CALGARY, Alberta, May 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Parkland Corporation (“Parkland”, “we”, the “Company”, or “our”) (TSX:PKI) announced today its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2021 (“Q1 2021”). Highlights include:

• Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Parkland (“Adjusted EBITDA”) of $314 million, up 64 percent year-over-year. Despite continued COVID-19 impacts, we benefited from lower costs, continued strong per unit fuel margins and Company C-store same-store sales growth (“SSSG”) in Canada, U.S. acquisition growth, solid performance in International and higher utilization at the Burnaby refinery.
• Net earnings attributable to Parkland of $31 million, or $0.21 per share, basic, an increase of $110 million relative to prior year.
• Cash flow from operations fully funded capital expenditures, acquisitions and net dividend payments in the quarter.
• Combined Operating and Marketing, General and Administrative (“MG&A”) costs of $331 million, $52 million lower than prior year, reflecting disciplined cost management and the variability in our cost structure.
• Total Funded Debt to Credit Facility EBITDA ratio of 3.0 times as of March 31, 2021.
• Further enhanced financial flexibility through an amended credit facility agreement (maturing 2026) and refinanced senior notes maturing in 2024, 2025 and 2026 with new senior notes maturing in 2029. These actions reduce average annual interest costs by approximately $20 million and extend our nearest senior note maturity to 2027.

“We delivered a strong start to the year and have high confidence in our 2021 outlook,” said Bob Espey, President and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition to strong underlying business performance, we progressed our enterprise-wide organic growth initiatives, announced or closed five transactions, significantly enhanced our financial flexibility and lowered annual interest costs. We are well-positioned to advance our ambitious growth strategy and sustainability journey.”

Q1 2021 Segment Highlights

• In Canada, fuel margins, convenience store sales and lower costs in our retail and commercial business lines drove Adjusted EBITDA of $116 million, up $14 million relative to Q1 2020. Company C-Store SSSG was 5.5 percent, our 21st consecutive quarter of growth. We maintained retail market share, benefited from enhanced digital pricing capabilities and surpassed 1.8 million JOURNIE™ Rewards members.
• In International, enhanced logistics, shipping optimization and the continued benefit of cost control initiatives supported Adjusted EBITDA of $67 million, in-line with Q1 2020. This strong operational execution offset lower tourist activity and an approximate $4 million negative impact from a weakened U.S. dollar.
• In USA, Adjusted EBITDA of $20 million was up $4 million relative to Q1 2020, benefiting from acquisitions announced during the fourth quarter of 2020, our growing supply advantage and national accounts growth. This was partially offset by reduced oil and gas activity in our Northern ROC, lower marine activity in the Southeast ROC and a weaker U.S. dollar.
• In Supply, Adjusted EBITDA of $136 million was up $94 million relative to Q1 2020, primarily driven by Burnaby composite refinery utilization of 91 percent, (31 percent in Q1 2020 due to the scheduled turnaround). Supply benefited from co-processing initiatives and blending optimization at the Burnaby refinery coupled with solid performance from our integrated logistics business.
• Corporate Adjusted EBITDA expense of $25 million, down $11 million relative to Q1 2020, driven by lower realized foreign exchange impacts and disciplined cost management.

$2 billion ambition

Our growth platform is stronger than ever and we have a proven track record of value creation. Underpinned by our disciplined approach to capital allocation, the key pillars of our strategy remain fundamental to our ambition for $2 billion of run-rate Adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2025:

Grow Organically
Robust pipeline of organic growth opportunities in retail, commercial and supply, across all our geographies. Organic growth is supported by strong brands, customer value proposition, loyalty programs and digital insights.

Acquire Prudently & Integrate
Depth of high-quality consolidation opportunities across all of our geographies. Together with our disciplined approach, established integration capabilities and synergy capture, we are well-positioned to add incremental value to acquisitions.

Strong Supply Advantage
Leverage our growing scale, product diversity and capital light infrastructure to enhance margins. Continue to invest in safe and reliable operations and renewable fuel manufacturing at our Burnaby refinery.

One Parkland
Powering journeys and energizing communities through our common values and behaviours. Safe, reliable and local customer service underpinned by organizational capability and a performance driven culture.

“As we continue to meet our customers’ mobility needs, we see growth opportunities across multiple business lines and geographies,” added Espey. “In addition to what has made us successful over the past decade, we see opportunity to grow our renewable fuel business while harnessing our existing network to provide electric vehicle charging options.”

2021 Investor Day

Parkland will host an investor day the morning of November 16, 2021. The event will be held in Toronto, Ontario (level of in-person attendance to be determined) and simultaneously webcast with video, for those unable to attend in-person. Members of Parkland’s leadership team will provide updates on our long-term growth initiatives, renewable fuel and electric vehicle charging opportunities, capital allocation and financial outlook. Registration and other details will be provided closer to the date.

Our Sustainability Journey

As we advance our sustainability journey, we will provide regular updates on our environmental, social and governance efforts as part of our normal disclosure process. Recent highlights include:

• Plan to publish our next Sustainability report in Q4 2021. This disclosure will build upon our inaugural report and will contain an overview of our enterprise-wide sustainability strategy, including GHG emissions reduction targets.
• Continued to increase our renewable fuel manufacturing capability at the Burnaby refinery, co-processing a record 25 million litres of bio-feedstocks during the quarter. We are on track with our 2021 co-processing target of 100 million litres (equivalent effect of taking over 80,000 passenger vehicles off the road).
• On March 1, 2021, we launched a ‘carbon offset’ reward option as part of our JOURNIE™ Rewards program to help our customers offset their own emissions. In the first 30 days, over 23,000 Carbon offsets were selected by JOURNIE™ members with the value directed toward a landfill gas capture and utilization project in Niagara, Ontario, removing the equivalent of more than 3,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. This project helps create healthier communities and promotes sustainable management of greenhouse gases.
• Parkland is committed to diversity at all levels of the organization. The Board of Directors has adopted a written diversity policy which sets a target for women to occupy at least 30 percent of Board seats and executive officer positions by 2023, and 2025, respectively. Women currently occupy 22 percent of Board seats and 20 percent of executive officer positions.

Year-to-date acquisitions

• In January 2021, we completed the acquisition of two Midwest U.S. LPG terminals to expand our integrated logistics business and enhance our overall LPG supply optionality.
• In February 2021, we completed the acquisition of the assets of Story Distributing Company and its affiliates (collectively “Story”). Story is a retail and commercial fuel business based in Bozeman, Montana, which expands our presence in the Montana and Idaho-based markets.
• In March 2021, we completed the acquisition of a residential and commercial LPG distributor in St. Maarten which further supports our LPG growth strategy in the International segment.
• In April 2021, we completed the acquisition of Conrad & Bischoff Inc. and its related companies (collectively, “C&B”). This acquisition establishes our fourth U.S. ROC, strengthens our supply advantage and adds a high-quality retail network to our portfolio. Please see our press release dated February 26, 2021 for more information regarding the acquisition.
• In April 2021, we signed an agreement for the purchase of an aviation business and associated infrastructure with operations in Puerto Rico. The acquisition includes operations at two International airports in Puerto Rico, including the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, which is the busiest in the Caribbean region. This acquisition expands our presence in the well-diversified Puerto Rico market and unlocks positive network effects for our regional aviation portfolio. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2021.

Consolidated Financial Overview

⁽¹⁾ Certain amounts within sales and operating revenue and fuel and petroleum product volumes were restated and reclassified to conform to the presentation used in the current period.
⁽²⁾ Measure of segment profit and Non-GAAP financial measures. See Section 14 of the MD&A.
⁽³⁾ For comparative purposes, information for the year ended December 31, 2019 was restated due to a change in segment presentation. Canada Retail and Canada Commercial, formerly presented separately as individual segments, and the Canadian distribution business, formerly presented in Supply, are now included in Canada, reflecting a change in organizational structure in 2020.
⁽⁴⁾ For comparative purposes, information for previous periods was restated due to a change in segment presentation. The supply and trading business in the United States, formerly presented in the Supply segment, is now included in the USA segment, reflecting a change in organizational structure in the first three months of 2021.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Parkland will host a webcast and conference call on Tuesday, May 4, at 6:30am MDT (8:30am EDT) to discuss the results. To listen to the live webcast and watch the presentation, please use the following link:

https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1450915&tp_key=c49f8f1250

Analysts and institutional investors interested in participating in the question and answer session of the conference call may do so by calling 1-888-390-0605 (toll-free) (Conference ID: 83343797). International participants can call 1-587-880-2171 (toll) (Conference ID: 83343797).

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 at the link above. It will remain available for one year and will also be posted to www.parkland.ca.

MD&A and Consolidated Financial Statements

The Q1 2021 MD&A and Q1 2021 Financial Statements provide a detailed explanation of Parkland’s operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2021. An English version of these documents will be available online at www.parkland.ca and SEDAR after the results are released by newswire under Parkland’s profile at www.sedar.com. The Q1 2021 French MD&A and Q1 2021 French Financial Statements will be posted to www.parkland.ca and SEDAR as soon as they become available.

Forward-Looking Statements

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”, “believe”, “continue”, “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, business objectives and strategies, Parkland’s ambition to generate run-rate Adjusted EBITDA of $2 billion by 2025 and the key strategic pillars underpinning such ambition, Parkland’s 2021 Adjusted EBITDA and maintenance and capital expenditures guidance, expected benefits to be derived from acquisitions, potential future acquisition opportunities, potential growth in Parkland’s renewable fuels business, Parkland’s ability to harness its existing retail network to meet our customer’s mobility needs, including with respect to electric vehicle charging options, Parkland’s robust pipeline of organic growth opportunities, potential projects to extend Parkland’s supply advantage, expected Burnaby refinery utilization rates, and Parkland’s ability to advance its growth agenda.

These 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 law. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of numerous risks, assumptions and uncertainties including, but not limited to, general economic, market and business conditions, including the duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; Parkland’s ability to execute its business strategies, including without limitation, Parkland’s ability to consistently identify accretive acquisition targets and successfully integrate them, successfully implement organic growth initiatives and to finance such acquisitions and initiatives on reasonable terms; Parkland’s ability to grow its supply advantage by leveraging its scale and infrastructure; 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 but not limited to increases in taxes or restricted access to markets; 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 in “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” included in Parkland’s Annual Information Form dated March 30, 2020, and “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” included in the Q1 2021 MD&A dated May 3, 2021 and the Q4 2020 MD&A dated March 4, 2021, each filed on SEDAR and available on the Parkland website at www.parkland.ca. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This news release refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures that are not determined in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). Distributable cash flow, distributable cash flow per share, adjusted distributable cash flow, adjusted distributable cash flow per share, total funded debt to credit facility EBITDA ratio, dividend payout ratio, adjusted dividend payout ratio and growth and maintenance capital expenditures attributable to Parkland 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 our industry. See Section 14 of the Q1 2021 MD&A for a discussion of non-GAAP measures and their reconciliations to the nearest applicable IFRS measure.

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted gross profit are measures of segment profit. See Section 9 and Section 14 of the Q1 2021 MD&A and Note 13 of the Q1 2021 FS for a reconciliation of these measures of segment profit. Investors are encouraged to evaluate each measure and the reasons Parkland considers it appropriate for supplemental analysis.

In addition to non-GAAP financial measures, Parkland uses a number of operational KPIs, such as SSSG and refinery utilization, to measure the success of our strategic objectives and to set variable compensation targets for employees. These KPIs are not accounting measures, do not have comparable IFRS measures, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers, as other issuers may calculate these metrics differently. See Section 14 of the Q1 2021 MD&A for further details.

Tons of CO2 equivalent removed from the atmosphere resulting from the JOURNIE™ Rewards ‘carbon offset’ reward option is based on 23,000 carbon offset selections at a price of $3.50 per ton of CO2.

Investors are cautioned 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.

About Parkland Corporation

Parkland is an independent supplier and marketer of fuel and petroleum products and a leading convenience store operator. Parkland services customers across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean region and the Americas through three channels: Retail, Commercial and Wholesale. Parkland optimizes its fuel supply across these three channels by operating and leveraging a growing portfolio of supply relationships and storage infrastructure. Parkland provides trusted and locally relevant fuel brands and convenience store offerings in the communities it serves.

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.

For Further Information

Investor Inquiries

Brad Monaco

Director, Capital Markets

587-997-1447 

Brad.Monaco@parkland.ca

Media Inquiries

Simon Scott

Director, Corporate Communications

403-956-9272

Simon.Scott@parkland.ca