WATERDOWN, ONTARIO — (Marketwired) — 11/06/13 — Opta Minerals Inc. (TSX: OPM), today announced results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013. All figures are reported in U.S. dollars and are in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), except where otherwise noted.
David Kruse, President and CEO of Opta Minerals, noted „Revenues in the third quarter and on a year to date basis have increased over the comparable periods in 2012 primarily due to the acquisitions of Babco Industrial Corp. (Babco) and WGI Heavy Minerals, Incorporated (WGI) last year. Our base business has softened from the prior year as a result of generally weak economic conditions in the steel industry and reduced spending on infrastructure projects that also affects the Industrial Minerals Group. Earnings have been negatively impacted by these slowdowns. The impact was more pronounced in the Steel and Magnesium segment as the output in the steel industry during the quarter continued to track below the prior year. Results this quarter have been adversely affected by goodwill and intangible asset write-downs on certain goodwill and intangible assets in the Industrial Minerals segment and higher finance costs as a result of prior year acquisitions.
We anticipate that the steel industry will continue to track consistently with the past two quarters. With the integration of WGI now substantially complete, we anticipate lower SGA and reduced one time charges. The Company remains focused on further cost reductions in order to restore margins on certain products to historical levels. Working capital is expected to decline over the next six months as there will be limited bulk purchases of slags and garnets required over this time period.“
Operational and Financial Highlights:
Opta Minerals is a vertically integrated provider of custom process solutions and industrial mineral products used primarily in the steel, foundry, loose abrasive cleaning, water-jet cutting and municipal water filtration industries. The Company has production and distribution facilities in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Idaho, France, Slovakia and Germany. Opta has one of the broadest product lines in the industry.
FOOTNOTES:
Earnings before income taxes and interest („EBIT“); and earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization („EBITDA“) as defined below, are both non-IFRS earnings measures that do not have standardized measures prescribed by IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other publicly traded companies.
Certain statements in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements relating to the Company-s belief that the steel industry will continue to track consistently with the past two quarters resulting in increased revenues in both the Steel and Magnesium and Industrial Minerals segments, its expectation of lower SGA costs in subsequent quarters, its focus on further cost reductions to restore margins to historical levels and its expectations regarding working capital over the next six months, as well as other statements which reflect the current expectations of management of the Company regarding the Company-s future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as „may“, -would“, „could“, „should“, „will“, „anticipate“, „believe“, „plan“, „expect“, „intend“, „estimate“, „aim“, „endeavour“, „seek“, „predict“, „potential“ and similar expressions have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management-s current beliefs with respect to future events and are based on information currently available to management of the Company. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
Many factors could cause the Company-s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: the impact of general economic conditions; the impact of specific industry conditions; the inability of the Company to successfully integrate recently acquired businesses or to achieve the anticipated benefits from such acquisitions; the risk of unexpected costs or liabilities relating to acquisitions; currency fluctuations and exchange rate risks; risks associated with foreign operations; governmental and environmental regulation; competition from other industry participants; cancellations of or the failure to renew purchase orders; production and delivery issues; quality, pricing and availability of raw materials; mining risks; and the other risks identified in the Company-s Annual Information Form and other public filings (copies of which may be obtained at ). Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements may vary materially from those expressed or implied by this press release. These factors should be considered carefully and reader should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management currently believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure readers that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and management-s assumptions may prove to be incorrect. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and, other than as required by law, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
External revenue by market is attributed to countries based on location of the customer.
Included in the Steel and Magnesium segment (formerly Mill and Foundry Products and Services) is revenue from two customers that individually each exceeds 10% of the Company-s revenue.
The Company evaluates the performance of its operating segments primarily based on income before corporate expenses, goodwill and intangible asset write-downs, fair value adjustments to contingent consideration, finance expense and income taxes.
Contacts: Opta Minerals Inc. David Kruse President and Chief Executive Officer
Opta Minerals Inc. Peter Fryters Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer 905-689-7361, ext 405
Only registered users can comment.
