Mr. Mark Schneidereit-Hsu reports

TAIGA'S (TBL) Q4 SALES DECREASED 2%

Taiga Building Products Ltd. has released its financial results for the period ended Dec. 31, 2019.

Fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, earnings results

The company's consolidated net sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, were $298.1-million compared with $303.9-million over the same quarter last year. The decrease in sales by $5.8-million or 2 per cent was largely due to lower commodity prices.

Gross margin for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, increased to $30.6-million from $24-million over the same quarter last year. The increase in gross margin percentage was primarily due to inventory gains in the current quarter.

Net earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, were $5.8-million compared with net earnings of $1.5-million over the same quarter last year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, were $12.9-million compared with an EBITDA of $5.8-million for the same quarter last year. Management estimates that if IFRS 16 (international financial reporting standards) were not taken into effect as of Jan. 1, 2019, that EBITDA would have been $1.7-million lower, or $11.2-million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019.

Year ended Dec. 31, 2019, earnings results

Sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, were $1,299.1-million compared with $1,451-million in the prior year. The decrease in sales by $151.9-million or 10.5 per cent was largely due to decreased selling prices for commodity products; this was offset by the inclusion of Exterior Wood Inc.'s results, which was acquired in July of 2018.

Gross margin dollars for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, increased to $129.5-million from $122-million over the same period last year.

Net earnings for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, were $25.9-million compared with $20.3-million in the prior year.

EBITDA for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, was $57.7-million compared with $42.7-million in the prior year. Management estimates that if IFRS 16 were not taken into effect as of Jan. 1, 2019, that EBITDA would have been $6.7-million lower, or $51-million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019.

        CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EARNINGS   
   (in thousands of dollars, except for per-share amounts)                                
                                                                               
                                    For the three months ended 
                                                      Dec. 31,   
                                                2019      2018 
  
Sales                                       $298,125  $303,879
Gross margin                                  30,592    23,988 
Distribution expense                           6,223     6,826  
Selling and administration expense            14,066    13,234 
Finance expense                                2,702     2,087  
Subordinated debt interest expense               219       219    
Other income                                    (80)     (105)  
Earnings before income taxes                   7,462     1,727  
Income tax expense                             1,699       187    
Net earnings                                  $5,763    $1,540  
Net earnings per share                         $0.05     $0.01   
EBITDA                                        12,874     5,795  

        CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF EARNINGS  
  (in thousands of dollars, except for per share amounts)                                        
                                                                                      
                                        For the year ended
                                                  Dec. 31,
                                          2019        2018      
Sales                               $1,299,122  $1,450,985 
Gross margin                           129,456     122,031   
Distribution expense                    25,835      25,538    
Selling and administration expense      56,940      59,892    
Finance expense                         10,157      7,193     
Subordinated debt interest expense         875         837       
Other income                             (202)       (401)     
Earnings before income taxes            35,851      28,972    
Income tax expense                       9,946       8,705     
Net earnings                           $25,905     $20,267    
Net earnings per share                   $0.23       $0.17     
EBITDA                                  57,675      42,669