Leading Brands, Inc. Announces Q1 Results

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 17, 2017 -- Leading Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LBIX), announces results for its first quarter of fiscal 2017, which ended May 31, 2017.  All financial amounts are denominated in Canadian dollars, with all financial figures rounded to the nearest $000.

The Company’s net loss from continuing operations for Q1 was $778,000 (or $0.28 per share) versus a net loss of $549,000 (or $0.19 per share) the prior year. 

Gross revenue for Q1 2017 was $439,000, versus $427,000 in the comparable period of last year.  

Discounts, rebates and slotting fees were $94,000 in Q1 2017, a decrease of $54,000 compared to the same period of the prior year. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (“SG&A”) were $748,000 in Q1 of fiscal 2017, versus $783,000 in Q1 of the previous year. 

Gross profit margin for the quarter was (2.5%), up from (15.6%) in the same quarter last year.  The Company continues to adjust its operations from a bottler/distributor to simply that of a distributor and has made strides to reduce its cost of goods.  Overheads allocated to cost of goods sold have taken longer to adjust.

Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) before SBC is determined as follows:

Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) per share before SBC is determined as follows:

Pro-forma results for EBITDAS, as defined below, are determined as follows:

EBITDAS per share reconciles to earnings per share as follows:

As at May 31, 2017 the Company had 2,802,412 outstanding common shares.

About Leading Brands, Inc.
Leading Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LBIX) and its subsidiaries are involved in the development, marketing, and distribution of the Company’s branded beverage products.

Non-GAAP Measures
Any non-GAAP financial measures referenced in this release do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

EBITDAS is a non-GAAP financial measure.  EBITDAS is defined as net income (loss) before income taxes, interest expense, depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation.  EBITDAS should not be construed as a substitute for net income (as determined in accordance with GAAP) for the purpose of analyzing operating performance, as EBITDAS is not defined by GAAP.  However, the Company regards EBITDAS as a complement to net income and income before taxes.

Forward Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this press release includes forward-looking statements.  Words such as “believe”, “expect,” “will,” or comparable terms, are intended to identify forward-looking statements concerning the Company’s expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, objectives, future events or performance and other developments.  All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof.  Such statements speak only as of the date hereof.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s estimations and projections are disclosed in the Company’s securities filings and include, but are not limited to, the following:  general economic conditions, weather conditions, changing beverage consumption trends, pricing, availability of raw materials, economic uncertainties (including currency exchange rates), government regulation, managing and maintaining growth, the effect of adverse publicity, litigation, competition and other risk factors described from time to time in securities reports filed by Leading Brands, Inc. For all such forward-looking statements, we claim the safe harbor for forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

©2017 Leading Brands, Inc.

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CONTACT:
Leading Brands, Inc.
Tel: (604) 685-5200
Email: [email protected]