Press Releases

Second Quarter Highlights:

• Net revenue increased to $16.6 million, from $15.9 million in the prior year.
• Gross margin was 30.9%, compared to 31.1%, prior year, excluding one-time costs.
• Selling, Marketing and Administration (“SM&A”) expenses were $2.8 million up slightly from $2.7 million prior year.
• EBITDA* rose to $3.3 million, compared to $3.0 million prior year, excluding one-time costs.
• The Board of Directors approved the quarterly dividend, $0.02/share, payable October 23, 2018 to shareholders of record as of October 9, 2018. The dividend is classified as an eligible dividend.

First Half Highlights:

• Net revenue excluding one-time costs was $27.3 million, down slightly from $27.4 million in the prior year.
• The Beer Store (TBS), the company’s largest customer, moved from buy/sell to consignment-based system resulting in a one-time gross profit decrease of $2.2 million.
• Selling, Marketing and Administration (“SM&A”) expenses increased slightly, to $4.9 million, vs. $4.8 million prior year.
• EBITDA* was $4.3 million, down from $4.7 million in the prior year, ex one-time costs.

KITCHENER, Ontario, Sept. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brick Brewing Co. Limited (“Brick” or the “Company”) (TSX: BRB), Ontario’s largest Canadian-owned brewery, today released financial results for the second quarter ended July 29, 2018. Brick reported EBITDA of $3.3 million on net revenue of $16.6 million.

George Croft, Brick President and Chief Executive Officer commented, “We are very pleased with our overall recovery and EBITDA performance in our second quarter. The warm summer weather has been very positive for the beer industry pushing total Ontario beer industry 0.6% higher than the prior year.  Our lead brands performed better than the industry norm.  The Waterloo family grew 4.7%, Laker family 1.9%, and our summer-themed brands LandShark and Margaritaville have shown a growth of 9.6%. Our Landshark in-case promotion along with the packaging redesign of our Laker brand family have shown positive results and have provided a lift to our quarterly volume.”

“Early in the quarter we successfully completed the installation of a new can line filler and pasteurizer which not only doubled our canning capacity but also enhanced our packaging capabilities”, commented Russell Tabata, Brick’s Chief Operating Officer.  “The ramp up and commissioning of this new equipment has been fantastic.  As of the end of July, the new equipment is operating ahead of targeted rates and has delivered additional volume during the critical summer selling season.”

Margins showed positive recovery in the second quarter.  Despite the negative pressure caused by increased taxes and product mix, margins return to +30% level.  “Our second quarter also saw our co-pack revenue grow by 19% to $4.2 million compared to prior year.  Our co-pack business continues to generate incremental cashflow to support the ongoing development of our business,” commented George Croft.

Brick’s board of directors has approved the quarterly dividend at $0.02/share.  The dividend is payable October 23, 2018 to shareholders of record as of October 9, 2018.

STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Quarters ended July 29, 2018 and July 30, 2017

STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION
As at July 29, 2018 and January 31, 2018

STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
Quarters ended July 29, 2018 and July 30, 2017

About Brick Brewing

Brick is Ontario's largest Canadian-owned brewery. The Company is a regional brewer of award-winning premium quality and value beers and is officially certified under the Global Food Safety Standard, one of the highest and most internationally recognized standards for safe food production. Founded in 1984, Brick Brewing Co. was the first craft brewery to start up in Ontario, and is credited with pioneering the present day craft brewing renaissance in Canada. Brick has complemented its Waterloo premium craft beers with the popular Laker brand.  In 2011, Brick purchased the Canadian rights to Seagram Coolers and in 2015, secured the exclusive Canadian rights to both LandShark and Margaritaville. In addition, Brick utilizes its leading edge brewing, blending and packaging capabilities to provide an extensive array of contract manufacturing services in beer, coolers and ciders. Brick trades on the TSX under the symbol BRB. Visit us at www.brickbeer.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "seek", "plan", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause actual performance and financial results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only at the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation does not undertake to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

* EBITDA is a non-IFRS earnings measure, therefore it does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards and may not be similar to measures presented by other companies. EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, loss on disposal of property, plant, and equipment, and share based payments. Management uses this measurement to evaluate the operating results of the Company. This measure is also important to management since it is used by the Company’s lenders to evaluate the ongoing cash generating capability of the Company and therefore the amounts those lenders are willing to lend to the Company. Investors find EBITDA to be useful information because it provides a measure of the Company’s operating performance.

Contact Information
For further information:
David Birch Chief Financial Officer
(519) 742-2732 Ext. 106
E-mail info@brickbeer.com