Fourth Quarter revenue grows 15.3% Year over Year to $66.9 million
Fourth Quarter Adjusted EBITDA grows 8.0% Year over Year to $8.9 million
(Spark Power reports in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified)
OAKVILLE, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 30, 2021 / Spark Power Group Inc. (TSX:SPG), parent company of Spark Power Corp. ("Spark Power" or the "Company"), today announced financial results for the three- and twelve-month periods, ended December 31, 2020. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified.
"We are very proud of the progress that Spark Power has made this past year," said Richard Jackson, President and CEO of Spark Power. "Despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, our team generated revenue growth in excess of 15%, led by very strong performance from our renewables business segment."
"Our fourth quarter in particular was a period of positive growth," said Jackson. "While COVID-19 caused significant business disruptions across the globe, the health and safety of our employees remained our number one priority, and we found new ways to keep our employees and customers safe, while providing consistent quality service throughout 2020. We again saw significant growth in our renewables business, especially within the U.S. market. As the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, we are confident that all of Spark's business units will continue to make post-pandemic gains in the coming fiscal year," said Jackson.
"While the economy-wide impact of the pandemic led to more competition and some margin compression in our traditional business segments, we are pleased that Spark was able to retain, and in fact grow, its revenue throughout the fourth quarter, and we look forward to margin recovery as the COVID-19 situation normalizes through 2021," he added.
Jackson stepped into his new role as President and CEO of Spark Power in January 2021, succeeding Jason Sparaga and Andrew Clark, two of Spark's co-founders who transitioned out of the day-to-day operations, but continue as Executive Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, of the Spark Power Board of Directors. Together, with his newly appointed Senior Leadership Team, Jackson will be directing the organization towards a scalable Field Focused Operating Model that emphasizes operational excellence, prioritizes health and safety, and helps guide capital allocation decisions and strategic planning for both organic and acquisitional growth.
Financial Highlights - Fourth Quarter
- Quarterly revenue of $66.9 million, as compared to $58.0 million from the comparable quarter in 2019, representing an increase of 15.3%.
- Quarterly adjusted EBITDA of $8.9 million, as compared to $8.2 million from the comparable quarter in 2019, representing an increase of 8.0%. On a proforma basis, adjusted EBITDA was down $0.8 million or 9.0%.
- Quarterly revenue growth balanced between organic growth of 9.1%, and growth from acquisitions of 6.1%.
- Gross margins, excluding depreciation and amortization, declined in the fourth quarter to 32.0% as compared to 33.6% in 2019, primarily due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 protocols on labor efficiencies and product mix as the renewables segment becomes a larger component of overall revenue.
- Recorded a $1.4 million provision for estimated credit losses in the fourth quarter of 2020. The provision addresses potential collection risk related to a large job completed in the fourth quarter of $2.2 million, an amount due to Orbis of $0.8 million that is tied up in the courts and Chile, and the impact of COVID-19 on aged accounts receivable balances. Management is confident that they will be successful in collecting significant amounts against these receivables, however, believe it is prudent to establish these provisions at this time.
- When fully implemented, the impact of organizational changes announced in January 2021, along with declines in ancillary non-personnel related costs, are expected to reduce selling, general and administration (SG&A) costs in excess of $5.0 million in fiscal 2021.
Financial Highlights - Fiscal 2020
- Annual revenue of $228.2 million in fiscal 2020, as compared to $188.6 million in fiscal 2019, representing an increase of 21.0%. On a proforma basis, revenue increased by $5.9 million or 2.6%.
- Revenue growth was driven by acquisitions of 17.9% and organic growth of 3.0%, the latter of which was significantly impacted by the pandemic in the second quarter of 2020.
- Gross margins, excluding depreciation and amortization, declined in fiscal 2020 to 34.1% as compared to 36.3% in 2019, primarily due to the factors noted above related to the fourth quarter.
- Selling, general and administration costs, excluding depreciation and amortization, were $44.6 million or 19.5% of revenue in fiscal 2020 as compared to $43.3 million or 22.9% of revenue in fiscal 2019, and reflect management's continued efforts to drive scalability and maintain selling, general and administration costs in the range of 15% to 20% of revenue. With the impact of S, G & A cost reductions noted above, management believes they are on track to reduce S, G & A levels to between 15% to 18% of revenue.
- Record annual adjusted EBITDA of $32.4 million or 14.2% of revenue in fiscal 2020, as compared to $25.2 million or 13.3% of revenue in fiscal 2019, representing an increase of $7.2 million or 28.8%. On a proforma basis, Adjusted EBITDA increased by $0.8 million or 2.4%.
Business Highlights-Operations
- Richard Jackson stepped into new role as President and CEO of Spark Power, effective January 1, 2021, with a strong focus on the Company's Field Focused Operating Model, which emphasizes field operations and flattening the organization's management structure, as well as driving scalability in selling, general and administration costs.
- New Senior Leadership Team with robust expertise announced in January 2021.
- Increased U.S.-based demand for renewables services. The Company has become one of North America's largest independent providers of renewable energy services. Revenue from the renewables segment increased by $35.7 million to $64.5 million as compared to $28.8 million in 2019 and was driven by organic growth of $13.4 million or 46.4% and acquisition related growth of $22.4 million or 77.6%.
- New direction and management team announced for U.S. operations intended to evolve the U.S. team from its "start-up" model to a more mature growth stage.
- CIBC purchased 15,000 MWh of green electricity through Bullfrog Power.
- Continued to diversify our customers and geographic locations.
- Continued to prioritize the integration of core systems, sales processes, supply chain, and brand integration:
- 80% completed our brand integration in 2020.
- Launched our systems integration project in the fourth quarter.
- Deployed first electric fleet vehicle, part of the Company's ongoing commitment to build a more sustainable future.
Quarterly Conference Call
Management is hosting an investor conference call and webcast tomorrow, March 31, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss its financial results in greater detail. To join by telephone dial: +1-888-506-0062 (toll-free in North America) or +1-973-528-0011 (local and international), with conference ID: 742341. To listen to a live webcast of the call, please visit the investor relations section of Spark Power's website at https://sparkpowercorp.com/about-us/investor-relations/. An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.
Please dial in or log on 10 minutes prior to the start time to provide sufficient time to register for the event.
Spark Power's Fourth-Quarter 2020 Interim Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes of its Fourth-Quarter 2020 Management Discussion and Analysis are available on Spark Power's website at www.sparkpowercorp.com, and will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
About Spark Power
Spark Power is a leading independent provider of end-to-end electrical services, operations and maintenance services, and energy sustainability solutions to the industrial, commercial, utility, and renewable asset markets in North America. We work to earn the right to be our customers' Trusted Partner in Power. Our highly skilled and dedicated people, located in the communities we serve, combined with our knowledge of the power industry, technology expertise, and commitment to safety, ensures we deliver the right solutions that keep our customers' operations up and running today and better equipped for tomorrow. Learn more at www.sparkpowercorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of applicable securities laws) which reflect Spark Power's current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "believe", "anticipate", "project", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may", "estimate" and other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the Company's opportunities for future growth, acquisitions, future liquidity and other statements that are not historical fact, and without limitation, include statements by Messr. Jackson regarding post-pandemic growth, margin recovery, and growth opportunities from the maturing of the U.S. business and the Field First Operating Model a. The forward-looking statements in this news release are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Several factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: the ability of the Company to find a suitable strategic partner, potential buyer or participants for a financing; currency fluctuations; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operations; and general developments, market and industry conditions. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, Spark Power assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Non-IFRS Measures
The Company prepares and releases unaudited consolidated interim financial statements and audited consolidated annual financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. In this and other earnings releases and investor conference calls, as a complement to results provided in accordance with IFRS, the Company also discloses and discusses certain financial measures not recognized under IFRS and that do not have standard meanings prescribed by IFRS. These include "EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA", "Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA", "EBITDA Margin", "Adjusted EBITDA Margin", "Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA Margin", "Pro-forma Revenue", "Adjusted Working Capital", and "Adjusted Net and Comprehensive Income (Loss)". These non-IFRS measures are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of Spark Power's operating performance and highlight trends in Spark Power's business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. Spark also believes that providing such information to securities analysts, investors and other interested parties who frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of issuers will allow them to better compare Spark Power's performance against others in its industry. Management also uses non-IFRS measures in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, to prepare annual operating budgets and forecasts and to determine components of management compensation. For a reconciliation of these non-IFRS measures see the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the three- and twelve- months ended December 31, 2020. The non-IFRS measures should not be construed as alternatives to results prepared in accordance with IFRS.
Selected Consolidated Financial Information
Reconciliation of comprehensive income (loss) to EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA:
The following table is a summary of Spark Power's results for the periods indicated:
Investor and Regulatory Inquiries:
Dan Ardila, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
dardila@sparkpowercorp.com
+1 (905) 829-3336 x127
Media Inquiries:
Kim Samlall, Director, Marketing Communications
media@sparkpowercorp.com
+1 (905)-829-3336 x185
SOURCE: Spark Power Group Inc.
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