Uni-Select Posts Doubling of Earnings in Q4, Earnings Up 9% in 2010

During the fourth quarter ended on December 31, 2010, Uni-Select doubled its earnings from continuing operations and increased its earnings by more than 9% in 2010.
Sales reached CDN$309.4 million compared to CDN$315.6 million in 2009. The strength of the Canadian dollar and the sale of some corporate stores in Canada have generated a decline in revenue for the fourth quarter. However, when excluding these elements, Uni-Select’s revenue shows a positive organic growth of 2.6 % for the fourth quarter of 2010.
The earnings from continuing operations reached CDN$11.8 million or $0.60 per share compared to CDN$5.3 million or $0.27 per share in 2009. The results from the fourth quarter take into account the non-recurring items of CDN$1.0 million related to the sale of the operations of the Heavy Duty Group in 2009. The net earnings for this period reached CDN$10.8 million, an increase of 50% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.
US sales reached CDN$183.2 million compared to CDN$189.6 million in 2009. Excluding the fluctuation effect of the exchange rate, the operations generated an organic growth of 3.6% during the fourth quarter.
The Canadian operations recorded an organic growth of 1.1% during the fourth quarter and totalled CDN$126.2 million , a performance comparable to 2009. It is worth to note that total revenues of the corporation have been impacted by sale of corporate stores concluded during preceding quarters.
“We are happy to report that for two consecutive quarters the US operations have registered an organic growth of more than 3.5%. This growth reflects efforts put in place to improve loyalty amongst our wholesalers, level of service offered to our installers, sales to national accounts, and the increase of sales via our new distributions channels. We shall pursue continuously these efforts to improve our operations. In the next few weeks, we will gradually start implementation of our operation modules to our integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software” declared Richard G. Roy, president and CEO of Uni-Select.
“We are excited about the potential benefit which will be offered by the acquisition of FinishMaster. Many synergies will arise through the complementarity of the business models, the networks of distribution and clients. On January 11, 2011, Uni-Select and FinishMaster combined their respective teams into one single team grouping more than 6,100 employees, 64 warehouses and 424 corporate stores throughout Canada and 35 states of the USA,” added Roy.

Financial highlights from the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2010:

For the fiscal year ended on December 31, 2010, Uni-Select’s sales totalled CDN$1,324 million compared to CDN$1,410 million in 2009. Organic growth was 1.8% during the course of the fiscal year even though overall revenue declined. Due to the strength of the Canadian dollar, converting the results of the US operations to Canadian dollars caused the sales to decline by approximately by CDN$90 million. Additionally, the closure of corporate stores during preceding quarters reduced the sales by CDN$21 million.
The adjusted earnings related to the continuing operations reached 50.9 million dollars or $2.58 per share, for a 7% increase from CDN$47.7 million or $2.42 per share realised in 2009. Fluctuation in the US currency had an adverse effect of more than CDN$2.8 million or $0.14 per share on the year end results. Excluding these elements, the results for the fiscal year would have been $2.72 per share and would have demonstrated a growth of 12% over 2009.
The sales of the US operations totalled CDN$805.4 million compared to CDN$884.2 million in 2009. Excluding the impact from foreign exchange rate fluctuations, the US operations generated an organic growth of 2.7% during the fiscal year.
The Canadian operations had an organic growth of 0.4%. Sales totalled CDN$518.3 million compared to CDN$525.7 million in 2009. This slight decline results exclusively from the sale and the closing of certain corporate stores during the preceding quarters.

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