CALGARY, March 11, 2014 /CNW/ -
2013 Highlights
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Business unit revenue of $110.0 million grew 17% year over year.
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Business unit EBITDA of $29.5 million was up 34% from $22.0 million in
2012. EBITDA margin expanded to 27% in 2013 from 23% in 2012.
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IFRS net income of $1.9 million or $0.03 per share compared to $6.2
million or $0.11 per share for the prior year. Net income, excluding
the adjustments related to the sale of investments, the non-cash
expenses in Corporate and the change in tax estimate was $7.8 million
or $0.12 per share.
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Axia completed the sale of its interest in OpenNet and in Xarxa Oberta
for total proceeds of $39.4 million.
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In Alberta, Axia extended a key contractual relationship with the
Government of Alberta through to June 30, 2018 and simplified its
historically complex relationship with Bell into a standard commercial
relationship.
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Cash and investments were $38.8 million at December 31, 2013 compared to
$2.3 million a year ago.
Q4 2013 HIGHLIGHTS
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Business unit revenue of $31.5 million grew 28% from $24.6 million in Q4
2012.
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Business unit EBITDA of $8.1 million was up 12% year-over-year.
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IFRS net loss of $2.0 million or $(0.03) per share compared to a loss of
$2.9 million or $(0.03) per share for the prior year. Excluding the
adjustment related to the change in tax estimate, net loss was $0.2
million or $0.00 per share.
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Customer connections of 9,328 grew 10% from 8,512 in Q4 2012.
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Covage continues to generate positive results. As a result, during the
quarter Covage made its first annual cash interest payment of $2.8
million to Axia.
CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS
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On January 6, 2014, Axia declared an initial quarterly dividend of
$0.0125 per share.
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On March 7, 2014, Axia entered into a senior secured Credit Facility
with a Canadian chartered bank for $20.0 million. The facility will be
used to finance the construction of fibre connecting to the Alberta
SuperNet with principle repayments amortized until June 30, 2018.
Advances under the Credit Facility are subject to fees and interest at
an indicative fixed term rate of less than 4.0%.
* Axia's business unit summary includes 100% of the financial and
operational results of Axia North America and Covage. Please see the
audited consolidated financial statements and related Management's
Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) for more details.
The audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended
December 31, 2013 and related MD&A have been reviewed and approved by
Axia's Audit Committee and Board of Directors. Axia recognizes that the
majority of its investors are now accessing Axia's corporate and
financial information either through pushed news services, directly
from Axia's corporate website or SEDAR. Thus, Axia has prepared this
truncated news release to alert investors to its results and that a
more detailed explanation and analysis is readily available in the
MD&A. These reports have been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and also posted at www.axia.com.
Notice of Conference Call
Axia will hold a conference call with the investment community on
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 9 a.m. (Eastern), 7 a.m. (Mountain). To
participate in the conference call, please dial +1 (647) 427-7450 in
Toronto and internationally. If you are connecting from other parts of
Canada, dial 1-888-231-8191. Please call ten minutes prior to the start
of the call. In addition, a live webcast (listen only mode) of the
conference call will be available at:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/1289157/1422231
A replay of the conference call will be available at (416) 849-0833 or
1-855-859-2056, passcode 35371749 from 6 p.m. (Eastern) Tuesday, March
11, 2014 to midnight (Eastern) Tuesday, March 18, 2014 or through the
webcast archives at www.newswire.ca.
About Axia
Axia owns, operates and sells services over fibre optic communications
infrastructure. Axia trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the
symbol "AXX".
This News Release contains forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, statements containing the words "should",
"believe", "anticipate", "may", "plan", "will", "continue", "intend",
"expect", "estimate" and other similar expressions which constitute
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian
securities laws. These statements are based on our current
expectations, estimates, forecasts and assumptions about the operating
environment, economies and markets in which we operate and are subject
to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to
predict. Examples of these statements would include those where Axia
forecasts its success and timing in winning new NGN business, the
timing and amount of future dividend payments, the timing of completion
and estimated total costs of our networks, the revenues and operating
costs associated with these networks over time, and Axia's ability to
generate future cash flows and avail itself of other financing
alternatives given current market conditions. The assumptions, risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the forward-looking information, include, but are not limited to,
changes in customer markets, changes in demand for our services, our
inability to deliver services in a timely and cost efficient manner,
technological change, general economic conditions and other risks
detailed from time to time in our ongoing filings with the Canadian
securities regulatory authorities, including those in our Annual
Information Form, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Given these assumptions, risks and uncertainties, readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking
statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, we
undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements either as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Axia NetMedia Corporation
