MONTREAL, Nov. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Supremex Inc. (“Supremex” or the “Company”) SXP, a leading North American manufacturer and marketer of envelopes and a growing provider of paper-based packaging solutions, today announced its results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. The Company will hold a conference call to discuss these results tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time).

Third Quarter Financial Highlights and Recent Events

• Total revenue of $69.4 million, in line with to $69.8 million in the third quarter of 2023.
• Envelope segment revenue down 3.7% to $47.5 million, from $49.3 million in the prior year.
• Packaging and Specialty Products segment revenue of $21.9 million, up 6.7% from $20.5 million last year.
• Non-cash asset impairment of $23.3 million, primarily goodwill in Packaging and Specialty Products.
• Net loss of $23.0 million, compared to net earnings of $5.0 million last year.
• Net loss per share of $0.92, versus net earnings per share of $0.19 a year ago.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $7.9 million, or 11.4% of revenue, versus $11.7 million, or 16.8% of revenue, a year ago. Of this $3.8M variance, there is $1.5M attributable to DSU/PSU quarterly valuation.
• Free cash flow¹ of $7.4 million, compared to $11.6 million last year.
• The Company announces its intention to proceed with a sale-leaseback transaction of two properties with a book value of $9 million and an appraised value of $57 million.
• On November 6, 2024, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05, representing a 25% increase over the previous amount, per common share, payable on December 20, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 5, 2024.

Financial Highlights (in thousands of dollars, except for per share amounts and margins)	Three-month periods ended September 30				Nine-month periods ended September 30
	2024		2023		2024		2023
Statement of Earnings
Revenue	69,355		69,798		211,960		229,886
Operating (loss) earnings	(22,569	)	8,164		(12,901	)	27,006
Adjusted EBITDA(1)	7,933		11,730		27,414		40,133
Adjusted EBITDA margin(1)	11.4%		16.8%		12.9%		17.5%
Net (loss) earnings	(23,038	)	5,001		(17,562	)	16,610
Basic and diluted net (loss) earnings per share	(0.92	)	0.19		(0.70	)	0.64
Adjusted net earnings(1)	1,044		4,049		6,663		16,099
Adjusted net earnings per share(1)	0.04		0.16		0.27		0.62
Cash Flow
Net cash flows related to operating activities	7,568		11,538		22,886		29,085
Free cash flow(1)	7,369		11,646		23,022		24,857

(1)	Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Non-IFRS financial measures do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other entities. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.

 
“Supremex’ third quarter operating performance was driven by higher envelope volume and improving packaging markets, and although profitability was impacted by approximately $1.9 million of non-operating items, it remains below its true potential,” said Stewart Emerson, President and CEO of Supremex. “As anticipated, envelope volumes continue to improve from the lows of 2023, and backlogs are stronger. However, the market continues to give back some of the pricing gains made in 2022 and profitability was also impacted by the temporary effect of our consolidation in the Greater Toronto Area, which is expected to yield important benefits going forward. In packaging, sales for e-commerce fulfillment remained solid and channels subject to discretionary consumer demand have improved, while increased profitability reflected greater efficiency from recent cost reduction and productivity initiatives and the benefits of improved absorption. Additionally, with a new senior leader steering our folding carton activities, we are confident that we will further leverage our high-quality assets, blue-chip customer base and dedicated employees. Based on a gradually improving market, efficiency and productivity gains, and the expectation of a substantial gain on the sale-leaseback transaction, the Board of Directors has decided to increase the dividend.”

Summary of three-month period ended September 30, 2024

Revenue

Total revenue for the three-month period ended September 30, 2024, was $69.4 million, representing a decrease of $0.4 million, or 0.6%, from the equivalent quarter of 2023.

Envelope Segment

Revenue was $47.5 million, representing a decrease of $1.8 million, or 3.7%, from $49.3 million in the third quarter of 2023. The variation reflects an average selling price decrease of 9.7% from last year’s third quarter primarily reflecting a less favourable customer and product mix in U.S. operations. This factor was partially offset by a 6.6% increase in the volume of units sold, reflecting greater penetration of the U.S. market and the contribution from the purchase of the Forest Envelope Group (“Forest Envelope”) assets, as well as a favourable currency conversion effect. The Envelope segment represented 68.5% of the Company’s revenue in the quarter, compared with 70.6% during the equivalent period of last year.

Packaging & Specialty Products Segment

Revenue was $21.9 million, up 6.7% from $20.5 million for the corresponding quarter of 2023. The increase is attributable to higher demand for e-commerce packaging solutions, while demand from certain sectors more closely correlated to economic conditions has stabilized compared to last year. Packaging & Specialty Products represented 31.5% of the Company’s revenue in the quarter, versus 29.4% during the equivalent period of last year.

EBITDA² and Adjusted EBITDA²

EBITDA was negative $17.5 million, versus $13.0 million in the third quarter of 2023, essentially due to an asset impairment charge. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to $7.9 million, compared to $11.7 million for the same period last year. The decrease reflects higher operating and selling, general and administrative expenses. The Adjusted EBITDA margin was 11.4% of revenue, compared to 16.8% in the equivalent quarter of 2023.

Envelope Segment

Adjusted EBITDA was $7.9 million, compared to $9.5 million in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease mainly reflects lower average selling prices resulting from a less favourable customer and product mix in U.S. operations. As a percentage of segmented revenue, Adjusted EBITDA from the Envelope segment was 16.7%, compared with 19.3% in the equivalent period of 2023.

Packaging & Specialty Products Segment

Adjusted EBITDA was $2.5 million, versus $1.7 million in the third quarter of 2023. This increase is mainly explained by benefits from optimization measures announced in October 2023. As a percentage of segmented revenue, Adjusted EBITDA for Packaging and Specialty Products was 11.3%, compared to 8.4% in the equivalent period of 2023.

Corporate and unallocated costs/recovery

Corporate and unallocated costs amounted to $2.5 million in the third quarter of 2024, as opposed to a recovery of $0.5 million in the third quarter of 2023. The variation is essentially attributable to an unfavourable adjustment related to the DSUs and PSUs during the quarter due to different share price fluctuations this year versus last year.

Net (Loss) Earnings, Adjusted Net Earnings³, Net (Loss) Earnings Per Share and Adjusted Net Earnings Per Share³

Net loss was $23.0 million, or net loss of $0.92 per share, for the three-month period ended September 30, 2024, compared to net earnings of $5.0 million, or net earnings of $0.19 per share, for the equivalent period last year.

Adjusted net earnings were $1.0 million, or $0.04 per share, for the three-month period ended September 30, 2024, compared to $4.0 million, or $0.16 per share, for the equivalent period last year.

Summary of nine-month period ended September 30, 2024

Revenue

Total revenue for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, was $212.0 million, representing a decrease of $17.9 million, or 7.8%, from the equivalent period of 2023.

Envelope Segment

Revenue was $150.4 million, representing a decrease of $12.6 million, or 7.7%, from $163.0 million for the same period in 2023. The decrease is attributable to an average selling price decrease of 5.9% from last year primarily reflecting a less favourable customer and product mix in U.S. operations, and to a 1.9% decrease in the volume of units sold. These factors were partially offset by the contribution from the Forest Envelope assets and a favourable currency conversion effect. Envelope represented 70.9% of the Company’s revenue for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024, and 2023.

Packaging & Specialty Products Segment

Revenue was $61.6 million, down 7.9%, from $66.9 million in the corresponding period of 2023. The decrease reflects lower demand from certain sectors more closely correlated to economic conditions partially offset by higher demand for e-commerce packaging solutions. Packaging & Specialty Products represented 29.1% of the Company’s revenue for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024, and 2023.

EBITDA⁴ and Adjusted EBITDA⁴

EBITDA was $1.8 million, versus $40.8 million in the first nine months of 2023, in part due to an asset impairment charge. Adjusted EBITDA was $27.4 million, down slightly from $40.1 million for the same period a year ago, reflecting lower revenue and higher selling, general and administrative expenses, partially offset by lower operating expenses. The Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.9% in the first nine months of 2024, versus 17.5% in the corresponding period of 2023.

Envelope Segment

Adjusted EBITDA was $26.8 million, down from $36.4 million in the first nine months of 2023. This decrease reflects lower revenue due to a decrease in the average selling price and the effect of lower volume on the absorption of fixed costs. As a percentage of segmented revenue, Adjusted EBITDA from the Envelope segment was 17.9%, compared to 22.4% in the equivalent period of 2023.

Packaging & Specialty Products Segment

Adjusted EBITDA was $6.4 million, compared to $7.2 million in the first nine months of 2023. The decrease is due to lower demand from certain sectors more closely correlated to economic conditions in the first half of the year which impacted the absorption of fixed costs, partially offset by benefits from optimization measures announced in October 2023. As a percentage of segmented revenue, Adjusted EBITDA from the Packaging and Specialty Products segment was 10.4%, compared to 10.8% in the equivalent period of 2023.

Corporate and unallocated costs

Corporate and unallocated costs were $5.8 million compared to $3.5 million in the first nine months of 2023. The increase mainly reflects an unfavourable adjustment related to the DSUs and PSUs due to different share price fluctuations this year versus last year.

Net (Loss) Earnings, Adjusted Net Earnings⁵, Net (Loss) Earnings Per Share and Adjusted Net Earnings Per Share⁵

The net loss was $17.6 million, or net loss of $0.70 per share, for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, compared to net earnings of $16.6 million, or net earnings of $0.64 per share, for the equivalent period last year.

Adjusted net earnings amounted to $6.7 million, or $0.27 per share, for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, compared to $16.1 million, or $0.62 per share, for the equivalent period in 2023.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash Flow

Net cash flows from operating activities were $7.6 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2024, compared to $11.5 million for the same period in 2023. The decrease is attributable to lower profitability this quarter compared to the equivalent period of 2023, partially offset by a higher cash generation from working capital.

For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, net cash flows from operating activities reached $22.9 million, compared to $29.1 million in the equivalent period of 2023. The decrease is mainly attributable to lower profitability, partially offset by a cash generation from working capital, as opposed to a cash requirement last year.

Free cash flow⁶ amounted to $7.4 million in the third quarter of 2024 compared to $11.6 million for the same period last year. The decrease essentially mirrors the variation in cash flows related to operating activities.

Free cash flow amounted to $23.0 million in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, compared to $24.9 million for the corresponding period of 2023. The decrease is attributable to lower cash flows from operating activities, partially offset by net disposals of property, plant and equipment this year, as opposed to net additions last year.

Debt and Leverage

Total debt decreased to $49.6 million as at September 30, 2024, compared to $56.8 million as at December 31, 2023. The variation is essentially attributable to debt repayment resulting from free cash flow generation.

Normal Course Issuer Bid (“NCIB”)

During the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2024, the Company repurchased 295,000 and 1,106,400 common shares for cancellation under its NCIB program for considerations of $1.2 million and $4.5 million, respectively.

Dividend Declaration

On November 6, 2024, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per common share, representing a 25% increase over the previous amount, payable on December 20, 2024, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on December 5, 2024. This dividend is designated as an “eligible” dividend for the purpose of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any similar provincial legislation.

Outlook

Demand for the Company’s products is gradually returning to historical patterns, although market recovery is taking more time than anticipated. As it continues to expand in the vast and fragmented U.S. envelope market, Supremex will be increasingly subject to competitive pressures, but the Company will rely on its solid reputation and geographic reach to stimulate sales while continuing to proactively control expenses.

The Company remains focused on optimizing operating efficiency, productivity and capacity utilization throughout its network, as well as on capturing all sales and cost synergies from recent business acquisitions. In this regard, initiatives announced in July 2024 for the Envelope segment are expected to result in annual cost savings in excess of $2.0 million once all measures are implemented, while initiatives announced in October 2023 for the Packaging and Specialty Products segment are expected to yield annual cost savings of approximately $1.5 million once all measures are implemented.

With respect to capital deployment, the Company will continue to look for strategic acquisitions, mainly in the Packaging and specialty products segment, while continuing to selectively return capital to shareholders.

November 7, 2024 – Third Quarter Results Conference Call:

A conference call to discuss the Company’s results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, will be held Thursday, November 7, 2024, at 80:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). A live broadcast of the Conference Call will be available on the Company’s website, in the Investors section under Webcast. To participate (professional investment community only) or to listen to the live conference call, please dial the following numbers. We suggest that participants call in at least 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start time:

Local (Toronto) and international participants, dial: North American participants, dial toll-free:	647 484-8814
	1 844 763-8274

A replay of the conference call will be available on the Company’s website in the Investors section under Webcast. To listen to a recording of the conference call, please call toll-free 1 855-669-9658 or 412-317-0088 and enter the code 9000033. The recording will be available until Thursday, November 14, 2024.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

Non-IFRS financial measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies and should not be viewed as alternatives to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Management considers these metrics to be information which may assist investors in evaluating the Company’s profitability and enable better comparability of the results from one period to another.

These Non-IFRS Financial Measures are defined as follows:

Non-IFRS Measure	Definition
EBITDA	EBITDA represents earnings before net financing charges, income tax expense, depreciation of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets and amortization of intangible assets. The Company uses EBITDA to assess its performance. Management believes this non-IFRS measure provides users with an enhanced understanding of its operating earnings.
Adjusted EBITDA	Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA adjusted to remove items of significance that are not in the normal course of operations, and/or that do not reflect the Company’s operating expenses and are not indicative of the Company’s core operating performance. These items of significance include, when applicable, but are not limited to, charges for impairment of assets, restructuring expenses, value adjustment on inventory acquired and business acquisition costs. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA to assess its operating performance, excluding items that are not in the normal course of operations, and/or that do not reflect the Company’s operating expenses and are not indicative of the Company’s core operating performance. Management believes this non-IFRS measure provides users with enhanced understanding of the Company’s operating earnings and increase the transparency and clarity of the Company’s core results. It also allows users to better evaluate the Company’s operating profitability when compared to previous years.
Adjusted EBITDA margin	Adjusted EBITDA margin is a percentage corresponding to the ratio of Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA margin for the purpose of evaluating business performance, excluding items that are not in the normal course of operations, and/or that do not reflect the Company’s operating expenses and are not indicative of the Company’s core operating performance. Management believes this non-IFRS measure provides users with enhanced understanding of its results and related trends.
Adjusted net earnings	Adjusted net earnings represent net earnings excluding items of significance listed above under Adjusted EBITDA, net of income taxes. The Company uses Adjusted net earnings to assess its business performance and profitability without the effect of items that are not in the normal course of operations, and/or that do not reflect the Company’s operating expenses and are not indicative of the Company’s core operating performance, net of income taxes. Management believes this non-IFRS measure provides users with an alternative assessment of the Company’s earnings without the effect of items that are not it the normal course of operations or reflective of operating performance, making it valuable to assess ongoing operations and trends in the business performance. Management also believes this non-IFRS measure provides users with enhanced understanding of the Company’s results and provides better comparability between periods.
Adjusted net earnings per share	Adjusted net earnings per share represents Adjusted net earnings divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the relevant period. The Company uses Adjusted net earnings per share for purposes of evaluating performance and profitability, excluding items that are not in the normal course of operations of the Company, net of income taxes, on a per share basis.
Free cash flow	This measure corresponds to net cash flows related to operating activities according to the consolidated statements of cash flows less additions (net of disposals) to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. Management considers Free cash flow to be a good indicator of the Company’s financial strength and operating performance because it shows the amount of funds available to manage growth, repay debt and reinvest in the Company. Management considers this measure useful to provide investors with a perspective on its ability to generate liquidity, after making capital investments required to support business operations and long-term value creation.
Net debt	Net debt represents the Company’s total debt, net of deferred financing costs and cash. The Company uses Net debt as an indicator of its indebtedness level and financial leverage as it represents the amount of debt that is not covered by available cash. Management believes that investors could benefit from the use of net debt to determine a company’s financial leverage.
Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio	Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio represents Net debt divided by trailing 12-month (“TTM”) Adjusted EBITDA. This ratio is used by management to monitor the Company’s financial leverage and management believes certain investors use this ratio as a measure of financial leverage.

The following tables provide the reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial Measures:

Reconciliation of Net (loss) earnings to Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands of dollars, except for margins)	Three-month periods ended September 30				Nine-month periods ended September 30
	2024		2023		2024		2023
Net (loss) earnings	(23,038	)	5,001		(17,562	)	16,610
Income tax (recovery) expense	(801	)	1,815		983		6,070
Net financing charges	1,270		1,348		3,678		4,326
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	1,755		1,839		5,118		5,108
Depreciation of right-of-use assets	1,575		1,361		4,407		4,087
Amortization of intangible assets	1,777		1,666		5,202		4,636
EBITDA	(17,462	)	13,030		1,826		40,837
COVID-related subsidies	—		(1,456	)	—		(1,456	)
Acquisition costs related to business combinations	(6	)	9		105		272
Asset impairment	23,337		—		23,412		—
Restructuring expenses	2,064		147		2,125		402
Value adjustment on acquired inventory through a business combination	—		—		(54	)	78
Adjusted EBITDA	7,933		11,730		27,414		40,133
Adjusted EBITDA margin (%)	11.4%		16.8%		12.9%		17.5%

Reconciliation of Net (loss) earnings to Adjusted net earnings and of Net (loss) earnings per share to Adjusted net earnings per share (in thousands of dollars, except for per share amounts)	Three-month periods ended September 30				Nine-month periods ended September 30
	2024		2023		2024		2023
Net (loss) earnings	(23,038	)	5,001		(17,562	)	16,610
Adjustments, net of income taxes
COVID-related subsidies	—		(1,068	)	—		(1,068	)
Acquisition costs related to business combinations	(5	)	7		77		201
Asset impairment	22,560		—		22,616		—
Restructuring expenses	1,527		109		1,572		297
Value adjustment on acquired inventory through a business combination	—		—		(40	)	59
Adjusted net earnings	1,044		4,049		6,663		16,099
Net (loss) earnings per share	(0.92	)	0.19		(0.70	)	0.64
Adjustments, net of income taxes, per share	0.96		(0.03	)	0.97		(0.02	)
Adjusted net earnings per share	0.04		0.16		0.27		0.62

Reconciliation of Cash flows related to operating activities to Free cash flow (in thousands of dollars)	Three-month periods ended September 30				Nine-month periods ended September 30
	2024		2023		2024		2023
Cash flows related to operating activities	7,568		11,538		22,886		29,085
Acquisitions (net of disposals) of property, plant and equipment	(189	)	212		212		(4,085	)
Acquisitions of intangible assets	(10	)	(104	)	(76	)	(143	)
Free cash flow	7,369		11,646		23,022		24,857

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including (but not limited to) statements about the EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted net earnings, Adjusted net earnings per share, free cash flow, Net debt, Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio⁷, capital expenditures, dividend payments, and future performance of Supremex and similar statements or information concerning anticipated future results, circumstances, performance or expectations. Forward-looking information may include words such as anticipate, assumption, believe, could, expect, goal, guidance, intend, may, objective, outlook, plan, seek, should, strive, target and will. Such information relates to future events or future performance and reflects current assumptions, expectations and estimates of management regarding growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, Canadian economic environment and ability to attract and retain customers. Such forward-looking information reflects current assumptions, expectations and estimates of management and is based on information currently available to Supremex as at the date of this press release. Such assumptions, expectations and estimates are discussed throughout the MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2023, and, in the Company’s Annual Information Form dated March 28, 2024. Supremex cautions that such assumptions may not materialize and that economic conditions such as heightened inflation and central banks’ large interest rate hikes, economic downturns or recessions, may render such assumptions, although believed reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty.

Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties and should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and actual results may differ materially from the conclusion, forecast or projection stated in such forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the following: decline in envelope consumption, growth and diversification strategy, key personnel, labour shortage, contributions to employee benefits plans, cyber security and data protection, raw material price increases, operational disruption, dependence on and loss of customer relationships, increase of competition, economic cycles, exchange rate fluctuation, interest rate fluctuation, credit risks with respect to trade receivables, availability of capital, concerns about protection of the environment, potential risk of litigation, no guarantee to pay dividends and other external risks such as global health crisis and pandemic and inflation. Such risks and uncertainties are discussed throughout the MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2023, and, in the Company’s Annual Information Form dated March 28, 2024, in particular, in “Risk Factors”. Consequently, the Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking information will materialize. Readers should not place any undue reliance on such forward-looking information unless otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. The Company expressly disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The Management Discussion and Analysis and Financial Statements can be found on www.sedarplus.ca and on Supremex’ website.

About Supremex

Supremex is a leading North American manufacturer and marketer of envelopes and a growing provider of paper-based packaging solutions. Supremex operates ten manufacturing facilities across four provinces in Canada and five manufacturing facilities in three states in the United States employing approximately 900 people. Supremex’ extensive network allows it to efficiently manufacture and distribute envelope and packaging solutions designed to the specifications of major national and multinational corporations, direct mailers, resellers, government entities, SMEs and solutions providers.

For more information, please visit www.supremex.com.

__________________
¹ Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.
² Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.
³ Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.
⁴ Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.
⁵ Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.
⁶ Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.
⁷ Non-IFRS financial measures or ratios. Refer to the non-IFRS financial measures section for definitions and reconciliations.