(All amounts in release are in Canadian dollars)
OTTAWA, November 27, 2023 – Calian® Group Ltd. (TSX:CGY), a diverse products and services company providing innovative healthcare, communications, learning and cybersecurity solutions, today released its unaudited results for the fourth quarter and FY23 ended September 30, 2023.
Highlights of record performance in Q4:
- Revenue up 10% to $176 million
- Gross margin at 31.7%, above 30% for the sixth consecutive quarter
- Adjusted EBITDA1 at $20 million, up 7%
Highlights of FY23:
- Revenue up 13% to $659 million
- Gross margin at 31.0%, up from 29.1% last year
- Adjusted EBITDA1 at $66 million, in line with last year
- Operating free cash flow of $45 million
- Net liquidity of $176 million
- Repurchased 32,094 shares for consideration of $1.7 million
- Acquired Hawaii Pacific Teleport on August 1st, 2023
- Appointed President, IT & Cyber Solutions
- Entered definitive purchase agreement to acquire Decisive Group
The Company will file the audited financial statements and annual report in early December 2023.
| Financial Highlights | Unaudited Three months ended | Unaudited Six months ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions of $, except per share & margins) | September 30, | September 30, | ||||
| 2023 | 2022 | % | 2023 | 2022 | % | |
| Revenue | 175.9 | 160.6 | 10% | 658.6 | 582.2 | 13% |
| Adjusted EBITDA1 | 20.4 | 19.1 | 7% | 66.0 | 65.9 | -% |
| Adjusted EBITDA %1 | 11.6% | 11.8% | (20bps) | 10.0% | 11.3% | (130bps) |
| Net Profit | 5.1 | 1.2 | 328% | 18.8 | 13.6 | 39% |
| EPS Diluted | $0.43 | $0.10 | 330% | $1.61 | $1.19 | 35% |
| Adjusted Net Profit1 | 12.7 | 10.3 | 24% | 40.4 | 44.0 | (8%) |
| Adjusted EPS Diluted1 | $1.07 | $0.90 | 20% | $3.45 | $3.87 | (11%) |
| Operating Free Cash Flow1 | 10.7 | 14.1 | (24%) | 44.8 | 47.2 | (5)% |
Access the full report on the Calian Financials web page.
Register for the conference call on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
“We finished the year with a record quarter as revenues, gross margin and adjusted EBITDA reached new historical highs,” said Kevin Ford, Calian Chief Executive Officer. “In FY23 we generated double-digit revenue growth with all four segments contributing. Our adjusted EBITDA remained flat. With two recent acquisitions, and adjustments in our operating costs, we are poised to see continued increase in our profitability.”
“Given the ongoing robust demand for our products and services, the contribution from recent acquisitions and the benefits from our restructuring plan, we are confident in our ability to post another record year. At the midpoint of our guidance range this translates into revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of 15% and 32%, respectively, over FY23,” concluded Mr. Ford.
Fourth Quarter Results
Revenues increased 10%, from $161 million to $176 million, driven by double-digit growth in Advanced Technologies, Health and Learning.
- Advanced Technologies: Revenues increased 72% to $53 million driven by product sales, the contribution from the Hawaii Pacific Teleport acquisition and the unwinding of backlog due to ongoing easing of supply chains.
- Health: Revenues increased 31% to $52 million driven by significantly increased demand with our long-standing customers as well as short-term health response demand.
- Learning: Revenues grew 11% to $24 million driven by strong demand for military training with existing Canadian customers as well as demand for new products and technologies for NATO customers due to geo-political issues and renewed focus on readiness.
- ITCS: Revenues decreased 31% to $48 million as expected, mainly due to lower shipments in its product resale business based in the U.S., as the fourth quarter last year saw a disproportionate amount of product shipments due to the easing of supply chain issues.
Gross margin reached a record 31.7%, representing its 6th consecutive quarter above 30%. Adjusted EBITDA reached a record $20 million and adjusted EBITDA margin returned to double digits from Q3 levels to reach 11.6%.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
“In FY23 we generated $45 million in operating free cash flow, representing a 68% conversion rate from adjusted EBITDA,” said Patrick Houston, Calian CFO. “We continued to have a disciplined approach to capital deployment with the view of maximizing return on investments. We used our cash to invest in the business with acquisitions and earnout payments of $68 million and capex of $8 million and provide a return to shareholders in the form of dividends of $13 million and share buybacks of $2 million. We ended the year with $176 million in net liquidity, well-positioned to pursue our growth objectives,” concluded Mr. Houston.
Normal Course Issuer Bid
In the three-month period ended September 30, 2023, as part of its Normal Course Issuer Bid, the Company repurchased 32,094 shares for cancellation in consideration of $1.7 million. Since the launch of the Normal Course Issuer Bid on September 1, 2023, the Company repurchased 59,320 common shares for cancellation in consideration of $3.0 million.
Entered into a Definitive Purchase Agreement to Acquire Decisive Group
On November 9, 2023, Calian entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Ottawa-based Decisive Group Inc. for up to CAD$74.7 million. This includes the amount to be paid in cash at closing of CAD$50.0 million. The definitive purchase agreement is effective immediately. Calian anticipates the transaction to close on December 1, 2023. See press release for further details.
Appointed President, IT and Cyber Solutions
On November 6, 2023, Calian appointed Michael Tremblay to the position of President, IT and Cyber Solutions effective December 1, 2023. With 38 years of sales, marketing, operations, general management experience, coupled with considerable knowledge of public sector clients, Mike has held senior executive positions with Microsoft, SAP, Fujitsu Consulting, JDS Uniphase, EDS Systemhouse and Digital Equipment Corporation. See press release for further details.
Quarterly Dividend
Today, Calian declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share. The dividend is payable December 27, 2023, to shareholders of record as of December 11, 2023. Dividends paid by the Corporation are considered “eligible dividend” for tax purposes.
Guidance
| Guidance for the year ended Sept. 30, 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands of Canadian $) | Low | High | |
| Revenue | 730,000 | 790,000 | |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 83,000 | 89,000 | |
À propos de Calian
Nous faisons avancer le monde. Calian® aide les gens à communiquer, à innover, à apprendre et à mener une vie saine et sûre. Chaque jour, nos employés vivent nos valeurs d’engagement envers le client, d’intégrité, d’innovation, de respect et de travail d’équipe pour concevoir des solutions fiables qui résolvent des problèmes complexes. C’est la confiance. Ingénierie. Entreprise stable et en pleine croissance depuis 40 ans, notre siège social se trouve à Ottawa et nos bureaux et projets couvrent les marchés nord-américains, européens et internationaux. Visitez calian.com pour découvrir des solutions innovantes en matière de soins de santé, de communications, d’apprentissage et de cybersécurité.
Les noms de produits ou de services mentionnés dans le présent document peuvent être des marques déposées de leurs propriétaires respectifs.
Demandes de renseignements des médias :[email protected] 613-599-8600 x 2298 Relations avec les investisseursinquiries:[email protected]
CLAUSE DE NON-RESPONSABILITÉ
Certaines informations contenues dans le présent communiqué de presse sont de nature prospective et sont soumises à des risques et incertitudes importants. Les résultats ou événements prévus dans ces déclarations peuvent différer matériellement des résultats ou événements réels. Ces déclarations sont généralement accompagnées de termes tels que “avoir l’intention”, “anticiper”, “croire”, “estimer”, “s’attendre à” ou d’autres termes similaires. Les facteurs susceptibles d’entraîner des résultats ou des événements différents des attentes actuelles comprennent, entre autres : l’impact de la concurrence sur les prix ; la rareté des professionnels qualifiés ; l’impact de l’évolution rapide des technologies et des marchés ; la perte d’activité ou le risque de crédit avec les principaux clients ; les risques techniques sur les projets à prix fixe ; les conditions générales du secteur et du marché et les taux de croissance ; la croissance internationale et les conditions économiques mondiales, y compris les fluctuations des taux de change ; et l’impact des consolidations dans l’industrie des services aux entreprises. Pour de plus amples informations concernant certains de ces facteurs et d’autres, veuillez consulter le dernier rapport annuel de la société et les autres rapports déposés par Calian auprès de la Commission des valeurs mobilières de l’Ontario. Calian décline toute intention ou obligation de mettre à jour ou de réviser les déclarations prévisionnelles, que ce soit en raison de nouvelles informations, d’événements futurs ou autres. Rien ne garantit que les résultats, performances ou réalisations réels exprimés ou sous-entendus dans les déclarations prospectives contenues dans la présente communication se produiront ou, s’ils se produisent, que des avantages pourront en être tirés.
Calian – Siège social – 770 Palladium Drive – Ottawa – Ontario – Canada – K2V 1C8
Tel : 613.599.8600 – Fax : 613-592-3664 – General info email : [email protected]
