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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Keg Royalties Income Fund (the “Fund”) (TSX: KEG.UN) is pleased to announce its financial results for the three months ended December 31, 2019 (the “Quarter”) and for the year ended December 31, 2019 (“Year”).
HIGHLIGHTS
- Royalty Pool sales down 4.0% to $154.8M for the Quarter and by 1.3% to $623.8M for the Year
- Royalty income down 2.3% to $6.3M for the Quarter and up 0.1% to $25.4M for the Year
- KRL same store sales down 2.5% for the quarter and by 1.3% for the Year
- Distributable cash down 1.7% to 25.6 cents/Fund unit for the Quarter and by 0.9% to $1.146/Fund unit for the Year
- Payout ratio was 110.9% for the Quarter and 99.0% for the Year
Royalty Pool sales reported by the 105 Keg restaurants in the Royalty Pool were $154,788,000 for the quarter, a decrease of $6,522,000 or 4.0% from the comparable quarter of the prior year, and for the year, Royalty Pool sales were $623,748,000, a decrease of $8,409,000 or 1.3% from the prior year.
The Keg’s same store sales (sales of restaurants that operated during the entire period of both the current and prior years) decreased by 2.8% in Canada and by 0.1% in the United States (“U.S.”) for the 13-week period ended December 29, 2019. For the 52-week period ended December 29, 2019, same store sales decreased by 1.8% in Canada and increased by 0.9% in the U.S. After translating the sales of the U.S. restaurants into their Canadian dollar equivalent, consolidated same store sales decreased by 2.5% for the 13-week period and by 1.3% for the 52-week period. The average exchange rate moved from 1.3213 to 1.3204 in the comparable 13-week period, slightly decreasing the Canadian dollar equivalent of the U.S. restaurant sales, and from 1.2963 to 1.3271 in the comparable 52-week period, significantly increasing the Canadian dollar equivalent of the U.S. restaurant sales.
Royalty income decreased by $146,000 or 2.3% from $6,486,000 in the three months ended December 31, 2018 to $6,340,000 in the three months ended December 31, 2019, and increased by $29,000 or 0.1% from $23,359,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 to $25,388,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Distributable cash before SIFT tax decreased by $106,000 from $4,173,000 (36.8 cents/Fund unit) to $4,067,000 (35.8 cents/Fund unit) for the quarter and by $229,000 from $17,894,000 ($1.576/Fund unit) to $17,665,000 ($1.556/Fund unit) for the year. Distributable cash available to pay distributions to public unitholders decreased by $50,000 from $2,955,000 (26.0 cents/Fund unit) to $2,905,000 (25.6 cents/Fund unit) for the quarter and by $116,000 from $13,130,000 ($1.156/Fund unit) to $13,014,000 ($1.146/Fund unit) for the year. During the fourth quarter of 2019, distributions of $3,222,000 (28.4 cents/Fund unit) were paid to Fund unitholders, and during 2019, distributions of $12,888,000 ($1.135/Fund unit) were paid to Fund unitholders. The payout ratio was 110.9% for the fourth quarter of the current year and 99.0% for 2019.
The Fund remains financially well positioned with cash on hand of $2,064,000 and a positive working capital balance of $2,767,000 as at December 31, 2019.
“We are satisfied with our results, particularly considering the difficulties the Canadian restaurant industry faced last year,” said David Aisenstat, CEO of Keg Restaurants Ltd. “We have been through times like this over the years and have always continued to focus on improving the Keg experience our guests enjoy. That is exactly how we are responding to the situation in today’s environment. The Fund itself is in excellent financial position at December 31, 2019, with cash reserves of over $2,000,000 and a positive working capital balance of $2,767,000.” Aisenstat continues, “The Fund’s payout ratio was 99.0% in 2019 and 99.3% since the inception of the Fund. The Fund’s current financial position combined with its conservative distribution policy should help ensure the Fund continues to deliver as it has since its inception in 2002.”
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
($000’s except per unit amounts) | Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019 | Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018 | Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019 | Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018 | ||||||||||||
| Restaurants in the Royalty Pool | 105 | 103 | 105 | 103 | ||||||||||||
| Royalty Pool sales (1) | $ | 154,788 | $ | 161,310 | $ | 623,748 | $ | 632,157 | ||||||||
| Royalty income (2) | $ | 6,340 | $ | 6,486 | $ | 25,388 | $ | 25,359 | ||||||||
| Interest income (3) | 1,085 | 1,085 | 4,306 | 4,299 | ||||||||||||
| Total income | $ | 7,425 | $ | 7,571 | $ | 29,694 | $ | 29,658 | ||||||||
| Administrative expenses (4) | (101) | (99) | (385) | (411) | ||||||||||||
| Interest and financing expenses (5) | (152) | (150) | (612) | (564) | ||||||||||||
| Operating income | $ | 7,172 | $ | 7,322 | $ | 28,697 | $ | 28,683 | ||||||||
| Distributions to KRL (6) | (2,777) | (2,718) | (11,099) | (10,729) | ||||||||||||
| Profit before fair value gain (loss) and income taxes . | $ | 4,395 | $ | 4,604 | $ | 17,598 | $ | 17,954 | ||||||||
| Fair value gain (loss) (7) | 5,508 | 6,872 | 4,063 | 16,054 | ||||||||||||
| Income taxes (8) | (1,178) | (1,244) | (4,662) | (4,791) | ||||||||||||
| Profit (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) | $ | 8,725 | $ | 10,232 | $ | 16,999 | $ | 29,217 | ||||||||
| Distributable cash before SIFT tax (9) | $ | 4,067 | $ | 4,173 | $ | 17,665 | $ | 17,894 | ||||||||
| Distributable cash (10) | $ | 2,905 | $ | 2,955 | $ | 13,014 | $ | 13,130 | ||||||||
| Distributions to Fund unitholders (11) | $ | 3,222 | $ | 3,563 | $ | 12,888 | $ | 13,229 | ||||||||
| Payout ratio (12) | 110.9% | 120.6% | 99.0% | 100.8% | ||||||||||||
| Per Fund unit information (13) | | |||||||||||||||
| Profit before fair value gain (loss) and income taxes | $ | .387 | $ | .406 | $ | 1.550 | $ | 1.581 | ||||||||
| Profit (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) | $ | .768 | $ | .901 | $ | 1.497 | $ | 2.573 | ||||||||
| Distributable cash before SIFT tax (9) | $ | .358 | $ | .368 | $ | 1.556 | $ | 1.576 | ||||||||
| Distributable cash (10) | $ | .256 | $ | .260 | $ | 1.146 | $ | 1.156 | ||||||||
| Distributions to Fund unitholders (11) | $ | .284 | $ | .314 | $ | 1.135 | $ | 1.165 | ||||||||
Notes:
(1) Royalty Pool sales are the gross sales reported by Keg Restaurants included in the Royalty Pool in any period. As of December 31, 2019, the Royalty Pool includes 105 Keg restaurants, 49 of which are owned and operated by KRL and its subsidiaries, (39 in Canada and 10 in the United Sates), and 56 Keg restaurants which are owned and operated by Keg franchisees (all of which are in Canada). As of December 31, 2019, 101 of these restaurants are open and operating, while four others were permanently closed, and have been subject to Make-whole Payments since their respective closure dates.
(2) The Fund, indirectly through The Keg Rights Limited Partnership (the “Partnership”), earns royalty income equal to 4% of gross sales of Keg restaurants in the Royalty Pool.
(3) The Fund directly earns interest income on the $57.0 million Keg Loan, with interest income accruing at 7.5% per annum, payable monthly.
(4) The Fund, indirectly through the Partnership, incurs administrative expenses and interest on the operating line of credit, to the extent utilized.
(5) The Fund, indirectly through The Keg Holdings Trust (the “Trust”), incurs interest expense on the $14.0 million term loan and amortization of deferred financing charges.
(6) Represents the distributions of the Partnership attributable to KRL during the respective periods on the Class A, entitled Class B, and Class D Partnership units (“Exchangeable units”) and Class C Partnership units held by KRL. The Exchangeable units are exchangeable into Fund units on a one-for-one basis. These distributions are presented as interest expense in the financial statements.
(7) Fair value gain (loss) is the non-cash decrease or increase in the market value of the Exchangeable units held by KRL during the respective period. Exchangeable units are classified as a financial liability under IFRS. The Fund is required to determine the fair value of that liability at the end of each reporting period and adjust for any increase or decrease, taking into consideration the sale of any Exchangeable units and Additional Entitlements during the same period.
(8) Income taxes include the Specified Investment Flow-through Trust tax (“SIFT tax”) expense, and either a non-cash deferred tax expense or deferred tax recovery. The deferred tax expense or recovery primarily results from differences in income recognition between the Fund’s accounting methods and enacted tax laws. It is also partially due to temporary differences between accounting and tax bases of the Keg Rights owned by the Partnership.
(9) Distributable cash before SIFT tax is defined as the periodic cash flows from operating activities as reported in the IFRS condensed consolidated financial statements, including the effects of changes in non-cash working capital, plus SIFT tax paid (including current year instalments), less interest and financing fees paid on the term loan, less the Partnership distributions attributable to KRL through its ownership of Exchangeable units. Distributable cash before SIFT tax is a non-IFRS financial measure that does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.
(10) Distributable cash is the amount of cash available for distribution to the Fund’s public unitholders and is calculated as distributable cash before SIFT tax, less current year SIFT tax expense. Distributable cash is a non-IFRS financial measure that does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. However, the Fund believes that distributable cash, both before and after SIFT tax, provides useful information regarding the amount of cash available for distribution to the Fund’s public unitholders.
(11) Distributions to Fund unitholders include all regular monthly cash distributions paid to Fund unitholders during a period and any special distributions, either declared or paid, to Fund unitholders in the same period.
(12) Payout ratio is computed as the ratio of aggregate cash distributions paid during the period plus any special distributions declared or paid during the same period (numerator) to the aggregate distributable cash of the period (denominator).
(13) All per unit amounts are calculated based on the weighted average number of Fund units outstanding, which are those units held by public unitholders during the respective period. The weighted average number of Fund units outstanding for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 were 11,353,500 (three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 – 11,353,500).
The Fund (TSX: KEG.UN) is a limited purpose, open-ended trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario that, through The Keg Rights Limited Partnership, owns certain trademarks and other related intellectual property used by Keg Restaurants Ltd. (“KRL”). In exchange for use of those trademarks, KRL pays the Fund a royalty of 4% of gross sales of Keg restaurants included in the royalty pool.
Vancouver-based KRL is the leading operator and franchisor of steakhouse restaurants in Canada and has a substantial presence in select regional markets in the United States. KRL continues to operate The Keg restaurant system and expand that system through the addition of both corporate and franchised Keg steakhouses. KRL has been named one of the “50 Best Employers in Canada” for the past seventeen years by Aon Hewitt. For more information on our brand, visit www.kegsteakhouse.com.
This press release may contain certain "forward looking" statements reflecting The Keg Royalties Income Fund's current expectations in the casual dining segment of the restaurant food industry. Investors are cautioned that all forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Keg’s ability to continue to realize historical same store sales growth, changes in market and existing competition, new competitive developments, and potential downturns in economic conditions generally. Additional information on these and other potential factors that could affect the Fund's financial results are detailed in documents filed from time to time with the provincial securities commissions in Canada.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, which may be made only by means of the prospectus, nor shall there be any sale of the Fund units in any state, province or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state, province or jurisdiction. The Keg Royalties Income Fund units have not been, and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an application for exemption from the registration requirement under U.S. securities laws.
The Trustees of the Fund have approved the contents of this press release.