Parkland Fuel Corporation Announces Record Q4 and 2017 Results

CALGARY, Alberta, March 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parkland Fuel Corporation (“Parkland”) (TSX:PKI) announced today the financial and operating results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017. All financial figures are expressed in Canadian dollars.

“This has been a transformational year at Parkland. We continued to see excellent growth throughout the year demonstrated by strength in our base business and results from both our newly acquired Chevron and Ultramar businesses. Synergy targets in respect of these acquisitions are pacing well above plan and integration efforts are on track,” said Bob Espey, President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am also pleased to report that Parkland achieved the high end of its 3-5% strategic organic growth target in the base business. I would like to thank the entire Parkland team for their incredible efforts in making 2017 a truly remarkable year.”

Parkland also announced its annualized common share dividend will increase two cents per share, from $1.154 to $1.174, effective with the monthly dividend payable on April 13, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 22, 2018.

Parkland also formalized its 2018 Adjusted EBITDA guidance at approximately $600 million with an anticipated variance of up to 5% (“2018 Guidance Range”). See Additional Guidance Considerations section below.

KEY COMPONENTS OF PARKLAND’S STRATEGY – Q4 and 2017 HIGHLIGHTS

GROW

• Parkland achieved a record Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2017 of $197.8 million and a record annual Adjusted EBITDA of $417.8 million in 2017, driven by strong organic growth, performance in the base business and strong results from the recent Chevron Acquisition (as defined below) and the acquisition of the majority of CST Canada Co.’s Canadian assets (the “Ultramar Acquisition” and together with the Chevron Acquisition, the “Acquisitions”).
• Parkland saw growth of 59% in fuel and petroleum volumes delivering 4.4 billion litres in the fourth quarter of 2017. Similarly, volumes grew by 28% in 2017 totalling 13.3 billion litres. The additional volume was driven by the successful completion of the Acquisitions as well as strong organic growth.
• Retail achieved strong company C-Store same-store sales growth ("SSSG") of 3.5% in 2017 excluding the impact of the Acquisitions, and 2.3% during the fourth quarter of 2017 excluding the impact of the Acquisitions. This growth is a result of improved national category management and promotion planning with improved scale, and continued execution on converting forecourt fuel sales to backcourt C-store sales.
• Parkland developed a newly refreshed On the Run/Marché Express store design and a new proprietary private label brand, "59^th Street Food Co.", which was launched at select Parkland locations in the fourth quarter of 2017 with strong results.
• Commercial volumes grew in both Eastern and Western Canada in 2017. Excluding the impact of the Acquisitions, commercial volumes increased 8% in 2017 compared to 2016 with growth in propane, gas and diesel volumes as a result of strong organic growth and the impact of business acquisitions completed in 2016.

SUPPLY

• The fourth quarter of 2017 marked our first quarter of operations of the 55,000 bpd light/sweet crude refinery located in Burnaby, British Columbia purchased as part of the Chevron Acquisition (the “Burnaby Refinery”). The first quarter of operating the Burnaby Refinery was successful and saw strong refinery utilization rates of 94.4%, which were above expectations.
• Parkland continues to benefit from improved supply economics and optionality as demonstrated by the Supply Adjusted EBITDA growth of 64% for 2017 and 175% for the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the respective periods in 2016. This was driven by contributions from the Chevron Acquisition, continued efforts in executing Parkland's supply strategy, and lower base business operating costs.
• Supply's external fuel and petroleum product volumes increased 27% for the fourth quarter of 2017 and 12% for 2017 compared to the respective periods in 2016. This was primarily as a result of the aviation fuel business acquired as part of the Chevron Acquisition, as well as increases in base business gas and diesel volumes driven by strong market share gains and strategic initiatives to drive volume growth and scale.
• Under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), a larger proportion of the planning costs incurred in the fourth quarter relating to the turnaround in the first quarter of 2018 (“TAR”) are classified as maintenance capital expenditure (“capex”). Parkland incurred $18.7 million of TAR costs in the fourth quarter, with approximately 85% of these being classified as capex.

ACQUIRE: INTEGRATE

• On October 1, 2017, Parkland completed the previously announced acquisition of all outstanding shares of Chevron Canada R & M ULC from Chevron Canada Ltd. (the “Chevron Acquisition”). The Chevron Acquisition provides Parkland with British Columbia’s strongest fuel marketing business and makes Parkland the exclusive distributor of Chevron-branded fuels. In addition, the Chevron Acquisition adds significant strategic supply infrastructure and logistics capability.
• Parkland's first three and six months of operating the businesses acquired in the Chevron Acquisition and Ultramar Acquisition respectively, have been highly successful. Business operating results have been strong as demonstrated by positive fourth quarter results. Acquisition synergy targets are pacing above internal plan, reinforcing Parkland's ability and commitment to acquire prudently and integrate successfully.
• Integration efforts progressed significantly on each of the Acquisitions in the fourth quarter with execution tracking well. The Chevron Acquisition closed earlier than expected, which has accelerated Parkland's integration plans. Operations from the Acquisitions have been incorporated into Parkland's business units and sharing of best practices is well under way.

PARKLAND 2018 ADJUSTED EBITDA GUIDANCE

Estimates of future performance of the businesses acquired in the Acquisitions, with such estimates being based on prior performance.Parkland has also announced 2018 Adjusted EBITDA guidance of approximately $600 million with an anticipated variance of up to 5% (“2018 Guidance Range”). The 2018 Guidance Range is based on certain assumptions, including but not limited to, the following:

• The Refinery utilization rate is expected to be approximately 80% in 2018. This reflects downtime during the TAR in the first quarter, with normalized utilization rates resuming in the second quarter.
• In 2018, Parkland expects to incur an estimated $80 million of costs relating to the TAR, with approximately 85% of such costs being capitalized.

See the “Additional Guidance Considerations” section below.

⁽¹⁾ Measure of segment profit. See Section 12 of the MD&A.
⁽²⁾ Non-GAAP financial measure. See Section 12 of the MD&A.
⁽³⁾ Calculated using the weighted average number of common shares.
⁽⁴⁾ Fuel and petroleum product volume represents external volumes only. Intersegment volumes, including volumes produced by the refinery and transferred to the Retail Fuels and Commercial Fuels segments, are excluded from this reported volume.
⁽⁵⁾ "cpl" stands for cents-per-litre and is a key performance indicator. See Section 12 of the MD&A.
⁽⁶⁾ Operating costs (cpl) were restated to conform to current year's presentation in the consolidated statements of income. Specifically, customer finance income, which was formerly presented separately, is now included in operating costs.

MD&A AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Q4 2017 Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“Q4 2017 MD&A”) and Parkland Fuel Corporation’s audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017 (the “Annual Consolidated Financial Statements”) provide a detailed explanation of Parkland’s operating results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017. These documents are available online at www.parkland.ca and SEDAR immediately after the results are released by newswire under Parkland’s profile at www.sedar.com.

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST INFORMATION

Parkland will host a webcast and conference call at 6:30 a.m. MST (8:30 a.m. EST) on Friday, March 2, 2018 to discuss the results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2017.

To access the conference call by telephone, dial toll-free 1-844-889-7784 [Conference ID: 5199228]. The webcast slide presentation can be accessed at https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/3yuts8ba. Please connect and log in approximately 10 minutes before the beginning of the call.

The webcast will be available for replay two hours after the conference call ends. It will remain available at the link above for one year and will also be posted to www.parkland.ca.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Parkland does not undertake any obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by securities laws. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of numerous risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to: failure to achieve the results in the 2018 Guidance Range; failure to realize the synergy targets and effectively integrate the Acquisitions; general economic, market and business conditions; industry capacity; competitive action by other companies; refining and marketing margins; the ability of suppliers to meet commitments; actions by governmental authorities and other regulators including increases in taxes, changes and developments in environmental and other regulations; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Parkland. See also the risks and uncertainties described under “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” in Parkland’s Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2017, as filed on SEDAR and available on Parkland’s website at www.parkland.ca.Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information and statements (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). When used in this news release, the words “expect’’, ‘‘will’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘would’’, “well positioned,” ‘‘pursue’’ and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things: Parkland’s 2018 Guidance Range; the factors and assumptions that contribute to the 2018 Guidance Range; business objectives and growth strategies; the strength of Parkland’s balance sheet and financial condition; future acquisitions; capital expenditures; the ability to realize synergy targets and effectively integrate the Acquisitions; the ability to continue to successfully operate the Burnaby Refinery; the anticipated benefits and accretive effects of closed, announced and/or future acquisitions including, but not limited to, the Acquisitions; and plans and objectives of or involving Parkland.

Additional Guidance Considerations
The 2018 Guidance Range includes growth scenarios that build off the 2017 Adjusted EBITDA of $417.8 million and the assumption that the performance of the businesses purchased through the Acquisitions, general market conditions, including but not limited to fuel/refining margins and weather, will remain substantially consistent in 2018. Additionally, the negative 5% variance accounts for potential adverse market conditions in Western Canada and the Northern U.S. as well as lower crack spreads, while the positive 5% variance accounts for contributions from synergies relating to prior acquisitions (including the Acquisitions), higher crack spreads and Parkland achieving its previously disclosed average annual organic growth goal of 3-5%.

Other than as disclosed above, the factors and assumptions which contribute to Parkland’s assessment of the 2018 Guidance Range are consistent with existing Parkland disclosure and such guidance range is subject to risks and uncertainties inherent in Parkland’s business. Readers are directed to the Q4 2017 MD&A and Parkland’s Annual Information Form for a description of such factors, assumptions, risks and uncertainties.

Financial Measures
This news release refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures that are not determined in accordance with IFRS. Distributable Cash Flow, Distributable Cash Flow per Share, Adjusted Distributable Cash Flow, Adjusted Distributable Cash Flow per Share, Dividend Payout Ratio, Adjusted Dividend Payout Ratio, Fuel and Petroleum Product Adjusted Gross Profit, and Adjusted Marketing, General and Administrative expenses are not measures recognized under IFRS and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. Management considers these to be important supplemental measures of Parkland’s performance and believes these measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in its industries. See Section 6 of the Q4 2017 MD&A for a reconciliation of distributable cash flow to cash flow from operating activities, the IFRS measure most directly comparable to distributable cash flow. See Section 12 of the Q4 2017 MD&A for a discussion of non-GAAP measures and their reconciliations.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Gross Profit are measures of segment profit. See Section 12 of the Q4 2017 MD&A and Note 24 of the Annual Consolidated Financial Statements for a reconciliation of these measures of segment profit. Investors are encouraged to evaluate each adjustment and the reasons Parkland considers it appropriate for supplemental analysis.

Investors are cautioned, however, that these measures should not be construed as an alternative to net earnings determined in accordance with IFRS as an indication of Parkland’s performance. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

ABOUT PARKLAND FUEL CORPORATION

Parkland creates value for shareholders by focusing on its proven strategy of growing organically, realizing a supply advantage and acquiring prudently and integrating successfully. At the core of our strategy are our people, as well as our values of safety, integrity, community and respect, which are embraced across our organization. Parkland Fuel Corporation (“Parkland”) is Canada’s largest and one of North America’s fastest growing independent suppliers and marketers of fuel and petroleum products and a leading convenience store operator. Parkland services customers through three channels: Retail, Commercial and Wholesale. Parkland optimizes its fuel supply across these three channels by operating the Parkland Burnaby Refinery, and leveraging a growing portfolio of supply relationships and storage infrastructure. Parkland provides trusted and locally relevant fuel brands and convenience store offerings including its On the Run/Marché Express banners, in the communities it serves.

Parkland is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol PKI. For more information, visit www.parkland.ca.

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