Burnaby, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 14, 2021) - Canlan Ice Sports Corp. (TSX: ICE) (the "Corporation") today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

Overview of Q1 2021

• Cash on-hand as at March 31, 2021 was $6.8 million with additional access to a working capital credit line of $10.0 million;

• As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced facility closures and continues to limit the Company's operations, revenue of $5.1 million, decreased by 76% from 2020; and

• During Q1, the Company progressed discussions with the Village of Libertyville (a Chicagoland suburb) regarding the operation of the Libertyville Sports Complex. On April 28, 2021, an agreement was finalized for Canlan to lease the facility from the Village and operate it on Canlan's account for 24 months beginning on July 1, 2021. In addition, the agreement contains an option for the Company to purchase the facility. This is a 169,000 sq ft sports complex that contains two boarded turf fields, eight hard court surfaces, a climbing-rock, a fully equipped fitness center, with significant space available for other activities and third-party tenants.

First Quarter Results

First Quarter Results
(three months ended March 31, 2021 compared with three months ended March 31, 2020)

• Total revenue of $5.1 million decreased by $15.8 million or 76%;

• Facility operations in B.C., Saskatchewan, and Manitoba were limited to surface rentals and training programs for small groups. In Ontario, facilities were virtually closed. The three facilities in Illinois were re-opened towards the end of January and gradually returned to offering rentals, leagues and instructional programs;

• No tournament or league play was possible in all Canadian facilities and all concession and retail operations remained virtually closed;

• With the pandemic's continued impact on business operations, the Company continued to qualify for emergency wage and rent subsidies provided by the Canadian government;

• During the quarter, application for $2.4 million of subsidies were made;

• Total operating expenses of $6.5 million decreased by $8.3 million compared to 2020;

• Management focused on efforts to minimize labour, energy and all other cost centers as appropriate while ensuring critical maintenance work was complete;

• G&A expenses of $1.4 million remained consistent with prior year;

• As a result, Q1 loss before interest, tax and depreciation was $0.4 million compared to earnings of $4.8 a year ago; and

• After depreciation, financing costs, and deferred tax recoveries, net loss for the quarter was $2.1 million or $0.16 a share compared to net earnings of $1.0 million or $0.08 a share in 2020.

Managing the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

The Company continues to manage the repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic that has significantly limited business activity in the Company's recreation facilities since March 2020. Currently, in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba, limited surface rental and programs activity is permitted while our facilities in Illinois are open for rentals, league play and instructional programs. In Ontario, our facilities are closed in accordance with public health orders. As a result, the Company has established measures to preserve liquidity and mitigate the effects of a reduction in business activity. Measures taken include:

• reduction of labour and other operating costs;
• application for government subsidies; and
• collaboration with the Company's senior lenders to enable the Company to access additional credit facilities if required.

The extent of the impact of the pandemic will vary depending on the duration of the closures, government regulations, and the general economic activity in Canada and the United States and the pace of recovery following the pandemic cannot be accurately predicted at this time.

"The re-opening of indoor sports facilities in Illinois during Q1 shone a positive light on operations in an otherwise difficult quarter. The rate of transmissions in various provinces, especially Ontario, outpaced the rate of immunization and unfortunately, many of the new exciting programs the team had planned were not able to get off the ground for the spring season. However, we continue to adjust plans accordingly and adapt to a fluid situation to remain prepared to execute leagues, programs and tournaments as public health orders permit," said Canlan's CEO, Joey St-Aubin. "For facilities that are operating, our teams continue do a great job to enforce our industry leading exposure control protocols to protect the health and safety of our team and of our customers. With recent news of increasing supply of vaccines, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to welcome many more customers to return to play in the coming quarters. In the meantime we continue to focus much of our attention on innovation, operational efficiency and the improvement of the employee and customer experience."

Dividend Policy

Given steps implemented by management to preserve cash balances, combined with the austerity being asked of our employees, our customers, our suppliers and our financial partners, Canlan's Board of Directors suspended the payment of dividends on March 24, 2020 and will continue to do so until further notice. Canlan's Board of Directors reviews the Corporation's dividend policy on a quarterly basis and will continue to monitor this situation and respond accordingly as we work towards plans for the resumption of business operations.

Filings

Canlan's financial statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis for the period ended March 31, 2021 will be available via SEDAR on or before May 15, 2021 and through the Company's website, www.icesports.com.

About Canlan

Canlan Ice Sports Corp. (operating as Canlan Sports) is the North American leader in the development, operations and ownership of multi-purpose recreation and entertainment facilities. We are the largest private sector owner and operator of recreation facilities in North America and currently own, lease and/or manage 18 facilities in Canada and the United States with 49 ice surfaces, as well as five indoor soccer fields, and 15 sport, volleyball, and basketball courts. To learn more about Canlan please visit www.icesports.com.

Canlan Ice Sports Corp. is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ICE."

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this News Release may constitute ''forward looking'' statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. When used in this News Release, such statements may use such words as ''may'', ''will'', ''expect'', ''believe'', ''plan'' and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this News Release. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or underlying such forward looking statements are the effects of, as well as changes in: international, national and local business and economic conditions; political or economic instability in the Corporation's markets; competition; legislation and governmental regulation; and accounting policies and practices. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

For more information:
Canlan Ice Sports Corp.
Ivan Wu
CFO
604 736 9152

¹ Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is often used as a measure of financial performance. However, EBITDA is not a term that has specific meaning in accordance with IFRS, and may be calculated differently by other companies. Canlan reconciles EBITDA to its net earnings.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/84027