BOLTON, Ontario, March 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Titanium Transportation Group Inc. ("Titanium" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:TTR), a leading provider of transportation and logistics services throughout North America, today reported its financial results for the three month period and year ended December 31, 2019. All amounts are in Canadian currency.
Q4 and full-year 2019 Highlights
- Consolidated revenue for Q4 2019 was $43.3 million, representing the highest fourth quarter revenue in the Company’s history. This compares to $42.7 million in Q4 2018.
- Logistics segment revenue was $18.1 million in Q4 2019, as compared to Q4 2018 revenue and $14.8 million, a 22.4% increase year-over-year.
- Net debt-to-equity ratio improved to 1.64, from 2.03 in December 31, 2018.
- Reduced net debt by $12.8 million in the year.
- U.S. freight brokerage earned $3.7 million in revenue for the quarter, and contributed positively to the Company’s net income for the quarter.
- Returned $0.92 million to shareholders through share repurchases in the year.
CEO Commentary
“Titanium wrapped up the year with a profitable record fourth quarter in a challenging economic environment,” said Ted Daniel, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We also continued our capital focus, which further improved our balance sheet and returned value to our shareholders through our NCIB program. Leveraging our existing technological investments, our U.S. freight brokerage expanded their operations in the fourth quarter with minimal capital investment and we planned to capitalize on their momentum with our recently announced second office in Nashville. As always, we remain disciplined and will only pursue accretive opportunities which will allow us to deliver sustainable, profitable growth and create long-term shareholder value.”
Summary of Financial Results
| Q4 2019 | Q4 2018 | % Change | 2019 | 2018 | % Change | ||
| Consolidated Results | |||||||
| Revenue | $43.3M | $42.7M | 1.4% | $167.0M | $184.8M | -9.6% | |
| EBITDA | $4.5M | $5.8M | -23.6% | $18.5M | $24.1M | -23.4% | |
| EBITDA margin(1) | 11.2% | 14.8% | 11.9% | 14.0% | |||
| Net Income | $0.3M | $1.3M | $1.6M | $5.7M | |||
| Net Income per share | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.16 | |||
| Truck Transportation | |||||||
| Revenue | $26.3M | $29.2M | -9.8% | $110.2M | $113.6M | -2.9% | |
| EBITDA | $4.1M | $4.7M | -12.9% | $17.2M | $18.0M | -4.5% | |
| EBITDA margin(1) | 16.7% | 17.4% | 16.8% | 17.2% | |||
| Logistics | |||||||
| Revenue | $18.1M | $14.8M | 22.4% | $61.8M | $75.7M | -18.4% | |
| EBITDA | $0.8M | $1.5M | -43.2% | $2.9M | $7.6M | -61.6% | |
| EBITDA margin(1) | 5.0% | 10.7% | 5.1% | 10.6% | |||
1) EBITDA margin is calculated as EBITDA as a percentage of revenue before fuel surcharge.
Q4 2019 Summary
While challenging market conditions persisted throughout 2019, Titanium reported its highest quarterly revenue for the year and its highest Q4 revenue in the Company’s history.
On a consolidated basis, Q4 2019 revenue was $43.3 million, representing a 1.4% increase compared to the three-month period ended December 31, 2018. EBITDA for the quarter was $4.3 million, a 23.6% decrease compared to Q4 2018. Operating income was $1.2 million, reflecting a 52.1% decreased in comparison to the comparable period in 2018.
Truck Transportation segment revenue for Q4 2019 decreased $2.9 million on a year-over-year basis. EBITDA for the segment was $4.1 million, compared to $4.7 million in Q4 2018. The decrease can be attributed to lower freight demand due to soft market conditions.
Logistics segment revenue for Q4 2019 increased by $3.3 million in comparison to the prior year quarter. EBITDA for the segment was $0.8 million, compared to $1.5 million in Q4 2018. Despite soft market conditions, the significant improvement in segment revenues is primarily due to incremental revenue related to our U.S. freight brokerage expansion, which began in May 2019. The U.S. operations contributed revenues of $3.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019.
During the quarter, we have significantly reduced our net debt and further improved our net-debt-to-equity ratio to 1.64 as at year end, from 2.03 in December 31, 2018. For 2019, we reduced net debt by $12.8 million.
Share Repurchase Program
On May 17, 2019, the Company established a normal course issuer bid to purchase up to 1,839,267 of its common shares (the "NCIB"), representing 5% of its issued and outstanding common shares. For full-year 2019, the Company repurchased 714,100 common shares pursuant to the NCIB at a weighted average purchase price of $1.28 and a total purchase price of $916,667.
Conference Call
The Company will also hold a conference call on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, to discuss these results. Business media are also invited to listen to the call. Interested parties can join the call by dialing 1-877-291-4570 (North America) or 1-647-788-4919 (International). A replay of the conference call can be accessed until midnight on March 25, 2020 by dialing 1-800-585-8367 (North America) or 1-416-621-4642 (International) and entering the Conference ID: 2176365.
About Titanium
Titanium is a leading asset-based transportation and logistics company servicing Canada and the United States, with approximately 475 power units, 1,400 trailers and 600 employees and independent owner operators. Titanium provides truckload, dedicated, and cross-border trucking services, freight logistics, and warehousing and distribution to over 1,000 customers. Titanium is a recognized consolidator of asset-based transportation companies in Ontario, having completed ten asset-based trucking acquisitions since 2011. Titanium has also been ranked by PROFIT magazine as one of Canada's Fastest Growing Companies for eleven (11) consecutive years.
NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES
The following financial measures do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures employed by other companies:
"Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization" ("EBITDA") is calculated as net income before depreciation, amortization, asset impairments, gains or losses on the sale of equipment, finance income and costs, gains or losses on foreign exchange, income tax expense, transaction costs, accelerated customer list amortization and goodwill impairment.
"EBITDA margin" is calculated as EBITDA as a percentage of revenue before fuel surcharge.
“Free cash flow” is calculated as cash flow from operations plus proceeds from finance lease receivables and proceeds from disposition, less capital expenditures.
"Adjusted net income" is calculated as net income before items that are not in the normal course of business, such as accelerated customer list amortization and goodwill impairment.
Management of the Company believes that these financial measures are useful for investors and other readers, when used in conjunction with other IFRS financial measures, as they are measurers used internally by management to evaluate performance. However, these financial measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of assisting the reader in understanding Titanium's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking information may relate to Titanium's future outlook and anticipated events, and may include statements regarding the financial position, business strategy, budgets, litigation, projected costs, capital expenditures, financial results, taxes and plans and objectives of or involving Titanium. Particularly, statements regarding future acquisitions, the availability of credit, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities for Titanium or the industry in which it operates are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as "may", "might", "will", "could", "should", "would", "occur", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "seek", "aim", "estimate", "target", "project", "predict", "forecast", "potential", "continue", "likely", "schedule", or the negative thereof or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts.
Information contained in forward-looking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. While management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on currently available information, they may prove to be incorrect.
The forward-looking statements made in this press release are dated, and relate only to events or information, as of the date of this press release. Except as specifically required by law, Titanium undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Titanium Transportation Group Inc.
Ted Daniel, CPA, CA
Chief Executive Officer
(905) 266-3011
ted.daniel@ttgi.com
www.ttgi.com
For Investor Relations
Jayson Moss, CFA
(604) 375-3599
investors@ttgi.com
www.ttgi.com