, we are planting the seeds to spark growth in several global markets where we are very well positioned. In summary, despite the turbulent industry environment, we have made the right moves to mitigate its effects and get ready to rebound once the market recovers."

Tom Velan, CEO of Velan Inc. said, "We are encouraged to see improvements in new order bookings in many overseas markets, with net new orders increasing by over 50% in the quarter over the same period last year, and over 30% on a year to date basis."

Dividend

The Board declared an eligible quarterly dividend of CDN$0.10 per share, payable on March 31, 2017, to all shareholders of record as at March 15, 2017.

Conference call

Financial analysts, shareholders, and other interested individuals are invited to attend the third quarter conference call to be held on Thursday, January 12, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. (EDT). The toll free call-in number is 1-800-672-3665, access code 21841522. A recording of this conference call will be available for seven days at 1-416-626-4100 or 1-800-558-5253, access code 21841522.

About Velan

Founded in Montreal in 1950, Velan Inc. (www.velan.com) is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial valves, with sales of US$426.9 million in its last reported fiscal year. The Company has manufacturing plants in 9 countries. Velan Inc. is a public company with its shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol VLN.

Safe harbour statement

This news release may include forward-looking statements, which generally contain words like "should", "believe", "anticipate", "plan", "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "continue" or "estimate" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar expressions, all of which are subject to risks and uncertainties, which are disclosed in the Company's filings with the appropriate securities commissions. While these statements are based on management's assumptions regarding historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that it believes are reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may differ materially from those expressed herein. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by the applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Non-IFRS measures

In this press release, the Company presented measures of performance and financial condition that are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards ("non-IFRS measures") and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. These measures are used by management in assessing the operating results and financial condition of the Company. In addition, they provide readers of the Company's consolidated financial statements with enhanced understanding of its results and financial condition, and increase transparency and clarity into the operating results of its core business.

The term "adjusted net earnings" is defined as net income attributable to Subordinate and Multiple Voting Shares plus restructuring costs less the income tax effect of the restructuring costs. Refer to the "Reconciliations of Non- IFRS Measures" section in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis included in its Interim Report for the quarter ended November 30, 2016 for a detailed calculation of this measure.

The term "net cash" is defined as cash and cash equivalents plus short-term investments less bank indebtedness, short-term bank loans, and current portion of long-term bank borrowings. Refer to the "Reconciliations of Non-IFRS Measures" section in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis included in its Interim Report for the quarter ended November 30, 2016 for a detailed calculation of this measure.

(1) Net earnings refers to net income attributable to Subordinate and Multiple Voting Shares.
(2) Non-IFRS measures - see explanation above.
Velan Inc.
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of U.S. dollars)
As At November 30, February 29,
2016 2016
$ $
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents 81,303 89,368
Short-term investments 149 3,225
Accounts receivable 103,578 119,569
Income taxes recoverable 11,455 5,674
Inventories 179,061 162,523
Deposits and prepaid expenses 3,896 3,586
Derivative assets 1,142 1,598
380,584 385,543
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 92,426 95,257
Intangible assets and goodwill 18,728 20,352
Deferred income taxes 14,069 13,537
Other assets 589 938
125,812 130,084
Total assets 506,396 515,627
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Bank indebtedness 4,960 5,028
Short-term bank loans 1,313 1,319
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 58,944 62,943
Income taxes payable 4,380 5,746
Dividend payable 1,619 1,606
Customer deposits 38,193 28,123
Provisions 9,731 9,333
Accrual for performance guarantees 27,935 30,563
Derivative liabilities 132 2,945
Current portion of long-term debt 6,210 7,978
153,417 155,584
Non-current liabilities
Long-term debt 11,206 14,471
Deferred income taxes 3,055 3,408
Other liabilities 8,904 9,045
23,165 26,924
Total liabilities 176,582 182,508
Equity
Equity attributable to the Subordinate and Multiple Voting shareholders
Share capital 74,050 74,345
Contributed surplus 5,998 5,941
Retained earnings 279,386 280,380
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (35,566 ) (33,089 )
323,868 327,577
Non-controlling interest 5,946 5,542
Total equity 329,814 333,119
Total liabilities and equity 506,396 515,627
Velan Inc.
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss)
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of U.S. dollars, excluding number of shares and per share amounts)
Three-month periods ended Nine-month periods ended
November 30 November 30
2016 2015 2016 2015
$ $ $ $
Sales 80,396 104,002 228,942 318,739
Cost of sales 58,664 77,988 169,305 242,527
Gross profit 21,732 26,014 59,637 76,212
Administration costs 21,120 18,579 56,918 57,649
Restructuring costs - 2,150 - 2,150
Other expense (income) (1,189 ) 162 (987 ) 171
Operating profit (loss) 1,801 5,123 3,706 16,242
Finance income 184 213 664 713
Finance costs 186 173 443 740
Finance income (costs) - net (2 ) 40 221 (27 )
Income (Loss) before income taxes 1,799 5,163 3,927 16,215
Provision for (Recovery of) income taxes 25 1,496 (301 ) 4,020
Net income (loss) for the period 1,774 3,667 4,228 12,195
Net income (loss) attributable to:
Subordinate Voting Shares and Multiple Voting Shares 1,501 3,608 4,030 11,464
Non-controlling interest 273 59 198 731
1,774 3,667 4,228 12,195
Net income (loss) per Subordinate and Multiple Voting Share
Basic 0.07 0.16 0.19 0.52
Diluted 0.07 0.16 0.19 0.52
Dividends declared per Subordinate and Multiple 0.08 0.07 0.23 0.23
Voting Share (CA$0.10 ) (CA$0.10 ) (CA$0.30 ) (CA$0.30 )
Total weighted average number of Subordinate and
Multiple Voting Shares
Basic 21,720,445 21,839,960 21,724,891 21,861,664
Diluted 21,725,673 21,839,960 21,731,029 21,861,664
Velan Inc.
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of U.S. dollars)
Three-month periods ended Nine-month periods ended
November 30 November 30
2016 2015 2016 2015
$ $ $ $
Comprehensive income (loss)
Net income (loss) for the period 1,774 3,667 4,228 12,195
Other comprehensive income (loss)
Foreign currency translation adjustment on foreign operations whose functional currency is other than the reporting currency (U.S. dollar)

(5,283
)

(5,910
)

(2,222
)

(7,598
)
Comprehensive income (loss) (3,509 ) (2,243 ) 2,006 4,597
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to:
Subordinate Voting Shares and Multiple Voting Shares (3,539 ) (2,423 ) 1,553 4,105
Non-controlling interest 30 180 453 492
(3,509 ) (2,243 ) 2,006 4,597
Velan Inc.
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of U.S. dollars, excluding number of shares)
Equity attributable to the Subordinate and Multiple Voting shareholders
Number of
shares
Share
capital
Contributed
surplus
Accumulated
other
comprehensive
income (loss)
Retained
earnings
Total Non-controlling
interest
Total
equity
Balance - February 29, 2016 21,737,135 74,345 5,941 (33,089 ) 280,380 327,577 5,542 333,119
Net income (loss) for the period - - - - 4,030 4,030 198 4,228
Other comprehensive income (loss) - - - (2,477 ) - (2,477 ) 255 (2,222 )
21,737,135 74,345 5,941 (35,566 ) 284,410 329,130 5,995 335,125
Effect of share-based compensation - - 57 - - 57 - 57
Share repurchase (27,100 ) (295 ) - - (59 ) (354 ) - (354 )
Dividends
Multiple Voting Shares - - - - (3,572 ) (3,572 ) - (3,572 )
Subordinate Voting Shares - - - - (1,393 ) (1,393 ) - (1,393 )
Non-controlling interest - - - - - - (49 ) (49 )
Balance - November 30, 2016 21,710,035 74,050 5,998 (35,566 ) 279,386 323,868 5,946 329,814
Balance - February 28, 2015 21,939,168 76,475 6,064 (27,652 ) 283,724 338,611 6,482 345,093
Net income (loss) for the period - - - - 11,464 11,464 731 12,195
Other comprehensive income (loss) - - - (7,359 ) - (7,359 ) (239 ) (7,598 )
21,939,168 76,475 6,064 (35,011 ) 295,188 342,716 6,974 349,690
Effect of share-based compensation - - 77 - - 77 - 77
Shares issued under Share Option Plan 14,267 227 (227 ) - - - - -
Share repurchase (179,600 ) (1,957 ) - - (414 ) (2,371 ) - (2,371 )
Acquisition of non-controlling interest - - - - - - (890 ) (890 )
Dividends
Multiple Voting Shares - - - - (3,670 ) (3,670 ) - (3,670 )
Subordinate Voting Shares - - - - (1,376 ) (1,376 ) - (1,376 )
Non-controlling interest - - - - - - (139 ) (139 )
Balance - November 30, 2015 21,773,835 74,745 5,914 (35,011 ) 289,728 335,376 5,945 341,321
Velan Inc.
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow
(Unaudited)
(in thousands of U.S. dollars)
Three-month periods ended Nine-month periods ended
November 30 November 30
2016 2015 2016 2015
$ $ $ $
Cash flows from
Operating activities
Net income for the period 1,774 3,667 4,228 12,195
Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash provided by
operating activities 1,743 2,935 7,002 8,342
Changes in non-cash working capital items (2,641 ) 8,480 (4,375 ) (7,929 )
Cash provided (used) by operating activities 876 15,082 6,855 12,608
Investing activities
Short-term investments 1,620 (969 ) 3,076 (1,786 )
Additions to property, plant and equipment (2,718 ) (3,588 ) (5,991 ) (7,714 )
Additions to intangible assets (19 ) (53 ) (79 ) (180 )
Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment, and
intangible assets - 60 179 150
Acquisition of non-controlling interest - - - (890 )
Net change in other assets 215 (940 ) 348 (1,448 )
Cash provided (used) by investing activities (902 ) (5,490 ) (2,467 ) (11,868 )
Financing activities
Dividends paid to Subordinate and Multiple Voting shareholders (1,649 ) (1,650 ) (4,952 ) (5,170 )
Dividends paid to non-controlling interest (49 ) - (49 ) (139 )
Repurchase of shares (195 ) (1,145 ) (354 ) (2,371 )
Short-term bank loans (31 ) (302 ) (6 ) (930 )
Increase in long-term debt - 1,125 - 7,134
Repayment of long-term debt (2,051 ) (1,692 ) (5,323 ) (5,916 )
Cash provided (used) by financing activities (3,975 ) (3,664 ) (10,684 ) (7,392 )
Effect of exchange rate differences on cash (2,532 ) (4,488 ) (1,701 ) (3,626 )
Net change in cash during the period (6,533 ) 1,440 (7,997 ) (10,278 )
Net cash - Beginning of the period 82,876 72,244 84,340 83,962
Net cash - End of the period 76,343 73,684 76,343 73,684
Net cash is composed of:
Cash and cash equivalents 81,303 81,392 81,303 81,392
Bank indebtedness (4,960 ) (7,708 ) (4,960 ) (7,708 )
76,343 73,684 76,343 73,684
Supplementary information
Interest received (paid) 64 99 288 100
Income taxes reimbursed (paid) (2,070 ) (2,198 ) (5,275 ) (6,047 )

Contact Information:

VELAN Inc.
Tom Velan
Chief Executive Officer
(514) 748-7743
(514) 748-8635 (FAX)

VELAN Inc.
Yves Leduc
President
(514) 748-7743
(514) 748-8635 (FAX)

VELAN Inc.
John D. Ball
Chief Financial Officer
(514) 748-7743
(514) 748-8635 (FAX)
Web: www.velan.com