Toronto Stock Exchange: BPF.UN

Franchise Sales of $204.0 million for the first quarter of 2018 increased by 0.8% versus one year ago

Highlights

• System-Wide Gross Sales¹ of $265.5 million for the Period representing an increase of 1.7% versus the same period one year ago.
• Franchise Sales² from royalty pool restaurants of $204.0 million for the Period representing an increase of 0.8% versus the same period one year ago.
• Same store sales growth of 0.2% for the Period compared to 0.0% for the same period one year ago.
• Distributable Cash³ per Unit decreased 2.2% for the Period to 30.5 cents versus 31.2 cents for the same period one year ago.
• Payout Ratio⁴ of 113.1% for the Period compared to 110.6% for the same period one year ago and 100.7% on a trailing 12-month basis. Cash balance at the end of the Period was $2.4 million.
• Effective January 1, 2018, the British Columbia provincial government increased the general corporate income tax rate by 1%, which increased the Fund's SIFT tax rate by 1% to 27%. The decrease in Distributable Cash per Unit and the increase in Payout Ratio compared to the same periods in 2017 were principally due to the 1% increase in SIFT Tax.
• Trustees declared the April 2018 distribution to unitholders of 11.5 cents per Unit.

VANCOUVER, May 15, 2018 /CNW/ - Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (the "Fund") and Boston Pizza International Inc. ("BPI") reported financial results today for the first quarter period from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018 (the "Period").  A copy of this press release, the condensed consolidated interim financial statements and related Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") of the Fund and BPI are available at www.sedar.com and www.bpincomefund.com.  The Fund will host a conference call to discuss the results on May 15, 2018 at 8:30 am Pacific Time (11:30 am Eastern Time).  The call can be accessed by dialling 1-800-319-4610 or 604-638-5340. A replay will be available until June 15, 2018 by dialling 1-855-669-9658 or 1-604-674-8052 and entering the access code: 2204 followed by the # sign. The replay will also be available at www.bpincomefund.com.

Same store sales growth ("SSSG"), a key driver of distribution growth for unitholders of the Fund, was positive 0.2% for the Period compared with 0.0% reported in the first quarter of 2017.  Franchise Sales, the basis upon which Royalty⁵ and Distribution Income⁵ are paid to the Fund, exclude revenue from the sale of liquor, beer, wine and approved national promotions and discounts.  On a Franchise Sales basis, SSSG was negative 0.8% for the Period compared with negative 0.3% for the first quarter of 2017. The SSSG for the Period was attributable to menu re‑pricing, offset by weak general economic conditions in regions directly connected to the Canadian oil and gas industry and the adverse impact of the Saskatchewan 6% provincial sales tax on restaurant purchased food. Franchise Sales of restaurants in the Fund's Royalty Pool were $204.0 million for the Period compared to $202.4  million for the first quarter of 2017.  The $1.6 million increase in Franchise Sales for the Period was primarily due to the additional Franchise Sales from eight Net New Restaurants added to the Royalty Pool on January 1, 2018, partially offset by negative SSSG on a Franchise Sales basis.

"We continue to see weak general economic conditions in regions directly connected to the Canadian oil and gas industry and results in the first quarter reflect the impact of these ongoing challenges," said Jordan Holm, President of BPI. "We are excited about several initiatives underway for the year that we expect will drive results going forward, including our thin crust creations promotion that launched in April introducing five new recipes of thin crust pizzas with gourmet toppings."

The Fund's net and comprehensive income was $2.4 million for the Period compared to net and comprehensive income of $6.6 million for first quarter of 2017.  The $4.2 million decrease in the Fund's net and comprehensive income for the Period compared to the first quarter of 2017 was primarily due to a $5.5 million change in fair value adjustments and lower interest income of $0.5 million, partially offset by lower income taxes of $1.1 million and lower interest and financing expenses of $0.5 million. For a detailed discussion on the Fund's net and comprehensive income, please see the "Operating Results – Net and Comprehensive Income / Basic and Diluted Earnings" section in the Fund's MD&A for the Period.  The Fund's net income under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") contains non-cash items, such as the fair value adjustments on financial instruments and deferred income taxes, that do not affect the Fund's business operations or its ability to pay distributions to unitholders.  In the Fund's view, net income is not the only or most meaningful measurement of the Fund's ability to pay distributions.  Consequently, the Fund reports the non-IFRS metrics of Distributable Cash and Payout Ratio to provide investors with more meaningful information regarding the amount of cash that the Fund has generated to pay distributions and the extent to which the Fund has distributed that cash.  Readers are cautioned that Distributable Cash and Payout Ratio are non-IFRS financial measures that do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.  For a reconciliation between cash flow from operating activities (the most directly comparable IFRS measure) and Distributable Cash see the "Financial Summary" section of this press release.  For a detailed discussion on the Fund's Distributable Cash and Payout Ratio, please see the "Operating Results – Distributable Cash / Payout Ratio" section in the Fund's MD&A for the Period.

The Fund generated Distributable Cash of $6.7 million for the Period compared to $6.3 million for the first quarter of 2017.  The increase in Distributable Cash of $0.4 million or 5.5% was primarily attributable to a decrease in BPI's entitlement related to Class B general partner units ("Class B Units") of Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership ("Royalties LP") of $0.4 million as a result of BPI having exchanged 1,910,597 Class B Units for 1,191,851 units of the Fund ("Units") on September 26, 2017 and higher Royalty and Distribution Income of $0.2 million, partially offset by higher SIFT Tax of $0.2 million.  The Class C Exchange⁷ was cash neutral to the Fund as lower interest expense on Class C GP Units to BPI was offset by lower interest received on the BP Loan.

The Fund generated Distributable Cash per Unit of $0.305 for the Period compared to $0.312 per Unit for the first quarter of 2017.  The decrease in Distributable Cash per Unit of $0.007 or 2.2% was primarily attributable to the British Columbia provincial government increasing the general corporate income tax rate by 1% effective January 1, 2018, which increased the Fund's SIFT tax rate by 1% to 27% for the Period. 

The Fund's Payout Ratio for the Period was 113.1% compared to 110.6% in the same period in 2017.  The increase in the Fund's Payout Ratio for the Period compared to the same period in 2017 was due to the combined effects of distributions paid increasing by $0.6 million or 7.9% and Distributable Cash increasing by $0.4 million or 5.5%.  The Fund strives to provide unitholders with consistent monthly distributions, and as a result, the Fund will generally experience seasonal fluctuations in its Payout Ratio.  The Fund's Payout Ratio is likely to be higher in the first and fourth quarters each year compared to the second and third quarters each year since Boston Pizza restaurants generally experience higher Franchise Sales during the summer months when restaurants open their patios and benefit from increased tourist traffic.  Higher Franchise Sales generally result in increases in Distributable Cash. On a trailing 12-month basis, the Fund's Payout Ratio was 100.7% as at March 31, 2018.  A key feature of the Fund is that it is a "top line" structure, in which BPI and Boston Pizza Canada Limited Partnership ("BP Canada LP") pay the Fund an amount based on Franchise Sales from restaurants in the Fund's royalty pool.  Accordingly, unitholders of the Fund are not directly exposed to changes in the operating costs or profitability of BPI, BP Canada LP or individual Boston Pizza restaurants.  Given this structure, and that the Fund has no current mandate to retain capital for other purposes, it is expected that the Fund will maintain a Payout Ratio close to 100% over time as the trustees of the Fund continue to distribute all available cash in order to maximize returns to unitholders.

On May 8, 2018, the trustees of the Fund approved a cash distribution to unitholders of 11.5 cents per Unit in respect of the period from April 1, 2018 to April 30, 2018. This distribution will be payable on May 31, 2018 to unitholders of record at the close of business on May 21, 2018.  The Fund periodically reviews distribution levels based on its policy of stable and sustainable distribution flow to unitholders.  Including the April 2018 distribution, which will be paid on May 31, 2018, the Fund will have paid out 190 consecutive monthly distributions totaling $286.7 million or $19.72 per Unit.  Unitholders have received 18 distribution increases since the Fund's initial public offering of Units in 2002.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

The tables below set out selected information from the Fund's condensed consolidated interim financial statements together with other data and should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated interim financial statements and MD&A of the Fund for the three month periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017.

SUMMARY OF QUARTERLY RESULTS

SUMMARY OF QUARTERLY RESULTS (continued)

OUTLOOK

Boston Pizza is well positioned for future growth and should continue to strengthen its position as the number one casual dining brand in Canada by achieving positive SSSG and opening new Boston Pizza locations across Canada.

The two principal factors that affect SSSG are changes in customer traffic and changes in average guest cheque.  BPI's and BP Canada LP's strategies to drive higher guest traffic include attracting a wide variety of guests into the restaurant, sports bar and take-out and delivery parts of each location, offering a compelling value proposition to guests and leveraging a larger marketing budget versus the previous year along with a revised calendar of national and local store promotions.  Increased average cheque levels are expected to be achieved through a combination of culinary innovation and annual menu re-pricing.  In addition, the franchise agreement governing each Boston Pizza restaurant requires a complete store renovation every seven years.  Restaurants typically close for two to three weeks to complete the renovation and experience an incremental sales increase in the year following the
re­-opening.

Boston Pizza remains well positioned for future expansion as evidenced by the eight net new restaurants that opened in 2017.  There are currently five new locations under construction.  BPI's management believes that Boston Pizza will continue to serve more guests in more locations than any other casual dining brand in Canada by pursuing further restaurant development opportunities across the country.

ABOUT US

The Fund is a limited purpose open ended trust with an excellent track record for investors since its IPO in 2002.  Including the April 2018 distribution which is payable on May 31, 2018, the Fund has delivered 18 distribution increases and 190 consecutive monthly distributions to unitholders totaling $286.7 million or $19.72 per unit since 2002.  The Fund earns revenue based on the franchise system sales of the 391 Boston Pizza restaurants included in the Fund's royalty pool.

BPI is Canada's number one casual dining brand with annual gross sales of $1.1 billion serving more than 50 million guests through 390 mainly franchisee operated restaurants.  The Boston Pizza brand has successfully existed for over 50 years since opening its first restaurant in Edmonton, Alberta in 1964.  BPI has been recognized as a Platinum Member of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies and has been a Franchisees' Choice Designation winner for seven consecutive years.

Certain information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" that involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, future expectations and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Fund, Boston Pizza Holdings Trust, Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership, Boston Pizza Holdings Limited Partnership, Boston Pizza Holdings GP Inc., Boston Pizza GP Inc., BPI, BP Canada LP, Boston Pizza Canada Holdings Inc., Boston Pizza Canada Holdings Partnership, Boston Pizza restaurants, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.  All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Fund or management of BPI expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including such things as, seasonal fluctuations in the Payout Ratio, the Payout Ratio is likely to be higher in the first and fourth quarters, higher Franchise Sales generally result in increases in Distributable Cash, a Payout Ratio close to 100% will be maintained, trustees of the Fund will continue to distribute all available cash in order to maximize returns to unitholders, Boston Pizza being well positioned for future growth and expansion, the strengthening of Boston Pizza's position as the number one casual dining brand in Canada, the achievement of positive SSSG, opening of new restaurants, increases in average guest cheques levels, incremental sales increasing after store renovations, plans to pursue restaurant development opportunities and other such matters are forward-looking information.  When used in this press release, forward-looking information may include words such as "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "plan", "should", "continue" and other similar terminology.  The material factors and assumptions used to develop the forward-looking information contained in this press release include the following: future results being similar to historical results, expectation related to future general economic conditions, business plans, receipt of franchise fees and other amounts, franchisees access to financing, pace of commercial real estate development, protection of intellectual property rights of Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership and absence of changes of laws. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein, relate to (among others) competition, demographic trends, consumer preferences and discretionary spending patterns, business and economic conditions, legislation and regulation, Distributable Cash and reliance on operating revenues, accounting policies and practices, the results of operations and financial condition of BPI, BP Canada LP and the Fund, as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the most recent Annual Information Form of the Fund. This information reflects current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speaks only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Fund and BPI assume no obligation to update previously disclosed forward-looking information. For a complete list of the risks associated with forward-looking information and the Fund's business, please refer to the "Risks and Uncertainties" and "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information" sections included in the Fund's MD&A for the Period available at www.sedar.com and www.bpincomefund.com.

The trustees of the Fund approved the contents of this press release.

® Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership. All Boston Pizza registered Canadian trade-marks and unregistered Canadian trade-marks containing the words "Boston", "BP", and/or "Pizza" are trade-marks owned by the Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership and licensed by the Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership to Boston Pizza International Inc.

SOURCE Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund

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