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UrtheCast Reports First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

VANCOUVER, May 4, 2017 — (PRNewswire) —  UrtheCast Corp. (TSX: UR) ("UrtheCast" or the "Company") today announces financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

Higher Revenues and Lower Operating Costs in the First Quarter of 2017

(in millions of Canadian dollars)

Q1 2017

Q1 2016

Revenue excluding non-cash revenue (1)

9.4

6.8

Revenue    

$

9.4

$

12.2

Operating costs

15.6

24.0

Net loss

(5.1)

(11.1)

Adjusted EBITDA(1)

(1.3)

(6.0)

1

Non-IFRS earnings measure. See reconciliation to Revenue and Net Loss later in this press release

 

Excluding the non-cash revenue related to the ISS cameras of $5.3 million recorded in the first quarter of 2016, revenues increased by $2.6 million, or 38%, from higher Earth Observation (EO) imagery sales and higher engineering services revenues.

The net loss of $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2017 (2016 - $11.1 million) improved by $6.0 million, or 54%, over the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA of $(1.3) million also improved by $4.7 million, or 78%, over the prior year, primarily due to an overall decrease in UrtheCast's operating costs resulting from its continued focus on cost-savings initiatives, including consolidating certain software development and operations activities and reducing cloud storage costs.

Business Highlights

EO Update

UrtheDaily Update

OptiSAR Progress

Government Funding

Financing and Liquidity

Guidance

For fiscal 2017, the Company expects to achieve revenue of between $52 and $60 million and adjusted EBITDA of between $7 and $12 million.

"The Company is continuing to execute on our current business, which is growing and from which we've removed a lot of operating costs," said Wade Larson, UrtheCast's President and CEO. "At the same time, we're very pleased with the momentum on our big initiatives of UrtheDaily and OptiSAR. We expect to make announcements on both fronts soon."

SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following table provides selected financial information of the Company, which was derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

(in thousands of Canadian dollars)

Three Months Ended March 31,



2017


2016

Revenue    

$

9,396


12,152

Other operating income


50


-



9,446


12,152

Operating costs





Direct costs, selling, general and administrative expenses


10,509


15,127

Research expenditures


276


1,736

Depreciation and amortization


4,474


6,564

Share-based payments


333


558



15,592


23,985

Operating loss


(6,146)


(11,833)

Net finance costs


(442)


(521)

Loss on derivative financial instruments


242


-

Foreign exchange (loss) gain


(219)


(192)

Loss before income taxes


(6,565)


(12,546)

Income tax recovery (expense)


1,486


1,446

Net loss


(5,079)


(11,100)

Other comprehensive income (loss)


542


(1,959)

Comprehensive loss

$

(4,537)


(13,059)

Net loss per share – basic and diluted

$

(0.05)


(0.11)

 

NON-IFRS EARNINGS MEASURES

(in thousands of Canadian dollars)

Three Months Ended March 31,



2017


2016

NON-IFRS REVENUE:





Revenue per income statement

$

9,396

$

12,152

Non-cash revenue


-


(5,334)

NON-IFRS REVENUE

$

9,396

$

6,818






ADJUSTED EBITDA:





Net loss

$

(5,079)

$

(11,100)

Add back (subtract):





Depreciation and amortization


4,474


6,564

Net finance costs


442


521

Income tax recovery


(1,486)


(1,446)

EBITDA


(1,649)


(5,461)

Non-cash revenue


-


(5,334)

Non-cash operating costs


-


4,066

Share-based payments expense


333


558

Loss on derivative financial instruments


(242)


-

Foreign exchange losses (gains)


219


192

ADJUSTED EBITDA

$

(1,339)

$

(5,979)

 

As previously announced, UrtheCast will host a conference call regarding its first quarter 2017 financial results at 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. PT) on May 4, 2017.  The live conference call will be available by calling toll-free at 1-800-806-5484, or by toll call at +1-416-340-2217. The participant pass code is 1998003#.

An archived version of the conference call will be made available on the Company's investor website ( investors.urthecast.com) following the live conference call.

ABOUT URTHECAST CORP.

UrtheCast Corp. is a Vancouver-based technology company that serves the rapidly evolving geospatial and geoanalytics markets with a wide range of information-rich products and services. The Company operates Earth Observation (EO) sensors in space, including two satellites, Deimos-1 and Deimos-2, to produce imagery data that is displayed on UrtheCast's cloud-based web platform and sold to partners and customers. Through its subsidiary Deimos Imaging, UrtheCast processes and distributes imagery data and value-added products on behalf of the PanGeo Alliance, a network of eight satellite operators with a combined 15 medium- and high-resolution EO sensors. UrtheCast is also developing and expects to launch two EO satellite constellations: the world's first fully-integrated constellation of sixteen multispectral optical and SAR satellites, called OptiSAR™, and an eight-satellite constellation designed to capture high-quality, medium-resolution optical imagery of the Earth's entire landmass (excluding Antarctica) every day, called UrtheDaily™. Together, the Company believes these constellations will revolutionize monitoring of our planet with medium- and high-resolution, high-coverage and high-revisit imagery in all weather conditions. Common shares of UrtheCast trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ticker 'UR'.

For more information, visit UrtheCast's website at  www.urthecast.com.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

The Company prepares its financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. This release includes certain non-IFRS financial measures, such as non-IFRS revenues, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. The Company uses these non-IFRS financial measures as supplemental indicators of its operating performance and financial position. These measures do not have any standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to the calculation of similar measures used by other companies, and should not be viewed as alternatives to measures of financial performance calculated in accordance with IFRS or considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These non-IFRS financial measures should be read in conjunction with the Company's financial statements and accompanying MD&A.

Forward Looking Information

This release contains certain information which, as presented, constitutes "forward-looking information" or "forward-oriented financial information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information involves statements that relate to future events and often addresses expected future business and financial performance, containing words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "guidance", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could" or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions and includes, but is not limited to, statements relating to: UrtheCast's expectations with respect its current sensors and proposed OptiSAR and UrtheDailyTM  constellations; the satisfaction of the financing and other conditions set out in the binding agreement for the purchase of two OptiSAR satellites in order to trigger payment obligations thereunder;  its plans for and timing of expansion of its product offering and value-added services; its future growth and operations plans; expectations regarding government contributions and reimbursement grants; expectations regarding revenue and EBITDA in fiscal 2017; and anticipated trends and challenges in its business and the markets in which the Company operates. Such statements reflect UrtheCast's current views with respect to future events. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by UrtheCast, are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause UrtheCast's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others: any delays or failures in the design, development, construction, launch and operational commissioning of the proposed OptiSAR™ or UrtheDailyTM constellations; the Company being unable to adequately finance the development, building, launch and commissioning of the UrtheDaily Constellation or to convert the remaining MOUs and other customer discussions in respect of the OptiSAR™ constellation into binding, definitive agreements; the inability of the confidential OptiSAR customer described in this press release to obtain budgetary approval from government or to otherwise comply with its obligations under the binding agreement for the purchase and operation of two satellites; any failure by Geosys, the Government of Canada or one of UrtheCast's third-party lenders to comply with the terms of their respective contracts with UrtheCast, and UrtheCast's ability to comply with any of its covenants thereunder; the decline of key relationships in, or termination of, the PanGeo Alliance of EO satellite operators; loss of key EO imagery sales contracts or customers; failures aboard the ISS or the Deimos-1 or Deimos-2 satellites; failure to obtain, or loss of, regulatory approvals; as well as those factors and assumptions discussed in UrtheCast's annual information form dated March 28, 2017, (the "AIF"), which is available under UrtheCast's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. UrtheCast undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by Canadian securities laws. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

SOURCE UrtheCast Corp.

Contact:
UrtheCast Corp.
Sai Chu, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +1 (604) 669-1788
Web: www.urthecast.com