DirectCash Payments Inc. Announces Dividend Increase and Results of Operations for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2014

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Aug. 14, 2014) - DirectCash Payments Inc. (TSX:DCI) ("DCPayments" or the "Company") today announced consolidated financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014.

Financial and Operational Highlights:

• Announces increase in annual dividend to $1.44 per share from $1.38 per share
  
  
• Dramatically improved funds from operations payout ratio to 46% for the six months ended June 30, 2014 (54% prior to the Australia GST recovery)
  
  
• Materially reduced Long Term Debt by 18% ($41.8 million) compared to December, 2013
  
  

Management's Commentary

"We are extremely pleased with our results in the first six months of 2014, specifically our ability to pay down debt significantly and announce an increase in our annual dividend, notwithstanding the ongoing challenges experienced from Cash Store, one of our large customers. We remain confident in our ability to continue to generate shareholder return by focusing on organic growth opportunities and capitalizing on our sales activities," said Jeffrey Smith, DCPayments' President and Chief Executive Officer. 

DCPayments will pursue growth through additional accretive acquisitions at reasonable multiples as opportunities arise. DCPayments' stable and contracted revenue stream in our various geographic markets will continue to provide consistent cash dividends to DCPayments' Shareholders.

Summary financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 are set forth below and complete copies of the Company's Financial Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A") are available on SEDAR at (www.sedar.com).

 Summary Operating and Financial Results

		Three months ended June 30						Six months ended June 30
		2014			2013			2014			2013
Summary operating results
Number of machines
Active ATM terminals(1)			20,232			19,686			20,232			19,686
ATM transactions, thousands			30,660			26,974			60,201			52,859
Other transactions
Summary financial results
($ thousands, except for per share amounts)
Gross profit(2)		$	36,310		$	28,506		$	72,363		$	59,201
Gross profit margin(3)			51.9	%		48.6	%		52.8	%		50.5	%
EBITDA(4)			18,813			15,181			38,160			32,422
	EBITDA margin(5)		26.9	%		25.9	%		27.8	%		27.7	%
Cash flow from operating activities			23,217			11,289			40,154			26,836
Net income			1,918			2,276			233			1,545
Net income attributable to common shareholders			1,918			2,262			233			1,540
	Per share, basic		0.11			0.14			0.01			0.09
	Per share, diluted		0.11			0.14			0.01			0.09
Funds from operations(5)		$	12,590		$	8,352		$	26,524		$	18,864
	Funds from operations per share, basic(5)		0.72			0.50			1.52			1.14
	Funds from operations per share, diluted(5)		0.72			0.50			1.51			1.13
Dividends declared			6,069			5,741			12,137			11,481
	Dividends declared per share		0.35			0.35			0.69			0.69
Funds from operations payout ratio(5)			48.2	%		68.7	%		45.8	%		60.9	%
Total assets		$	400,506		$	399,952		$	400,506		$	399,952
Total debt(6)			198,125			206,859			198,125			206,859
Bank overdraft (cash)			(2,217	)		13,927			(2,217	)		13,927
Total debt, net			195,908			220,786			195,908			220,786
Common shares outstanding, end of period			17,589			16,639			17,589			16,639

1	DCPayments has included statistics only for sites that recorded a transaction in the last calendar month of the period indicated; amounts reported for 2014 exclude 490 ATMs which do not process transactions on the DCPayments transaction processing switch platform but for which DCPayments manages the ATMs
2	Gross profit is calculated as Revenue less Cost of sales
3	Gross profit margin means gross profit expressed as a percentage of Revenue
4	An additional GAAP measure - see definition under "Additional GAAP Measure"
5	A non-GAAP measure - see definition under "Non-GAAP Measures"
6	Total debt is calculated as total debt outstanding as at the end of the period, excluding unamortized transaction costs

Outlook

We believe the integration of Threshold's CUFI Business will strengthen the Company's strategic position in the payments business and position DCPayments as one of Canada's leading independent providers of end-to-end transaction processing and payment solutions. The Threshold Acquisition has given DCPayments a significant presence in the highly strategic credit union and financial institution payments processing services segment and ATM outsourcing business. In addition, the acquisition added approximately 1,000 transacting ATMs to the DCPayments network in Canada. In the ATM business in Canada, emphasis continues to be on maintaining existing customer relationships. With the addition of Threshold we will be able to capitalize on synergies between the two organizations. We expect this acquisition will increase our ability to service the existing and acquired customer relationships and increase our sales presence with other clients in Canada.

DCPayments is the largest deployer of ATMs in Australia and New Zealand with 6,196 transacting ATMs as at June 30, 2014. The Company actively seeks growth opportunities through the existing ATM business platform and capitalizes on the less mature Australian market, where transactions and gross profits per ATM are significantly greater than in the mature Canadian ATM market. We have been very successful in managing our costs, integrating the Australian acquisition, and adding management depth. DCPayments' focus in this market moving forward is to drive growth and improve margins.

Since the acquisition in the United Kingdom in May 2012, DCPayments has grown to be the third largest deployer of non-bank branded ATMs in the United Kingdom and has added approximately 890 ATMs. As at June 30, 2014 DCPayments had 5,587 transacting ATMs in the United Kingdom. DCPayments' focus in this market moving forward is to continue to grow the ATM business in Europe through quality accretive acquisitions and organic growth, adding other product offerings to its Europe division and increasing our margins.

Our Mexico operations have returned to profitability and we continue to expect to see modest growth from this business going forward as it contributes to the Americas divisional gross profit.

In the other services line of business our focus is diversification both domestically and internationally, to reduce historical reliance on a small group of large volume customers in certain market segments. The Threshold Acquisition provides DCPayments with greater diversification in the other services business in terms of both customer base and product offering. In January 2014 the Company launched a Prepaid Visa card offering, adding scale and choice for our clients. In 2014, the Company launched a new innovative prepaid card offer in Australia whereby ATM customers can buy a prepaid card that can only be used at DCPayments' ATMs. 

We continue to focus on the efficient management and operation of our businesses. DCPayments believes it is well positioned with a strong balance sheet and a steady cash flow stream from operations based on long term contracts, geographically diversity and across a number of industries to drive long term shareholder value.

Conference Call

A conference call will be held on Thursday, August 14, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) to review second quarter 2014 results. Jeffrey J. Smith, President & CEO, Brenda G. Hughes, Chief Financial Officer, and Amanda J. Gallacher, Vice President, Investments, will host the call.

DCPayments invites participants to listen to the conference call by calling toll-free 1-866-223-7781 or local dial-in: 1-416-340-2216. A replay of the conference call will be available until August 21, 2014 by dialing toll-free 1-800-408-3053 or locally 1-905-694-9451 and entering passcode 3212133.

Additional GAAP Measure:

DCPayments has presented earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") as a subtotal in its consolidated statement of operations. EBITDA is an important measure utilized by management in assessing the financial performance of the Company relative to its operating plans and budgets. It is also the measurement utilized by the holders of our long-term debt in calculating financial covenants. The Company has presented EBITDA prior to unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses and non-recurring other gains. The Company utilizes this presentation of EBITDA because it is consistent with the definition under DCPayments credit facility. The Company's EBITDA may differ from similar computations as reported by other issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to EBITDA as reported by such issuers. The Company has provided a reconciliation between EBITDA and net income (loss) in the MD&A for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014.

Non-GAAP Measures:

There are a number of financial calculations that are not defined performance measurements under GAAP but which DCPayments believes are useful and accepted performance measurements utilized by the investing public in assessing the overall financial performance of the Company and to compare cash flows between entities.

EBITDA margin:

EBITDA margin means EBITDA expressed as a percentage of total revenue.

EBITDA per share:

EBITDA per share is calculated on the same basis as basic net income (loss) per share, utilizing the basic and diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period presented.

Funds from operations and funds from operations per share:

DCPayments calculates funds from operations as net income (loss) plus or minus depreciation, amortization, deferred income taxes expense (benefit), non-cash finance costs and unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain) and after provision for productive capital maintenance expenditures (see discussion below). Funds from operations per share is calculated on the same basis as basic net income (loss) per share, utilizing the basic and diluted weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period presented. Readers are cautioned that funds from operations cannot be assured to continue at equivalent levels in the future. DCPayments' funds from operations and funds from operations per share may differ from similar computations as reported by other issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to funds from operations and funds from operations per share as reported by such issuers. The Company has provided a reconciliation between funds from operations and net income (loss) in the MD&A for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014.

Productive capital maintenance expenditures:

DCPayments differentiates capital expenditures between growth and productive capital maintenance. There is no such distinction under GAAP, however DCPayments believes it is important to differentiate between them. Maintenance capital expenditures represent an adjustment to funds from operations while growth capital does not.

Maintenance capital expenditures are defined as expenditures required to service and maintain DCPayments' existing productive capacity, while growth capital is expended to increase DCPayments' productive capacity by adding additional sources of revenue not currently in existence. Current measures of productive capacity that DCPayments utilizes include ATMs and debit terminals under contract. Maintenance capital expenditures include software and hardware upgrades to existing infrastructure, ATM and debit terminal equipment upgrades necessary to meet changing regulatory requirements, contract extension incentives including replacement of equipment under existing or renewed contracts, and fleet vehicle purchases and upgrades. Examples of growth capital expenditures include the acquisition of a competitor's assets, the cost of an ATM in a new location, or technology costs related to new sources of revenue.

Readers are cautioned that the Company's computation of maintenance capital expenditures may differ from similar computations as reported by other issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to productive maintenance capital expenditures as reported by such issuers.

Non-cash working capital:

Non-cash working capital is not a defined GAAP measure. DCPayments calculates changes in non-cash working capital as changes during a reporting period in current assets (excluding cash, cash in circulation and restricted funds) and current liabilities (excluding bank overdraft, restricted funds and current portion of long-term debt).

Dividends:

Shareholders of DCPayments receive monthly payments in the form of dividends Dividends are funded by the generation of funds from operations of the business. All of the income generated at the level of the various subsidiaries of the Company is taxed by applicable government authorities with the remaining after-tax funds either being retained by the subsidiary or distributed up to the Company where it can be made available for payment of dividends by DCPayments. Continued future distribution of dividends (and the amount of any dividends) is subject to DCPayments' Board of Directors approval. DCPayments' Board of Directors is not obligated to distribute all net available cash as dividends to shareholders.

Forward-Looking Information:

This Press Release offers our assessment of DCPayments' future plans and operations and contains "forward-looking information" relating to future events as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. The Company's actual results or performance could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, this forward-looking information. DCPayments can give no assurance that any of the events anticipated will transpire or occur or, if any of them do, what benefits or costs we will derive from them. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond DCPayments' ability to control, including but not limited to general economic conditions, interest rates, foreign currency rates, consumer spending, borrowing trends and regulatory changes to name a few. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in DCPayments' Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2013 which is available at www.SEDAR.com.

The forward-looking information contained in this Press Release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Certain statements that contain words such as "could", "may", "believe", "should", "expect", "will", "intends", "plan", "anticipates", "potential", "estimates", "continues" or similar words relating to matters that are not historical facts constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. 

Forward-looking information and statements contained in this Press Release include statements related to DCPayments' projected growth in operations in the Americas, Australasia and Europe, ability to complete accretive acquisitions on a go forward basis, ability to grow organically though the Company's sales force, ability to provide consistent cash dividends, ability to increase our margins, expansion of DCPayments' merchant base through new and innovative products and services, impact of acquisitions in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada including realizing on expected synergies and ability to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, ability to continue to acquire long-term recurring services contracts and negotiate renewals thereof in advance of their expiry, ability to maintain current customer relationships, ability to increase product offerings in the markets we operate in, the impact of the vault cash rental agreements on the Company's operations and cash flow, ability to diversify into new industry segments or to increase diversification in terms of product offerings and the number of customers served and the possible increase in capital expenditures for technology and infrastructure or due to regulatory mandated security upgrade changes and the sufficiency of funds generated from operations to fund the same.

Readers are cautioned that our expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. With respect to forward-looking statements contained within this MD&A, expectations are based on our current strategic plan and management forecasts, the historical financial performance and operational data of acquired entities, our existing contracts schedule, forecast and budgeted projections of increased capital expenditures required based on management's view of the age of capital assets currently in use by DCPayments.

The assumptions and estimates relating to the forward-looking information referred to above are updated quarterly and except as required by law, we do not undertake to update any other forward-looking information.

Additional information about DCPayments is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or DCPayments' website at www.directcash.net.