Toronto, Ontario, October 30, 2012 - Prism Medical Ltd., ("Prism Medical" or "the Company") (TSXV: PM), a leading provider of durable medical equipment and related services to the mobility challenged, today reported financial results for the third quarter (Q3) ended August 31, 2012.

Financial Summary

(in thousands of Canadian dollars) Three months ended
August 31
Nine months ended
August 31
2012 2011 %
Change
2012 2011 %
Change
Revenues $17,188 $18,450 (6.8%) $57,757 $53,407 8.1%
Gross profit $6,690 $7,001 (4.4%) $22,758 $21,627 5.2%
(as % of revenues) 38.9% 37.9% 39.4% 40.5%
Net income $71 $443 (84.0%) $2,417 $2,420 0%
(as % of revenues) 0% 2.4% 4.2% 4.5%
EBITDA1 $1,003 $1,730 (42.0%) $5,843 $6,640 (12.0%)
(as % of revenues) 5.8% 9.3% 10% 12.4%
Earnings per share
Basic $0.01 $0.07 (85.7%) $0.29 $0.40 (27.5%)
Diluted $0.01 $0.07 (85.7%) $0.29 $0.35 (17.1%)


Third Quarter Highlights

  • The UK and Canadian business have performed well as strategic initiatives continue to be successfully implemented, however budgetary constraints and economic uncertainty in the US impacted the Company's Q3 results. The US market is underdeveloped and dependent on capital project implementations which are more sensitive to budgetary contractions.
  • Subsequent to the quarter the Company's lender increased the Credit Facility relating to the demand revolving loan from $15.0 million to $17.5 million and the demand revolving loan to finance acquisitions from $7.5 million to $27.5 million.

"Our financials for this quarter were not as strong as we anticipated, primarily due to the economic uncertainty in the U.S.," said Stuart Meldrum, Chief Executive Officer of Prism Medical. "The performance of the US economy has resulted in reduced capital spending by our customers. However, the U.S. market is relatively underpenetrated and we continue to believe in the positive long term trends that underpin our optimism of the growth potential of this market. We have also been successfully implementing our strategic initiatives in the UK and Canada, and we have been performing well in these markets. We continue to see strength in service revenues from the UK and strong institutional demand for our products in Canada."

Financial Review

Revenues

Total revenues for Q3 2012 decreased by 6.8% to $17.2 million compared to $18.4 million in Q3 2011.

The United States represented 25.0% of the Company's revenues in Q3 2012 compared to 27.0% in Q3 2011. Revenues in the U.S. declined by 12.2% in Q3 2012 compared with the same period in the prior year. The decline was primarily due to the economic uncertainty in the U.S., resulting in delay or cancellation of capital spending projects. However, economic uncertainty does not affect the positive long term trends that underpin the Company's optimism of the growth potential of this market.

Canadian sales composed 17.0% of the Company's revenues in Q3 2012 unchanged from Q3 2011. Revenues in Canada decreased by 9.1% in Q3 2012 compared with the same period in the prior year. Canada had a particularly strong first half resulting in a small market correction in the quarter.

The United Kingdom comprised 58.0% of the Company's revenues in Q3 2012 compared to 56.0% in Q3 2011. Revenues in the UK decreased by 3.6% in Q3 2012 compared with the same period in the prior year however on a year to date basis revenues are ahead of last year and have remained strong.

Gross Profit

Gross profit dollars for the three month period ended August 31, 2012 decreased by 4.4%, to $6.7 million compared with the prior year. Gross profit rate for the three month period ended August 31, 2012 increased slightly to 38.9% from 37.9% in Q3 2011. The increase in gross profit rate was primarily due to continuing improvements in engineering efficiencies in the UK.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling and marketing expenses for the three months ended August 31, 2012 increased by 17.1% to $1.9 million, compared to the same period in the prior year. General and administrative expenses increased by 9.1% to $4.6 million in the three month period ended August 31, 2012, compared with the corresponding period in the prior year. The increase in SG&A was primarily due to increased costs in the US to support an anticipated revenue growth and expansion.

EBITDA1

EBITDA for the three month period ended August 31, 2012 decreased by 42.0% to $1,003, or 5.8% of sales, compared to $1,730, or 9.3% of sales in Q3 2011. EBITDA for the nine month period ended August 31, 2012 decreased by 12% to $5,843 or 10.1% of sales compared to $6,640 or 12.4% of sales in the comparative period last year.

Net Income

Net income for the three months ended August 31, 2012 decreased by $372 or 84% and was virtually unchanged for the nine months ended August 31, 2012 compared to the same period last year. The decrease in the third quarter was driven by lower operating profit offset by lower interest expense and higher tax recoveries recorded in the U.S.. Basic earnings per share and current quarter fully diluted earnings per share dropped due to the lower net income. On a year-to-date basis, fully diluted earnings per share dropped from $0.35 to $0.29 despite net income remaining relatively unchanged. This was due to the impact of the conversion of the convertible debentures on the calculation of the prior year fully diluted earnings per share.

Liquidity

At August 31, 2012, total debt net of cash was $12.4 million, compared with $12.6 million at November 30, 2011.

Dividends paid to date

In this fiscal year, the Company has paid $0.32 per share in dividends or $0.08 per share per quarter. This being the anticipated dividend level for the Company during this fiscal year, no further dividend payments will be made for the balance of the year.

Outlook

Prism intends to grow sales, profitability and return on shareholders' equity. The Company believes that performance will be positively affected by continued North American institutional demand for our products, improved manufacturing efficiencies, greater geographic coverage, and revenues and profits from new product introductions. With the additional distribution, both through independent dealers and Companyowned platforms, Prism hopes to achieve gradual growth in UK and North American profitability even with the ongoing restricted credit environment.

The demand for our core products and services, in management's estimation, continues to experience growth at different rates in the geographic markets in which we participate. Government funding for our products, particularly in Canada and the UK is a key driver of sales. Although government policies related to healthcare in the markets we operate continue to change, we believe that the long term trend continues to be favourable.

We estimate that for Prism, the U.S. market holds the greatest long-term potential to provide above-average revenue growth. Institutional penetration for safe patient moving and handling equipment is well below what may be witnessed in mature markets such as the UK and the homecare market is similarly underdeveloped. While budget constraints and the cyclicality of the institutional order pipeline can cause variability in U.S. revenue, our efforts to build a larger footprint in this market have already translated into strong revenue growth. Prism is actively growing its sales footprint in the U.S. and designing affordable products for the private-pay homecare market.

Notice of Conference Call

Prism Medical will host a conference call on November 1, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. EST to discuss its financial results. Stuart Meldrum, CEO, will Chair and George Chiarucci, CFO, will co-chair the call. All interested parties can join the call by referring to the information below:

CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS:

DATE: Thursday, November 1, 2012
TIME: 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time
DIAL-IN NUMBER: (647) 427-7450 or (888) 231-8191
TAPED REPLAY: (416) 849-0833 or (855) 859-2056
REFERENCE NUMBER: 58440717


Please dial in 15 minutes prior to the call to secure a line. A live audio webcast of the conference call will also be available at www.prismmedicalltd.com. Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to join the webcast.

About Prism Medical Ltd.

Prism Medical Ltd. is one of the largest providers and manufacturers of durable medical equipment and related services to the mobility challenged in Canada, the US and the UK, with more than 100,000 installations and 200,000 product solutions sold. The Prism Medical brands include Waverley Glen and ErgoSafe, North America's leading supplier of lifting, handling and repositioning aid products and services across Canada and the US Freeway and Prism Service & Repair are leading suppliers of moving and handling products and services in the UK. For further information visit Prism Medical's website at www.prismmedicalltd.com or www.sedar.com.

1Non-IFRS Financial Measures

Prism Medical's consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Company also uses non-IFRS measures such as EBITDA to measure its financial performance. EBITDA consists of earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation expense. EBITDA is a financial metric used by many investors to compare companies on the basis of operating results, asset value and the ability to incur and service debt. Management believes that EBITDA is a useful measure for evaluating the performance of the Company. EBITDA is not a recognized measure under IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and may not be comparable to similarly titled financial metrics reported by other companies.

Forward-Looking Information

This document contains forward-looking statements relating to our operations and to the environment in which we operate and our strategy, action plans and investments, which may involve estimates, forecasts and projections. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and/or are beyond our control. A number of important factors could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. These factors include those set forth in this report and our other public filings. Consequently, readers should not place any undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this report. Prism Medical is under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein should material facts change due to new information, future events or other factors. All forward-looking statements attributable to Prism Medical are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

George Chiarucci
Chief Financial Officer
gchiarucci@prismmedicalltd.com
416-260-2145 ext. 229
Babak Pedram
TMX Equicom
bpedram@tmxequicom.com
416-815-0700 ext. 264

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