Uni-Select Inc. reported financial results with increased EBITDA margins for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015.
“2015 has been a pivotal year for Uni-Select, namely marked by a different asset profile and the development of a truly customer value-creating sales approach. In this context, I am very pleased that both of our business units have been delivering consistent organic growth throughout the year, while at the same time directly contributing to making Uni-Select a more profitable and increasingly competitive organization,” said Henry Buckley, president and CEO of Uni-Select. “As we enter 2016, our objective is to continue to actively pursue our growth objectives through strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives aimed at increasing market share across both our business segments.”
Consolidated sales for the fourth quarter were $259.2 million, a 39.3 percent decrease mainly due to the sale of the net assets of Uni‐Select USA Inc. and Beck/Arnley Worldparts Inc. Excluding sales from the net assets sold, consolidated sales grew 0.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Additional sales from recent acquisitions and organic growth exceeded the impact of the declining Canadian dollar, which alone penalized sales by $17.5 million or 6.8 percent.
On an organic basis, Uni-Select said consolidated sales grew by 2.6 percent, fueled namely by the recruitment of new customers in the paint and related products segment combined with the results of the development of a customer-centric strategy in the automotive products segment, as well as by overall pricing increases.
Full Year 2015
Consolidated sales for 2015 decreased by 24 percent to $1,355.4 million; however when excluding the impact of the sales from net assets sold, this represents an increase of 0.3 percent, a performance explained by the same factors as for the fourth quarter. On an organic basis, sales grew a healthy 2.6 percent in 2015 but were impacted by the declining Canadian dollar, which alone penalized sales by $66.5 million or 6.3 percent.
The corporation recorded a net loss of $40.2 million this year, while adjusted earnings grew 2.8 percent to $56.8 million ($2.66 on a per share basis) from $55.3 million ($2.60 on a per share basis) last year.
The corporation’s results are presented in U.S. dollars. Once converted to Canadian dollars, adjusted earnings per share for 2015 amount to C$3.41 compared to C$2.87 in 2014, up 18.8 percent.
