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WesternOne Equity Income Fund Announces Release of Q1 Financial Results and Schedules Conference Call
(Canada Newswire English Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Attention Business/Financial Editors
VANCOUVER, May 15 /CNW/ - WesternOne Equity Income Fund ("WesternOne Equity") (TSXV: WEQ.UN and WEQ.DB) today announced the release of its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2008. The results, consisting of WesternOne Equity's unaudited interim consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2008, and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") dated May 12, 2008, are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
Financial Highlights
The following discussion is based on certain unaudited interim financial and operating results of WesternOne Equity for the three months ended March 31, 2008. Please refer to WesternOne Equity's MD&A dated May 12, 2008 for further information.
"Our business growth continued to be driven by the strong construction and general equipment rental sectors in western Canada," said Mr. Darren Latoski, Chief Executive Officer. "WesternOne has recorded strong financial results this quarter, with respect to growth in revenues and earnings. The strong results are attributable to organic growth within our operations, which achieved a combined growth of 5.8% in revenue and 6.4% in EBITDA compared to the same period last year, as well as acquisition of new businesses, as we acquired the assets of C&N Motors Ltd. ("C&N") in Comox, BC and Deerfoot Equipment Rental Inc. ("Deerfoot") in Calgary, Alberta on January 1 and February 15, 2008 respectively."
Total revenues of $7.37 million for the three months ended March 31, 2008 increased by 96.6%, or $3.62 million, compared to $3.75 million for the same period a year ago. PER contributed $4.05 million for the three months ended March 31, 2008. WesternOne's acquisition of the assets of Old Country Rentals Ltd. ("OCR") in June, 2007 and C&N in January, 2008 was a significant step to expand our business into Vancouver Island. OCR and C&N contributed $1.55?million and $0.46 million of incremental revenue respectively for the three months ended March 31, 2008. WesternOne's acquisition of Deerfoot in February, 2008 set the milestone to expand our business into Alberta. Deerfoot contributed $1.31 million of incremental revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2008.
Gross income increased by 88.0%, or $2.42 million, to $5.17 million for the three months ended March 31, 2008 compared to $2.75 million a year ago.
Gross margin was 70.2% for the three months ended March 31, 2008, compared to 73.4% a year ago. The change in margin relates to the change in product sales mix resulting from the acquisition of OCR, C&N and Deerfoot, which focus on high-volume general rental and retail product offerings.
Earnings before interest, income taxes, amortization and accretion ("EBITDA") of $2.35 million for the three months ended March 31, 2008 increased by 104.5%, or $1.20 million, compared to $1.15 million a year ago.
Net income was $0.74 million for the three months ended March 31, 2008, equivalent to basic and diluted weighted average earnings per unit of $0.06. This is compared to $0.10 million ($0.02 per unit, basic and diluted) for the same period a year ago.
WesternOne Equity generated distributable cash of $1.98 million for the three months ended March 31, 2008, or $0.1677 per trust unit. WesternOne Equity distributed $1.77 million, or $0.1500 per trust unit, resulting in a payout percentage of 89.5%.
WesternOne Equity has announced a subsequent monthly distribution of $0.05 per unit for April, 2008 (payable May 15, 2008).
"We are pleased with the strong financial results that WesternOne has achieved in this quarter," said Mr. Latoski. "We are excited about the growth opportunities that our recent acquisitions will provide. The acquisition of the assets of C&N enables us to further consolidate the equipment rental and sales market on Vancouver Island, while Deerfoot provides us with a strong platform to extend our businesses into other parts of western Canada. We will continue to execute our growth strategy through organic growth and seeking accretive acquisition opportunities."
Conference Call
Darren Latoski, CEO, and Carlos Yam, CFO, of WesternOne Equity GP Inc. will host a conference call at 11:00am (ET), 8:00am (PT), on Friday, May 23, 2008, to review the financial results and corporate developments for the three months ended March 31, 2008.
To participate in this conference call, please dial one of the following numbers approximately 10 minutes prior to the commencement of the call, with the participant pass-code 88222 followed by the number sign.
Vancouver....................... 604-899-4201
Calgary......................... 403-269-4703
Edmonton........................ 780-429-3832
Toronto......................... 416-883-7132
Ottawa.......................... 613-212-0152
International................... 403-269-4703
Toll-free....................... 1-888-205-4499
If you are unable to participate, a replay will be available 60 minutes after the meeting end time, until midnight, June 24, 2008, by dialing one of the following numbers with the conference reference number 620246 followed by the number sign.
Calgary......................... 403-205-4531
International................... 403-205-4531
Toll-free....................... 1-877-245-4531
We look forward to having you participate in our call.
About WesternOne Equity
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WesternOne Equity seeks to acquire predominantly equipment and infrastructure related businesses located primarily in the Western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, in order to generate stable and growing distributions to its unitholders as well as to achieve overall capital appreciation.
Additional information about WesternOne Equity is available at www.weq.ca or www.sedar.com
Forward-Looking Information
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Certain information in this press release may constitute "forward-looking" information that involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. When used in this press release, such information often uses, but are not limited to, such words as "may", "will", "expect", "should", "believe", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "potential", and other similar terminology. Such information reflects current expectations of management regarding future events and operating performance and speaks only as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking information involves significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, the following factors: competitive and economic environment, the results of due diligence inquiries and negotiation of acquisition documents, impact of changes to tax treatment of income trusts or dividend tax credits, foreign exchange, seasonality, inability to close or realize accretive benefits from acquisitions, fluctuation of cash distributions and nature of trust units. Although any forward-looking information contained in this press release is based upon what WesternOne Equity's management believes to be reasonable assumptions, WesternOne Equity cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information is made as of the date of this press release and WesternOne Equity assumes no obligation to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances.
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR THE ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Andrew Greig, Manager of Investor Relations, WesternOne Equity Income Fund, Suite 910, 925 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 3L2, Phone: (604) 678-4042, E-mail: agreig@weq.ca, www.weq.ca
Copyright ? 2008 Canada Newswire Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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