Mr. David Wolf reports

HAMILTON THORNE REPORTS RECORD REVENUE GROWTH FOR QUARTER AND YEAR-ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

Hamilton Thorne Ltd. has released audited financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2016. Amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Sales increased 16.4 per cent to $10.51-million, led by the contribution from its newly acquired Embryotech business, as well as strong growth in sales of Lykos clinical laser systems and increased revenues from after-sale services. Fourth quarter sales increased 39 per cent to over $3.65-million, with net income and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $508,000 and $760,000, respectively, a record quarter for the company. For the year, including the effect of $271,000 of one-time expenses relating to the Embryotech acquisition, the company reported a net income of $679,000, EBITDA of $1.26-million and earnings per share of one cent per share. Cash flow from operations was $990,000, and total cash at Dec. 31, 2016, amounted to $1.8-million.

David Wolf, president and chief executive officer of Hamilton Thorne, commented: "Two thousand sixteen was a transformational year for us as we completed a significant expansion of both our financial profile and business capabilities when we acquired Embryotech in September. I am pleased to report that the integration of the businesses continues to progress smoothly, and we are actively working on several growth initiatives brought about by marketing synergies between the Hamilton Thorne and Embryotech businesses. Building on our internal development and the acquisitions of the Oosight product line in 2015 and Embryotech in 2016, we remain committed to our strategy of growth through new product innovation, organic growth and acquisition."

Mr. Wolf added: "We are pleased to have achieved year-over-year sales growth in our base instruments consumables and services business, despite continued foreign exchange headwinds, as well as changes in distributor relationships in certain markets, which created challenges to growth, particularly in the fourth quarter. Gross profit margins for the year improved to over 65 per cent as, despite some significant pricing actions to reflect currency issues, we increased sales of high-margin software, consumables and services with recurring revenues. To accelerate our sales growth and get closer to our customers, we have begun to put more investment into direct sales resources in both our instrument and services businesses."

2016 business highlights:

• In June, 2016, the company joined founding members Illumina, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Genea as a new member of the Global Fertility Alliance, a collaboration to advance excellence in fertility technologies and processes within the human assisted reproductive technologies (ART) laboratory.
• In September, the company purchased Embryotech, a leader in providing quality control services and testing assays to the human ART community. The acquisition was accretive to earnings in 2016.
• The company introduced several new software modules for its Casa systems, including its new, easy-to-use remote capture system for the animal ART market, an internal quality control module and other improvements for the human market.
• Hamilton Thorne continues to strengthen its intellectual property position. In 2016, the company received a U.S. patent (continuation in part) covering its multiwavelength laser assembly for use with a microscope.
• In 2016, Hamilton Thorne's products were referenced by customers at world-leading clinics, research labs and academic institutions in over 200 papers from prestigious journals such as Fertility and Sterility, Cryobiology, Human Reproduction, Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Theriogenology, Cell Stem Cell, and Reproductive Toxicology.

                                     FINANCIAL RESULTS
                                                  
Statements of operations            Three months ended Dec. 31,               Year ended Dec. 31,
                                         2016             2015             2016             2015

Sales                              $3,648,584       $2,626,748      $10,514,803       $9,033,858
Gross profit                        2,477,931        1,667,025        6,862,592        5,760,410
Operating expenses                  1,870,097        1,203,491        5,885,122        4,484,192
Net income                            507,680          380,740          678,947        1,027,534
EBITDA                                760,493          510,508        1,261,088        1,392,764
Basic earnings per share                $0.01            $0.01            $0.01            $0.01
Diluted earnings per share              $0.01            $0.01            $0.01            $0.01

All amounts are in U.S. dollars, unless specified otherwise, and results, with 
the exception of EBITDA, are expressed in accordance with the international 
financial reporting standards.

Results of operations for year ended Dec. 31, 2016

Hamilton Thorne sales increased 16.4 per cent to $10,514,803 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, an increase of $1,480,945 from $9,033,858 during the previous year. These increases were attributable to strong increases in clinical laser and instrument services sales plus the addition of 3.5 months of revenues from its new subsidiary, Embryotech, offset by somewhat lower imaging systems sales and declines in research systems sales.

Gross profit for the year increased 19.1 per cent to $6,862,592 in the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, compared with $5,760,410 in the previous year. Gross profit as a percentage of sales increased to 65.3 per cent for 2016 versus 63.8 per cent for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, due to product mix and the impact of higher Embryotech margins.

Operating expenses increased 31.3 per cent or $1,400,930 to $5,885,122 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, up from $4,484,192 for the previous year, primarily resulting from the addition of Embryotech operating expenses postclosing, the significant expenses incurred to complete this acquisition, continued strategic investments in research and development, and sales and marketing resources, all partially offset by reductions in other categories due to continued expense controls.

Net income decreased 33.9 per cent to $678,947 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, versus net income of $1,027,534 for the prior year, a decrease of $348,587, attributable to increased operating and acquisition expenses together with increased amortization of intangibles and increased interest expense, partially offset by one quarter of revenue and gross profit growth primarily attributable to the acquired assets of Embryotech.

EBITDA for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, decreased 9.5 per cent to $1,261,088 versus $1,392,764 in the prior year, due to the decline in net income, partially offset by increased amortization and interest expenses.

Fourth quarter 2016 results

For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2016, sales were up 38.9 per cent from $2,626,748 to $3,648,854. Gross profit increased 48.6 per cent to $2,477,931 versus $1,667,025 for the prior year. Operating expenses were up 55.5 per cent to $1,870,097 versus $1,203,491 for the prior year primarily due to the addition of Embryotech operating expenses postclosing, the significant expenses incurred to complete this acquisition, continued strategic investments in research and development, sales and marketing resources, and increased amortization on intangibles, all partially offset by reductions in other categories resulting from continued expense controls.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, the company net income increased 33.0 per cent to $507,680, and EBITDA increased 49 per cent to $760,493, versus net income of $380,740 and EBITDA of $510,508, for the prior year's fourth quarter. These increases were primarily due to increased sales and gross profits resulting from the Embryotech acquisition, partially offset by increased acquisition and operating expense.

The company also announced that it has granted a total of 2,135,000 stock options to purchase common shares pursuant to the company's incentive stock option plan. The options are exercisable at 59 Canadian cents per share, and expire 10 years from the date of grant. A total of 1.1 million of these options were granted to the company's directors, chief executive officer, chief technology officer and chief financial officer. Grants to directors and employees vest over four years.

Financial statements and accompanying management's discussion and analysis for the periods are available on SEDAR and the Hamilton Thorne website.

About Hamilton Thorne Ltd.

Hamilton Thorne is a leading worldwide provider of precision instruments, consumables, software and services that reduce cost, increase productivity, improve results and enable breakthroughs in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and developmental biology research markets. Hamilton Thorne's laser products attach to standard inverted microscopes and operate as microsurgical devices, enabling a wide array of scientific applications and in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. Its image analysis systems are designed to bring quality, efficiency and reliability to studies of reproductive cells in the human fertility, animal sciences and reproductive toxicology fields. Hamilton Thorne's standardized toxicology assays and quality control testing services help to improve outcomes in human IVF clinics.

We seek Safe Harbor.