Canlan Reports Strengthened Resilience Through Increased Revenue, Operating Earnings, and Liquidity For 2021

Burnaby, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2022) - Canlan Ice Sports Corp. (TSX: ICE) (the "Corporation") today reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Overview of Year Ended December 31, 2021

• Total revenue was $40.4 million compared to $39.3 million a year ago. The pandemic forced facility closures during the first half of 2021 and operations gradually resumed starting Q3 and returned to full operations by Q4 2021;
• Total operating earnings was $5.8 million compared to $0.9 million in 2020;
• In addition to scheduled principal repayments, $10.0 million in debt principal was repaid prior to year-end. This additional repayment relates to a revolving credit facility that can be paid down when surplus cash is available or drawn upon when working capital is required. As a result, at year end, cash-on-hand totaled $12.5 million with an additional $10.0 million available by way of the revolving credit facility; a much stronger liquidity position when compared to the year ended 2020;
• Total debt at year end 2021 was $43.8 million compared to $56.2 million a year ago;
• On July 1, 2021, Canlan Sports Libertyville, a newly acquired sportsplex in Illinois, commenced operations; and
• Sale of an inactive ice rink property (Les 4 Glaces) was completed in September 2021. Net proceeds of $7.2 million were received.

Fourth Quarter and Annual Results

Fourth Quarter Results
(three months ended December 31, 2021 compared with three months ended December 31, 2020)

• Operating revenue was $19.1 million compared to $8.2 million in 2020. All facilities were opened in Q4 2021 while capacity in 2020 was at approximately 20% to 30% due to varying public health restrictions;

• Food and beverage operations resumed in most locations and generated revenue of $1.6 million and while sports stores generated sales of $0.2 million. These operations were closed in Q4 2020;

• As customers returned to play at our facilities, operating expenses of $13.0 million increased by $4.1 million or 46.1% from the prior year; and

• G&A expenses of $1.8 million increased by $0.5 million or 37.8% and operating earnings was $4.5 million compared to $0.8 million a year ago.

2021 Year End Results
(year ended December 31, 2021 compared with year ended December 31, 2020)

• Total operating revenue of $40.4 million increased by $1.1 million or 2.9%;

• Similar to 2020, the pandemic disrupted business operations in varying degrees depending on location but in general, public health orders resulted in suspended and/or limited operations until mid-2021. With the gradual ease of restrictions on indoor recreation in each region, business activity slowly returned to normal and by the start of Q3, all facilities were opened for sports activities, and other than specific locations that dealt with labour supply issues, recreation, concession and sports store activity returned to full capacity by Q4;

• In addition to facility operating revenue, the Company continued to qualify for the Canada Emergency Wage (CEWS) and Canada Emergency Rent (CERS) subsidies that began in March 2020. In 2021, income from subsidies was $6.5 million compared to $6.4 million in 2020;

• Facility operating expenses of $35.4 million decreased by 10.3% compared to $39.4 million in 2020;

• G&A expense of $5.8 million increased by $0.5 million or 9.6% principally due to the centralization of certain staff positions and a provision made for short-term incentive compensation. Centralization has helped overcome some of the labour supply issues as business activity resumed and short-term incentive compensation expense was recognized as certain key performance indicators were reached by team members in protecting the Company through the pandemic and optimizing its portfolio of assets;

• After G&A, operating earnings for the year was $5.8 million compared to $0.9 million a year ago;

• Depreciation and finance expense totaled $9.9 million compared to $11.5 million; and

• After recording a gain of $1.5 million on the sale of assets and income tax recoveries of $1.5 million (2020 - $1.9 million), net loss for the year was $1.1 million or $0.08 a share compared to $6.4 million or $0.48 a share.

Update on Current Operations

In January 2022, COVID-19 health restrictions in various provinces again resulted in reduced and/or suspended business activities for a brief period of approximately three weeks. Subsequent to the lifting of these restrictions, operations have resumed without interruption and as at the date of this release, the Company has returned to full capacity at all of its sports complexes.

"Last year, our team continued to battle the challenges that resulted from the pandemic, along with the constantly changing regulations and logistical issues that ensued after operations resumed," said Joey St-Aubin, Canlan's CEO. "As always, our team responded with great attitudes, amazing effort and outstanding performances in all areas, no matter if it was the monitoring of vaccination passports, adjusting sales cycles in a compressed time period to coincide with changing regulations, or doing double-duty to fill vacancies due to labour shortages. I cannot thank our team members enough for their patience and tireless efforts to ensure Canlan's success through these complexities. We are also very grateful for the continued patronage of our customers. After operations resumed and schedules were communicated, you quickly responded with bookings, and registrations for our programs, leagues and tournaments. We thank you for choosing Canlan and making us a part of your activity curriculum. In the coming weeks, we look forward to starting our spring/summer leagues and programs and growing our presence in Libertyville, Illinois with our newest sportsplex facility in the portfolio."

"We also want to acknowledge our shareholders and senior lenders," added Canlan's CFO, Ivan Wu. "Our ability to navigate through the pandemic and reach a strong liquidity position at the end of 2021, was in large part, due to the continued support of our shareholders and the collaborative efforts of our senior lenders to assist Canlan over the past two years."

Dividend Policy

Given measures implemented by management to preserve cash balances, combined with the austerity that was asked of our employees, directors, our customers, our suppliers and our financial partners, Canlan's Board of Directors suspended the payment of dividends on March 24, 2020 and will continue to do so until further notice. Canlan's Board of Directors reviews the Corporation's dividend policy on a quarterly basis and will continue to monitor this situation and respond accordingly as we work towards the resumption of full business operations.

Filings

Canlan's financial statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2021 will be available via SEDAR on or before March 31, 2022 and through the Company's website, www.canlansports.com.

About Canlan

Canlan Ice Sports Corp. is the North American leader in the development, operations and ownership of multi-purpose recreation and entertainment facilities. We are the largest private sector owner and operator of recreation facilities in North America and currently own, lease and/or manage 18 facilities in Canada and the United States with 49 ice surfaces, as well as seven indoor soccer fields, and 24 sport, volleyball, and basketball courts. To learn more about Canlan please visit www.canlansports.com.

Canlan Ice Sports Corp. is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ICE."

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this News Release may constitute ''forward looking'' statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. When used in this News Release, such statements may use such words as ''may'', ''will'', ''expect'', ''believe'', ''plan'' and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this News Release. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or underlying such forward looking statements are the effects of, as well as changes in: international, national and local business and economic conditions; political or economic instability in the Corporation's markets; competition; legislation and governmental regulation; and accounting policies and practices. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

For more information:
Canlan Ice Sports Corp.
Ivan Wu
CFO
604 736 9152

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¹ Operating earnings (loss) is defined as earnings (loss) after general and administrative expenses and before interest, depreciation, foreign currency exchange, gain (loss) on assets sold and income tax. However, operating earnings is not a term that has specific meaning in accordance with IFRS, and may be calculated differently by other companies. Canlan reconciles operating earnings to its net earnings.

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