TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/13 -- SPOT COFFEE (CANADA) LTD. (TSX VENTURE:SPP) ("SPoT" or the "Company") released its financial results for the Company's first quarter ended March 31st, 2013. Complete interim financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis have been filed for public review at www.sedar.com and are available on the Company's website at www.spotcoffee.com. All dollar values expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.
First Quarter 2013 Financial Highlights
-- 13% increase in Revenue Reported revenue increased 13% to $1,827,753 for the first quarter of 2013 from $1,612,363 for the same quarter of 2012. -- 11% increase in System-wide Sales System-wide sales revenue (include licensed cafe) increased 11% to $2,059,593 for the first quarter of 2013 from $1,853,144 for the same quarter of 2012. -- 13% increase in Gross Profit Gross profit increased 13% to $1,221,745 for the first quarter of 2013 from $1,079,425 for the same quarter of 2012. SPoT's gross margin percentage was 67% of revenue for the first quarter of 2013. -- 33% COGS Cost of sales was $606,008 and represents 33% of revenue for the first quarter of 2013. It's in-line with the sales increase while the Company maintained gross margins consistent with 2012. -- Positive Cafe-level EBITDA SPoT achieved positive Cafe-level EBITDA of $244,158, representing 13% of total Cafe-level sales, for the first quarter of 2013. The Company reported consolidated net loss of $607,400 for the first quarter of 2013. The key drivers behind the net loss include increased salaries and wages and occupancy costs driven by the overall expansion of SPoT's operations, non-cash expenses of $316,599, and most of all at the cafe level an extraordinary loss of $118,070 from SPoT Park Place cafe during the first quarter of 2013. -- 8% increase in Commercial Accounts Sales Commercial accounts sales increased 8% to $61,378 for the first quarter of 2013 from $56,793 for the same quarter of 2012.
SPoT Benefited From the Following Key Factors Over the First Quarter
1. New cafe - SpoT Saratoga Springs opened on February 6th, 2013 2. Expansion of the corporate catering program 3. Growth in commercial accounts segment 4. Increased community awareness due to greater involvement
After careful monitoring and study of the economic performance of SPoT Park Place, located in a new condominium development in North York, Toronto, management had to start reducing its opening hours to contain its extraordinary losses not previously encountered in any of the other SPoT cafes. Despite extensive marketing and sales efforts, sales of SPoT Park Place would not increase over time. On the contrary, they decreased. Management met and shared its serious concerns about the economic health of SPoT Park Place with the landlord developer. Management informed the landlord developer that it had been considering the closing of SPoT Park Place and outlined the main reasons for the lack of sales, which were due to the slow and much less than planned amount of condominium development in the area; complex access to parking; much larger cafe area than originally desired resulting in higher utility and associated costs; and the lack of a critical mass of residents in the immediate community needed to support SPoT Park Place.
Despite the landlord developer's attempts to keep SPoT Park Place open by offering some assistance, management decided that such limited assistance was not enough to turn around the financial performance of this cafe. During this last week of May, management consulted with its legal counsel and finally decided yesterday to hand over the keys of SPoT Park Place to the landlord developer in order to mitigate its losses. Accordingly, management moved the furniture and equipment of SPoT Park Place to its storage facilities for use in its new cafes.
Management would like to reiterate the Company's focus on growth in New York State by identifying, developing and operating new cafes in that area. The majority of SPoT's top performing cafes are located in New York State, where occupancy and labour costs are significantly lower than in Canada, and where the Company enjoys a strong, established brand presence. The Company continues to develop its expansion plan across Canada, the United States and the Middle East.
SPoT is currently working on an equity offering $2.5 million to fund its 2013 growth plan in Upstate New York, the expansion of the Company's commercial sales program, and the addition of new retail and business accounts.
About SPoT Coffee
SPoT Coffee trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SPP. SPoT designs, builds and operates community oriented cafes that provides its customers with the highest quality service, signature made-to order meals and the world's finest in-house roasted gourmet coffee. Each SPoT cafe is distinctively designed to meet the uniqueness of the local neighborhood, creating a warm and friendly gathering place for the community. SPoT's commercial business focuses on retail stores, business accounts and third party resellers such as universities and hospitals.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Corporation, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable securities requirements, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the release.