ROUGEMONT, QC, March 31,
2023 /CNW/ - Lassonde Industries Inc.
(TSX: LAS.A) ("Lassonde" or the "Corporation") today announced
its financial results for its fourth quarter and year ended
December 31, 2022.
Financial Highlights:
|
Fourth quarters ended
|
|
Fiscal years ended
|
(in millions of
dollars, unless otherwise indicated)
|
Dec. 31,
2022
|
Dec. 31,
2021
|
∆
|
|
Dec.31,
2022
|
Dec. 31,
2021
|
∆
|
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
Sales
|
556.0
|
487.5
|
68.5
|
|
2,151.0
|
1,892.9
|
|
258.1
|
Gross profit
|
123.6
|
134.1
|
(10.5)
|
|
523.3
|
521.9
|
|
1.4
|
Operating
profit
|
16.7
|
31.6
|
(14.9)
|
|
81.3
|
118.4
|
|
(37.1)
|
Profit
|
10.1
|
21.8
|
(11.7)
|
|
53.3
|
78.5
|
|
(25.2)
|
Attributable
to:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Corporation's
shareholders
|
10.5
|
21.8
|
(11.3)
|
|
53.9
|
77.5
|
|
(23.6)
|
|
Non-controlling
interest
|
(0.4)
|
(0.0)
|
(0.4)
|
|
(0.6)
|
1.0
|
|
(1.6)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPS
(in $)
|
1.53
|
3.15
|
(1.62)
|
|
7.85
|
11.18
|
|
(3.33)
|
Weighted average
number of shares
outstanding (in thousands)
|
6,849
|
6,933
|
(84)
|
|
6,875
|
6,933
|
|
(58)
|
Adjusted EBITDAi
|
38.3
|
46.5
|
(8.2)
|
|
157.1
|
180.6
|
|
(23.5)
|
Adjusted EPSi (in $)
|
2.09
|
3.22
|
(1.13)
|
|
9.37
|
11.48
|
|
(2.11)
|
Note:
These are financial highlights only. Management's Discussion and
Analysis, the audited consolidated financial statements and notes
thereto for the year ended December 31, 2022 are available on the
SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and on the Corporation's
website.
|
"Despite a challenging year impacting our financials, we achieved
an important milestone in 2022 with sales exceeding the
$2-billion mark for the first time in
our history, representing almost 14% growth year-over-year. This
achievement reflects the important efforts of our employees in the
context of severe macro-economic headwinds and industry-wide
challenges. During the past year, our team worked diligently to
strengthen our leadership position in the North American food and
beverage sector, with a particular focus on improving U.S.
operations. We anticipate that tangible results from our
operational excellence efforts will gradually become apparent in
2023 and 2024, establishing a clear path towards long-term
profitable growth," said Nathalie
Lassonde, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chair of the
Board of Directors of Lassonde Industries Inc.
"Throughout 2022, we actively engaged resources, including
capital expenditures, towards executing our multi-year strategy and
delivering on Project Eagle in the U.S. We are pleased with the
progress achieved on several operational improvement initiatives to
enhance production efficiency and output, that we will benefit from
in the years ahead. While we anticipate certain challenges faced in
2022 will likely abate in 2023, we expect inflation to persist,
especially regarding commodity prices. However, through further
pricing actions, and given current industry demand as well as
assuming stable exchange rates, we anticipate the 2023 sales growth
rate to be in the mid to high single-digit range and overall
profitability to improve," added Vince Timpano, President and Chief
Operating Officer of Lassonde Industries Inc.
Fourth Quarter
Highlights:
- Sales of $556.0 million.
Excluding a $22.4 million favourable
foreign exchange impact, sales were up $46.1
million (9.5%) from the same quarter last year, mainly due
to selling price adjustments in both the U.S. and Canada.
- Gross profit of $123.6 million
(22.2% of sales), down $10.5 million
from the same quarter in 2021. Excluding a $5.2 million favourable foreign exchange impact,
gross profit was down $15.7 million
from the same quarter last year;
-
- Higher cost for all inputs, especially apple and orange
concentrates and PET resin, including an increase in the cost of
transporting them to the Corporation's plants;
- Increase in the Corporation's conversion costs; and
- $3.7 million loss in gross profit
following a production interruption of the cranberry sauce line at
the Corporation's New Jersey
plant.
- Operating profit of $16.7
million, down $14.9 million
from the same quarter last year;
-
- Lower gross profit;
- $5.3 million decrease in
performance-related salary expenses;
- $3.4 million unfavourable foreign
exchange impact that affected the conversion of the selling and
administrative expenses of the U.S. entities into Canadian
dollars;
- $2.8 million in expenses related
to the multi-year strategy (the "Strategy"); and
- Higher warehousing costs.
- Excluding items impacting comparability, adjusted
EBITDAi was $38.3 million,
down $8.2 million from the same
quarter last year.
- Profit attributable to the Corporation's shareholders of
$10.5 million, resulting in basic and
diluted earnings per share ("EPS") of $1.53, down $11.3
million and $1.62,
respectively, from the same quarter in 2021. Excluding items
impacting comparability, adjusted EPS i was $2.09 compared to $3.22 in the same quarter last year.
Fiscal 2022 Highlights:
- Sales of $2,151.0 million.
Excluding a $44.8 million favourable
foreign exchange impact, sales were up $213.3 million (11.3%) from last year, mainly due
to a favourable impact of selling price adjustments and by a
favourable change in the sales mix of private label sales.
- Gross profit of $523.3 million
(24.3% of sales), up $1.4 million
from 2021. Excluding a $21.1 million
favourable foreign exchange impact, gross profit was down
$19.7 million from last year;
-
- Higher cost for all inputs, especially apple and orange
concentrates and PET resin, including an increase in the cost of
transporting them to the Corporation's plants;
- Increase in conversion costs, mainly related to higher raw
material warehousing, energy and labour costs; and
- $5.2 million loss in gross profit
following a production interruption of the cranberry sauce line at
the Corporation's New Jersey
plant.
- Operating profit of $81.3
million, down $37.1 million
from last year;
-
- $32.9 million increase in
transportation costs, resulting from higher fuel surcharges and
base transportation rates, incurred to deliver products to
clients;
- $13.9 million decrease in
performance-related salary expenses;
- $11.0 million in expenses related
to the Strategy; and
- $7.1 million unfavourable foreign
exchange impact that affected the conversion of the selling and
administrative expenses of the U.S. entities into Canadian
dollars.
- Excluding items impacting comparability, adjusted
EBITDAi was $157.1
million, down $23.5 million
from last year
- Profit attributable to the Corporation's shareholders of
$53.9 million, resulting in basic and
diluted earnings per share of $7.85,
down $23.6 million and $3.33, respectively, from 2021. Excluding items
impacting comparability, adjusted EPSi was $9.37 compared to $11.48 last year.
- As at December 31, 2022,
long-term debt, including the current portion, stood at
$249.4 million representing a net
debt to adjusted EBITDAi ratio of 1.57:1.
- Total dividends of $2.98 per
share, paid in 2022.
Multi-Year Strategy
To provide clarity and orientation on the opportunities to
pursue and to optimize capital allocation decisions, in early 2022,
the Corporation developed a multi-year strategy. This Strategy aims
to accelerate revenue growth, improve overall profitability, and
drive long-term value by focussing on three strategic pillars.
- Building a growth-oriented portfolio;
- Driving sustainable performance; and
- Improving capacity to act.
Associated Incremental Operating
Expenses
During fiscal 2022, the Corporation began its strategic review,
completed the diagnostic step of Project Eagle and began
implementing new cloud-based management systems, including demand
planning and transportation management systems. In addition, during
the second half of the year, the Corporation invested in a project
to optimize the current capacity of its specialty food division and
to explore the addition of new capacities and growth opportunities.
As a result, the Corporation reported additional expenses of
$2.8 million and $11.0 million in the fourth quarter and year
ended December 31, 2022,
respectively.
Associated Capital
Expenditures
During fiscal 2022, the Corporation dedicated capital
expenditures aligned with its Strategy to support growth, enhance
productivity, and invest in innovation and sustainable development.
These investments included two projects to improve production
efficiency and capacity in Canada,
continuing to upgrade the enterprise resource planning ("ERP")
software in Canada along with
investments in the U.S. to improve production efficiency and to
deploy a new single serve line in the Corporation's plant based in
North Carolina.
Project Eagle
Launched in the second quarter of 2022, Project Eagle is a
component of the Strategy specifically aimed at revitalizing its
underperforming U.S. operations, with the objective to capture
growth, improve margins, and drive long-term sustainable
performance. In addition to reviewing the U.S. operations' products
and customers portfolio, Project Eagle also seeks to identify and
address key issues hampering performance within its supply chain
and manufacturing facilities, including product simplification,
process realignment, employee training, capital deployment, plant
performance, and supply chain execution.
After completing the diagnostic step of Project Eagle, the
Corporation recently took important steps to reduce its stock
keeping units ("SKU") complexity, harmonize packaging formats,
consolidate formulas, and rationalize low-margin products and/or
customers. The portfolio simplification should allow the
Corporation to reduce execution complexity, which would limit
downtime related to production changeovers and ultimately increase
throughput. The Corporation also completed the first phase of the
implementation of an improved cloud-based transportation management
system.
The capital designated in support of Project Eagle will be
deployed in three areas: (1) updating existing equipment to limit
unscheduled downtime; (2) increasing throughput on existing
capacity; and (3) investing in new equipment in support of
increased capacity in on-trend formats. While the equipment
upgrades are expected to result in short-term disruptions, the
Corporation expects they will be significantly outweighed by the
medium- to long-term benefits.
Finally, some of the initiatives deployed under Project Eagle
will ultimately benefit the rest of the organization; for instance
the deployment of new transportation management and demand planning
systems are first rolled out in the U.S. and then throughout the
Corporation
Outlook
Lassonde continues to expect the largest factors impacting its
performance in fiscal 2023 will be the financial health of
consumers, the inflationary environment, and the frequency and
severity of supply chain disruptions. As a result, the Corporation
is employing the following assumptions for its fiscal year
2023:
Sales growth rate
- During fiscal 2022, the Corporation has taken pricing action on
its branded and private label product offerings, including
adjusting contracts with certain customers to recover cost
increases it incurred. It expects the effects of such pricing
action to be felt in early 2023. The Corporation also expects
further pricing action to be implemented over the course of 2023 as
inflation persists.
- For 2023, barring any significant external shocks and excluding
foreign exchange impacts, Lassonde expects that its sales growth
rate should be in the mid to high single-digit range, mainly driven
by selling price adjustments. The Corporation is, however, closely
monitoring the evolution of consumer food habits and price
elasticity in a context of a contraction in demand.
Productivity and service
level
- Labour and operational initiatives, together with fewer supply
chain constraints, are expected to improve the Corporation's
ability to supply demand and return to historical order fill rate
levels, particularly in the U.S.
Key commodity and input
costs
- Lassonde's input, conversion and transportation costs began to
increase significantly in fiscal 2021 given an inflationary
environment that extended through fiscal 2022, and it now expects
the volatile cost environment to continue throughout fiscal 2023.
More recently, the price of orange concentrate remains an area of
focus since the price for this key commodity has been at an
elevated level over the last six months, reaching a historical peak
of US$2.79/lbs sol. in February 2023.
- In addition, during fiscal 2022, the U.S. dollar strengthened
compared to most foreign currencies. Given that a large portion of
the raw material purchases made by Lassonde's Canadian operations
are in U.S. dollars, a strengthening of this currency against the
Canadian dollar could result in a higher cost for products sold in
the Canadian market. Furthermore, the Corporation is expecting an
unfavourable foreign exchange impact for 2023 when considering its
hedged positions. Lassonde plans to continue managing inflation
risk, including the impact of foreign currency movements.
Expenses, including expenses
related to the Strategy
- The Corporation's performance-related salary expenses are
expected to return to normal levels in 2023.
- During 2023, Lassonde plans to continue deploying its Strategy,
revitalizing its U.S. operations, and upgrading its technology
infrastructures. It also plans to continue implementing new
cloud-based demand planning and transportation management systems,
the aim being to improve customer service and lower overall
distribution costs. It also intends to start exploring the upgrade
of its U.S. ERP. Expected spending in support of its strategic
transformation is expected to reach up to $10.0 million in 2023 compared to $11.0 million incurred in 2022.
- Higher interest expense is anticipated given higher rates on
floating rate debt as a higher average indebtedness level compared
to 2022.
Effective tax rate
- Effective tax rate should be about 26.5% for fiscal 2023.
Working capital
- As supply chain challenges appear to be dissipating, the
Corporation has revised its inventory accumulation strategy and
expects to progressively reduce its inventory levels. As a result,
its Days Operating Working Capitali should trend towards
historical levels over the course of 2023. However, this strategy
might be impacted by (i) opportunistic decisions to secure
inventory ahead of potential additional price increases from
suppliers, (ii) the objective of ensuring an adequate service
level, or (iii) the identification of new potential supply chain
disruptions.
Capital expenditures
- The Corporation's overall capital expenditures program for 2023
is estimated to reach up to 4.5% of its sales as it continues to
deploy capital in support of its Strategy. This estimate depends on
the timing of disbursements for certain large capital projects and
on the evolution of the macroeconomic environment. As indicated in
Section 11 – "Financial Position" of the Corporation's
MD&A for the year ended December 31,
2022, the Corporation's 2023 commitments, as of December 31, 2022, with regards to capital
expenditures, are already more than $23
million with an additional $4
million already earmarked for 2024. The Corporation expects
to return this ratio to a range of 2.0% to 3.0% of its sales
(including a maintenance component and a certain growth component)
by 2025. The new capital assets will be financed, to the extent
possible, using the Corporation's operating cash flows, although
the Corporation may also turn to borrowing if interest rates and
conditions prove advantageous.
The above forward-looking statements have been prepared using
the following key assumptions: the currently observed geopolitical
situation and macroeconomic trends, including employment, inflation
and interest rates; the strength of the U.S. dollar (compared to
the Canadian dollar); the continuity of recently observed consumer
behaviours and market trends for the Corporation's products; no
material disruption to the Corporation's operations (including
workforce availability) or to its supply chain; the effectiveness
of the Corporation's selling price adjustment initiatives; the
limited impact of the Corporation's selling price adjustment
initiatives on product demand; the continuity of observed trends in
the competitive environment and the effectiveness of the
Corporation's strategy to position itself competitively in the
markets in which it competes; limited additional cost increases
from suppliers; adequate availability of key inputs; the continuity
of recently observed normalized trends in the throughput capacity
of key U.S. plants; expected lead time for new manufacturing
equipment; and adequate contractor' or consultant' availability to
progress the Corporation's capital expenditures. The Corporation
cautions readers that the foregoing list of factors is not
exhaustive. It should be noted that some of these key assumptions,
including those related to the geopolitical situation and
macroeconomic trends, are volatile and rapidly evolving. In
preparing its outlook, the Corporation made assumptions that do not
consider extraordinary events or circumstances beyond its control.
The Corporation believes the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be
given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such
forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. Refer
to Section 2 – " Forward-Looking Statements" of the
Corporation's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022 for additional information.
Conference Call to Discuss Fourth
Quarter and Fiscal 2022 Financial Results
Open
to:
|
Investors, analysts,
and all interested parties
|
DATE:
|
Friday, March 31,
2023
|
TIME:
|
1:30 p.m. ET
|
CALL:
|
416-764-8646 (for
Toronto and overseas participants)
|
|
1-888-396-8049 (for
other North American participants)
|
A live audio broadcast of the conference call will be available on
the company's website, on the Investor relations section's home
page or here: https://www.gowebcasting.com/12497. The replay of the
webcast will remain available at the same link until midnight,
April 14, 2023.
Financial Measures Not in
Accordance With IFRS
The financial measures or ratios described below do not
constitute standardized financial measures or ratios in accordance
with the financial reporting framework used to prepare the
Corporation's financial statements. Comparing them to similar
financial measures or ratios presented by other issuers may not be
possible.
Items impacting the comparability
between periods
The following table contains a list, description and
quantification of items impacting the comparability of the
financial performance between the periods:
|
Fourth quarters ended
|
Years ended
|
(in millions of dollars)
|
Dec. 31,
2022
|
Dec. 31,
2021
|
Dec.31,
2022
|
Dec.31,
2021
|
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
Costs related to the
Strategy
|
1.0
|
-
|
7.1
|
-
|
Implementation costs of
new cloud-based systems
|
1.8
|
-
|
3.9
|
-
|
Production interruption
of a line in New Jersey
|
3.7
|
-
|
5.2
|
-
|
Adjustment related to
non-recoverable sales taxes
|
-
|
0.7
|
-
|
2.8
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sum of items impacting comparability
on:
|
|
|
|
|
Operating profit and
EBITDA
|
6.5
|
0.7
|
16.2
|
2.8
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fiscal impact of
previous items
|
(1.7)
|
(0.2)
|
(4.2)
|
(0.7)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Item impacting comparability on income tax
expense:
|
|
|
|
|
Deferred tax
liabilities adjustment following a
reduction to the tax rate of a U.S. state
|
(0.6)
|
-
|
(0.6)
|
-
|
Impact on
profit
|
4.2
|
0.5
|
11.4
|
2.1
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attributable
to:
|
|
|
|
|
Corporation's
shareholders
|
3.8
|
0.5
|
10.5
|
2.1
|
Non-controlling
interest
|
0.4
|
-
|
0.9
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
EBITDA is a financial measure used by the Corporation and
investors to assess the Corporation's capacity to generate future
cash flows from operating activities and pay financial expenses.
Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure used by the Corporation to
compare EBITDA between periods by excluding items impacting
comparability. EBITDA consists of the sum of operating profit, the
"depreciation of property, plant and equipment and amortization of
intangible assets" item shown in the Consolidated Statement of Cash
Flows, and "(Gains) losses on capital assets," if applicable.
Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adjusting the EBITDA with items
considered by the management as impacting the comparability between
periods.
|
Fourth quarters ended
|
Years ended
|
(in millions of dollars)
|
Dec. 31, 2022
|
Dec. 31, 2021
|
Dec. 31, 2022
|
Dec. 31, 2021
|
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
Operating
profit
|
16.7
|
31.6
|
81.3
|
118.4
|
Depreciation of
property, plant and equipment
and amortization of intangible assets
|
14.9
|
14.2
|
59.5
|
59.5
|
(Gains) losses on
capital assets
|
0.1
|
(0.0)
|
0.1
|
(0.0)
|
EBITDA
|
31.8
|
45.8
|
140.9
|
177.8
|
Sum of items impacting
comparability
|
6.5
|
0.7
|
16.2
|
2.8
|
Adjusted
EBITDA
|
38.3
|
46.5
|
157.1
|
180.6
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted Profit Attributable to Corporation's Shareholders and
Adjusted EPS
Adjusted profit attributable to Corporation's shareholders and
adjusted EPS are financial measures used by the Corporation to
compare profit attributable to Corporation's shareholders and EPS
between periods by excluding items impacting comparability. They
are calculated by adjusting them with items considered by
management as impacting the comparability between periods.
|
Fourth quarters ended
|
Years ended
|
(in millions of dollars, unless otherwise
indicated)
|
Dec. 31, 2022
|
|
Dec. 31, 2021
|
|
Dec. 31, 2022
|
|
Dec. 31, 2021
|
|
|
$
|
|
$
|
|
$
|
|
$
|
|
Profit attributable to
Corporation's shareholders
|
10.5
|
|
21.8
|
|
53.9
|
|
77.5
|
|
Sum of items impacting
comparability
|
3.8
|
|
0.5
|
|
10.5
|
|
2.1
|
|
Adjusted profit
attributable to Corporation's
shareholders
|
14.3
|
|
22.3
|
|
64.4
|
|
79.6
|
|
Weighted average number
of shares
outstanding (in thousands)
|
6,849
|
|
6,933
|
|
6,875
|
|
6,933
|
|
Adjusted EPS (in
$)
|
2.09
|
|
3.22
|
|
9.37
|
|
11.48
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA
Net debt to adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure used by the
Corporation to assess its ability to pay off its existing debt and
to define its available borrowing capacity. To calculate the net
debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio, net debt is divided by the sum of
adjusted EBITDA from the last four quarters. Net debt represents
long-term debt, including the current portion, less the "Cash and
cash equivalents" item, as they are presented in the Corporation's
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position.
(in millions of
dollars, except the net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio)
|
As at
Dec. 31,2022
|
As at
Dec. 31,2021
|
|
$
|
$
|
Current portion of
long-term debt
|
100.8
|
84.4
|
Long-term
debt
|
148.6
|
91.0
|
Less: Cash and cash
equivalents
|
(2.7)
|
(0.3)
|
Net debt
|
246.7
|
175.1
|
Sum of adjusted EBITDA
from the last four quarters
|
157.1
|
180.6
|
|
|
|
Net debt to adjusted
EBITDA ratio
|
1.57:1
|
0.97:1
|
Days Operating Working Capital
Days operating working capital is a financial efficiency measure
used by the Corporation to represent the amount of sales tied up as
operating working capital. To calculate this financial measure,
operating working capital is divided by the last quarter's sales,
as they are presented in this press release, and multiplied by 91
days. Operating working capital is the sum of accounts receivable
and inventories, less accounts payable and accrued liabilities, as
they are presented in the Corporation's Consolidated Statement of
Financial Position.
About Lassonde
Lassonde Industries Inc. is a leader in the food and beverages
industry in North America. The
Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets a wide range of
private label and national brand products, including ready-to-drink
beverages, fruit-based snacks as well as frozen juice concentrates.
It is also a leading producer of cranberry sauces and specialty
food products such as pasta sauces, soups and fondue broths and
sauces.
The Corporation produces its superior quality products through
the expertise of more than 2,700 people working in 17 plants across
Canada and the U.S.. To learn
more, visit www.lassonde.com
The Corporation is active in two market segments:
- Retail sales consist of (i) sales to food retailers and
wholesalers such as supermarket chains, independent grocers,
superstores, warehouse clubs, major pharmacy chains and (ii) online
sales; and
- Food service sales consist of sales to restaurants, hotels,
hospitals, schools, and wholesalers serving these
institutions.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This document contains "forward-looking information" and the
Corporation's oral and written public communications that do not
constitute historical fact may be deemed to be "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. These
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations,
estimates, projections, beliefs, judgments, and assumptions on the
basis of information available at the time the applicable
forward‑looking statement was made and considering the
Corporation's experience combined with its perception of historical
trends. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
with respect to objectives and goals, in addition to statements
with respect to beliefs, plans, targets, goals, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates, and intentions.
Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such
as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "endeavor", "expect",
"may", "will", "project", "should", "could", "would", "believe",
"plan", "intend", "design", "target", "undertake", "view",
"indicate", "maintain", "explore", "entail", "schedule",
"objective", "strategy", "likely", "potential", "outlook", "aim",
"propose", "goal", and similar expressions suggesting future events
or future performance in addition to the negative forms of these
terms or any variations thereof. These statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and
uncertainties that are difficult to predict.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results or events to differ materially from those
anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Various factors or
assumptions are typically applied by the Corporation in drawing
conclusions or making the forecasts, projections, predictions, or
estimations set out in the forward‑looking statements. These
factors and assumptions are based on information currently
available to the Corporation, including information obtained by the
Corporation from third-party sources. In this document,
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those
set forth in above "Outlook" section which also presents
some (but not all) of the key assumptions used in determining the
forward-looking statements.
Such forward-looking statements relate to future events, are by
their very nature subject to many important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated.
Readers are cautioned that the assumptions considered by the
Corporation to support these statements may prove to be incorrect
in whole or in part. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the results expressed, implied, or projected
in the forward-looking statements contained in this document
include, among other things, risks associated with the following:
the availability of raw materials (including as a result of climate
change, extreme weather, global or local supply chain disruptions,
loss of key suppliers or supplier concentration, impact of
pandemics, geopolitical developments, military conflicts, and trade
sanctions) and related price variations; fluctuations in the prices
of inbound and outbound freight, the impact of oil prices (and
derivatives thereof) on the Corporation's direct and indirect costs
along with the Corporation's ability to transfer those increases
through higher prices or other means, if any, to its clients in
competitive market conditions; failure to maintain strong sourcing
and manufacturing platforms and efficient distribution channels;
disruptions in or failures of the Corporation's information
technology systems, including the ability to access and implement
technology necessary to achieve the Corporation's targets,
commitments and goals, as well as the development and performance
of technology; cyber threats and other
information-technology-related risks relating to business
disruptions, confidentiality, data integrity, and business email
compromise-related fraud; the scarcity of labour in North America and the related impact on the
hiring, training, developing, retaining and reliance of qualified
and/or key personnel together with their productivity, employment
matters (including compensation), compliance with employment laws
across multiple jurisdictions, and the potential for work stoppages
due to non-renewal of collective bargaining agreements or other
reasons; the successful deployment of the Corporation's health and
safety programs in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
serious injuries or fatalities, which could have a material impact
on the Corporation's business continuity and reputation and lead to
compliance-related costs; the successful deployment of the
Corporation's Strategy (defined in above "Multi-Year
Strategy" section), including components such as Project Eagle;
climate change and disasters causing higher operating costs and
capital expenditures and reduced production output, and impacting
the availability, quality or price volatility of key commodities
sourced by the Corporation; disputes with significant suppliers;
the increasing concentration of clients in the food industry,
providing them with significant bargaining power that could limit
the Corporation's ability to raise its prices to offset
inflationary pressures; major events, such as systems and equipment
failure, pandemics and natural disasters, or increased frequency or
intensity of extreme weather conditions (including as a result of
climate change), leading to unanticipated business disruptions at
the Corporation's facilities or those of certain suppliers; the
implementation, cost and impact of environmental sustainability
initiatives, as well as the cost of remediating environmental
liabilities; changes made to laws (including tax and tariffs),
regulations, rules and policies that affect the Corporation's
activities as well as the interpretation thereof, and new positions
adopted by relevant authorities; failure to adopt to changes and
developments affecting the Corporation's industry, including
customer preferences, tastes, concerns or perceptions and buying
patterns, market conditions and the activities of competitors and
clients; crisis management and the execution of the business
continuity plan; failure to maintain the quality and safety of the
Corporation's products, which could result in product recalls and
product liability claims for misbranded, adulterated, contaminated,
or spoiled food products, along with reputational damage; damage to
the reputation of the Corporation and its brands, including as a
result of its inability to meet stakeholders' ESG expectations or
to realize expected benefits in that respect; risks related to
fluctuations in interest rates, currency exchange rates, liquidity
and credit, stock price and pension obligations; deterioration of
general macroeconomic conditions, including international
conflicts, which can lead to negative impacts on the Corporation's
suppliers, customers and operating costs; the incurrence of
restructuring, disposal, or other related charges together with the
recognition of impairment charges on goodwill or long lived assets,
particularly in a context of challenging performance and rising
cost of capital; the sufficiency of insurance coverage; expected
future cash flows and the sufficiency thereof, sources of capital
at attractive rates, future contractual obligations, future
financing options, renewal of credit facilities, and availability
of capital to fund growth plans, operating obligations and
dividends; pension plan performance, including the adequacy of
pension contributions, assets, and potential pension liabilities;
the implications and outcome of potential legal actions, litigation
and regulatory proceedings to which the Corporation may be a party;
and innovation and the future use and deployment of technology and
associated expected future outcome, ability of the Corporation to
protect its intellectual property and the costs incurred to do
so.
The Corporation cautions readers that the foregoing list of
factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned that some
of the forward-looking statements in this report, such as
statements concerning sales growth rate, productivity and service
level, key commodity and input costs, expenses (including
Strategy-related expenses), effective tax rate, working capital and
capital expenditures, may be considered to be financial outlooks
for the purposes of applicable securities legislation. These
financial outlooks are presented to evaluate potential future
earnings and anticipated future uses of cash flows and may not be
appropriate for other purposes. Readers should not assume these
financial outlooks will materialize.
More information about risk factors can be found in Section
19 - "Uncertainties and Principal Risk Factors" of the
Corporation's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022. Readers should review this
section in detail.
All forward-looking statements included herein speak only as of
the date hereof. Unless required by law, the Corporation does not
undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. All forward-looking statements
contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary
statement.
|
|
|
i This
measure does not constitute a standardized financial measure in
accordance with the financial reporting framework used to prepare
the Corporation's financial statements. Comparing it to a similar
financial measure presented by other issuers may not be possible.
Refer to Section "Financial Measures Not in Accordance with
IFRS" of this press release for more information, including the
definition and composition of the measure or ratio as well as the
reconciliation to the most comparable measure in the financial
statements, as applicable.
|
SOURCE Lassonde Industries Inc.