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Equisure Financial Network Inc -
Equisure six-month results
Equisure Financial Network Inc
EFN
Shares issued 22,939,164
1999-07-23 close $6
Monday Jul 26 1999
Mr. George Hutchison reports
For the second quarter ended June 30, 1999, the corporation again set new
record highs in revenue, net income, earnings, EBITDA (earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization), shareholders' equity and assets.
In the first six months of 1999, consolidated revenue was up 6 per cent to
$46.9-million from $44.1-million in the same period of 1998. Pretax 1999
six-month income increased by 25 per cent to $5.635-million from $4.481-million
in the first six months of 1998. Net income also rose by 21 per cent to
$2.7-million from $2.2-million in the first six months of 1998. The corporation's
assets exceeded $214.6-million at June 30, 1999, an increase of 44 per cent over
$147.1-million at June 30, 1998. Shareholders' equity in the same period
increased by 59 per cent to $91.1-million from $57.2-million. The corporation
experienced strong growth during the first half of 1999 in all segments, with the
exception of its financial services sector where a significant industry wide
downturn in mutual fund sales are being felt.
EBITDA per share remained unchanged at 40 cents at June 30, 1999. Earnings
per share (EPS) for the first quarter 1999 increased by 8 per cent to 13 cents
from 12 cents in the first six months of 1998. During the first six months of 1999,
the average number of common shares outstanding increased by 25 per cent to
20.62 million shares from 16.37 million in the comparable period of 1998.
KEY OPERATING MARGINS
Six months ended June 30
1999 1998
Retail insurance 35.1% 30.8%
Wholesale insurance 6.4% 2.4%
Financial services 2.3% 6.4%
Trust company 17.2% 16.6%
Equisure is in the process of licensing its new full-service securities firm, Equisure
Securities Ltd., which will be based in Toronto. The corporation's plan is for
Equisure Securities Ltd. to provide services facilities to Equisure's clients. Another
project under way is the startup, subject to regulatory approval, of a new general
insurance company to be called Northbrooke General Insurance Company of
Canada. Northbrooke General will be jointly owned by Equisure and ING
Canada and will underwrite general insurance business exclusively for the Equisure
network.
On May 13, 1999, Equisure announced in Stockwatch the planned deployment of
a major new e-commerce-based insurance and financial service site on the
Internet. This new site will operate under the moneyramp.com name and offer a
wide range of insurance and financial services via the Internet. On June 30, 1999,
Equisure completed the infrastructure work for its new MasterCard credit card
program, which will be rolled out in the third quarter of 1999.
To date in 1999, Equisure has completed the acquisition of three significant
insurance brokerages, which added six new offices to the network. The
corporation's consolidated annualized commission revenue now exceeds
$104-million and annual network volume is approximately $325-million. The
corporation expects to complete a number of additional acquisitions throughout
the balance of 1999.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Six months ended June 30
(thousands of dollars)
1999 1998
Revenues $46,968 $44,103
EBITDA 8,180 6,511
Income before taxes 5,635 4,481
Net income 2,704 2,218
Per share
EBITDA per share 40 cents 40 cents
Net income per
share 13 cents 14 cents
Earnings per
share 13 cents 12 cents
Equisure Financial Network is pleased to announce that it has received regulatory
approval to make a normal course issuer bid to purchase up to a maximum of
1,589,579 common shares, representing 10 per cent of the public float. As at July
16, 1999, there were 22,939,164 common shares issued and outstanding. The
bid will commence on July 27, 1999, and will be open until July 26, 2000.
Equisure has purchased for cancellation 530,243 common shares at an average
price of $6.80 within the last 12 months and Equisure Trust Company, acting in its
capacity of trustee of the Equisure Financial Network Inc. employee stock
purchase plan, has purchased 98,509 common shares at an average price of
$6.57 within the last 12 months pursuant to normal course issuer bids previously in
effect.
Management of Equisure believes that the current market price for the common
shares of Equisure do not reflect their value. Equisure believes that it is in the best
interests of the shareholders of Equisure, and that shareholder value will be
increased, if common shares of Equisure are purchased pursuant to the bid.
Equisure Financial Network Inc. is pleased to announce that the necessary
regulatory approval has been received to change the name of the corporation's
wholly owned trust company from Evangeline Trust Company to Equisure Trust
Company effective July 1, 1999.
(c) Copyright 1999 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com |
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