final transcript - High Liner Foods
Transcription
final transcript - High Liner Foods
FINAL TRANSCRIPT High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Event Date/Time: November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. Length: 35 minutes "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 1 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS Heather Keeler-Hurshman High Liner Foods Incorporated — Director of Investor Relations Paul Jewer High Liner Foods Incorporated — Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Keith Decker High Liner Foods Incorporated — President and Executive Officer CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS George Doumet Scotiabank — Analyst Sabahat Khan RBC Capital Markets — Analyst Marc Robinson Cormark Securities — Analyst Michael Mills Beacon Securities — Analyst Bob Gibson Octagon — Analyst "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 2 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call PRESENTATION Operator Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the High Liner Foods Incorporated Conference Call for the results of the third quarter 2015. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following management's prepared remarks, we will conduct a question-and-answer sessions. Instructions will be provided at that time for you queue up for questions. If anyone has had difficulties hearing the conference, please press the * key, followed by 0 for Operator assistance at any time. This conference call is being recorded today, Wednesday, November 4, 2015, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time for replay purposes. I would now like to turn the call over to Heather Keeler-Hurshman, Director of Investor Relations for High Liner Foods. Miss Keeler-Hurshman, please go ahead. Heather Keeler-Hurshman — Director of Investor Relations, High Liner Foods Incorporated Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining High Liner Foods conference call to discuss our financial results for the third quarter of 2015. On the call today from High Liner Foods are Keith Decker, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Paul Jewer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 3 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Today's call will start with Paul reviewing the Company's financial performance for the third quarter of 2015, followed by Keith, who will discuss key developments in the quarter and provide an update on our 2015 strategic goals before opening the call up for questions. Before turning the call over to management, listeners are reminded that certain statements made in today's call may be forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Management may use forward-looking statements as they discuss the Company's strategy and business in the future. Actual operating or financial results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. High Liner Foods includes a thorough discussion of the risk factors that can cause its anticipated outcome to differ from actual outcome in its publicly available disclosure of documents, particularly in its annual MD&A and Annual Information Form. Please note that High Liner Foods is under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements discussed today. Earlier today, High Liner Foods reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2015. That news release, along with the Company's MD&A and unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statement for the third quarter of 2015, have been filed on SEDAR, and can also be found in the Investor Information Section of High Liner Foods’ website. If you would like to receive our news releases in the future, please visit the Company's website to register. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 4 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Lastly, please at that the Company reports its financial information in US dollars, and the results to be discussed today are stated in US dollars, unless otherwise noted. High Liner Foods’ common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and are quoted in Canadian dollars. I will now turn the call over to Paul. Paul, please go ahead. Paul Jewer — Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, High Liner Foods Incorporated Thank you, Heather, and good afternoon, everyone. Before beginning my financial review of the third quarter, I’d like to remind listeners that we use certain non-IFRS measures and ratios when discussing our results, as we believe these are useful in assessing the Company’s financial performance. These measures are fully described and reconciled to IFRS measures in our MD&A. Please note that all comparisons provided during my financial review of the third quarter of 2015 are relative to the third quarter of 2014, unless otherwise noted. I’d also like to remind listeners that we acquired Atlantic Trading Company in October 2014, and therefore the comparative results did not include the impact of this acquisition. Sales volume decreased overall in the third quarter by 1.7 million pounds, or 2.4 percent to 67.4 million pounds. In Canada, volume increased by 0.2 million pounds, and in the US volumes declined by 1.9 million pound, reflecting that the impact of the Atlantic Trading acquisition only served to partially offset volume declines experienced in the rest of our US business. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 5 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call As explained on last quarter’s call, over the past year significant price increases have been passed on to customers to cover increased raw material costs, including higher foreign exchange in our Canadian business, and management believes cumulative price increases have adversely impact sales volume. The organization was very focused in the third quarter on improving sales volume, and through more effective and increased promotional activity we did see an improvement in year-overyear sales volume trends compared to those experienced in the second quarter. Specifically, the US experienced less of a decline in volume in the third quarter compared to last quarter, minus 3.6 percent compared to minus 8.9 percent, and volume in Canada increased by 1.2 percent in the third quarter compared to an 11.4 percent decrease last quarter. Sales in US dollars decreased in the third quarter by 6.5 million, or 2.5 percent to $240.1 million. The weaker Canadian dollar in 2015 decreased the value of reported sales in the quarter by approximately $13.3 million relative to the conversion impact in the same period last year. In domestic currency, which is before the impact of converting our Canadian-dollar denominated operations to US dollars, sales increased by $7 million, or 2.8 percent to $260.3 million, reflecting the impact of price increases net of increased promotional spending and partially offset by lower sales volume in the US. Gross profit decreased in the third quarter by $7.1 million to $43.9 million, reflecting lower overall sales volume, a decrease in gross profit as a percentage of sales, and an unfavourable "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 6 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call change in the US dollar/Canadian dollar exchange rate. The weaker Canadian dollar had the effect of decreasing the value of reported US dollar gross profit from our Canadian operations by $2.7 million relative to the conversion impact last year. Gross profit as a percentage of sales was 18.3 percent compared to 20.7 percent last year, reflecting price increases that did not fully recover cost increases; increased promotional spending; an unfavourable change in product mix; and lower gross margins on Atlantic Trading sales compared to the overall average margin on the remainder of the Company sales. Adjusted EBITDA decreased in the third quarter by $1.9 million, or 10.1 percent to $17.1 million, and was 7.1 percent of sales compared to 7.7 percent last year. Approximately $1 million of this decline reflects an unfavourable change in the US dollar/Canadian dollar exchange rate, and the remaining decrease reflects lower overall sales volume and lower gross profit as a percentage of sales, partially offset by lower distribution costs and lower SG&A expenses. Lower distribution costs reflect the impact of supply chain optimization savings, and lower SG&A expenses reflect lower sales commission and incentives and savings related to restructuring activities, which Keith will elaborate on in a few moments. Reported net income decreased in the third quarter by $1.5 million, or 19.8 percent to $6.1 million with diluted earnings per share of $0.19. This decrease primarily reflects lower adjusted EBITDA, as I just discussed, and higher nonroutine and onetime costs, partially offset by lower income tax expense. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 7 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Excluding the impact of nonroutine and onetime costs, which are explained in our MD&A, adjusted net income decreased in the third quarter by $1.3 million, or 15.6 percent to $7.1 million, and correspondingly adjusted diluted earnings per share decreased by $0.04 to $0.23. Turning now to the balance sheet. The net working capital balance was $227.2 million at the end of the third quarter. This was $30.3 million better than the balance a year ago due to higher payables and lower receivables, partially offset by the impact of the Atlantic Trading acquisition. Net interest-bearing debt was $319.1 million at the end of the third quarter, which was $24.2 million lower than the balance at the end of the same period last year. This decrease reflects improved cash flow provided by operating activities, partially offset by the use of debt last October to acquire Atlantic Trading, and for a $5.7 million payment to close operating leases relating to the American Pride business. For the rolling 12-month period ended October 3, 2015, cash flow from operating activities was $71.1 million, of which $39.5 million was generated in this third quarter. Our net interest-bearing debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio, also calculated on a rolling 12month basis, improved to 3.9 times at the end of the third quarter. This was an improvement compared to 4.4 times at the end of fiscal 2014 and 4.2 times at the end of the second quarter of 2015. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 8 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Cash flow from operations generated during the fourth quarter will be used to reduce debt. However, to the extent seasonal working capital requirements increase by more than free cash flow, debt will increase and so will our net interest-bearing debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio. That concludes my financial review for the third quarter of 2015, and I would now like to turn the call over to Keith to discuss key developments in the quarter and provide an update on our 2015 strategic goals. Keith Decker — President and Executive Officer, High Liner Foods Incorporated Thank you, Paul, and good afternoon, everyone. The third quarter's financial results were improved compared to those reported for the second quarter. And while we are not satisfied with the results, we do believe we saw signs of improvement across the business, including in sales volume trends. As expected, we have not yet realized the benefit of raw material cost savings, so previous raw material cost increases, along with the weaker Canadian dollar, continued to negatively impact sales volume and margins in the third quarter. Adjusted EBITDA, however, on a domestic dollar basis was relatively flat for the quarter compared to the same period last year, reflecting the achievement of cost savings and efficiencies in certain areas of our business. Expressed as a percentage of sales, distribution costs and SG&A both decreased on a yearover-year basis. Lower distribution costs reflect savings in storage costs resulting from supply chain "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 9 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call optimization activities. Lower SG&A expenses reflect the impact of restructuring activities which were undertaken in certain areas to achieve efficiencies identified through our supply chain optimization project. And in other areas, changes were made to address certain internal sales execution and promotional challenges that management believes contributed to the Company's underperformance in the second quarter. New talent has also been recruited to key leadership positions, and following these restructuring activities the organization will not only be more efficient but also better position to achieve sales growth moving forward. Our strategic goal to optimize our supply chain continues to be a top priority for the organization. Activities related to this goal continued as planned during the third quarter, and most of the activities for which we were utilizing outside expertise are now completed. While we believe we have achieved most of the cost savings expected related to completed activities, their impact on product margins continues to be delayed as a result of increased production costs associated with lower volumes being produced at our plants. We expect to continue realizing some net cost savings related to this project in the fourth quarter, and that by the end of 2016 we can achieve the total annual cost savings of 20 million to $25 million. Continued improvement of sales volume trends in the remainder of 2015 and into next year will help to realize the full benefits related to our supply chain optimization activities. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 10 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call In regards to raw material costs, we expect to start realizing cost savings on certain key species late this year and into next year. In the third quarter, promotional spending was increased to help improve sales volume trends, and serve to help lower the price of our products to customers in advance of the Company starting to realize expected lower raw material costs. Improving sales volume trends remains our number one priority for the remainder of 2015, and these efforts will continue to be supported by increased promotional spending, and will be further assisted to the extent we start to realize lower seafood raw material prices. I want to recognize the last few months have been challenging for our shareholders as High Liner Foods shares have traded down significantly since our second quarter results were released. However, I believe continued commitment to our strategic goals, specifically focusing on supply chain optimization and organic growth, is how we can continue to best deliver improved performance in 2016. Before opening up the call for questions, I’d like to share with you that earlier today the Company's Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of CAD $0.12 per share on the Company's common shares payable on December 15, 2015, to holders of record on December 1, 2015. Operator, I would now like to open the call for questions. Thank you. Q&A "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 11 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Operator If you would like to ask a question, please press *, then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. We’ll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from George Doumet from Scotiabank. Your line is open. George Doumet — Scotiabank Good afternoon. Keith Decker Hi, George. Paul Jewer Hey, George. George Doumet Can you guys just provide some colour on the expectations for the timing on the lower fish prices to flow through the P&L? I guess how big is it expected in Q4? Any sense of magnitude you can provide on average for Q1 in 2016? And the last part of that question is how much you guys foresee that we’ll need to give up in terms of promotions? Paul Jewer So in Q4 of this current year we should start to see that benefit as we exit the quarter. It will be later this quarter where we really start to see some of that benefit. There was really none to speak of in our Q3 results. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 12 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call That benefit will then be fully realized as we go into 2016. Nothing that I can quantify in terms of a dollar impact at this time. We would intend to invest some of that improved pricing back into promotional activity, and in fact we invested in promotional activity in advance of benefitting from that lower cost in order to get volume growth going to provide additional benefit when the lower-cost product does become available. The one thing I do need to highlight, however, which is important to consider, is the lower costs will be primarily realized in our US business, as in our Canadian business for the first part of 2016 certainly that lower cost will be offset by the negative change in the Canadian dollar/US dollar exchange rate. George Doumet Appreciate that colour. And I guess just to be clear here, the 20 million to 25 million in cost take-out objective is still on for 2016? Are there any contingent volume assumptions to get there? Or can current levels of volumes support that cost take-out target? Paul Jewer We believe we have things that we can do that that even if we were only to maintain flat volumes, or frankly the level of volume decline that we experienced this quarter, that we would be able to achieve that benefit. Obviously, I know I think we said this in our Q2 call, if we were to have minus 9 percent volumes like we did in Q2, that would become a challenge. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 13 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call But at current levels we believe that benefit is fully achievable, and we did actually have some of that benefit be realized in Q3 of this year despite some of the volume challenges. George Doumet Can you quantify the amount that was achieved this quarter? Paul Jewer Yes. There’d be a couple million dollars of benefit that we were able to achieve in the third quarter. George Doumet Okay. One last one, if I may. So obviously been some significantly lower SG&A in the quarter. Is that a sustainable run rate moving forward? Do we expect further improvements as we enter 2016? Paul Jewer I think it's a sustainable run rate moving forward. We’ve identified areas in the business where we have had the opportunity to cut costs, and those are not onetime cost cuts. Those are cost cuts that should continue to benefit us as we move into 2016. George Doumet All right. That’s it. Thank you very much. Keith Decker "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 14 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call It's a function, George, of identifying areas where we could tighten up the operation. And we have done that, and I believe that we should continue to move forward at that level. George Doumet Okay. Thanks so much. Operator Your next question comes from Sabahat Khan from RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open. Sabahat Khan — RBC Capital Markets Thanks. Can you maybe comment on the overall trends in both retail and US foodservice for seafood across your channel? What you’re seeing versus last quarter? Keith Decker Well, I think that we can kind of segment it by Canadian versus the US business. So the Canadian business we saw a nice rebound in the Canadian business, Canadian retail in particular, with better promotional activity. I think we signalled during the second quarter call that we had some promotional activity which wasn't resulting in the desired outcome. And we subsequently made some changes during the second quarter to address that. And I think that we did see the rebound in sales volume and sales dollars in our retail business in Canada. We've got a lot of pressure from currency, so obviously that increased promotional activity had some impact from a profit perspective. But that being said, we did feel good about that. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 15 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call On the foodservice side of the business it was another one of those where we put a lot of activity against it from an execution standpoint. We saw that the business rebounded nicely. I would say that if you look at the US side of the business, foodservice, we had better performance than we had during the second quarter, and the same thing with our retail business. And I would say that given that we've got some new sales leadership in place in that business, I would expect that that performance should continue to improve as that team comes up to speed. Sabahat Khan Okay. And how would you say the overall, I guess, your primary customers across foodservice are performing in terms of just the overall demand for seafood? How are you comping, I guess, versus the industry? Keith Decker Well, on foodservice we don't see the comps because there really is no general data associated either—first of all, the large customers like Sysco and US Foods and GFS, et cetera, they don't disclose their percentage of seafood business, so you don't really even know how big their total seafood business is, and they don't break it out in terms of what their category performance is doing. But I would say in general if you follow the industry trends of their results, you'll see that Sysco had a better quarter. US Foods is working on their exit strategy from the Sysco US deal, and I "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 16 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call think Gordon Food Service continues to do well, given that they have been relatively focused on taking share from Sysco in the US. Paul Jewer I think the trend we referred to in the second quarter is still relevant that the high prices on seafood have caused some operators to shift menu items particularly to chicken. So that is something that we’re working to change the tide on, and lower seafood raw material costs should help us with that. The other thing I would say is while the industry overall has shown some signs of improvement, from a menu occasion perspective it's primarily in breakfast and lunch as opposed to dinner, and it hasn't been fully at the full-service restaurant piece of the business. So again, those are areas where we’re focused on helping to show some signs of seafood growth, which are our key customers. Keith Decker What I would also add to that, Sabahat, is that as prices have come down and are starting to be realized into the marketplace, I think that you're going to see promotional activity start to increase, not just with ourselves, but with all the seafood industry in general. When you start to see the benefit of shrimp promotions and salmon promotions and haddock and cod promotions, I think that that will start to have an impact on better velocity through the system. Sabahat Khan "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 17 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Okay. Thanks. And on the supply chain initiatives I just want to get an understanding of where you stand in terms of the actual kind of execution of the initiatives? Or is it just are you largely through that and it’s just a matter of getting the volumes through the plant to get the savings? Paul Jewer So we are largely through the plant-based portion of the supply chain optimization initiative. We are—the third party consultant that was helping us with that is now done. So on the plant side, I would say it is about continuing to execute on those tactics that we've introduced at plant level and getting some volume back through the plants to allow that benefit to materialize to the bottom line. And the benefit would be sufficient enough to offset what has been lower absorption in the last couple of quarters. On the broader supply chain side, we are still doing some work on improved planning in the business, and we believe that there is still some opportunity ahead of us in 2016 in that broader supply chain planning area. Sabahat Khan Okay. Thank you. Operator Your next question comes from Marc Robinson from Cormark. Your line is open. Marc Robinson — Cormark Securities "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 18 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Thanks. Good afternoon. Keith Decker Hi, Marc. Marc Robinson Hey, guys. Just 2.4 million of nonrecurring costs; can you just provide a little bit more clarity on what exactly that is? I would have thought that the M&A and consulting-related costs would have been over within the quarter. Paul Jewer Yeah. There was very little in the way of M&A-related costs, obviously. There were some consulting costs, as I mentioned. The third party supply chain consultants finished in the quarter, so there were some costs for them. You will not see that continue to occur. We did have some restructuring costs that we referred to in the material related to some of the changes that Keith identified that allowed us to get some of the SG&A benefits that we realized. And there were a couple of small assets, write-offs, related to prior acquisitions that impacted that line as well, which would not—we would not expect would continue to occur. Marc Robinson Okay. There’s some commentary around lower sales commissions. Just wondering if you could provide some clarity on what exactly that's about? Just anything you can offer on that. Paul Jewer "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 19 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Yeah. Sure. Well, unfortunately, when you have a sales decline it means you actually pay less incentives to salespeople. We’d rather be in the position where we’re paying more incentives because our sales dollars are better. But that is one of the factors that does provide some of the SG&A benefit. Keith Decker It wasn't a function of us cutting our commission rates or cutting our sales representation. Marc Robinson Yeah. Okay. That’s what I was after. Can you—I think you give some clarity on the percent of sales related to retail, but anything you can offer on what percentage of your EBITDA is related to your retail business, just sort of on a run rate basis? Paul Jewer That's something that we’ve broken out historically in terms of differential profitability between retailer/foodservice. Marc Robinson So you're saying that's something that you have in the past? Paul Jewer We have not. Marc Robinson "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 20 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Right. Okay. And I mean it would be more profitable than your foodservice business and would be about 30 percent of your top line? Paul Jewer Nothing that I can identify specifically, and it does vary between Canada and the US as well, obviously, given that retail is 50 percent of our business in Canada and less than 30 percent of our business in the US. Marc Robinson Okay. Just anything you can offer around Atlantic Trading? There’s disclosure they’ve done 47.5 million year to date, and I think when you bought them you were talking about 75 million to 80 million. So any commentary on how Atlantic Trading is doing and how it's tracking relative to your original plan? Keith Decker Yeah. I would say that as far as tracking to the original plans they’re doing what we expected from them. I think that the effect that you're talking about with regards to sales is really a function of the deflation of the salmon complex. And so I would say that if you look at an average price in Chile or Norway, when we started the year the price was roughly $6.50 to 6.75 a pound proportion, and that price today is $5. And so you’ve seen obviously a decrease in both COGS and selling price. Paul Jewer "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 21 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Yeah. So if you look at volume and profitability, it's exactly in line with our expectations on the business. Marc Robinson Okay. All right. That's it for me. Thank you. Paul Jewer Thanks, Marc. Keith Decker Thanks, Marc. Operator Your next question comes from Michael Mills from Beacon Securities. Your line is open. Michael Mills — Beacon Securities Hi. Good afternoon, guys. Just wanted to follow on in terms of the volume situation. Certainly positive to see a bit of volume growth in Canada. Beyond price, what will it take to see High Liner kind of get back to a positive volume situation in the US? Keith Decker I think there's a couple of things here. One is really sitting around the—I think pricing has to come down, and clearly that's going to be a key function. And it's our pricing. It's the seafood complex pricing. I think that the lower prices coming through will definitely help to spur additional promotions and additional volume through the system. I think that's part one. "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 22 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call I think the second part that we are clearly focused upon is the right price points and the right species. And so if you think about the customers, they have the ability to interplay multiple species in terms of how they’re going to promote them to hit ideal price points. And a lot of our focus has been in the last quarter on working within those species to position them at the correct hot buttons, if you will, for the customers. I had made some comments earlier about when you sell a 3-pound bag of salmon for 24.99 and you’re able to sell the same bag for 19.99, there's an expectation that you're going to get a 20 percent or 30 percent lift in sales. That's the type of benefit that we need to be able to take advantage of. Paul Jewer The other item I’d add to that, Mike, is clearly innovation will need to be part of that sales growth as we move forward. And that's something that we continue to focus on and look at delivering as we move into 2016. Michael Mills Yeah. So that leads into my next question. I think the last kind of major product launch was the barbecued pulled salmon product; correct me if I'm wrong. I'm wondering if that's available in all channels and what the reception’s been like? And if—I know you guys can’t tip your hat too much, but in terms of over the next six, nine months if there are some what you might describe as significant product launches planned? "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 23 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Keith Decker So I would say that barbecued salmon was I wouldn't classify that as a major launch, but as I characterized it, it was the first initiative of ours to move into the prepared or fully cooked arena where we think there's opportunity. I think that the bigger opportunities will start to arrive starting in the late first quarter and then going from there where we have started then to roll out some additional offerings along that convenience platform. And really it's a function of trying to get at the fast casual sector, but also a convenience factor for not only the restaurant chain environment, but also for the retail environment. I think that the work that we're doing from an innovation perspective you'll start to realize that in the first quarter and after that. Michael Mills Okay. And then, Paul, circling back around on the 20 million to 25 million supply chain goal. I guess if we were in what you might describe as a normalized volume environment, how much of that 20 million to 25 million has been achieved through the end of Q3? Paul Jewer Well, I identified despite the volume declines we achieved 2 million in Q3... Michael Mills Right. Paul Jewer "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 24 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call And so obviously you can extrapolate that on a run rate basis in order to get an annual benefit associated with that. And it would have been higher if it were not for the volume declines. I can't give you a specific number, but... Michael Mills More than halfway? More than halfway there? Paul Jewer No, we didn't expect to be more than halfway at the end of 2015 because today it’s backend loaded, but without the volume declines we would have been much closer to our expectations on savings in 2015. Michael Mills Okay. That's it for me. Thanks. Operator Once again, if you like to ask a question, press *, then the number 1 on your keypad. Your next question comes from Bob Gibson from Octagon. Your line's open. Bob Gibson — Octagon Good afternoon. Paul Jewer Hi, Bob. Keith Decker "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 25 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Hi, bob. Bob Gibson I might have missed it, but did you give us some colour on the overall retail industry volumes in the States? Paul Jewer We did not. Keith Decker We did not. Paul Jewer They continued to be under pressure, so the category is in decline, not just our business in US retail. Bob Gibson Okay. Because last quarter you said it was, I think, down double digits. Is it down that much? Or… Paul Jewer It was better in Q3 than it was in Q2. Bob Gibson Okay. And you typically put through price increases at the end of Lent. Have you given any thought to what next year is going to look like as far as price increases? "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 26 FINAL TRANSCRIPT November 4, 2015 — 3:30 p.m. E.T. High Liner Foods Incorporated Third Quarter Results Conference Call Keith Decker Well, we put price increases typically through in foodservice on the 1st of January, and then we put price increases for retail through post-Lent, which would be sometime in April time frame. So at this point we are still in our planning stage, and we have not mapped out yet what price increases we would or would not take at this point. Bob Gibson Okay. Great. Thanks very much. Operator Once again, if you like to ask a question, press *, then the number 1 on your keypad. We do not have any questions at this time. I turn the call over to the presenters. Keith Decker Thank you, everyone, for your participation in today's call. Our next conference call is planned for February 17, 2016, during which we will update you with the results of the fourth quarter of 2015 for the 13 weeks ended January 2, 2016. Please note that the fourth quarter of 2014 was for 14 weeks ended January 3, 2015. Thank you, and have a good day. Operator This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. ***** "Though CNW Group has used commercially reasonable efforts to produce this transcript, it does not represent or warrant that this transcript is error-free. CNW Group will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, loss of profits or other damages or liabilities which may arise out of or result from any use made of this transcript or any error contained therein." « Bien que CNW Telbec ait fait tous les efforts possibles pour produire cet audioscript, la société ne peut affirmer ou garantir qu’il ne contient aucune erreur. CNW Telbec ne peut être tenue responsable de pertes ou profits, responsabilités ou dommages causés par ou découlant directement, indirectement, accidentellement ou corrélativement à l’utilisation de ce texte ou toute erreur qu’il contiendrait. » 27