VANCOUVER, March 16 /CNW/ - Polaris Minerals Corporation (News - Market indicators) today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2010. All financial results are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
The Company had sales of $18.0 million in 2010 a decrease of 4% from the $18.8 million recorded in the prior year. The volume of sand and gravel sold was 1.28 million tons compared with 1.42 million tons sold in 2009, a reduction of 10%.
The net loss for the year was $15.7 million ($0.30 loss per share) compared with a net loss of $17.9 million ($0.34 loss per share) for the year ending December 31, 2009, an improvement of 12%. The net loss recorded was impacted by certain exceptional items including: a charge of $6.0 million arising from the restructuring of the Company's shipping contracts in March; a gain of $2.1 million arising from a revised fair value estimate of land held for sale in the Port of Long Beach; and a foreign exchange loss of $1.1 million arising from the stronger Canadian dollar. The Company realized an Adjusted EBITDA loss for the year of $7.3 million ($0.14 loss per share) compared with a loss of $4.3 million ($0.08 per share) in the prior year. During the year the Company raised CAD$2.1 million from refinancing of the berthing tug used at the quarry and CAD$5.0 million from a one year bridge loan secured in November. At December 31, 2010 the Company had cash of $5.3 million.
Herb Wilson, President and CEO, said: "Following a continuing decline in demand for construction aggregates in California during the first six months of 2010, encouraging signs began to emerge during the second half of the year indicating that the bottom of the unprecedented decline in demand had been reached. Shipping capacity restrictions, brought about by routine vessel maintenance, limited Orca Quarry deliveries to California and Hawaii during the fourth quarter. Local deliveries by barge were impacted by the customer's installation of new unloading facilities. During this period, customer requirements were satisfied from inventory drawdown and this action now provides the Company with additional shipping flexibility during 2011 as inventories are rebuilt to appropriate levels".
Mr. Wilson added: "Considerable interest has been shown in the purchase of the Company's jointly owned freehold land on Pier B in the Port of Long Beach and we have every expectation of concluding a sale with net receipts to the Company of approximately $14 million before the end of the third quarter. This sale is an important element in the Company's liquidity planning that was made possible when we acquired the rights to a cost-effective alternative site on Pier D in the same port. We are pursuing permit variations to enable this new terminal to become operative by the end of 2012, thus extending our influence into southern California. At that time we expect to benefit from the combination of major new construction projects within the port of Long Beach itself, coupled with an anticipated increase in market demand following recent federal government actions intended to further stimulate the construction industry".
This financial summary should be read in conjunction with the Company's December 31, 2010 Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis, both of which are available on www.sedar.com and the Company's website.
Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 8:00 am Pacific Daylight Time. Details to access the call live are as follows:
The webcast will be archived for 90 days following the call at the above noted link. The conference call will also be recorded and available for replay at 11:00 am PDT and will be available until March 31, 2011. To access the replay, dial 1-800-642-1687 or 416-849-0833 and use access code 50406329 to hear the recording.
Polaris Minerals Corporation is exclusively focused on the development of quarries and the production of construction aggregates in British Columbia for marine transportation to urban markets on the west coast of North America to meet local supply deficits. In 2007, Polaris began shipping sand and gravel from the Orca Quarry to San Francisco Bay, Vancouver, BC and Hawaii.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements and information appear in this document and include estimates, forecasts, information and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things the future financial or operating performance of the Company, costs and timing of the development of the construction aggregate quarry, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital and operating expenditures, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of quarrying operations, environmental risks, reclamation expenses, and title disputes. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "should", "plans", "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "budget", and "scheduled" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees and there can be no assurance that such statements and information will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's Annual Report and under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form (AIF) in respect of its financial year-ended December 31, 2010, both of which are filed with Canadian regulators on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
