In addition to results reported in accordance with IFRS, the Company uses certain non-IFRS financial measures as supplemental indicators of its financial and operating performance. These non-IFRS financial measures include adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating cash flow and adjusted free cash flow. The Company believes these supplementary financial measures reflect the Company's ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons and analysis of trends in its business.
The Company defines adjusted earnings as net earnings excluding the impact of specified items affecting comparability, including, where applicable, special income and expense items, amortization of acquisition related intangible assets, share-based compensation, and income tax expense associated with the specified items. The use of the term "special income and expense items" is defined by the Company as those that do not impact operating decisions taken by the Company's management and is based upon the way the Company's management evaluates the performance of the Company's business for use in the Company's internal management reports. These items include: acquisition and integration related expense, interest expense on dissenting shareholder liability, restructuring and enterprise improvement costs, impairment losses and inventory obsolescence, loss from sale of subsidiary, legal settlement and provision with preferred shareholders, equity in loss from joint ventures and foreign exchange differences. Foreign exchange differences consist of (i) timing differences on certain project-related foreign exchange forward contracts not subject to hedge accounting, (ii) gains and losses on translation of intercompany balances and (iii) unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses on translation of long-term foreign currency denominated financial assets and liabilities. The Company believes that the exclusion of each of these items reduces volatility and provides a more meaningful period-to-period comparison of the Company's ongoing performance. Income tax expense on adjusted earnings is computed using the estimated effective annual income tax rate, adjusted for specific items affecting comparability. Adjusted earnings per share is calculated using diluted weighted average shares outstanding and does not represent actual earnings per share attributable to shareholders. The Company believes that the disclosure of adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per share allows investors to evaluate the financial performance of the Company's ongoing business using the same evaluation measures that its management uses, and is therefore a useful indicator of the Company's performance.
The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and adjusted for certain items affecting comparability as specified in the calculation of adjusted earnings. Adjusted EBITDA is presented on a basis consistent with the Company's internal management reports. The Company discloses adjusted EBITDA to capture the profitability of its business before the impact of items not considered in management's evaluation of operating unit performance. The Company also discloses segment adjusted EBITDA as a measure of each reporting segment's profitability and contribution to adjusted EBITDA. Segment adjusted EBITDA is reported prior to the deduction of corporate expenses.
The Company defines adjusted operating cash flow as cash provided by operating activities, excluding acquisition and integration expense, less net interest and securitization payments, and other. Adjusted free cash flow is defined as cash provided by operating activities, excluding acquisition and integration related expenses, less net interest and securitization payment, other, and capital expenditures.
Adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating cash flow, and adjusted free cash flow do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company cautions readers to consider these non-IFRS financial measures in addition to, and not as an alternative for, measures calculated in accordance with IFRS.
Pro Forma Financial Information
The unaudited pro forma financial information described in this release gives effect to the Company's acquisition of DigitalGlobe using the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations with the Company identified as the acquirer, and is based on the respective historical unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company and DigitalGlobe for the periods presented herein below. In determining these amounts, management has conformed DigitalGlobe's historical financial results originally prepared under U.S. general accepted accounting principles to IFRS and has assumed that the fair value adjustments, determined provisionally, that arose on the date of acquisition would have been the same if the acquisition had occurred on January 1, 2017. Revenue and direct costs, selling, general and administration expense have been adjusted to reflect the elimination of intra entity transactions during the periods and other expense has been adjusted to reflect the elimination of transaction related expenses.
This unaudited pro forma financial information is for illustrative purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the operating results that would have been achieved if the acquisition had been completed at the beginning of the period for the periods presented, nor do they purport to project the results of operations of the combined entities for any future period or as of any future date. This unaudited pro forma financial information may not be useful in predicting the results of operations of the combined company in the future. The actual results of operations may differ significantly from this pro forma financial information.
Forward-Looking Statements
This earnings release and the associated conference call and webcast, which includes a business update, discussion of financial results for the third quarter of 2018, and question and answer session (the "Earnings Release"), may contain certain "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking terms such as "may," "will," "could," "should," "would," "plan," "potential," "intend," "anticipate," "project," "target," "believe," "estimate" or "expect" and other words, terms and phrases of similar nature are often intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements herein are statements which are not historical fact and involve estimates, expectations, projections, goals, forecasts, assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: future growth opportunities, expected earnings, expected capital expenditures, future financing requirements and estimated future dividends; the expected benefits from the Company's acquisition of DigitalGlobe, Inc.; the impact of the Company's acquisition of DigitalGlobe, Inc. on the Company's earnings, credit rating, estimated enterprise value and growth rate; additional acquisition and integration related costs in future periods; the expectation that the Company and its subsidiaries will remain compliant with debt covenants and other contractual obligations; the U.S. Access Plan and the U.S. domestication; the likelihood of the U.S. domestication being completed; the principal steps of the U.S. domestication; the anticipated effective date of the U.S. domestication; Maxar securityholders approval and court and regulatory approval of the U.S. domestication; the timing of the implementation of the U.S. domestication and potential benefits, risks and costs thereof; the business and future activities of Maxar U.S. and Maxar; the implementation of the security control agreement; the business and financial outlook; the scope and anticipated revenues of customer contracts; the scope and expected benefits of the restructuring and enterprise improvement initiatives; the capabilities of the satellites built by the Company; the sources of liquidity the Company expects to use to meet its anticipated cash requirements; and the outcome of legal proceedings involving the Company.
Forward-looking statements included herein are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although management of the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. The material assumptions upon which such forward-looking statements are based include, among others, assumptions with respect to: market, industry and general economic conditions; the operations of the businesses of the Company continuing on a basis consistent with prior years or current expectations; growth in demand for the products and services of the Company's businesses; the ability of the Company to access financing from time to time on favorable terms; the continuation of executive and operating management or the non-disruptive replacement of them on competitive terms; currency exchange and interest rates being reasonably stable at current rates; the realization of expected benefits and synergies from the Company's acquisition of DigitalGlobe; the ability to receive, in a timely manner and on satisfactory terms, Maxar securityholder approval, any regulatory approvals, and any stock exchange and court approvals for the U.S. domestication; the ability of Maxar to secure, maintain and comply with all required licenses, permits, and certifications, to carry out business in the jurisdiction in which it currently operates or intends to operate; compliance with the U.S. regulatory requirements and the requirements of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual related to the implementation of the security control agreement and the facility clearance for the offices of certain subsidiaries of the Company; the Company's continuing ability to effectively service customers and there being no adverse changes to customer priorities and funding levels; the Company's continuing ability to implement the enterprise improvement initiatives; the Company's continuing ability to meet technical specifications and complete the contracts with minimal cost overrun; the Company building its satellites to reliable design specifications; the accuracy of the Company's current plans and forecasts; and the accuracy of management's current assessment of the outcome of legal proceedings involving the Company. The Company makes no representation that reasonable business people in possession of the same information would reach the same conclusions.
