Toronto, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – October 3, 2022) – PesoRama Inc. (TSXV: PESO) (“PesoRama” or the “Company“), a Canadian company operating dollar stores in Mexico under the JOi Canadian Stores brand, today announced its financial results for the three months ended July 31, 2022 (“Q2 2022“). All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted:

Key Financial and Operational Highlights

• Multi-price points continue to lead to increased product assortment and increased growth of new product categories across all departments.
• Sales increased by 45.4% to $3,003,763 for the 3 months ended July 31, 2022, primarily from the opening of three additional stores since July 31, 2021, as well as organic growth from previously opened stores.
• Adjusted EBITDA was ($1,629,986) compared to ($1,144,658) for the same period in 2021, primarily driven by additional public-company expenses, personnel, and infrastructure to support growth.
• Product gross margins were $1,095,618 or 36.5% for the 3 months ended July 31, 2022, compared to $779,650 or 37.8% for the same period in 2021, due primarily to rising material and transportation costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are excited about the future growth of PesoRama as we explore various financing options to allow us to execute on our ambitious expansion plans,” said Rahim Bhaloo, Founder and Executive Chairman of PesoRama. “There is a tremendous opportunity in Mexico for us, as consumers continue to gravitate toward less expensive stores in the current inflationary market.”

“We continue to see solid growth throughout all our stores,” said Erica Fattore, President & Chief Executive Officer of PesoRama. “We had a strong back to school campaign and are well positioned for the upcoming Halloween and Christmas seasons. We have the team in place to grow the Company and are very optimistic for the remainder of the year particularly as we head into our busiest time of the year.”

Outlook and Growth

Subject to the availability of the necessary capital resources and other factors, the Company’s goal is to open five store locations per month starting in November 2022, to increase its total number of JOi Dollar Plus stores to 50 by April 2023. The Company’s current real estate pipeline consists of over 40 locations, which include traditional mall locations and stand-alone street front stores.

In what is expected to remain a complex environment, PesoRama is well-positioned to pursue its goal of achieving profitable growth and to deliver on its purpose. The Company is committed to providing Mexican consumers real value and convenient access to a broad range of affordable, everyday items at its JOi Dollar Plus stores.

In the second half of its fiscal year ending on January 31, 2023 (“Fiscal 2023“), the Company expects to benefit from an improved sales environment compared to the same period last year, at which time various COVID-19 restrictions impacting retailers and consumer shopping patterns were in place. Supply chain and other inflationary pressures are expected to continue to be felt more in the remainder of Fiscal 2023. The Company will endeavour to mitigate some of the cost pressures on its gross margin. Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A), are expected to benefit from new standardized processes, scaling and better labour productivity. Based on the above, the Company expects the following for the remainder of Fiscal 2023:

• To open 25 to 30 new stores
• To achieve improved sales per square meter of approximately $37,600 pesos (approximately, $2,444 Canadian dollars) per square foot
• Gross margin as a percentage of sales to be in the range of 42.0% to 42.9%

Many factors could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements, future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. This guidance, including the various underlying assumptions, is forward-looking and should be read in conjunction with the cautionary statement on forward-looking statements below.

This earnings news release should be read in conjunction with the Company’s interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the three-month period ending July 31, 2022, which can be found on PesoRama’s issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About PesoRama Inc.

PesoRama, operating under the JOi Canadian Stores brand, is a Mexican value dollar store retailer. PesoRama launched operations in 2019 in Mexico City and the surrounding areas targeting high density, high traffic locations. PesoRama’s 20 stores offer consistent merchandise offerings which include items in the following categories: household goods, pet supplies, seasonal products, party supplies, health and beauty, snack food items, confectionery and more.

Advertisement

For further information please contact:

Rahim Bhaloo
Founder & Executive Chairman
[email protected]
416-816-3291

Erica Fattore
President & Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]

Alyssa Barry
Investor Relations
[email protected]

Non-IFRS Measures

There are measures included in this news release that do not have a standardized meaning under international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures and metrics presented by other publicly traded companies. The Company includes these measures because it believes certain investors use them as a means of assessing financial performance. Adjusted gross margin, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, one-time transaction expenses and financing costs. Adjusted gross margin is defined as gross profit plus distribution costs divided by sales.

We prepare and release quarterly unaudited and annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. We also disclose and discuss certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial information used to evaluate our performance in this and other earnings releases and investor conference calls as a complement to results provided in accordance with IFRS. We believe that current shareholders and potential investors in the Company use non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted gross margin, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA in making investment decisions about the Company and measuring its operational results.

Management believes that investors and financial analysts measure our business on the same basis, and we are providing the adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA as financial metrics to assist in this evaluation and to provide a higher level of transparency into how we measure our own business.

Adjusted EBITDA is more fully defined and discussed, and reconciliation to IFRS financial measures is provided, in Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) for the three-month period ended April 30, 2022.

Cautionary Note

Advertisement

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, among other things, statements regarding the Company’s planned expansion, new store openings and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate. While the Company believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements, including due to changes in consumer behaviour, general economic factors, the ability of the Company to execute its strategies, the availability of capital and the risk factors which are discussed in greater detail in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s prospectus dated January 31, 2022 and filed under the Company’s profile on www.sedar.com. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. PesoRama undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of PesoRama, its securities, or its financial or operating results (as applicable).

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

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/139158