TORONTO, May 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ECN Capital Corp. (TSX:ECN) (“ECN Capital” or the “Company”) today reported financial results for the three-month period ending March 31, 2018. Readers should note that as of January 1, 2018, the Company changed its presentation and functional currency from Canadian dollars to U.S. dollars. In addition, the sale of the Canadian Commercial & Vendor Finance business that was announced in the fourth quarter and closed January 31, 2018, has been reported as discontinued operations. Consolidated numbers are reported in the Financial Statements.

For the three-month period ending March 31, 2018, ECN Capital reported Adjusted Net Income applicable to common shareholders of $6.1 million or $0.02 per share.  Excluding the impact of discontinued operations, Adjusted Net Income applicable to common shareholders was $4.9 million or $0.01 per share (basic) versus $8.3 million or $0.02 per share (basic) for the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2017 and $9.2 million or $0.02 per share (basic) for the same period last year.

Book Value per Common Share as at March 31, 2018 was $3.58 versus $3.56 as at the end of the previous three-month period and $3.57 for the same period last year.

Originations for the three-month period ending March 31, 2018 were $349.2 million versus $249.4 million in the previous three-month period and $31.0 million for the same period last year.

Total Earning Assets Owned and Managed as at March 31, 2018 were $4.5 billion, versus $4.4 billion as at December 31, 2017 and $2.4 billion as at March 31, 2017.

Net Financial Income, net of interest expense and provision for credit losses, for the three-month period ending March 31, 2018 was $30.9 million versus $24.4 million for the previous three-month period and $21.9 million for the same period last year. 

Operating Expenses for the three-month period ending March 31, 2018 were $21.8 million versus $13.5 million reported for the previous three-month period ending December 31, 2017 and $9.4 million for the same period last year.

Net Income (Loss) for the three-month period ending March 31, 2018 was $3.3 million versus ($8.3) million for the previous three-month period and $214.5 million for the same period last year.

“I am very excited about ECN’s progress in the first quarter” said Steven Hudson, CEO of ECN Capital Corp. “Service Finance is performing above expectations, Triad’s first quarter as part of ECN is on target, ECN returned an additional C$115 million to shareholders through April’s SIB, and today we announced the strategic investment in The Kessler Group.”

Dividends Declared

The Company’s Board of Directors has authorized and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per outstanding common share of ECN Capital for the first quarter of 2018. The dividend will be paid on July 13, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 29, 2018.  These dividends are designated to be eligible dividends for purposes of section 89(1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The Company’s Board of Directors declared the following dividends on ECN Capital’s preferred shares:

• A quarterly dividend of $0.40625 per outstanding Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Share, Series A (TSX:ECN.PR.A) payable on July 3, 2018 to shareholders of record on the close of business on June 18, 2018.   These dividends are designated to be eligible dividends for purposes of section 89(1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada).
• A quarterly dividend of $0.390625 per outstanding Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Share, Series C (TSX:ECN.PR.C) payable on July 3, 2018 to shareholders of record on the close of business on June 18, 2018. These dividends are designated to be eligible dividends for purposes of section 89(1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Webcast

The Company will host an analyst briefing to discuss these results commencing at 5:30 PM (ET) on Thursday May 10, 2018. The call can be accessed as follows:

The webcast will be available until August 10, 2018. A recording of the conference call may also be accessed until June 10, 2018 by dialing 1-800-319-6413 and entering the passcode 2218.

Non-IFRS Measures

The Company’s audited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”) and the accounting policies we adopted in accordance with IFRS.

The Company believes that certain Non-IFRS Measures can be useful to investors because they provide a means by which investors can evaluate the Company’s underlying key drivers and operating performance of the business, exclusive of certain adjustments and activities that investors may consider to be unrelated to the underlying economic performance of the business of a given period.  Throughout this Press Release, management used a number of terms and ratios which do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS and are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other organizations.  A full description of these measures can be found in the Management Discussion & Analysis that accompanies the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017.

ECN Capital’s management discussion and analysis as at and for the three-month period ended March 31, 2018 has been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and is available under the investor section of the Company’s website (www.ecnapitalcorp.com).

About ECN Capital Corp.

With total owned and managed assets of more than US$4.5 billion, ECN Capital Corp. (TSX:ECN) is one of North America's leading finance companies. ECN Capital operates in four verticals: Home Improvement, Manufactured Housing, Rail Finance and Aviation Finance.

Contact:

Forward-looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding ECN Capital and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of ECN Capital’s management. In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “potential”, “estimate”, “believe” or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include those relating to the future financial and operating performance of ECN Capital, the strategic advantages, business plans and future opportunities of ECN Capital and the ability of ECN Capital to access adequate funding sources, identify and execute on acquisition opportunities and transition to an asset management business.  The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting ECN Capital, including risks regarding the equipment finance industry, economic factors, and many other factors beyond the control of ECN Capital. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. A discussion of the material risks and assumptions associated with this outlook can be found in ECN Capital’s March 31, 2018 MD&A and Alternate AIF Disclosure Document dated March 30, 2017 which has been filed on SEDAR and can be accessed at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and ECN Capital does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.