Pivot Technology Solutions, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter, Annual 2017 Results

Fourth Quarter Adjusted EBITDA¹ up 31.5% on Revenue Growth and Cost Management

TORONTO, March 27, 2018 /CNW/ - Pivot Technology Solutions, Inc. (TSX: PTG), ("Pivot"), a full-service information technology provider, today reported its financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017. All figures are in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Fourth Quarter Summary

• Revenue was $399.4 million, up 1.4% from $394.0 million in Q4 2016
• • Service revenue grew 1.2%
  • Product revenue grew 1.4%
• Gross profit was $48.9 million (12.2% margin), up from $48.5 million (12.3% margin) in Q4 2016
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ was $11.1 million, up 31.5% from $8.5 million in Q4 2016 reflecting revenue growth and effective cost management
• Income before income taxes was $6.1 million up 34.1% from $4.6 million in Q4 2016
• Tax expense was $8.7 million, including a one-time $5.8 million non-cash charge related to the impact of US Tax Reform, compared to $1.7 million in Q4 2016
• Loss for the period was $2.6 million due to the one-time, non-cash tax charge, compared to Income of $2.9 million in Q4 2016
• Reflecting the one-time, non-cash income tax charge, loss per share was $0.07 compared to diluted income per share of $0.05 in Q4 2016

Annual Results Summary

• Revenue was $1.5 billion, up 6.5% from $1.4 billion in 2016 excluding GTS²
• • Service revenue grew 12.6% excluding GTS²
  • Product revenue grew 5.8% excluding GTS²
• Gross profit was $168.8 million (11.2% margin), down 1.3% from $171.1 million (12.1% margin) in 2016 excluding GTS²
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ was $24.1 million, down 4.0% from $25.1 million in 2016 excluding GTS²
• Income before income taxes was $2.8 million up from a loss in the prior year of $3.1 million excluding GTS²
• Tax expense was $8.4 million, including a one-time $5.8 million non-cash charge related to the impact of US Tax Reform, compared to $0.1 million in 2016 excluding GTS²
• Loss was $5.6 million compared to a loss of $4.3 million in Q4 2016
• Loss per share was $0.15 compared to a loss per share of $0.12 in 2016

Dividends and Normal Course Issuer Bid
The Company paid a total of $5.0 million in common share dividends in 2017 including $1.2 million in the fourth quarter compared to $4.8 million in 2016 including $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. As previously announced, the Company paid its most recent quarterly dividend in the amount of C$0.04 per share on March 15, 2018.

Pivot repurchased 1,551,113 shares under its Normal Course Issuer Bid and from former directors at a total cost of $2.1 million during 2017, reflecting an average acquisition price of C$1.73 per share.

Management Commentary
"Adjusted EBITDA¹ increased 31.5% and income before taxes increased 34.1% compared to Q4 2016," said Kevin Shank, President and Chief Executive Officer. " The Company increased Q4 earnings performance while at the same time making investments in the services area and developing our Smart Edge™ solution. During the quarter, we focused on SG&A cost management, improving rebate metrics and increasing services margins."

"For the full year, Pivot's services business led the way with annual growth of 13.5% in our own direct services and 8.5% growth in OEM maintenance services," said Mr. Shank. "Across the board, all channels including Professional Services, Fulfillment, Project, Workforce and Managed Services executed well and produced upward movement in services margins."

During 2017, Pivot expensed $3.3 million in developing Smart Edge™, an innovative, advanced developer platform designed to support enterprise Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) solutions. Smart Edge is in the early stages of being commercialized through Smart-Edge.com, Inc., a new wholly owned subsidiary.

"During the year, we improved cost effectiveness and business execution while enhancing our internal control environment," said David Toews, Interim Chief Financial Officer. "Managing our costs will continue to be a priority as we move forward."

Fourth Quarter Results Summary
Fourth quarter 2017 revenues were $399.4 million, 1.4% or $5.4 million above the same period in 2016 primarily due to higher sales to non-major customers.  Product revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017 was $357.7 million, 1.4% or $4.9 million above the same period in 2016. Fourth quarter service revenues were $41.7 million, 1.2% or $0.5 million above the same period in 2016. Revenue from the Company's own service portfolio grew 1.0% year over year as the Company continued to implement its services strategy across its larger customer base.

In general, changes in revenue quarter over quarter are attributable to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, timing of major projects and replenishments, vendor incentive programs, competitive pressures in the market, timing of service delivery, business seasonality and the mix in revenue between major and non-major customers. In the fourth quarter, major customers accounted for 35.0% of revenue compared to 38.2% in Q4 a year ago. 

Fourth quarter 2017 cost of sales was $350.5 million, 1.4% or $5.0 million higher than a year ago. Gross profit was $48.9 million (12.2% margin), up 0.9% from $48.5 million (12.3% margin) in Q4 a year ago. Gross margin performance reflected lower product margins due primarily to pricing pressures and mix. This decrease was partially offset by increased rebates compared to the prior-year period and improved services margins as the Company realized the benefits of improved utilization of its service delivery capabilities.

Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses in the fourth quarter were $37.8 million, 5.6% ($2.2 million) lower than a year ago as a result of headcount reductions, lower consulting fees, tight controls over discretionary expenditures and lower bad debt expense. Adjusted EBITDA¹ (see non-IFRS measures) was $11.1 million, up 31.5% from $8.5 million in Q4 2016 as a result of higher revenues, relatively stable gross margins and lower SG&A. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $2.6 million with loss per share of $0.07 compared to net income of $2.9 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.05 in the fourth quarter of 2016. The Company recorded a one-time $5.8 million non-cash tax expense in the fourth quarter of 2017 to reflect the impact of US Tax Reform on its deferred tax assets.

Looking Forward
Pivot introduced a new strategy in June 2016 that management significantly advanced in 2017 and will continue to deploy to deliver growth and improvement in 2018.  The strategy has several dimensions: i) build on Pivot's core business of selling IT solutions, both products and services; ii) enhance Pivot's service portfolio and capabilities, specifically related to services that Pivot delivers; iii) drive a commercial transformation iv) support customers as they expand internationally v) improve cost management vi) enhance the capital structure and financing capacity; vii) strengthen leadership; and, viii) address legacy issues.

Among the recent advancements made, Pivot: won key service assignments with two U.S. financial services customers to provide Managed Services and Workforce Services that will generate incremental revenues over the next three years; realigned sales leadership at its Prosys business unit to improve productivity and vendor/partner alignment; integrated TeraMach, which was acquired on October 1, 2016; successfully completed a use case of Smart Edge™ with a Fortune 100 company and established a business platform to commercialize this potentially disruptive technology; introduced salesforce.com Customer Relationship Management software at the majority of its businesses; achieved Master Security Specialization from Cisco, entitling it to sell, deploy and support sophisticated Cisco network security solutions; formed a strategic partnership with VIQ Solutions Inc., a global leader in cybersecurity-protected technology and services; and, introduced TeraMach Cloudx™ which enables clients to consume cloud services through multiple cloud providers with transparency, agility and reliable private network connectivity.

In 2018, Pivot will invest in the commercialization of Smart Edge™ to drive future revenue in the rapidly-growing MEC market and add key resources and tools to enhance its offerings to customers.

Quarterly Results Materials
The Company's outlook is contained in its MD&A for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017. The complete report for 2017, including the MD&A and audited consolidated financial statements, is available at www.pivotts.com and at www.sedar.com

SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND OPERATING RESULTS

Non-IFRS Measures
In this news release, management uses certain non-IFRS measures to evaluate the performance of the Company. The term "Adjusted EBITDA" does not have any standardized meaning prescribed within IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Such measure should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS such as net income. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings from operations excluding income taxes, depreciation and amortization and before items excluded from management's internal analysis of operating results, including non-cash expenses, items that cannot be influenced by management in the short term and items that do not impact core operating performance.  

Management believes that Pivot shareholders and potential investors use these additional non-IFRS financial measures in making investment decisions and measuring operational results as they demonstrate the Company's ability to generate liquidity through operating cash flow to fund working capital needs, service outstanding debt and fund future capital expenditures. 

Results excluding GTS is a non-IFRS measure. The Company derecognized the assets and liabilities of GTS effective with the period ended June 30, 2016. Accordingly, management presents the Company's consolidated financial results from operations excluding the results of GTS for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016.  Management believes that this adjustment to the Company's financial results is important for management, investors and analysts to understand the Company's financial performance by excluding those results from agreements with GTS that are not expected to be earned in the future.

A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income and of the exclusion of GTS's results of operations to the Company's results of operations are contained in the MD&A (see "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures to IFRS Measures").

Fourth Quarter Conference Call
At 8:30 a.m. eastern Wednesday, March 28, 2018, the Company will host a conference call featuring management's quarterly remarks and follow-up question and answer period with analysts. The conference call can be accessed live by dialing (647) 427-7450 five minutes prior to the scheduled start time. 

About Pivot Technology Solutions
Pivot is an industry leading information technology services and solutions provider to many of the world's most successful companies, including members of the Fortune 1000, as well as governments and educational institutions. By leveraging its extensive OEM partnerships and its own fulfillment, professional, deployment, workforce and managed services, Pivot supports the IT infrastructure needs of its clients. For more information, visit www.pivotts.com.

Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of historical fact, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the continued investment in the commercialization of Smart Edge, the addition of key resources and tools, the payment of quarterly dividends in 2018, and the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Pivot uses words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "believe", "intend", "anticipate" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by Pivot in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, including Pivot's continued financial liquidity to invest in its business and pay quarterly dividends, as well as other factors Pivot believes are appropriate under the relevant circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to Pivot's expectations and predictions is subject to any number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties.  Many factors could cause Pivot's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. These factors include, without limitation: uncertainty in the global economic environment; the possibility that Pivot will be unable to capitalize on opportunities it has identified in the manner and timeframe anticipated, and the possibility that Pivot will not be able to maintaining its liquidity.  The "forward-looking statements" contained herein speak only as of the date of this news release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise such information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Pivot Technology Solutions, Inc

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