FFF 55 North Mining Inc

CALGARY, March 20, 2014 /CNW/ - Northern Frontier Corp. (TSX-V: FFF) (the "Corporation" or "Northern Frontier") is pleased to announce its fourth quarter and fiscal 2013 financial results, its 2014 capital expenditure budget and declaration of its first dividend.

Selected Financial Highlights

Overview

Northern Frontier completed its first business acquisition in September 2013, by purchasing a civil and logistics services provider located within the steam assisted gravity drainage ("SAGD") Oilsands market of northeastern Alberta for $54.3 million. Central to our strategy is to build on a company with a solid foundation, through providing an expanding array of industrial services to the long-term asset base being developed in the resource sectors of western Canada. This acquisition has provided that platform, with a substantial asset base, solid customer relationships and a physical location proximate to substantial future growth opportunities within the SAGD market.

The company also completed two equity raises for combined net proceeds of $28.6 million to support growth through strengthening its balance sheet and deploying capital in anticipation of 2014 demands. As part of the second capital raise, the board of directors implemented a dividend policy to support a long-term cost of capital that will accelerate future acquisitions and growth of the business.

The fourth quarter of 2013 (post-platform acquisition) was focused on implementing financial systems and capital structure that would facilitate the transition of the business from a privately-held organization to one that will meet the expectations of the public markets.

Northern Frontier exited fiscal 2013 with a pro forma EBITDA of $14.8 million. The stand-alone trailing twelve month EBITDA of our platform acquisition was $16.6 million, exceeding initial expectations when we agreed to acquire the business. Overall, Northern Frontier's fiscal 2013 performance and post-platform acquisition financial results (effectively the fourth quarter of 2013) were relatively consistent with expectations. Financial results in the fourth quarter of 2013 were impacted by wet weather in early October, a deferral of a couple of client projects and an extended holiday break at the end of the quarter. This resulted in an increase in labor costs as a percentage of revenue and a decline in camp utilization. Overall, management is satisfied with the earnings capacity it acquired through the platform acquisition and expects to increase the earnings capacity of the business through fiscal 2014.

Outlook

Management expects the first half of fiscal 2014 to have moderate activity levels compared to fiscal 2013. Demand for services is currently expected to accelerate in the second half of fiscal 2014, driven by new construction and successful production results from existing facilities within the SAGD market that the Corporation participates in. Northern Frontier also expects to see growth from its capital expenditures made in the fourth quarter of 2013, including an expansion to its camp bed capacity driven by expected employee growth and equipment fleet. In addition, the Corporation expects deployment of capital into its logistics strategy in early 2014 to start contributing to earnings growth in the second half of fiscal 2014.

2014 Capital Expenditure Budget

For fiscal 2014, the Corporation's net capital expenditure program is $14.3 million, allocated as follows:

Dividend Declared

Northern Frontier has declared its first quarterly dividend of $0.065 per common share, payable on April 15, 2014 to holders of record on April 3, 2014 (ex-dividend April 1, 2014). This represents an annual yield of 7.1% based on the March 20, 2014 closing price of $3.65 per common share.

Additional Information

Northern Frontier's audited consolidated financial statements for the 13 months ended December 31, 2013 and 12 months ended November 30, 2012 and fiscal 2013 management discussion and analysis ("MD&A") have been filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Conference call

Management of Northern Frontier will hold a conference call on Friday, March 21, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. Calgary / 11:30 a.m. Toronto time.  The call will feature remarks by Chris Yellowega, President and CEO and Monty Balderston, Executive Vice President and CFO regarding the financial results.

Conference dial-in instructions are as follows:

Toronto: 416-764-8682
North America: 888-390-0549
Conference ID: 95520669

A replay of the call will be available 24 hours after the event until 11:59 p.m. EST on March 28, 2014. To access the archived conference call, please dial 1-888-390-0541 and enter passcode 520669.

About Northern Frontier Corp.

Northern Frontier's strategic objective is to create a large industrial and environmental services business through a buy and build growth strategy. Currently, the Corporation provides civil construction and excavation services to the industrial industry, primarily in the in situ Oilsands region south of Fort McMurray, Alberta.  Through providing these services to large industrial customers in the steam assisted gravity drainage ("SAGD") region of northeastern Alberta, the Corporation focuses on the ongoing demand for services to support operating facilities, sustaining capital expenditures to maintain production levels of those facilities and the development of new production capacity.

The Corporation's common shares and common share purchase warrants are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol "FFF" and "FFF.WT", respectively.

Reader Advisory

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements based on certain expectations, projections and assumptions. Certain information in this news release contains forward-looking statements including management's assessment of Northern Frontier's future operations, business prospects and opportunities, management's future expectations regarding the financial performance of the Corporation, forecasted 2014 capital expenditures of the Corporation and expected payment of dividends declared. With respect to the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, Northern Frontier has made assumptions, regarding among other things: that Northern Frontier will continue to conduct its operations in a manner consistent with past operations. Although Northern Frontier believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations or assumptions will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Northern Frontier's control including, without limitation, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, fluctuation of commodity prices, fluctuation of exchange rates, environmental risks, industry competition, availability of qualified personnel and management, stock market volatility and timely and cost effective access to sufficient capital from internal and external sources. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the forgoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Northern Frontier's operations and financial results are included in Northern Frontier's MD&A and other reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and Northern Frontier does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

This information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Corporation's control. Users of this information are cautioned that actual results may differ materially. For additional information refer to the "Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" section of the Corporation's MD&A.

Non-GAAP Measures

Selected financial information for the three and 13 month periods ended December 31, 2013 is set out above and includes the following measures that are not recognized under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and are non-generally accepted accounting principles ("non-GAAP") measures: EBITDA and Funded Debt. This information should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements for the three and 13 month periods ended December 31, 2013 and the Corporation's MD&A available under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Further information regarding these non-GAAP measures is contained in the Corporation's MD&A.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Northern Frontier Corp.