Mr. Peter Macy reports

POYDRAS GAMING FINANCE CORP. ANNOUNCES 2014 SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS

Poydras Gaming Finance Corp. (formerly Great Northern Gold Exploration Corp.) has released financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 (all amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated).

On May 9, 2014, Poydras completed a reverse takeover acquisition of Poydras Specialty Finance Corp. with its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Platform 9 Corp., which as of May 9, 2014, owned an overall 61.57-per-cent economic interest in its licensed operating subsidiary, Poydras Gaming LLC.

On May 9, 2014, the company also acquired: (i) a 100-per-cent interest in Windy Hill Capital LLC and (ii) the remaining 38.43-per-cent economic interest in Poydras Gaming by acquiring a 100-per-cent interest in Poydras Street Finance II LLC and the co-general partnership interest in Poydras Gaming from Poydras Capital Partners LLC. Upon completion of the acquisitions, the company owns a 100-per-cent interest in each of Windy Hill and Poydras Gaming, two licensed operating companies providing capital and gaming equipment to casino operators and vendors in the United States.

Concurrently with the RTO and the noted acquisitions, on May 9, 2014, Poydras completed equity and convertible debenture prospectus offerings for gross proceeds of $3,068,807 and $7,732,000, respectively (please see news release dated May 9, 2014, and prospectuses dated April 22, 2014, and filed on SEDAR).

The second quarter results include the accounts of Poydras, Platform 9 and Poydras Gaming for the full quarter, as well as the accounts of Windy Hill and PSF II from the date of the RTO, May 9, 2014.

The company expects to generate most of its revenue from leasing and financing gaming machines and related capital expenditures for existing casinos, new casino developments and gaming machine suppliers in the United States, through its wholly owned subsidiaries based in the U.S., Poydras Gaming and Windy Hill. Currently, the company owns or finances gaming machines in Oklahoma and California. The company is also taking steps to expand operations into Louisiana.

Second quarter summary

During the second quarter ended June 30, 2014, the company focused on the completion and integration of the RTO and concurrent financing.

Highlights during the second quarter

In conjunction with the RTO:

• Completed financing of $3,068,807 in common equity and $7,732,000 in convertible debentures;
• Completed acquisition of 100 per cent of Windy Hill Capital, which generated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $1,679,735 on revenue of $2,034,392 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2013, for $ 3,919,388 in total consideration composed of: (i) an aggregate of 6,705,409 common shares valued at $1,537,938, (ii) unsecured promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $1.5-million with a 10-per-cent interest rate and quarterly payments amortized over a three-year term beginning six months from May 9, 2014, with a fair value of $1,381,450, and (iii) $1-million in cash. Windy Hill holds an interest in long-term contracts on 126 gaming machines in operation at two casinos owned by a U.S. federally recognized tribe in Oklahoma;
• Completed the acquisition of the 38.43-per-cent minority interest in Poydras Gaming for $2,632,880 composed of 5,811,354 common shares valued at $1,332,880 and $1.3-million in cash; as a result of the minority interest acquisition, the company now owns 100 per cent of the limited partnership and general partnership interests in Poydras Gaming;
• Converted $3-million (Canadian) convertible debentures of principal into 30 million common shares of the company at the rate of 10 Canadian cents per common share;
• Increased revenue by 146 per cent to $393,015 in second quarter 2014 compared with first quarter 2014;
• Increased adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $112,590 in second quarter 2014 compared with a loss of $415,620 in first quarter 2014 (please see management's discussion and analysis for more detail on non-international financial reporting standard measure);
• The company has now deployed 326 slot machines in its core markets of Oklahoma and California. The company also has existing contracts to allow it the opportunity to place an additional 173 slot machines in 2014 for a total number of 499 deployed and deployable machines (see news releases dated May 29, 2014, and Aug. 11, 2014).

"Since the RTO closing, we have been focusing on deploying our capital to increase our portfolio of slot machine placements and assessing opportunities to grow through acquisition," said Peter Macy, chief executive officer of Poydras Gaming. "We expect our financial results to improve in the second half of 2014 as we continue our rollout of new games, as well as actively pursuing acquisition and joint venture opportunities. In addition, the second half of 2014 financial results will include a full contribution from Windy Hill and dramatic reduction of professional fees now that the RTO process has been completed."

Financial results

During the six months ended June 30, 2014, Poydras reported a net loss of $9,362,528. The most significant factors driving Poydras's financial results during the current period are: (i) reverse takeover public listing costs of $4,511,255 (which is a non-cash expense), (ii) unrealized loss on valuation of September, 2013, convertible debentures of $3,572,926 (which is a non-cash expense), and (iii) general and administrative expenses of $1,193,954 (of which $268,431 is non-cash stock-based compensation). General and administrative expenses include approximately $600,000 of non-recurring professional fees incurred during the process of structuring and acquiring of PSFC by Poydras in the RTO transaction. The unrealized loss on valuation of September, 2013, debentures was recorded to recognize a liability for the increase in the estimated fair value of the September, 2013, debenture conversion feature, which was a non-cash expense and liability.

Highlights of Poydras's financial performance during the six months ended June 30, 2014:

• For the period ended June 30, 2014, Poydras recorded a net loss of $9,362,528 or a 12-cent loss per share. The net loss was largely due to non-recurring costs associated with the reverse takeover and non-cash expenses as described herein.
• As at June 30, 2014, Poydras had total assets of $13,986,872 consisting of cash of $5,263,069, receivables of $509,324, prepaid expenses of $227,414, prepaid placement fees of $2,491,933, gaming equipment of $3,243,979, loan receivable of $406,467 and intangible assets of $1,844,686.
• As at June 30, 2014, Poydras had total liabilities of $9,471,617 consisting of $1,851,536 of current liabilities and $7,620,081 of non-current liabilities.
• The company's results of operations for the three months ended June 30, 2014, include operations of Windy Hill from the date of its acquisition on May 9, 2014. During the years ended Dec. 31, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2012, Windy Hill generated $1,077,668 and $1,230,595 of net income, respectively. Windy Hill's EBITDA for the years ended Dec. 31, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2012, were $1,679,735 and $1,721,712, respectively (for definition of EBITDA and calculation thereof for Windy Hill, please refer to the company's prospectuses dated April 22, 2014, which were filed on SEDAR). Windy Hill's revenue and net income for the period from Jan. 1, 2014, to the date of acquisition on May 9, 2014, are $613,347 and $237,696, respectively, which is excluded from the company's results of operations.

Outlook

The company expects financial performance to improve significantly in the second half of 2014, due to the reduction of professional fees, fully consolidated contributions from Windy Hill (acquired during the second quarter of 2014), and increased deployment of slot machines related to new and existing agreements. In addition, Poydras Gaming Finance believes that there are opportunities to grow by acquiring installed slot machines and leasing operations.

Conference call

The company is also pleased to announce that it will be hosting an investor conference call on Sept. 2, 2014, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time). The purpose of this conference call will be to provide investors with an update of the financial results of the company and subsequent events after completion of the RTO. Representing Poydras Gaming Finance on the conference call will be: Mr. Macy, chief executive officer, and Adam Kniec, chief financial officer. Following the update, a question-and-answer session will be held. To participate, the dial-in instructions are as follows:

Date:  Sept. 2, 2014

Time:  1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time

Participant dial-in number(s):

North America toll-free dial-in number:  1-888-390-0546

For Toronto:  1-416-764-8688

For Vancouver:  1-778-383-7413

A taped replay will be available until Sept. 9, 2014.

Taped replay toll-free number:  1-888-390-0541

Taped replay Toronto dial-in number:  1-416-764-8677

Taped replay password:  891316

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