Canada NewsWire
MONTREAL, Aug. 10, 2017
MONTREAL, Aug. 10, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Yellow Pages Limited (TSX: Y) (the "Company"), a leading Canadian digital media and marketing company, released its operational and financial results today for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2017.
Financial Highlights | ||||
(In thousands of Canadian dollars, except percentage, per share and customer count information) | ||||
For the three-month periods |
For the six-month periods | |||
Yellow Pages Limited |
2017 |
2016 |
2017 |
2016 |
Revenues |
$191,219 |
$210,487 |
$380,727 |
$414,114 |
Adjusted EBITDA1 |
$44,425 |
$58,931 |
$90,900 |
$120,824 |
Adjusted EBITDA1margin |
23.2% |
28.0% |
23.9% |
29.2% |
Net earnings |
$820 |
$10,953 |
$1,478 |
$24,104 |
Diluted earnings per share |
$0.03 |
$0.38 |
$0.05 |
$0.83 |
Cash flow from operating activities |
$37,230 |
$32,627 |
$51,012 |
$56,875 |
Free cash flow1 |
$14,565 |
$23,154 |
$31,235 |
$47,408 |
Customer count2 |
236,500 |
244,000 |
236,500 |
244,000 |
Highlights for the Second Quarter of 2017
"My priorities are to complete the refinancing of our Senior Notes, to drive efficiencies and operational performance in all segments of our business and to ensure continued momentum on the delivery of our new customer offerings and go-to-market strategy," said Ken Taylor, CFO and interim President and CEO of Yellow Pages Limited.
Segmented Information
In conjunction with Yellow Pages' updated corporate strategy announced in Q1 2017, the Company has made changes to how it manages, allocates capital and assesses performance of the business. The Company's operations have been divided into the following four segments:
An overview of each segment and the performance of each segment for the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2017 can be found in the August 10, 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis. Yellow Pages will provide quarterly results on a segmented basis going forward.
Financial Results for the Second Quarter of 2017
Total revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 decreased 9.2% year-over-year to $191.2 million, mainly due to lower print revenues. Digital revenues totalled $138.3 million down 2.9% from the same period last year due to declines in the Agency and YP segments. Print revenues decreased 22.2% year-over-year to $52.9 million, mainly due to a decline in the number of print customers as marketing spending shifts from print to digital.
Adjusted EBITDA totalled $44.4 million for the second quarter 2017, compared to $58.9 million during the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 23.2% compared to 28% in the prior year. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin was mainly impacted by lower overall revenues and changes in product mix, partially offset by cost saving initiatives.
Net earnings for the second quarter 2017 were $0.8 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to $11 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, for the same period last year. The decline in net earnings was primarily due to lower Adjusted EBITDA offset partially by a decline in financing costs.
The Company generated free cash flow of $14.6 million for the second quarter of 2017, down from $23.2 million the previous year due to lower Adjusted EBITDA.
Net debt amounted to $371 million at June 30, 2017.
2017 Guidance
For the year ending December 31, 2017, Yellow Pages anticipates:
As part of establishing the above guidance, the Company made the following assumptions:
The Company cautions that the assumptions used to prepare the guidance provided above, although currently reasonable, may prove to be incorrect or inaccurate. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from expectations as set forth above. The guidance provided above should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by, the section Forward-Looking Information beginning on page 1 of the August 10, 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.
Conference Call & Webcast
Yellow Pages Limited will hold an analyst and media call and simultaneous webcast at 8 a.m. (Eastern Time) on August 10, 2017 to discuss second quarter 2017 results. The call may be accessed by dialing 416-340-2219 within the Toronto area, or 1-800-478-9326 outside of Toronto.
The call will be simultaneously webcast on the Company's website at: https://corporate.yp.ca/en/investors/financial-reports/
The conference call will be archived in the Investors section of the site at: https://corporate.yp.ca/en/investors/financial-events-presentations/
A playback of the call can also be accessed between August 10 and September 10, 2017 by dialing 905-694-9451 within the Toronto area, or 1-800-408-3053 outside of Toronto and entering passcode 9131919.
About Yellow Pages Limited
Yellow Pages Limited (TSX: Y) is a Canadian digital media and marketing company that creates opportunities for buyers and sellers to discover, find, interact and transact in the local economy. Yellow Pages holds some of Canada's leading local online properties including YP.ca™, RedFlagDeals.com™, Canada411.ca, 411.ca, Bookenda.com, dine.TO, DuProprio.com, ComFree.com and YP NextHome. The Company also holds the YP, YP Shopwise, YP Dine, RedFlagDeals, Canada411, 411, Bookenda, DuProprio, ComFree and YP NextHome mobile applications and Yellow Pages™ print directories. In addition, Yellow Pages is a leader in national advertising through its divisions devoted to servicing the marketing needs of large North American brands, including Mediative and JUICE. For more information visit www.corporate.yp.ca
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements about the objectives, strategies, financial conditions, results of operations and businesses of the Company. These statements are forward-looking as they are based on our current expectations, as at August 10, 2017, about our business and the markets we operate in, and on various estimates and assumptions. Our actual results could materially differ from our expectations if known or unknown risks affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions turn out to be inaccurate. As a result, there is no assurance that any forward-looking statements will materialize. Risks that could cause our results to differ materially from our current expectations are discussed in section 6 of our August 10, 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law, even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events or for any other reason.
1Non-IFRS Measures
In order to provide a better understanding of the results, the Company uses the term Adjusted EBITDA, defined as income from operations before depreciation and amortization, impairment of intangible assets and restructuring and other charges. Adjusted EBITDA is not a performance measure defined under IFRS and is not considered an alternative to income from operations or net earnings in the context of measuring Yellow Pages' performance. Adjusted EBITDA does not have a standardized meaning and is therefore not likely to be comparable to similar measures used by other publicly traded companies. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the performance of its business as it reflects its ongoing profitability. Management believes that certain investors and analysts use Adjusted EBITDA to measure a company's ability to service debt and to meet other payment obligations or to value companies in the media and marketing solutions industry as well as to evaluate the performance of a business.
As well, free cash flow is a non-IFRS measure generally used as an indicator of financial performance. It should not be seen as a substitute for cash flow from operating activities. Free cash flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities, as reported in accordance with IFRS, less an adjustment for capital expenditures and change in operating assets and liabilities. Free cash flow is not a standardized measure and is not comparable with that of other public companies. Management considers free cash flow to be an important indicator of the performance of its business as it shows how much cash is available to repay debt and to make sound investment decisions. Management believes that certain investors and analysts use free cash flow to value a business and its underlying assets as well as to evaluate a company's performance. Free cash flow for comparative periods presented has been restated to conform to this year's presentation, which includes an adjustment for change in operating assets and liabilities. The change to this measure has been made to remove the movements in working capital items to better reflect the underlying performance of the business.
Net debt is a non-IFRS measure and does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Therefore, it is unlikely to comparable to similar measures presented by other publicly traded companies. Net debt is defined as current portion of long-term debt plus long-term debt and exchangeable debentures, less cash. Management considers net debt to be an important indicator of its financial leverage as it represents the amount of debt that is not covered by available cash. Management believes that certain investors and analysts use net debt to determine a company's financial leverage.
2 As at June 30
SOURCE Yellow Pages Limited
View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2017/10/c5856.html