Swiss Water Reports Strong First Quarter Volume and Revenue

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc. (TSX– SWP) (“Swiss Water” or “the company”), a leading specialty coffee company and premium green coffee decaffeinator, today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

2021 First Quarter Financial and Operational Highlights

• Quarterly revenue was $25.7 million, an increase of 18%, or $3.9 million, when compared to the same period in 2020.
• Quarterly processing volumes were up by 14% year over year.
• The company’s European business recovered strongly with volumes up by 275% compared to Q1 last year. Business in North America and Asia Pacific reported volume growth of 4% and 11% respectively during the quarter.
• First quarter EBITDA increased to $2.7 million from $2.6 million last year.
• As expected, for the three months ended March 31, 2021, both operating income and net income decreased to $0.7 million and a loss of $0.1 million respectively, when compared to the first quarter of 2020. The changes were due to additional depreciation, incremental production costs following the commissioning of our new Delta manufacturing facility, and non-cash stock based compensation expenses.
• Swiss Water’s new Delta, B.C. production facility is running 24/7, and commercial shipments from this location continue to increase. The product quality performance from this line is very good.

“We are pleased to report that our volumes continued to prove resilient, despite the ongoing trading challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that all our trading regions reported strong growth during the first quarter of 2021. It was particularly encouraging to see our European business deliver 275 percent growth compared to the first quarter of last year,” said Frank Dennis, Swiss Water’s President and CEO. “As we look forward into the second quarter we are seeing a strong order book and we are optimistic that as vaccinations continue to roll out around the globe we will see sustained volume strength in the back half of 2021,” said Dennis.

Operational Highlights

The following table shows changes in volumes during the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. It also shows volume changes for the full 2020 fiscal year compared to 2019.

Volumes	3 months ended March 31, 2021	Year ended December 31, 2020
Change in total volumes	14%	-6%
By customer type
Roasters	3%	-4%
Importers	34%	-8%
Specialty	19%	-1%
Commercial	10%	-8%

• Total volumes in the first quarter of 2021 improved by 14% compared to the same period last year. Across all geographical markets, many of the company’s customers are starting to experience growing consumer demand and are beginning to plan for trading activity closer to pre-pandemic levels. Encouragingly, Swiss Water recorded 4% and 11% volume growth in its North America and Asia Pacific regions respectively during the quarter. In Europe, volumes increased by an impressive 275%.
• As in the past, Swiss Water’s largest geographical market by volume in Q1 continued to be the United States, followed by Canada, Europe and other international markets. By dollar value, for the three months ended March 31, 2021, 43% of sales were to customers in the United States, 33% were to Canada, and the remaining 24% were to other countries.
• In September 2020, Swiss Water successfully completed its first production run of commercial-grade coffee from its new Delta, B.C. facility. During the first quarter, a significant portion of production volume was transitioned to Delta, reducing some of the pressure on the company’s legacy production assets in Burnaby, B.C. The Delta facility is now running smoothly on a 24/7 basis.
• Swiss Water’s operations were deemed essential services at the outset of the pandemic, and as such, the company continued to supply decaffeinated coffee to food manufacturers and retailers who support consumers around the world throughout the first quarter. To protect all stakeholders, Swiss Water has maintained best health practices and social distancing at all its production facilities, warehouses and offices as recommended by the appropriate health authorities.

Financial Highlights