Effect of Covid The reduction in business due to Covid started in late Q1 of 2020.
At that point, business was growing relative to Q1 of 2019.
First quarter highlights (compared with the fourth quarter of 2019):
- Revenue of $77.4-million, compared with $71.5-million;
- Cost of sales of $55.8-million, compared with $54.0-million;
- Gross margin of 28.0 per cent, compared with 24.5 per cent;
- Adjusted EBITDA of $10.5-million, compared with $5.5-million;
- Net income of $2.2-million, compared with net loss of $4.0-million.
Exttapolating Q1 for the full year, revenues would have been about $305 million , Ebitda of $42 million and net income of about $9 million or better than $0.20 per share
For the Covid Quarters, revenues averaged about $60 million and Ebitda, including Govt wage grants of $10.7 million, averaged about $10 million per quarter.
It would seem that the CEWS wage grants kept Ebitda at the same level as was evidenced in Q1 of 2020.
Had Covid not impaired revenues, I think that everyone would have considered 2020 to have been an excellent year , with revenues beginning to increase along with substantial gains in Ebitda and net earnings.
Once business resumes post Covid , we should begin to see rebound in business volumes while, as management has trimmed the fat and improved operational efficiencies, Ebitda and net earnings will rise above that of Q1 of 2020.
My other point is that CEWS wages grant merely replaced and perhaps a tad more, what would have been the case had Covid not happened.