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Mar 9, 2009 at 11:35 PM UTC
Mar 9
Mar 9, 2009 at 11:35 PM UTC
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GENIVAR Income Fund announces fourth quarter and year-end results

MONTREAL, March 9 /CNW Telbec/ - GENIVAR Income Fund (the "Fund") announced strong growth in revenues, net revenues and EBITDA for its fourth quarter of 2008 and for the period from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008.

Highlights

- For the full year 2008, revenues grew from $257.2 million, in 2007, to
  $387.8 million, representing a 50.8% increase. Net revenues were
  $320.1 million, up 54.9% from $206.6 million in 2007. EBITDA stood a
  $68.6 million, up 62.7% from $42.2 million in 2007.

- Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2008 were $115.7 million, up 64.1%
  for the same period in 2007. Net revenues increased by 60.8% to
  $93.3 million compared to $58.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.
  EBITDA reached $19.6 million for the period from September 28 to
  December 31, 2008, up 53.3% for the same period in 2007.

- For the full year 2008, earnings before non-controlling interest were
  $42.5 million, or $1.95 per unit, up from $25.9 million, or $1.32 per
  unit, in 2007. Earnings before non-controlling interest were
  $10.2 million or $0.44 per unit for the fourth quarter compared to
  $9.1 million or $0.44 per unit for the same period in 2007. In the
  fourth quarter of 2008, net earnings were impacted by increased
  depreciation, amortization, interest and income tax expenses of
  $5.7 million.

- In 2008, the Fund generated adjusted distributable cash of
  $52.9 million, or $2.26 per unit, of which $38.0 million were
  distributed to unitholders, representing annual distributions of $1.70
  per unit and an adjusted payout ratio of 71.8%. This represents an
  increase of $18.9 million of adjusted distributable cash, or $0.67 per
  unit, over the 2007 fiscal year. For the fourth quarter of 2008, the
  Fund generated adjusted distributable cash of $13.8 million, or $0.59
  per unit, up from $11.2 million or $0.53 per unit for the same period
  in 2007.

"We are extremely pleased with our financial performance in 2008 and the solid execution of our business plan," said Pierre Shoiry, GENIVAR's President and CEO. "In 2008, we significantly expanded our geographic reach and broadened the expertise of our market segments with the addition of 1,000 employees. Our team is strong and our business operates in a wide range of sectors throughout Canada and abroad which should help us mitigate the impact of the current economic environment," concluded Pierre Shoiry.

Conference call

The Fund will hold a conference call at 2:00 PM (Eastern Time), March 10, 2009, to discuss these results.

To participate in the conference call:

- Montreal region, dial 514-861-2909

- Canada and United States, dial 1-877-695-6175

Enter access code 5147582

The replay of the conference call will also be available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's web site in the following days at www.genivar.com.

About GENIVAR

GENIVAR is a leading Canadian engineering services firm providing private and public-sector clients with a complete range of professional consulting services throughout all project phases, including planning, design, construction and maintenance. Ranging in size and scope, GENIVAR's clients primarily operate in the building, industrial, power, municipal infrastructure, transportation and environmental sectors. GENIVAR is one of Canada's largest consulting engineering services firms by number of employees, with more than 3,500 managers, professionals, technicians, technologists and support staff in more than 90 offices in Canada and internationally (www.genivar.com).

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
---------------------
---------------------

                        -------------------------------------------------
                                    3 months               12 months
                        -------------------------------------------------
                                2008        2007        2008        2007
                        -------------------------------------------------
                             FOR THE     FOR THE     FOR THE     FOR THE
                              PERIOD      PERIOD      PERIOD      PERIOD
                                FROM        FROM        FROM        FROM
                        SEPTEMBER 28   OCTOBER 1   JANUARY 1   JANUARY 1
                                  TO          TO          TO          TO
                            DECEMBER    DECEMBER    DECEMBER    DECEMBER
IN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS           31          31          31          31
 EXCEPT PER UNIT DATA     (UNAUDITED) (UNAUDITED)   (AUDITED)   (AUDITED)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenues                   $ 115,718    $ 70,528   $ 387,803   $ 257,205

Deduct: Subconsultants
 and other direct
 expenses                   $ 22,455    $ 12,529    $ 67,709    $ 50,577

Net revenues                $ 93,263    $ 57,999   $ 320,094   $ 206,628

Direct project costs        $ 45,353    $ 29,237   $ 157,986   $ 105,979
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin                $ 47,910    $ 28,762   $ 162,108   $ 100,649

Marketing, general,
 and administrative
 expenses and others        $ 28,312    $ 15,974    $ 93,499    $ 58,489
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
EBITDA                      $ 19,598    $ 12,788    $ 68,609    $ 42,160
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interest                       $ 850       $ 158     $ 2,341     $ 1,651

Depreciation of
 property, plant, and
 equipment                   $ 1,647       $ 924     $ 4,705     $ 2,893

Amortization of
 intangible assets           $ 5,486     $ 3,061    $ 16,527    $ 10,687
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earnings before income
 taxes and
 non-controlling
 interest                   $ 11,615     $ 8,645    $ 45,036    $ 26,929

Income taxes                 $ 1,434      ($ 459)    $ 2,518       $ 983
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earnings before
 non-controlling
 interest                   $ 10,181     $ 9,104    $ 42,518    $ 25,946

Non-controlling interest     $ 3,955     $ 3,428    $ 16,703    $ 10,651
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net earnings                 $ 6,226     $ 5,676    $ 25,815    $ 15,295

Basic net earnings
 per unit                     $ 0.44      $ 0.44      $ 1.95      $ 1.32

Weighted average number
 of units                 14,192,428  12,858,533  13,213,513  11,543,532

Diluted net earnings
 per unit                     $ 0.44      $ 0.43      $ 1.95      $ 1.32

Diluted weighted average
 number of units          23,224,760  21,332,787  21,829,087  19,635,498
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


DISTRIBUTABLE CASH
------------------
------------------

                        -------------------------------------------------
                                    3 months               12 months
                        -------------------------------------------------
                                2008        2007        2008        2007
                        -------------------------------------------------
                             FOR THE     FOR THE     FOR THE     FOR THE
                              PERIOD      PERIOD      PERIOD      PERIOD
                                FROM        FROM        FROM        FROM
                        SEPTEMBER 28   OCTOBER 1   JANUARY 1   JANUARY 1
                                  TO          TO          TO          TO
                            DECEMBER    DECEMBER    DECEMBER    DECEMBER
IN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS           31          31          31          31
 EXCEPT PER UNIT DATA     (UNAUDITED) (UNAUDITED)   (AUDITED)   (AUDITED)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash flows from operating
 activities                 $ 14,069    $ 19,735    $ 38,322    $ 31,801
Capital expenditures paid   ($ 3,748)   ($ 1,442)  ($ 10,438)   ($ 8,052)

Standardized
 distributable cash(1)      $ 10,321    $ 18,293    $ 27,884    $ 23,749
Change in non-cash
 working capital items(2)    $ 3,433    ($ 7,211)   $ 24,988     $ 8,461
Capital expenditures paid
 for non-recurring
 items(3)                          -       $ 136           -     $ 2,567
Purchase of units in the
 market under the
 long-term incentive
 plan                              -           -           -      ($ 825)

Adjusted distributable
 cash(1)(4)                 $ 13,754    $ 11,218    $ 52,872    $ 33,952

Adjusted distributable
 cash, per unit(1)(4)         $ 0.59      $ 0.53      $ 2.26      $ 1.59

Payout ratio
  Standardized                 186.7%       64.2%      136.1%      110.1%
  Adjusted                     140.1%      104.7%       71.8%       77.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distributions

Fund's units
 distributions              $ 11,793     $ 7,095    $ 23,080    $ 15,500

Class B Exchangeable LP
 Unit distributions          $ 3,571     $ 2,053     $ 6,836     $ 4,493

Class C Exchangeable LP
 Unit distributions          $ 3,904     $ 2,601     $ 8,043     $ 6,149

Aggregate
 distributions,
 all units(4)               $ 19,268    $ 11,749    $ 37,959    $ 26,142

Aggregate
 distributions, all
 units, per unit(4)           $ 0.83      $ 0.55      $ 1.70      $ 1.30
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Calculation of the distributable cash included a foreign income taxes
    of $0.7 million for the three-month period and of $2.1 million for
    the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2008. Out of this amount,
    $1.3 million will be included on the unitholders' T3 slip as foreign
    income taxes.
(2) Distributions are based on actual historical and estimated future
    performance of the Fund on a full-year basis. Consequently, periodic
    fluctuations in non-cash working capital are not considered when
    evaluating the cash flows available for distribution.
(3) Non-recurring capital expenditures pertain to a construction project
    which had for objective to expand square footage of the main office
    in Quebec City.
(4) Distributable cash and distributable cash per unit amounts are
    calculated for the combined interest of the Fund's units and
    Exchangeable Class B LP units and Exchangeable Class C LP Units,
    which total 23,354,476 as at December 31, 2008 (21,366,405 as at
    December 31, 2007). Number of units has not been adjusted to reflect
    units purchased in the market in connection with the long-term
    incentive plan since the distributions on these units continue to be
    declared and paid.

NON-GAAP MEASURES

The Fund uses non-GAAP measures that are used by Canadian open-ended income funds as indicators of financial performance measures under GAAP and may differ from similar computations as reported by other similar entities and, accordingly, may not be comparable. The Fund believes these measures are useful supplemental measures that may assist investors in assessing an investment in units of the Fund.

Non-GAAP measures used by the Fund are net revenues, EBITDA, distributable cash, and payout ratio. These measures are defined below.

Net revenues

Net revenues are defined as revenues from consulting services less direct costs for subconsultants and other direct expenses that are recoverable directly from our clients. Net revenues are not a measure in accordance with GAAP and do not have standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP. Therefore, net revenues may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Investors are cautioned that net revenues should not be construed as an alternative to revenues for the period (as determined in accordance with GAAP), as an indicator of the Fund's performance.

EBITDA

EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. EBITDA is not an earnings measure in accordance with GAAP and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP. Therefore, EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

Distributable cash

Distributable cash is calculated in accordance with the recommendations provided in CICA's publication "Standardized Distributable Cash in Income Trusts and Other Flow-Through Entities." Standardized distributable cash is defined as cash flows from operating activities as reported in the GAAP financial statements, including the effects of changes in non-cash working capital items and any operating cash flows provided from or used in discontinued operations, less adjustments for:

  (a) total capital expenditures as reported in the GAAP financial
      statements; and
  (b) restrictions on distributions arising from compliance with
      financial covenants restrictive at the date of the calculation of
      standardized distributable cash and limitations arising from the
      existence of a minority interest in a subsidiary.

The Fund also calculated an adjusted distributable cash, which is defined as standardized distributable cash adjusted for entity-specific adjustment items that management believes are appropriate for the determination of levels of distributions.

Payout ratio

Standardized payout ratio is defined as aggregate cash distributions divided by standardized distributable cash. Adjusted payout ratio is defined as aggregate cash distributions divided by adjusted distributable cash.