Brick Brewing Reports First Quarter F2017 EBITDA of $1.9M

KITCHENER, ON--(Marketwired - June 02, 2016) -

Highlights:

• Net revenue increased to $9.5 million, from $7.7 million in the prior year.
• Gross margin improved to 35.0% from 27.1%.
• Selling, Marketing and Administration ("SM&A") expenses increased nominally to $1.9 million from $1.8 million.
• EBITDA* improved to $1.9 million in the quarter, more than double the $0.9 million in prior year.
• The Board of Directors re-affirmed the quarterly dividend, $0.012/share, payable July 25, 2016 to shareholders of record as of July 11, 2016. The dividend is classified as an eligible dividend.

Brick Brewing Co. Limited ("Brick" or the "Company") (TSX: BRB), the largest Canadian-owned brewery in Ontario, today released financial results for the first quarter ended May 1, 2016. Brick reported first quarter EBITDA of $1.9 million on net revenue of $9.5 million.

"Quite simply, the first quarter was a tremendous start to the year," noted George Croft, Brick's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are now starting to reap the rewards from many of the tough choices and challenging projects we have devoted considerable time and resources to in recent years -- the brewhouse expansion, the increased commercial support for our focus brands, the continued focus on controlling costs, and ensuring our products are well positioned for the changing retail landscape for beer in Ontario. Our first quarter results benefited from all of these."

Brick reported broad based volume growth in its branded business, with Seagram up 16% and Laker up 13% vs prior year, while Waterloo increased over 30%. "This is great brand performance, by any measure," added Croft. "Recent modifications in The Beer Store, enhancing both shelf and display space, are supporting our growth. We also continued to strengthen our business through improvements to our sales execution which has resulted in successful expansion into the grocery channel. Brick Brewing is now listed at all of the currently licensed grocery stores in Ontario. Our improved cost position has given us the flexibility to invest in growth, with both new products and attractive consumer promotions, while still generating margin expansion. As a result, Brick Brewing reported significantly improved gross margin, along with more than doubling underlying EBITDA versus a year ago."

Brick also reported increased revenue in contract manufacturing, up over 50% compared to the prior year. Russell Tabata, Brick's Chief Operating Officer remarked, "Contract manufacturing is a key and meaningful element of our business model. With last year's expansion project complete, the competiveness of our brewery continues to improve. Against this backdrop, we've been successful in expanding our co-pack business with current customers, and in winning new customers."

Brick's board of directors has also re-affirmed the quarterly dividend, at $0.012/share. The dividend was first introduced in December of 2015. The July payment will mark the third consecutive quarter for the dividend.

In closing, Mr. Croft added, "Late in the first quarter we began shipping LandShark Lager and Margaritaville coolers to The Beer Store, and the initial response from consumers has been outstanding. With summer fast approaching, these additions to our lineup should help us to continue the trajectory of growth we have seen to start the year, with the intent to drive total shareholder value."

The following financial information should be read in conjunction with the audited annual financial statements of the Company prepared under IFRS for the year ended January 31, 2016.

Additional Information

For further details the Company's complete management discussion and analysis (MD&A) and financial statements for the quarter ended May 1, 2016 will be available on the investor section of the Brick Brewing website at www.brickbeer.com. This and additional information relating to the Company, including its Annual Information Form, is or will be available on the Company's website and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Brick Brewing

Brick is Ontario's largest Canadian-owned brewery. The Company is a regional brewer of award-winning premium quality and value beers and is officially certified under the Global Food Safety Standard, one of the highest and most internationally recognized standards for safe food production. Founded in 1984, Brick Brewing Co. was the first craft brewery to start up in Ontario, and is credited with pioneering the present day craft brewing renaissance in Canada. Brick has complemented its Waterloo premium craft beers with the popular Laker brand. In 2011, Brick purchased the Canadian rights to Seagram Coolers and in 2015, secured the exclusive Canadian rights to both LandShark and Margaritaville. In addition, Brick utilizes its leading edge brewing, blending and packaging capabilities to provide an extensive array of contract manufacturing services in beer, coolers and ciders. Brick trades on the TSX under the symbol BRB. Visit us at www.brickbeer.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "seek", "plan", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause actual performance and financial results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only at the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation does not undertake to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

* EBITDA is a non-IFRS earnings measure, therefore it does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards and may not be similar to measures presented by other companies. EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, gain on disposal of property, plant, and equipment, and share based payments. Management uses this measurement to evaluate the operating results of the Company. This measure is also important to management since it is used by the Company's lenders to evaluate the ongoing cash generating capability of the Company and therefore the amounts those lenders are willing to lend to the Company. Investors find EBITDA to be useful information because it provides a measure of the Company's operating performance.