pinnacle renewable energy inc. (tsx: pl) q4 and year-end 2019 … · 2020-03-03 · 4 q4 2019...
TRANSCRIPT
A preliminary prospectus and an amended and restated preliminary prospectus containing important information relating to the securities described in this presentation has been filed with the securities regulatory authorities in eachof the provinces and territories of Canada. A copy of the amended and restated preliminary prospectus, and any amendment, is required to be delivered with this presentation. The amended and restated preliminary prospectus isstill subject to completion. There will not be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy the securities until a receipt for the final prospectus has been issued. This presentation does not provide full disclosure of all material factsrelating to the securities offered. Investors should read the amended and restated preliminary prospectus and the final prospectus and any amendment for disclosure of those facts, especially risk factors relating to the securitiesoffered, before making an investment decision.
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. (TSX: PL)
Q4 and Year-End 2019 Earnings Conference Call: March 3, 2020
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Disclaimer
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This presentation may contain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada. Forward-looking information may relate
to Pinnacle’s future financial outlook and anticipated events or results and may include information regarding its financial position, business strategy, growth
strategies, budgets, operations, financial results, taxes, dividend policy, plans and objectives. Particularly, information regarding the Company’s expectations of
future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which it operates is forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-
looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “targets”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “an
opportunity exists”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “outlook”, “forecasts”, “projection”, “prospects”, “strategy”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “does not
anticipate”, “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”, “will”, “will be
taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or
circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent
management’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. If any of the opinions, estimates or assumptions underlying the
forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results or future events might vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. The
Company has no obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in Canada. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from those anticipated in
the forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including those described in “Risk Factors” which are described in the Company’s most recent
Annual Information Form (“AIF”) filed on SEDAR.
We caution that the list of risk factors and uncertainties is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect our results. Readers are urged to consider
the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such
information. See “Forward-looking Information” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s AIF filed on SEDAR for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and
assumptions associated with these statements.
NON-IFRS MEASURES
This presentation makes reference to certain non-IFRS measures. These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS, and do not have a standardized
meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided
as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of our results of operations from management’s perspective.
Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS. We use non-
IFRS measures including “EBITDA”, “Adjusted EBITDA”, “Adjusted EBITDA per Metric Ton”, “Adjusted Gross Margin”, “Adjusted Gross Margin per Metric Ton”,
“Adjusted Gross Margin Percentage” and “Free Cash Flow”. These non-IFRS measures are used to provide investors with supplemental measures of our operating
performance and thus highlight trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. We also believe that
securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of issuers. Our management also uses non-IFRS
measures in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, to prepare annual operating budgets and forecasts and to determine
components of management compensation. As required by Canadian securities laws, we reconcile these non-IFRS measures to the most comparable IFRS
measures in our Management Discussion & Analysis for the fiscal fourth quarter ended December 27, 2019.
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Speakers
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Highlights from Q4 2019
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Q4 2019 Highlights
New customer contract signed with Mitsui (100,000 MTPA in 2023)
419,000 MT sold in Q4 2019 with Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA down due to:
• BC sawmill curtailments and reduction in sawmill residual deliveries• Higher fibre, fibre processing, and cash conversion costs in B.C. • Impacts from disruption of eight day CN Rail strike
Williams Lake and Meadowbank upgrades to be completed in Q1 and Q3 2020, respectively
New facility construction in Demopolis, Alabama in partnership with Westervelt (20%) and Two Rivers (10%)
High Level Facility construction progressing
Combined production increase of 80,000 MTPA
Production meeting expectations
360,000 MTPA capacity expected
Increased costs result in higher production of 200,000 MTPA
$7.0 billion contracted backlog at the end of Q4 2019
Resumption of full operations at Entwistle facility in Alberta, and destoner commissioning commenced
Two long-term shipping leases signed with leading ocean carriers for Canada to Japan pellet shipments
Offers delivery flexibility at lowest possible cost
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Entwistle Production Facility
Restart and Performance Update
February 2019: Entwistle Incident
March 2019: Resumed partial operations using dry fibre
June 2018: Entwistle commenced commercial production
November 2019: Rebuild complete, dryer and furnace restarted
April 2019: Destoner installation project started
December 2019: Destoner operation commences and commissioning begins
23% of run-rate achieved
54% of run-rate achieved
71% of run-rate achieved
November 2019
December2019
January 2020
January 2020: Achieved 70% of expected run-rate
Successful restart and ramp up of production, well on the way to full run-
rate
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Financial Summary and Outlook
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Q4 2019 Financial Review
($millions, except for %)Q4 2019
(13 weeks)Q4 2018
(13 weeks)
Revenue 91.5 103.7
Production Costs 60.3 73.5
Distribution Costs 13.8 13.4
SG&A Expenses 4.7 3.9
Net profit (loss) (3.2) 7.4
Net profit (loss) (excluding IFRS 16 and Entwistle impact) (5.5) 7.4
Adjusted Gross Margin 16.4 16.7
Adjusted Gross Margin (excluding IFRS 16 and Entwistle impact) 11.0 16.7
Adjusted Gross Margin % 17.9% 16.1%
Adjusted EBITDA 11.3 13.8
Adjusted EBITDA (excluding IFRS 16 and Entwistle impact) 6.1 13.8
Free cash flow 3.0 8.2
Free Cash Flow (excluding IFRS 16 and Entwistle impact) (2.2) 8.2
• Results impacted primarily by the disruption to our scheduled shipping due to the CN rail strike which resulted in lower sales for Q4 2019, higher fibre, fibre processing, and cash conversion costs in B.C., as well as increased distribution and SG&A costs
• Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio of 6.3 times and available liquidity of $57.1 million
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Outlook & Strategic Plan
• CN Rail issues continued into Q1 2020 with derailment and blockades impacting ability to produce at our Northern mills and get product to port
• Entwistle restart and strong initial performance combined with destoner commissioning to add production volume and expected positive contribution to Adjusted EBITDA in 2020
• Aliceville and Smithers facilities operating at full run-rate production - incremental production volume and Adjusted EBITDA contribution is expected for 2020
• Focus remains on improving fibre, fibreprocessing, haulage, and cash conversion costs
• Production and revenue growth are expected to continue to be impacted through 2020, as B.C. facilities continue to process a wider mix of harvest residuals
2020 Outlook
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Appendix
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Share information
(millions of shares) Shares Outstanding ¹ONCAP Entities 10.4Other Shareholders 1.5Public Shareholders 21.5Basic Shares Outstanding 33.4Stock Options 2.0Fully Diluted Shares Outstanding 35.4
Ownership
Analyst Coverage
1. As at March 25, 2019.
IPO issue price (Feb. 6, 2018) $11.25Recent closing price (Feb 24, 2020) $10.3952-week high / low $12.95 / $5.98Market Capitalization (Feb 24,2020) ~ $346 millionQuarterly Dividend $0.15 / shareYield (Feb 24, 2020) ~ 5.8%
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Directors and Executive Officers
Management Team
Name Position Notable Prior Experience
Rob McCurdy Chief Executive Officer, Director • LafargeHolcim Ltd.
Andrea Johnston Chief Financial Officer • Dassault Systèmes GEOVIA, Natural Resources Industry, NGRAIN, BC Hydro
Scott Bax Chief Operating Officer • Interfor Corporation
Vaughan Bassett Senior Vice President, Sales & Logistics • Sappi Trading, VP of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada
Erin Strong Director of Human Resources • Mark Anthony Group, Tolko Industries
Ranj Sangra General Counsel & Corporate Secretary • Ritchie Bros Auctioneers, CHC Helicopter Corporation
Adnan Khan Vice President, Strategic Capital • Allnorth Consultants, Ostara Nutrient Recovery, Jacobs
Board of Directors
Name Position Notable Prior Experience
Gregory Baylin* Director, Chair of the Board • Managing Director at ONCAP
Pat Bell* Director, Vice Chair of the Board • Former Minister of Forests for the Province of British Columbia
Rob McCurdy Director • CEO of the Company
Leroy Reitsma Director • Former COO of the Company
Michael Lay* Director • Managing Partner of ONCAP
Hugh MacDiarmid* Director• Former President and CEO of Atomic Energy of Canada; Former President and CEO of Laidlaw
Transit; Director of SeaCube Container Leasing, Terrestrial Energy and BWXT Canada
Jane O’Hagan* Director• Former Chief Marketing Officer and EVP of Canadian Pacific Railway; Director of USD Partners
GP, the general partner of USD Partners based in Houston, Texas and Descartes Systems Group
Rex McLennan* Director• Former Chief Financial Officer and EVP of both Placer Dome and Viterra Inc.; Director of
Endeavour Silver Corp, and former director of Boart Longyear
* Denotes independent board member
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Pelletizing Process
• Raw fibre is delivered to the production facility, either from nearby sawmills, or directly from the forest block• We strategically allocate raw fibre amongst our facilities, to optimize the wood fibre input mix across our network Sourcing &
Logistics
• In order to achieve the industrial wood pellet quality standard, larger fibre particles must be reduced in size and filtered• We target 95% fibre reduced to fewer than two millimetres, of which 65% is less than one millimeter
Grinding & Hammering
• For a pellet to achieve the optimal energy density and combustion rate, it needs to have a moisture content that is approximately 5%
• We achieve optimal moisture content by utilizing either bed drying or a rotary drum drying technologyDrying
• Pellets are created by taking the previously ground, hammered and dried fibre and putting it through a roll and die system• The pelletizing machines form a pellet through a combination of temperature and pressure created as the fibre is forced
through holes in the diePelletizing
• Pellets are air-cooled in order to allow for the pellets to solidify and strengthen• We use a vibrating screen to remove any fine material (particles less than 3 millimetres)
Cooling & Screening
• We have developed, along with our logistical partners, loading systems to maintain the pellet quality• Gentle pellet loading, storage and transport systems are essential to minimize the amount of dust or fine material
generated during the handling operationsStorage &
Load to Rail