Savaria Announces Results for the Third Quarter of 2015

Laval, Quebec, November 5, 2015– Savaria Corporation (TSX: SIS), one of the North America’s leaders in the accessibility industry, discloses its results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Highlights:

Three months ended September 30, 2015

• Revenue of $24 million, up $2.3 million or 10.4%;
• Operating income of $2.9 million, up $442,000 or 18.4%;
• EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $3.8 million, up $592,000 or 18.4%. This is the highest quarterly EBITDA in the history of the Corporation;
• Purchase of the assets of three Silver Cross franchises in Ontario, franchises that operate stores selling new and recycled accessibility equipment;
• Purchase of a building in Laval, Quebec, in which will be transferred the Corporation’s head office, as well as the Montreal facility operated by its Van-Action subsidiary;
• Launch of our new stairlift for straight stairs, the K2.

Nine months ended September 30, 2015

• Revenue of $68.7 million, up $7.2 million or 11.8%;
• Operating income of $7.7 million, up $1.3 million or 19.6%;
• EBITDA of $10.2 million, up $2.1 million or 25.3%.

 

A Word from the President

"Our third quarter results consistently follow last quarter. Revenue grew 10.4%, while our EBITDA increased by 18.4%. The Corporation successfully launched the new K2 straight stairlift, designed and built by Savaria. The new product complements the current product portfolio and allows us to continue our strategic focus on home accessibility, meeting the needs of the aging population. The Corporation sold over 800 straight stairlifts in the quarter compared to 288 in the same quarter of 2014. We also doubled sales of our curved stairlift, the “Stairfriend”, from 51 to 108 compared to last year’s third quarter," declared Marcel Bourassa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Savaria.

"The growth in EBITDA is attributed to solid management of operating costs with a marginal increase of 2.3% versus sales growth of 10.4%. The Corporation continues to hold a strong balance sheet allowing it to fund internal growth and pursue growth by acquisitions," concluded Mr. Bourassa.

Outlook 2015

For the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2015, the Corporation maintains its forecasted revenue of around $92 million, and EBITDA in the $13.5-$14.5 million bracket.

Dividend

As per the Corporation’s new dividend policy, the Board of Directors has declared a dividend of 5 cents ($0.05) per common share, payable on December 1, 2015 to shareholders of record of the Corporation at the close of business on November 17, 2015. This is an eligible dividend within the meaning of the Income Tax Act.

Savaria Corporation (savaria.com) is one of the North America’s leaders in the accessibility industry focused on meeting the needs of people with mobility challenges. Savaria designs, manufactures, distributes and installs primarily elevators for home and commercial use, as well as stairlifts and vertical and inclined platform lifts. With the acquisition of Silver Cross, the Corporation now operates a lead generation program to capture and distribute leads on potential customers to close to 100 affiliates in North America; also, it is a franchisor of stores through which new and recycled accessibility equipment is sold. In addition, Savaria converts and adapts minivans to be wheelchair accessible. The diversity of its product line, one of the world’s most comprehensive, enables the Corporation to stand out by proposing an integrated and customized solution for its customers’ mobility needs. Its operations in China have substantially grown and the collaboration with Savaria’s other Canadian facilities increases its competitive edge in the market place. The Corporation records more than 60% of its revenue outside Canada, primarily in the United States. It operates a sales network of some 400 active retailers and affiliates in North America and employs some 430 people at its head office in Laval and at its plants and sales offices in Montreal (Quebec), Brampton and London (Ontario), Calgary (Alberta) and Huizhou (China).

Compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”)

The information appearing in this press release has been prepared in accordance with IFRS. However, the Corporation uses EBITDA for analysis purposes to measure its financial performance. This measure has no standardized definition in accordance with IFRS and is therefore regarded as a non-IFRS measure. This measure may therefore not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies. Reconciliation between net income for the period and EBITDA is provided in the Reconciliation of EBITDA with Net Income section below.

 

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” regarding Savaria, including, without being limited thereto, understanding of the elements that might affect the Corporation’s future, relating to its financial or operating performance, the costs and schedule of future acquisitions, supplementary capital expenditure requirements and legislative matters. Most frequently, but not invariably, forward-looking statements are identified by the use of such terms as “plan”, “expect”, “should”, “could”, “budget”, “expected”, “estimated” “forecast”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “believe”, variants thereof (including negative variants) or statements that certain events, results or shares “could”, “should” or “will” occur or be achieved. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors liable to cause Savaria’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those set forth in or underlying the forward-looking statements. Such factors notably include general, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Although Savaria has attempted to identify the key elements liable to cause actual measures, events or results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements, other factors could have an impact on the reality and produce unexpected results. The forward-looking statements contained herein are valid at the date of this press release. As there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove accurate, actual future results and events could differ materially from those anticipated therein. Accordingly, readers are strongly advised not to unduly rely on these forward-looking statements.

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For further information:

www.savaria.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savariabettermobility

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mobilityforlife

Reconciliation of EBITDA with net income provided below.

Complete financial statements and the management’s report for quarter ended September 30, 2015 will be available shortly on Savaria’s website and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).