GFI Announces Third Quarter FY2024 Results

PRESS RELEASE

Published February 28, 2024

Company reports strong quarter of revenue, gross profit, EBITDA and positive pre-tax income

HIGHLIGHTS OF Q3 2024

Revenue in the quarter of $36.9 million, with a greater focus on higher margin business lines, which represented 25.8% of total revenue in Q3 2024 compared to 17.9% in Q3 2023.
Record quarter of split pea sales of $3.3 million, a 36.2% increase of the previous record quarter set in Q2 2023.
Gross profit improved 20.4% over the prior comparable period to $2.8 million and adjusted gross profit improved by 59.4% to $3.9 million
Positive pre-tax income of $103 thousand
EBITDA of $1.3 million.

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2024 / Global Food and Ingredients Ltd. (TSXV:PEAS) ("GFI" or the "Company"), today reported third quarter financial results for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2023.

"The third quarter saw break-even results, despite a higher interest rate environment and slower first half market conditions. The results in the quarter were backed by a return to a strong sales level, following the harvest in August, coupled with improvement in gross profit as a result of GFI's continued efforts in prioritizing higher margin generating business lines, specifically split peas, and diligent efforts to manage the Company's open sales order book," commented David Hanna, GFI's CEO. "Our efforts to continue to prioritize higher margin categories for sales along with prudently managing our overhead and non-revenue generating expenses proved successful in the quarter. GFI is committed to the continued growth of the business through both organic and inorganic market opportunities."

Third Quarter Results

Highlights - Three Months ended December 31, 2023

The Company recorded revenue of $36.9 million in the three months ended December 31, 2023, down 6.5% from the prior year quarter predominantly due to $8.3 million lower pea protein input sales which were offset with higher sales in the current period from split peas, pet food ingredients and other commodities.
Gross profit increased 20.4% to $2.8 million in the three months ended December 31, 2023, representing 7.5% of revenue in comparison to 5.8% in the prior period.
The period included a record quarter of adjusted gross profit, which increased 59.4% over the previous period to $3.9 million, backed by the Company's shift to higher margin product lines, specifically plant-based pet food ingredients, split peas and downstream retail packaged products, which collectively represented 25.8% of total revenue, an increase of 7.9% over the prior year comparable period.
Profit before income tax was $103 thousand, a 155.0% improvement over the comparable period, as a result of the strong gross profit levels and lower general and administrative expense, offset by increases in other expenses (interest and foreign exchange).

Highlights - Nine Months ended December 31, 2023

The Company recorded revenue of $76.1 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2023, a decline of 18.5% over the prior year period, predominantly due to slower market conditions in the first half of the year.
Sales backed by the Company's shift to higher margin product lines, specifically plant-based pet food ingredients, split peas and downstream retail packaged products, represented 33.4% of total revenue during the nine months ended December 31, 2023, an increase of 9.1% over the prior year period.
Loss before income tax was $4.9 million, an improvement of 38.9% over the prior comparable period, predominantly due to improved Company expense management and a significant reduction in one-time expenses not incurred in the current period.

Other Highlights & Business Updates After December 31, 2023

In February 2024, the Company closed the previous announced minority investment into its pet food division and recapitalization of the per food assets with a shareholder of the Company. Collectively the transactions unlocked an equity injection of $3.45 million and a new term facility of up to $10.0 million. The proceeds from the transaction were used to repay an outstanding shareholder loan, refinance a portion of the existing bank indebtedness and for continued business growth and working capital purposes.
Concurrent with the closing of the pet food transaction, the Company entered into a new asset-based lending facility of up to $20.0 million. The proceeds from the facility were used to refinance the remaining balance on the existing bank indebtedness. The new facility provides more flexibility to the Company in accessing working capital to support future growth opportunities.
The Company also entered into a promissory note in the amount of $0.5 million with a shareholder of the Company. The proceeds will be used to support future growth opportunities.

The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2023 ("Financial Statements") and related Management's Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A") for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2023, are available under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

About GFI

GFI is a Canadian plant-based food and ingredients company, connecting the local farm to the global supply chain for peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas and other high protein specialty crops. GFI's vision is to become a vertically integrated farm-to-fork plant-based company providing traceable, locally sourced, healthy and sustainable food and ingredients. GFI is organized into four primary business lines: Core Ingredients, Value-Added Ingredients, Plant-Based Pet Food Ingredients and Downstream Products. Headquartered in Toronto, GFI buys directly from its extensive network of farmers, processes its products locally at its four wholly-owned processing facilities in Western Canada and ships to 37 countries across the world.

Contact Information

For further information, please contact:

GLOBAL FOOD AND INGREDIENTS LTD.
Bill Murray, CFO
Phone: 416-840-6801
Email: bill.murray@gfiglobalfood.com

Disclaimer

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Service Provider (as defined policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Cautionary Statements

Non-IFRS Measures

This news release contains the financial performance metric of gross profit margin, adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross profit margin, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin, all of which are measures that are not recognized or defined under IFRS (collectively the "Non-IFRS Measures"). The Non-IFRS Measures are not standardized financial measures under the financial reporting framework used to prepare the financial statements of the Company. As a result, the Non-IFRS Measures may not be comparable to similar financial measures presented by other food and ingredients companies. The Company believes that the Non-IFRS Measures are useful indicators of operational performance and are specifically used by management to assess the financial and operational performance of the Company.

Unless otherwise indicated, all financial information in the press release represents the results from continuing operations.

The following table provides a reconciliation of segment and consolidated gross profit to adjusted gross profit for the periods presented:

	Three months ended December 31,									Nine months ended December 31,
	2023			2022⁽¹⁾			change			2023			2022⁽¹⁾			change
Gross profit	$	2,767,864			2,299,721			20.4	%	$	3,040,801			6,155,519			(50.6	)%
Gross profit margin		7.5	%		5.8	%					4.0	%		6.6	%
Less:
Realized foreign exchange (gain) loss ⁽²⁾		171,892			1,194,554			(85.6	)		118,909			1,813,618			(93.4	)
Plus: Total costs attributable to bringing inventory to a saleable condition: ⁽³⁾
Overhead		1,030,445			1,040,399			(1.0	)		3,052,854			2,687,818			13.6
Amortization of property plant and equipment		263,519			294,346			(10.5	)		792,691			679,292			16.7
Adjusted gross profit	$	3,889,936			2,439,912			59.4	%	$	6,767,437			7,709,011			(12.2	)%
Adjusted gross profit margin		10.6	%		6.2	%					8.9	%		8.3	%

Figures have been re-presented to reflect discontinued operations.
Consists of realized gains and losses on foreign exchange rates for executed transactions. The Company does not participate in hedge accounting practices, but books forward contracts at the time the Company enters into a new contract with a foreign currency denominated vendor. The gain or loss realized at the time of sale is directly related to each of the executed contracts and as a result is indicative of the margin realized on said contract.
This is an IFRS adjustment to allocate applicable overhead costs, including compensation and benefits and other general and administration costs, and amortization of property, plant and equipment specifically related to the Company's operating facilities to cost of sales. Management views these costs as fixed in nature and does not assess them as being indicative of the variable cost of selling its products.

The following table provides a reconciliation of consolidated loss for the period to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented:

	Three months ended December 31,										Nine months ended December 31,
	2023			2022⁽⁹⁾			change				2023			2022⁽⁹⁾			change
(Loss) profit for the period	$	(12,342	)		39,876			(131.0	)	%	$	(4,154,934	)		(6,295,118	)		34.0	%
Plus:
Income tax expense (recovery)		115,038			(226,640	)		(150.8	)			(716,623	)		(1,677,382	)		(57.3	)
Proft (loss) before income taxes		102,696			(186,764	)		155.0				(4,871,557	)		(7,972,500	)		38.9
Plus:
Interest ⁽¹⁾		734,807			510,369			44.0				2,111,231			1,686,143			25.2
Depreciation and amortization ⁽²⁾		468,445			477,062			(1.8	)			1,400,032			1,184,875			18.2
EBITDA		1,305,948			800,667			63.1				(1,360,294	)		(5,101,482	)		73.3
Other income ⁽³⁾		(33,592	)		(5,348	)		528.1				(78,933	)		(5,021	)		1,472.1
Loss on derivative liability related to convertible debentures ⁽⁴⁾		-			-			n/a				-			221,173			(100.0	)
Gain on warrant revaluation ⁽⁴⁾		(2,713	)		(32,003	)		(91.5	)			(12,336	)		(163,119	)		(92.4	)
Unrealized (gain) loss on derivative financial instruments ⁽⁵⁾		(411,007	)		(1,607,675	)		(74.4	)			(213,905	)		678,994			131.5
Unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain) ⁽⁵⁾		160,316			78,464			104.3				(15,099	)		40,213			(137.5	)
Listing expense ⁽⁶⁾		-			-			n/a				-			2,075,733			(100.0	)
Acquisition / one-time transaction and brand development costs ⁽⁶⁾		75,505			141,626			(46.7	)			78,989			1,426,878			(94.5	)
Share based compensation ⁽⁷⁾		67,645			110,188			(38.6	)			196,621			224,930			(12.6	)
Other ⁽⁸⁾		121,751			67,452			80.5				278,836			346,328			(19.5	)
Adjusted EBITDA	$	1,283,853			(446,629	)		387.5	%		$	(1,126,121	)		(255,373	)		(341.0	)%
Adjusted EBITDA margin		3.5	%		(1.1	%)						(1.5	%)		(0.3	%)

⁽¹⁾	Interest includes all finance costs net of interest income.
⁽²⁾	Depreciation and amortization include depreciation of property, plant and equipment, amortization of right-of-use assets, amortization of intangible assets and amortization of deferred financing fees.
⁽³⁾	Consists of incomes and expenses incurred outside of the normal course of operation.
⁽⁴⁾	This is a non-cash item that consists of the fair value revaluation of the convertible debentures and warrants.
⁽⁵⁾	Consists of (i) non-cash, unrealized gains and losses attributable to foreign exchange rate fluctuations and (ii) non-cash gains and losses on foreign exchange "mark-to-market" in connection with our derivative financial instruments.
⁽⁶⁾	Consists of acquisition, integration and other costs such as legal, consulting and other fees and expenses incurred in respect of acquisitions, financing, rebranding and product development costs and Transaction-related activities completed during the applicable period.
⁽⁷⁾	This is a non-cash item and consists of the amortization of the estimated fair value of share-based options granted under the Company's share-based option plan.
⁽⁸⁾	Other expenses incurred by the Company in the applicable period noted relating to one-time, non-recurring, start-up related or other expenses as disclosed by the Company. For the three and nine months ended December 31, 2023 the expenses relate to closing costs associated with the divested Yofiit division including a one-time contract termination charge and one-time severance costs. For the three and nine months ended December 31, 2022 the expenses relate to start-up costs as a result of operating the pea-splitting facility during the period of commissioning and commercialization of the product, with low to minimal third-party outputs.
⁽⁹⁾	Figures have been re-presented to reflect discontinued operations.

Non-IFRS Measures should be considered together with other financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS to enable investors to evaluate the GFI's operating results, underlying performance and prospects in a manner similar to GFI's management.

Accordingly, these Non-IFRS Measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking information and statements ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "will", "should", "expects", "continue", "estimate", "forecasts" and other similar expressions. Forward looking statements in this press release include without limitation statements relating to the use of proceeds from the asset-based lending facility and promissory note, the impact of the pet food transactions on the Company's financial condition and prospects and the business vision of the Company. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. GFI undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of GFI, its securities, or financial or operating results (as applicable). Although GFI believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking information in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking information has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond GFI's control, including the risk factors discussed in GFI's annual information form for the year ended March 31, 2023, which are incorporated herein by reference and are available through SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. The forward-looking information contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. GFI disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: Global Food and Ingredients

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