TORONTO, March 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dundee Corporation (TSX: DC.A) (the “Corporation” or “Dundee”) today announced its financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020. All currency amounts in this press release are in Canadian dollars except as otherwise indicated.
FOURTH QUARTER 2020 HIGHLIGHTS
Net earnings attributable to owners of Dundee Corporation of $32.8 million (2019 - $6.3 million) or earnings of $0.31 (2019 - $0.04) per share, before the effect of any dilutive securities.
During the three months ended December 31, 2020, the Corporation generated proceeds of $56.6 million from the completion of its early discount exercise price program of Dundee Precious Metals Inc.’s purchase warrants. An aggregate of 7.5 million purchase warrants were exercised at the discounted exercise price of $7.60 per share.
FULL YEAR 2020 HIGHLIGHTS
Consolidated revenues of $32.4 million (2019 – $29.3 million).
Net loss attributable to owners of the Corporation of $65.4 million (2019 – $15.3 million), or a loss of $0.69 (2019 – $0.26) per share.
During the year 2020, the Corporation generated net proceeds of $220.9 million from the sale of various mining and other investments, which were deemed to be non-strategic to its ongoing business strategy.
On a consolidated basis, the Corporation reported cash of $122.6 million at December 31, 2020 (2019 – $26.5 million).
Jonathan Goodman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dundee Corporation, commented:
“Dundee made solid progress in 2020 on bringing the Corporation back to its roots as an active investor focused on the mining sector. There are three main areas of focus integral to this transformation – doing more private equity-style mining deals, rationalizing our legacy portfolio of operating companies, and streamlining our capital and cost structures – and we made advancements on all fronts this past year.”
“Mining investment has historically been an area where we have been strongest, and it is where we see the opportunity for the best long-term returns. In 2020, we were very active in identifying and de-risking attractive mining investment opportunities and in the last twelve months our team has made seven investments in projects with exciting upside.”
Mr. Goodman continued, “We remain focused on rationalizing our legacy portfolio of operating companies; and have advanced the divestures of several non-core assets. We are working hard to engineer orderly, professional exits from the business lines that are no longer aligned with our longer-term strategy, while minimizing their cash drains. Dundee aims to be more aggressive on this front in 2021.”
“Lastly, we took several steps to streamline our capital structure and corporate G&A costs. In 2020 we reduced our head office G&A before non-cash stock based compensation by 10%. We plan to continue to look for ways to further reduce cash overheads in 2021 to more closely align the interests of management with shareholders. We also streamlined our capital structure in 2020 and early 2021 through buying back shares for cancellation through substantial issuer bids and announcing a new normal course issuer bid subsequent to year-end. We believe these transactions are prudent uses of capital and good investments at current share prices which also align with our goal of returning cash to shareholders when appropriate.”
Mr. Goodman concluded, “Dundee enters 2021 with good momentum and is well-positioned to continue to execute on its strategy and deliver value to its stakeholders and partners. We have a clear strategy and aim to accelerate the execution on all aspects in 2021.”
FINANCIAL RESULTS
Operating results during 2020 reflect an $81.4 million market appreciation (2019 – $51.0 million) in certain of the Corporation’s investments that are carried in the consolidated financial statements at fair value through profit or loss. In addition, net income from investments during 2020 also includes $5.2 million (2019 – $0.3 million) dividend and interest income distributed from its portfolio investments.
On May 13, 2020, the Corporation announced the closing of the sale of 23.9 million units at a price of $6.35 per unit for gross proceeds of $151.8 million. Each unit consisted of one common share of Dundee Precious Metals Inc. owned by the Corporation and one-half of a common share purchase warrant. On October 28, 2020, the Corporation announced the completion of its early discount exercise price program of Dundee Precious Metals Inc.’s purchase warrants. A total of 7.8 million purchase warrants were exercised during 2020 providing aggregate proceeds of $59.6 million of which 7.5 million purchase warrants were exercised at the discounted exercise price of $7.60 for proceeds of $56.6 million. A total of 4.1 million purchase warrants remain issued and outstanding. The cash generated from these sale transactions improved the Corporation’s liquidity and ongoing effort to streamline its capital structure, while providing the Corporation with capital to support its strategic focus on the junior mining sector. The Corporation incurred a $5.7 million transaction cost relating to the sale of shares of Dundee Precious Metals Inc., which was netted against “Net income from investments” in the consolidated statements of operations during 2020.
A number of the Corporation’s investments are accounted for using the equity method of accounting, which requires that the Corporation increase or decrease the carrying value of its investment by its proportionate share of the net earnings or loss of the underlying investee. This method of accounting further subjects the Corporation to significant volatility in its operating performance as the underlying net earnings or loss of the equity accounted investee may be subject to market forces or other events over which the Corporation does not exert control. During 2020, the Corporation recognized a loss from its equity accounted investments, excluding real estate joint ventures, of $5.8 million (2019 – $1.6 million).
On November 23, 2020, the Corporation announced that it would purchase 14,285,714 Class A subordinate voting shares (the “SV Shares”) in the capital of the Corporation under the substantial issuer bid launched on November 25, 2020 at C$1.40 per SV Share, which would reduce the SV Shares issued and outstanding by approximately 14.3%, advancing the Corporation’s stated objectives of returning capital to shareholders and streamlining its capital structure. Subsequent to year-end, the Corporation announced the results of its substantial issuer bid, confirming the purchase of 14,285,714 SV Shares at $1.40 per SV Share.
Also subsequent to year-end, the Corporation announced that it would implement normal course issuer bids on its class A subordinate voting shares, cumulative 5-year rate reset first preference shares, series 2, and cumulative floating rate first preference shares, series 3. Dundee may purchase up to a maximum of approximately 10% of the Corporation’s public float on each class of security.
OPERATING SUBSIDIARIES’ PERFORMANCE
Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel Inc. (“GCIC”)
GCIC grew its AUM 86% from $45.5 million at the end of December 2019 to $84.8 million at the end of December 2020. During 2020, GCIC raised capital of $30.4 million from launching a new tax-sheltered limited partnership, CMP 2020 Resource Limited Partnership, as well as transfers into GCIC’s alternative investment product. During 2020, this segment recognized a performance fee revenue of $0.7 million (2019 – $nil) with a pre-tax operating loss of $1.8 million (2019 – $0.9 million).
United Hydrocarbon International Corp. (“UHIC”)
As a result of the fair value change of the royalty interest and its associated contingent bonus payments, the Corporation’s 84% owned subsidiary, UHIC, reported a pre-tax loss of $130.5 million (2019 – $8.2 million) during 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated drop in the price of oil during 2020, as well as material operational and financial developments at Delonex Energy Limited, UHIC increased the discount rates and lowered the success probabilities along with the long-term oil price forecasts in determining the fair value of its royalty interest and associated contingent consideration. As a result, UHIC recorded a $129.8 million fair value loss (2019 – $5.9 million) during 2020, which is included in the 2020 Audited Consolidated Financial Statements as “Remeasurement of financial instruments”.
Dundee Sustainable Technologies Inc. (“Dundee Technologies”)
Dundee Technologies incurred a pre-tax operating loss of $3.3 million (2019 – $3.3 million) during 2020. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Dundee Technologies’ Thetford site was temporarily closed as a result of the measures taken by the Quebec provincial government on March 23, 2020. Operations resumed in May 2020 with employees and contractors following the controls and practices that have been established on site. Dundee Technologies continues to expand the provision of technical services in the mining industry to evaluate processing alternatives using its state-of-the-art metallurgy plant and skilled technical team. Dundee Technologies expects the primary driver in the coming years will be from its GlassLock Process™, followed by higher upside from its CLEVR Process™ in the long run.
Blue Goose Capital Corp. (“Blue Goose”)
Blue Goose incurred a pre-tax loss of $2.3 million during 2020 (2019 – $17.8 million). The 2019 pre-tax loss included an impairment charge of $10.0 million against certain properties and equipment in its beef division, as well as an operating loss of $2.3 million incurred by its fish operation that Blue Goose exited in December 2019.
AgriMarine Holdings Inc. (“AgriMarine”)
AgriMarine expanded its sales to alternative markets at lower prices to relieve the overstocked position resulting from the slump in the fourth quarter of 2019. Since the onset of COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020, AgriMarine has continued to supply these alternative, lower price markets to maintain sales volume. As a result, during 2020, AgriMarine generated $7.2 million sales revenue with $0.6 million contribution margin, compared with $6.5 million sales revenue with $0.9 million contribution margin recognized during 2019. During 2020, AgriMarine reported a pre-tax operating loss of $2.3 million (2019 – $3.8 million).
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY ON A PER SHARE BASIS
Carrying Value as at Dec 31
2020
2019
Operating Subsidiaries
$
97,354
$
201,694
Equity accounted investments
23,134
28,699
Investments carried at fair value through profit or loss
222,380
306,687
Other net corporate account balances
113,161
29,999
Total shareholders’ equity
456,029
567,079
Less: Shareholders’ equity attributable to holders of:
Preference Shares, series 2
(27,667
)
(75,026
)
Preference Shares, series 3
(50,423
)
(50,473
)
Shareholders’ equity attributable to holders of Class A
Subordinate Voting Shares and Class B Shares of the Corporation
$
377,939
$
441,580
Number of Class A Subordinated Voting Shares and Class B Shares of the Corporation issued and outstanding
Class A Subordinate Voting Shares
99,977,802
99,977,802
Class B Shares
3,114,581
3,114,713
103,092,515
103,092,515
Shareholders’ Equity on a Per Share Basis
$
3.67
$
4.28
MANAGEMENT CHANGE
The board of directors of Dundee is pleased to announce today the appointment of Lila Manassa Murphy to the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation, effective May 14, 2021.
The Corporation also announced that Robert Sellars, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation, will retire on May 14 following completion of first quarter 2021 financial reporting. Mr. Sellars will continue to provide consulting services to Dundee to help ensure an orderly transition of responsibilities to his successor who will begin working with Mr. Sellars in a consulting capacity commencing April 1, 2021.
“On behalf of the board of directors I would like to congratulate Lila on her appointment to the executive leadership team at Dundee,” said Jonathan Goodman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Lila has been a director of the board of Dundee since 2018 and has deep industry expertise in the natural resources sector. She is a welcome addition to our leadership team and we are confident that she will contribute to Dundee’s growth as we continue to build Dundee 2.0.”
“Bob has been a committed member of the senior management team at Dundee for many years and a valuable partner in repositioning Dundee with a renewed focus in the mining sector. I would like to thank him for more than 20 years of dedicated service to the Corporation,” said Mr. Goodman. “We wish Bob all the best as he embarks on his retirement.”
Lila A. Manassa Murphy, CFA founded Intrinsic Value Partners, LLC in 2018, a provider of consulting services to asset management firms and family offices. She has been an Independent Director and member of the Audit Committee of Dundee Corporation since August 2018. She also sits on the board of Gold Resource Corporation (NYSEAMEX: GORO). Previously she was Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Federated Hermes, Inc., a Fortune 500, ESG focused investment firm with over $600 billion in assets under management. Ms. Murphy joined the firm in 2008 and was responsible for portfolio management and fundamental analysis in the alternative equity investment area with a dedicated focus in natural resources and hard assets. Previously, Ms. Murphy worked as an Analyst at David W. Tice & Associates Inc. with a dedicated focus on natural resources investing for the Prudent Global Natural Resources Fund and the Prudent Global Gold Fund. Prior to that, she was an Equity Research Analyst at Lee Financial Corporation. She has more than 25 years of diverse investment management experience. She earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2004. Ms. Murphy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University. She sits on the board and finance committee of Sustainable Development Strategies Group, a US based independent non-profit research institute advancing best practices for sustainable management of natural resources. She is also a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA).
FOURTH QUARTER 2020 CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST DETAILS
Dundee’s management will be hosting a conference call for interested investors on March 31, 2021 at 10:00 am ET. Analysts and investors are invited to participate using the following dial-in numbers or webcast link:
A replay of the conference call will be available until 11:59 pm (ET) April 14, 2021, and can be accessed using the following dial-in numbers:
Encore (Local): 416-849-0833 Encore (Toll-free): 1-855-859-2056 Encore ID: 7598406
The Corporation’s audited consolidated financial statements as at and for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, along with the accompanying management’s discussion and analysis have been filed on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“SEDAR”) and may be viewed by interested parties under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com or the Corporation’s website at www.dundeecorporation.com.
ABOUT DUNDEE CORPORATION Dundee Corporation is a public Canadian independent holding company, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “DC.A”. Through its operating subsidiaries, Dundee Corporation is an active investor focused on delivering long-term, sustainable value as a trusted partner in the mining sector with more than 30 years of experience making accretive mining investments.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects Dundee Corporation’s current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Dundee Corporation’s control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Annual Information Form of Dundee Corporation and subsequent filings made with securities commissions in Canada. Dundee Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.
