CIBT Reports Financial Results for Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2020

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 1, 2020 / CIBT Education Group Inc. ("CIBT" or the "Company") (TSX:MBA)(OTCQX:MBAIF) reports that it has filed on SEDAR its annual audited consolidated financial statements (the "Annual Financial Statements") and related Management's Discussion & Analysis (the "MD&A") (collectively, the "2020 Financial Report") for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020 ("Fiscal 2020"). This news release should be read in conjunction with the 2020 Financial Report in its entirety. To review the 2020 Financial Report, please visit CIBT's profile at www.sedar.com.

The following table presents selected financial data from the 2020 Financial Report with comparisons. All figures are in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share data, unless otherwise noted.

For the years ended August 31,

2020

2019

% Change

Total revenues

$

62,548

$

70,997

-12%

Cost of operations

$

25,639

$

30,723

-17%

Gross margin

$

36,909

$

40,274

-8%

Other operating expenses

$

32,769

$

36,496

-10%

Finance costs

$

8,168

$

6,594

24%

Gain (loss) on change in fair value of investment properties

$

(5,730)

$

20,116

-128%

Other income (expense), net

$

5,317

$

(1,213)

-538%

Income (loss) before income taxes

$

(4,441)

$

16,087

-128%

Income tax expense

$

310

$

1,155

-73%

Net income (loss)

$

(4,751)

$

14,932

-132%

Net income attributable to CIBT shareholders

$

1,229

$

2,614

-53%

Income (loss) per share – CIBT shareholders

Basic

$

0.02

$

0.03

-33%

Diluted

$

(0.01)

$

0.03

-133%

Total assets

$

452,767

$

389,670

16%

Total non-current liabilities

$

111,273

$

113,824

-2%

The following reconciles net income (loss) to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (non IFRS):

Fiscal 2020

Fiscal 2019

($)

($) (2)

Net income (loss) – Continuing operations

(4,751)

14,932

Deduct: interest income

(2,863)

(471)

Add: interest expense

8,496

7,011

Add: income tax provision

310

1,155

Add: depreciation and amortization

7,927

3,667

EBITDA [non-IFRS] (1)(2)

9,119

26,294

Add loss/deduct (gain) on changes in fair value of investment properties

5,730

(20,116)

Add loss/deduct (gain) on derivatives, net

(381)

(336)

Adjusted EBITDA [non-IFRS] (1)(2)

14,468

5,842

See the "Non-IFRS Financial Measurements" cautionary note at the end of this news release.
For the year ended August 31, 2019, previously reported EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA were $23,752 and $3,636, respectively. Previous presentation of interest expense did not include accretion of deferred finance fees. Previous presentation of depreciation and amortization did not include amortization of agency fee intangibles.

"Fiscal 2020 displayed strong growth for our domestic education business at Sprott Shaw College as our revenue from those operations increased from $35.43 million to $37.04 million," commented Toby Chu, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of CIBT. "The on-going pandemic ("COVID-19") and resulting border closures that were imposed during Fiscal 2020 had an impact on our overall business including our subsidiaries serving international students, which resulted in a 12% decline in total revenue. It is important to note that while the Company reported a net loss for Fiscal 2020, EBITDA was $9.19M and Adjusted EBITDA was $14.468M, respectively, in Fiscal 2020. Other highlights are:

Non-cash adjustments in Fiscal 2020 totaled $10.156 million associated with write-down of intangible assets and goodwill of $3.556 million, decrease of $5.73 million on fair value changes in our investment properties, and allowances against deferred tax assets
Net income attributable to CIBT shareholders was $1.229 million
Income per share (basic) declined to $0.02 per share for Fiscal 2020 however was still positive
Total asset value grew from $389.67 million to $452.767 million compared to the same period of last year, which does not include the $48.5 million purchase price for our 11th project, GEC® Marine Gateway, completed following our year-end
Cash on hand was $23 million as of August 31, 2020

CIBT management undertook significant efforts during Fiscal 2020 to address the new business landscape:

Transitioned all education platforms from an on-campus learning model to a virtual classroom model within ten days after lock-down measures were imposed
Provided 24/7 services to students residing in Canada and abroad throughout the pandemic period
Accommodated new students that vacated public university dormitories by relocating them to GEC® rental apartments while managing early cancellations for certain tenants
Provided Vancouver Coastal Health staff and frontline health workers with temporary housing at reduced costs at GEC® properties near hospitals
Increased the diversity of the GEC® rental tenant base to not only include students but also working professionals
Expanded GEC® Granville's tenant base, a twelve-story hotel operation, to accept international students seeking short-term accommodations who were unable to leave the country
Reduced the number of occupants per unit in GEC® properties to comply with quarantine requirements and social distancing, but most importantly, to protect the health of CIBT's tenants from the spread of COVID-19

"During the year, we took necessary steps to ensure that our tenants and students were less vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 within the premises of our schools and rental properties," continued Toby Chu. "We will continue to uphold CIBT's reputation by prioritizing the health of our tenants and students as their well-being is highly integral to our business."

Despite COVID-19's effect on the global economy, CIBT has continued its successful track record by achieving the following milestones:

Completed the land acquisition of GEC® Oakridge for $30.3 million in Fiscal 2020
Successfully raised $28.7 million, directly and through its subsidiary limited partnerships, during the 14 months from the beginning of Fiscal 2020 to October 30, 2020
Completed $203 million in mortgage financing, re-financing, and construction loans during the 15 months from the beginning of Fiscal 2020 to November 30, 2020, and took advantage of the lower interest rates where applicable
Completed the acquisition of GEC® Marine Gateway for a purchase price of $48.5 million on October 27, 2020
Expanded the real estate portfolio from ten projects to eleven projects, consisting of sixteen buildings which includes seven buildings that are operational, four buildings under construction, and five proposed buildings on land in the rezoning and construction phase. Refer to the Company's news release dated November 3, 2020 for a complete update of CIBT's real estate development progress1
All entities under CIBT's education and real estate subsidiaries have remained fully operational throughout the global pandemic
Continued construction and rezoning of various properties that are under development with public hearing dates confirmed for GEC Education Mega Center®, which occurred on November 19, 2020, and for GEC® Oakridge on January 19, 2021
Reduced dilution by cancelling 9.1288 million shares as of November 2, 2020, purchased through its normal course issuer bids from January 2015 to November 2020

Recent developments in the education and real estate market in Vancouver and Canada that have impacted the Company are as follows:

As of October 20, 2020, Canada re-opened its borders to international students from most countries attending eligible schools, and international student enrollments in CIBT's education subsidiaries have resumed
Occupancy rates for GEC® Granville Hotel and GEC® rental apartments are gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels
Real estate transactions in Metro Vancouver experienced a growth of 56.2% and 29% during the months of September and October 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 respectively, according to the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board(*2)
Rental apartments have garnered strong interest from institutional investors seeking acquisition opportunities according to analyst reports from CBRE, Cushman and Associates, Colliers and Goodman Commercial
Canada was ranked #1 in ‘Top 10 Places to Study Abroad' by Educations.com(*3) and ranked #3 in ‘Best Country for Education' by U.S News(*4),encouraging international students to return to Canada
According to a Canada Mortgage and Housing report(*5), the vacancy rate for rental accommodations in Vancouver remains approximately 1%

(*1) http://www.cibt.net/cibt-group-provides-update-gec-branded-real-estate-portfolio/

(*2) https://www.rebgv.org/market-watch/monthly-market-report/october-2020.html

(*3) https://www.educations.com/top-10-lists/top-10-places-to-study-abroad-global-18096

(*4) https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-education

(*5) https://goodmanreport.com/app/uploads/2020/01/rental-market-reports-vancouver-64467-2020-a01-en.pdf

"We view the above recent developments, together with the recent news of the progress of several COVID-19 vaccines, as positive signs that the international education and real estate market will start to pick up again in the next few months," stated Toby Chu. "Moreover, the on-going shortage of rental properties is expected to cause rental prices to rise, which will increase our real estate portfolio value. Fair value changes in our investment properties is subject to recovery when the real estate market returns to a normal state. As a result, we expect this will enable us to realize fair value gains in the future. We are grateful for receiving tremendous support from the investment community and we are very proud of our 600 employees for their relentless effort in dealing with the current business environment amid COVID-19. Moving forward, we plan to expand our education footprints, acquire new properties to grow our student housing portfolio, increase the scale of future GEC® projects, and repeat our business model to produce strong financial results."

About CIBT Education Group:

CIBT Education Group Inc. is one of the largest education, and student housing investment companies in Canada, focused on the domestic and the global education market since 1994. CIBT owns business and language colleges, student-centric rental apartments, recruitment centres and corporate offices at 47 locations in Canada and abroad. Its education subsidiaries include Sprott Shaw College (established in 1903), Sprott Shaw Language College, Vancouver International College and CIBT School of Business. CIBT offers over 150 educational programs in healthcare, business management, e-commerce, hotel management, and language training through these schools. The total annual enrollment for the group in 2019 exceeds 12,000 students.

CIBT owns Global Education City Holdings Inc. ("Global Holdings"), an investment holding, and development company focused on education-related real-estate such as student-centric rental apartments, hotel and education super-centres. Under the GEC® brand, Global Holdings provides accommodation service to 72 schools in Metro Vancouver, serving 1,500 students from 77 countries. The total portfolio and development budget under the GEC® brand exceed $1.5 billion.

CIBT also owns Global Education Alliance ("GEA") and Irix Design Group ("Irix Design"). GEA recruits international students for many elite kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities in North America. Irix Design is a leading design and advertising company based in Vancouver, Canada. Visit us online and watch our corporate video at www.cibt.net.

For more information contact:

Toby Chu
Chairman, President & CEO
CIBT Education Group Inc.
investor Relations Contact: 1-604-871-9909 extension 310 or | Email: info@cibt.net

NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASUREMENTS

The Company has included non-IFRS performance measures throughout this press release, including Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") and "Adjusted EBITDA" which is EBITDA adjusted for the gain (loss) on change in fair value of the Company's investment property and the gain (loss) on change in derivative liabilities, net. These non-IFRS financial measurements do not have any standardized meaning as prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Accordingly, these performance measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Management uses EBITDA metrics to measure the profit trends of the business units and segments in the consolidated group since it eliminates the effects of financing decisions and Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of net income (loss) without the impact of gain (loss) on the change in the fair value measurements which are not realized. Certain investors, analysts and others utilize these non-IFRS financial metrics in assessing the Company's financial performance. These non-IFRS financial measurements have not been presented as an alternative to net income (loss) or any other financial measure of performance prescribed by IFRS. Reconciliation of the non-IFRS measures has been provided throughout the Company's MD&A filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (the "forward-looking statements") about CIBT Education Group Inc. and its future plans. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. The forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements as to: (i) the expectation that the real estate market will start to pick up again in the next few months and that property values will return to pre-COVID-19 values; (ii) that rental prices will rise due to the on-going shortage of rental properties, increasing CIBT's real estate portfolio value; and (iii) that the Company's limited partnership subsidiaries will be able to acquire new properties leading to strong financial results. The forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors (collectively, the "Risks") that could cause CIBT's actual results or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by forward-looking statements. The Risks include, without limitation: (a) that restrictions arising as a result of COVID-19 will continue for a period of time beyond management's current expectations, continuing to adversely affect the economy and real estate values; (b) the ability of CIBT's subsidiary limited partnerships to arrange equity investment and secure other required funding to acquire and build GEC® projects, usual construction risks, the ability to obtain all required municipal approvals, the ability to continue to attract students to reside in GEC® branded accommodations, and the level of competition faced by the Company. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of CIBT's management at the time they are made, and CIBT does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances should change, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE: CIBT Education Group Inc.

ReleaseID: 619067