Black Diamond Group Ltd
TSX:BDI

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Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2021-Q4

from 0
Operator

Good day

and

thank

you

for

standing

by.

Welcome

to

the

Black

Diamond

Group

Fourth

Quarter

2021

Results

Conference

Call.

At

this

time

all

participants

are

on

a

listen-only

mode.

After

the speaker

presentation,

there

will

be

a

question-and-answer

session.

[Operator Instructions]

I

will

now

hand

the

conference

over

to your

speaker

today,

Jason

Zhang,

Investor

Relations

Please

go

ahead.

J
Jason Zhang

Thank

you.

Good

morning

and

thank

you

for

attending

Black

Diamond's

fourth

quarter

and

year-end

2021

results

conference

call.

With

us

on

the

call

today

is

our

CEO

Trevor

Haynes;

and

CFO

Toby

Labrie.

We're

also

joined

today

by

COO-Modular

Space

Solutions,

Ted

Redmond;

COO

of

Workforce

Solutions,

Mike

Ridley;

and

CIO,

Patrick

Melanson.

Our

comments

today

may

include

forward-looking

statements

regarding

Black

Diamond's

future

results.

We

caution

that

these

forward-looking

statements

are

subject

to

a

number

of

risks

and

uncertainties

that

may

cause

actual

results

to

differ

materially

from

expectations.

Management

may

also

make

reference

to

non-GAAP

financial

measures

and

ratios

in today's

call,

such

as

adjusted

EBITDA,

free

cash

flow

or

net

debt.

For

more

information

on

these

terms,

please

review

the

sections

of

Black

Diamond's

fourth

quarter

2021

Management's

Discussion

and

Analysis

entitled

forward-looking

statements,

risks

and

uncertainties,

and

non-GAAP

measures.

This

quarter's

MD&A,

news

release,

and

financial

statements

can

be

found

on

the

company's

website

at

www.blackdiamondgroup.com

as

well

as

on

the

SEDAR

website.

Dollar

amounts

discussed

in

today's

call

are

expressed

in

Canadian

dollars

unless

noted

otherwise

and

are

generally

rounded.

I

will

now

turn

the

call

over

to

Trevor

Haynes

to

review

the

quarter.

T
Trevor Haynes

Thank

you,

Jason.

Good

morning

and

thank

you

for

joining

us

to

discuss

our

fourth

quarter

and

year-end

2021

results.

I

am

very

pleased

with

our

recent results.

In

my

view,

the

business

is

running

really

quite

well.

And

I'd

like

to

acknowledge

and

thank

our

team

members

across

North

America

and

Australia

for

their

hard

work

in

delivering

a

fantastic

year

as

we

continue

to

set

new

records

in

rental

revenue

growth

within

MSS,

drive

record

booking

volumes

in

LodgeLink

and

posting

one

of

the

strongest

years

recently

for

WFS

based

on

improving

utilization

and

sales.

We

generated

consolidated

revenue

of

CAD 340

million

for

the

2021

year

and

reported

adjusted

EBITDA

of

CAD

64

million.

These

were

improvements

of

89%

and

58%

from

the

prior

year,

respectively.

And

even

more

importantly,

we

did

this

as

we

have

done

in

previous

years

with

health

and

safety

top

of

mind,

reporting

a

top

decile

total

recordable

incident

frequency

rate

or

DRIF

of

0.56

for

the

year.

Within the

year

we

reinstated

our

quarterly

dividend

on

the

strength

of

continued

stability

of

the

business

and

the

free

cash

flow

it

is

generating.

We

are

pleased

to

announce

a

20%

increase

to

our

quarterly

dividend

to

CAD 0.015

or

an

annual

dividend

of

CAD

0.06

per

share.

Highlights

in

the

fourth

quarter

include

total

rental

revenue

of

CAD 27.3

million,

up

51%

year-over-year,

which

drove

a

consolidated

return

on

assets

of

17%

for

the

quarter.

In

MSS,

we

recorded

the

eighth

consecutive

quarterly

record

for

rental

revenue

in

this

business,

along

with

continued

utilization

improvement

in

our

WFS

division

and

another

record

for

booking

volumes

within

LodgeLink.

We

generated

free

cash

flow

of

over

CAD

15 million

in

the

quarter

and

exited

with

available

liquidity

of

over

CAD 113

million.

Now

to

go

into

some

more

detail

on

the

portfolio.

In

the

quarter,

MSS

rental

revenue

grew

to

CAD

16.1

million,

up

42%

from

the

comparative

quarter.

For

the

year,

MSS

rental

revenue

of CAD

60

million

was

up

53%

from

the

comparative

year

and

EBITDA

of CAD

46.8

million

was

up

59%

year-over-year.

Our

MSS

business

continues

to

see

healthy

demand

in

all

regions,

and

we

anticipate

continued

growth

in

our

recurring

rental

revenue

base

through

an

expanding

fleet,

increasing

uptake

in

value-added

products

and

services

or VAS

revenue,

and

continued

escalation

in

average

rental

rates

across

the

fleet,

which

for

the

most

recent

quarter

was

up

9%

year-over-year

on

a

constant

currency

basis

while

Q4

utilization

was

strong

at

85%.

Moving

to

our WFS

business

unit,

we

are

seeing

continued

progress

across

WFS

driven

by

our

efforts

in

the

past

several

years

to

diversify

this

business,

streamline

operations

while

also

continuing

to

monetize

underutilized

assets.

Average

utilization

in

WFS

has

improved

to

49%

from

28%

the

year

before.

We

are

seeing

particular

strength

in

Australia

but

have also

seen

continued

improvement

throughout

Canadian

and

US

markets.

WFS

rental

revenue

for

the

quarter

of CAD

11.2

million

improved

67%

year-over-year.

EBITDA

of

CAD

9.7

million

was

up

126%

from

the

prior

year

as

WFS

also

benefited

from

stronger

sales

in

non-rental

contribution

in

the

quarter.

For

the

year,

WFS

rental

revenue

of

CAD 38

million

was

up

44%,

which

helped

to

drive

a

57%

improvement

in

EBITDA to

CAD

34.6

million.

We've

talked

some

time

about

the

existing

operating

leverage

within

our

WFS

business.

We

note

that

the

57%

growth

in

EBITDA

this

year

has

been

off

the

back

of

minimal

capital

expenditures.

We

expect

to

continue

to

realize

the

operating

leverage

potential

within

this

business

both

through

profitable

sale

of

excess

capacity,

but

also

through

our

diversification

efforts

and

the

resulting

improved

utilization

across

our

regions.

We

are

constructive

on

our

WFS business

into

2022 owing

to

existing

contracted

rental

revenues

in

place,

driven

by

near

full

utilization

in

Australia,

strong

demand

in

mining

markets

across

Canada,

and

further

supported

by

gradually

improving

build

level

activity

among

some

of

our

more

energy-weighted

customers.

LodgeLink,

our

digital

marketplace

offering

that

is

bringing

innovation

to

the

crew

travel

industry,

continues

to

scale.

Despite

initial

expectations

for

a

slowdown

during

the

fourth

quarter

holiday

season,

LodgeLink

delivered

its

highest

ever-quarter

for

room

nights

sold.

There

were

over

70,300

rooms

sold

in

the

fourth

quarter,

up

96%

from

the

comparative

quarter

and up

16%

sequentially

from

a

previous

record

high

quarter

in

the

third

quarter.

Net

revenue

for

the

quarter

was

CAD

1.1

million,

up

120%

from

the

comparative

quarter.

At

the

end

of

the

fourth

quarter

LodgeLink

had

over

6,300

listed

properties,

servicing

615

distinct

corporate

customers

and

their

thousands

of

crew

members.

LodgeLink

has

been

off

to

a

strong

start

throughout

the

first

two

months

of

2022

and

we

expect

ongoing

sequential

growth

in

booking

volumes

as

we

look

to

continue

to

demonstrate

a

unique

value

proposition

by

leveraging

increasing

sophistication

of

our

tech

platform

to

this

very

large

addressable

market

of

approximately

$60

billion

per

year.

As

we

reflect

on

our

accomplishments

in

2021,

I'd

like

to

once

again

recognize

the

hard

work

and

dedication

of

our

team.

We

implemented

a

strategy

seven

years

ago

to

scale

and

diversify

our

specialty

rental

platforms,

and

we

are

seeing

a

notable

shift

in

terms

of

the

quality

and

stability

of

our

overall

cash

flows

and

revenue

streams

across

Black

Diamond.

We

believe

we

can

continue

to

build

upon

this

momentum

and

will

do

so

by

expanding

our

MSS

business,

improving

utilization

in

WFS

and

aggressively

growing

our

B2B

travel

tech

ecosystem

in

LodgeLink.

I

will

now

turn

the

call over

to

Toby

for

some

further

details

on

the

fourth

quarter

financial

and

year-end

2021

results.

Toby?

T
Tobias Gerald Labrie

Thanks,

Trevor.

Total

adjusted

EBITDA

for

the

quarter

was CAD

17.5

million,

an

increase

of

58%

from

Q4

2020.

For

the

year

total

adjusted

EBITDA

of CAD

64

million

was

also

up

58%

from 2020.

Most

notably,

total

rental

revenue

for

the

quarter

and

year

ended

2021

was

CAD 27.3

million

and

CAD

97.9

million,

respectively.

This

represented

year-over-year

growth

of

51%

and

49%.

The

increase

in

our

core

recurring

rental

revenue

streams

resulted

in

an

ROA

for

the

fourth

quarter

of

2021

of

17%

and

an

ROA

for

the

full

year

of

2021

of

15%.

Our

balance

sheet

remained

strong

following

the

recent

extension

of

our

asset-based

credit

facility,

which

is

now

committed

out

to

the

fall

of

2026.

At

the

end

of

the

quarter,

net

debt

of

CAD 151

million

was

down

from

CAD 172

million

at

the

end

of

Q4

2020,

and

current

available

liquidity

sits

at

CAD 113

million.

Our

net

debt

to EBITDA

ratio

at

December 31, 2021

of

2.4

times

is

within

our

stated

long-term

range

of

2

to

3

times.

Equally

as

important,

our

average

cost

of

debt

in

2021

was

2.1%.

And

finally,

roughly

one-third

of

our

outstanding

long-term

debt

is

hedged

at

recent

record

low

rates.

Overall,

the

strength

of

our

balance

sheet

gives

us

access

to

plenty

of

flexible

and

relatively

inexpensive

debt

to

continue

to

grow

the

business

and

leverage

returns.

On

a

gross

basis,

we

invested

approximately

CAD

38

million

of

capital

in

the

business

in

2021.

On

a

net

basis,

after

accounting

for

US

fleet

sales,

net

CapEx

was

approximately

CAD

50

million

for

the

year,

as

used

sales

throughout

the

year

were

higher

than

expected

and

above

our

historical

range.

We

expect

a

fairly

similar

cadence

of

gross

capital

investment

in

2022

compared

to

2021,

but

currently

expect

a

more

normalized

level

of

used

fleet

sales

of

approximately

CAD 10

million

to

CAD 15

million. Within

our

portfolio,

MSS

reported

fourth

quarter

adjusted

EBITDA

of

CAD

13.3

million,

up

33%

from

the

same

quarter

last

year,

and

total

revenue

of CAD

51

million,

which

was

up

62%

from

the

comparative

quarter.

This

is

attributable

to

continued

growth

in

rental

revenue,

as

well

as

a

stronger

than

average

contribution

from

sales

revenue

in

the

quarter.

Adjusted

MSS

EBITDA

margins

in

the

quarter

of

26%

were

lower

than

the

comparative

quarter

of

32%

due

to

this

relatively

higher

proportion

of

consolidated

revenue

being

driven

by

sales

and

non-rental

revenue,

which

are

lower

margin

than

rental

revenue.

We

believe

that

the

full

year

2021

results

in

MSS

are

a

good

proxy

for

estimating

a

more

long-term

average

around

sales

and

non-rental

revenue

as

a

proportion

of

total

revenue

based

on

the

makeup

of

our

current

platform.

For

the

year,

MSS

total

revenue

of

CAD 174

million

was

up

85%

year-over-year,

and

adjusted

EBITDA

of

CAD 46.8

million

grew

59%

from

2020.

In

WFS,

Q4 2021

adjusted

EBITDA

was

CAD

9.7

million,

up

126%

from

the

same

quarter

last

year.

WFS

revenue

of CAD

45.1

million

was

up

81%

from

the

comparative

quarter.

This

is

attributable

to

increased

non-rental

revenues

from

several

projects

across

North

America

and

Australia

during

the

quarter,

as

well

as

increases

in

rental

and

used

fleet

sales

revenue

as

activity

levels

continue

to

improve

in

North

America

and

remain

resilient

in

Australia.

For

the

year,

WFS

revenue

of

CAD 166

million

was

up

93%

year-over-year

and

EBITDA

of CAD

34.6

million

was

up

57%

from

2020

levels.

We

continue

to

pursue

our

strategy

of

unlocking

the

operating

leverage

within

WFS

by

selling

underutilized

fleet,

diversifying

revenue

by

end

market

and

geography

and

increasing

utilization.

LodgeLink

is

continuing

to

scale

and

we

are

confident

in

the

significant

value

creation

of

this

unique

platform

as

we

continue

to

penetrate

a

very

large

North

American

market

of

over

$60

billion

with

a

differentiated

digital

solution.

We

continue

to

see

a

negative

cash

burn

from

this

business

based

on

– but

LodgeLink

is

profitable in

processing

current

volumes

against

the

existing

cost

structure.

However,

by

design,

we

are

continuing

to

invest

in

growth

G&A

as

we

exponentially

grow

net

revenue,

which

we

are

confident

will

continue

to

deliver

significant

long-term

value

creation.

On

a

consolidated

companywide

basis,

total

administrative

costs

as

a

percentage

of

revenue

of

14%

was

down

2

percentage

points

from

16%

in

the

comparative

quarter.

For

the

year,

total

administrative

costs

of

14%

was

down

4

percentage

points

from

18%

in

2020.

Total

administrative

costs

for

the

quarter

of

CAD

13

million

grew

43%

from

the

comparative

quarter,

primarily

due

to

an

increase

in

staffing

levels

following

the

Vanguard

acquisition,

continued

growth

across

the

company,

as

well

as

higher

profit

incentives

due

to

strong

performance

of

the

business.

Our

asset

rental

model

has

continued

to

provide

a

strong

base

of

free

cash

flow

generation

and

we

view

our

rental

assets

as

an

attractive

hedge

in

the

current

inflationary

environment.

We

continue

to

see

a

healthy

market

for

used

fleet

equipment

sales,

and

in

instances

where

we

are

selling

used

fleet

assets,

we

are

realizing

sale

prices

that

are

above

replacement

costs

for

producing

assets

and

are

driving

strong

economic

returns

for

shareholders.

In

summary,

by

almost

all

metrics,

the

business

has

performed

very

well

over

the

past

year

and

is

expected

to

observe

continued

growth

in

core

recurring

rental

revenues.

As

a

result,

we

also

announced

a

20%

increase

to

our

dividend.

The

board

has

declared

a

Q1

2022

dividend

of

CAD

0.015,

which

amounts

to

CAD 0.06

per

share

on

an

annualized

basis.

The

dividend

is

expected

to

be

paid

on

or

about

April

15, 2022

to

shareholders

of

record

on

March

31, 2022.

With

that,

I

would

like

to

turn

the

call

back

over

to

the

operator

for

questions.

[Operator Instructions]

Operator

Our

first

question

comes from

the

line

of

Matthew

Lee

from

Canaccord. You may begin.

M
Matthew Lee
Analyst, Canaccord Genuity Corp.

Hey.

Thanks

for

taking

my

question.

Congrats

on

a

great

quarter.

I

want

to

maybe

understand

what

[ph]



went

through

the (00:17:29) decision

to

raise

your

dividend

again

after

understating

it

last

quarter.

What

has

changed

in

the

environment

that's given

you

more

confidence

to

elevate

the

payout?

T
Trevor Haynes

Thanks,

Matt.

Yeah,

the

dividend

is

really

the

outcome

of

our

view

of

the

stability

of

the

business

and

we

believe

that

the

company

as

we

continue

to

demonstrate

the

stability

of

our

cash

flows

based

on

the

diversification

of

where

that

cash

flow

is

being

generated

by

region,

by

asset

type,

by

business

unit.

And

we

believe

that

that

stability

is

such

that

we

can

begin

paying

our

shareholders

again,

which

we

did

implement

in

Q4.

And

our

view

and

that

of

the

board

is

that

the

continued

performance

of

the

business

justifies

increasing

the

dividend

for

this

year.

And

we

hope

to

position

the

company

that

as

we

move

into

the

following

year,

we

also

have

the

ability

to

increase

the

dividend.

Of

course,

we

compare

it

against

our

full

panel

of

capital

allocation

options

and

based

on

where

our

priorities

are.

We

continue

to

see

really

good

metrics

on

investment

in

areas

of

our

business,

specifically

MSS.

But

also

our

Australian

business,

it's

bringing

us

really

strong

returns

and

in

certain

cases

refurbishing

or

adding

certain

assets

into

our

WFS

business.

And

so

the

growth,

certainly

growth

within

our

risk

strike

zone

is

our

first

use

of

capital.

And

then

looking

at

potentially

inorganic

growth

for

some

tuck-ins,

if

we

can

be

successful

there,

would

augment

that

growth

and

then

a

reasonable

return

to

our

shareholders

and

reducing

debt.

But

as

we

mentioned,

our

current

ABL

is

quite

reasonable

for

this

type

of

business

and

our

cost

of

debt

is

really

quite

low.

So

we're

looking

to

reduce

our

ratios

on

debt

by

increasing

our

cash

flows

or

EBITDA

by

growing

the

core

business.

So

that's

how

we

think

about

it.

And

as

we

look

through

that

equation,

certainly

room

to

increase

the

dividend

and

that

was

the

decision

of

the

state.

M
Matthew Lee
Analyst, Canaccord Genuity Corp.

That's

great.

And

then

maybe

in

terms

of

fleet

growth,

I'm

a

little

surprised

about

net

CapEx

being

where

it

is.

I

would

have suspected

that

given

the

strong

demand

maybe

there

was

a

desire

from

your

perspective

to

add

to

the

fleet

faster.

Can

you

maybe

talk

about

why

you

kind

of

cap

net

CapEx

around

the

same

as

it

was

this

year?

T
Trevor Haynes

I

think

the

importance

is

to

look

at

gross

CapEx.

That's

where

we

are

purposefully

allocating

capital

and

growing

the

business

and

the

cadence

of

gross

capital,

we

think,

is

still

quite

strong.

There's

still

a

bit

of

a

repositioning

within

our

fleet

that

you

saw

last

year.

And

if

you

break

down

the

sale

of

assets

that

informs

net

CapEx,

you'll

see

that

we've

been

selling

parts

of

our

workforce

fleet

where

there's

excess

capacity.

But

in

the

current

market,

we're

getting

a pretty

good

bid

[ph]



for

sale (00:21:08)

of

assets.

And

so

we

view

that

as

sort of

rationalizing

our

capital

and

being

able to

reinvest

that

elsewhere.

Also

through

acquisition,

often

you

get

non-standard

assets

and

so

we

look

to

rationalize

the

fleet

and

to

sell

down

some

assets.

And

then

we

have

certain

customers

who

will

be

renting

assets

and

it

makes

sense

for

them

to

own

them

over

the

long

term.

And

the

way

we

view

that

is

in

the

current

market

we

expect

to

get

and

have

been

getting

replacement

value,

even

though

the

cost

of

a

new

unit

has

been

increasing.

So

I

think

the

discipline

through

the

system

has

been

there.

Keep

in

mind

also

we

acquired

Vanguard,

which

was

a

fairly

large

piece

for

us

in

late

2020,

adding

roughly

2,000

units.

And

so

through

the

early

part

of

last

year

we

were

absorbing

that

acquisition

and

making

sure

we

understood

that

asset.

And

so

we

were

very

focused.

Also

we

had

taken

a

bit

more

debt

on

and

so

we

were

quite

cautious,

if

you

will,

on

the

net

CapEx

calculus.

And

then

as

you

saw

later

in

the

year

with

the

Vanguard

acquisition

performing

extremely

well, end

markets

and

demand

really

strong,

[ph]



that's

accelerating (00:22:34)

our

gross

CapEx.

So

as

we

move

into

this

year,

again,

we're

looking

to

add

to

our

fleets

and

we

expect

we

will

show

growth

once

again.

But

we're

also

continuing

to

look

at

some

areas

where

we

have

overcapacity

in

markets

around

our

Workforce

business.

And

so

you'll

see

a

cadence

of

[ph]



used

sale.

Probably

less

used

sale (00:22:57),

I

would

predict,

in

the

MSS

business.

M
Matthew Lee
Analyst, Canaccord Genuity Corp.

All

right.

That's

very

helpful.

Thanks

again.

Operator

Our

next

question

comes

from line

of

Frederic

Bastien

from

Raymond

James.

You

may

begin.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Hi.

Good

morning,

everybody.

T
Trevor Haynes

Good

morning,

Frederic.

[ph]

T
Tobias Gerald Labrie

Hi. (00:23:21)

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

So

just

all

around

solid

performance

and

outlook

are

the

result

of

the

good

vision,

discipline

and

hard

work

for

many,

many

years.

So

I

want

to first

start

by

giving

a

big

shout

out

to

your

team.

Now

on

to

questions,

so

there's

a

lot

of

talk

about

inflation.

I

know

your

business

is

not

labor

intensive.

It's

really

asset

intensive.

But

I

was

wondering

if

you

could

provide

some

commentary

on

the

inflationary

pressures

that

you're

seeing

if

any.

T
Trevor Haynes

Yeah,

for

sure.

And

it

is

interesting

how

we're

seeing

it

and

thinking

through

with

our

platform

out

of

how

to

best

respond.

So

perhaps

we

can

get

a

couple

of

our

team

members

to

comment

here.

Maybe

Toby,

you

could

kick

off,

and

then

perhaps

Ted

you

can

talk

about what

we're

seeing

in

our

supply

chain.

T
Tobias Gerald Labrie

Sure.

Yeah.

Generally,

we

are

seeing

inflation

in

our

input

costs

throughout

the

business,

direct

costs

of

delivering

services,

although

we

don't

carry

a

lot

of

those

services

ourselves. We

are

seeing

some

inflation

with

our

vendors.

And

so

those

input

costs

are

going

up,

but

we

are

seeing

that

being

matched

with

the

price

increases

that

we

are

realizing

on

the

rental

and

sale

of our

assets.

And

so

with

those

input

costs

going

up

on

the

operation

side,

but

also

on

the

cost

of

our

fleet,

we

are

seeing

the

manufacturing

costs

increasing,

but

we

are

continuing

to

realize

above

our

hurdle

rates

on

deploying

new

equipment.

And

so

the

benefit

of

the

price

increases

on

our

existing

fleet

far

outweighs

from

a

returns

perspective

the

inflation

that

we're

seeing

across

the

other

parts

of the

business.

Maybe,

Ted,

you

can

elaborate

on

that

from

what

we're

seeing

specifically

in

the

MSS

business?

T
Ted Redmond

Yeah.

Thanks,

Toby.

Yes,

we

are.

We're

seeing

material

shortages

and

material

cost

increases

although

our

repair

and

maintenance

cost

for

2021

decreased.

So

we're

managing

that.

We're

trying

to

order

further

in

advance

for

our

repair

and

maintenance

needs. We've

also

formed

a

supply

chain

group

within

our

Operational

Excellence

Group,

and

they're

focused

on

negotiating

strategic

sourcing

agreements

and

doing

some

of

these

volume

purchases.

So

that

program's

been

working

well

and

we'll

continue

to

work

on

that

as

the

year

goes

on.

As

Toby

also

mentioned,

for

new

manufacturing

units

we

are

seeing

price

increases

and

again

we've

been

increasing

our

rates

to

offset

that

and

we've

also

in

some

areas

even

increased

our

hurdle

rates

for

new

investments.

Again,

to

deal

with

manufacturing

shortages

we're

just

– we're

trying

to

book

line

time

out

further

in

advance

while

still

leaving

ourselves

the

flexibility

that

if

we

don't

need

that

line

time,

we

can

trade

it

for

other

line

time

or

not

take

the

line

time

based

on

a

commitment

window.

So

I

think

we're

doing

our

best

to

manage

it.

And

really,

I

think

the

main

thing

we're

trying

to

do

is

push

higher

rates

across

the

system

to

compensate

for

that.

And

as

Toby

said,

since

we

might

grow

the

fleet

somewhere

between

5%

and

10%

per

year,

depending

like

organically

and

how

much

acquisitions

we

do.

But

that's

a

small

portion

of

our

total

fleet

and

the

rate

increases

go

across

our

entire

fleet.

So,

again,

I

think

we're

on

the

positive

side

of

the

inflation

trend

based

on

that.

T
Trevor Haynes

Thanks,

Ted.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Thanks

for

that

call.

But

I

guess your

ability

to

pass

on,

I

mean

higher

– those

higher

costs

and

increased

prices

is

really

a

function

of

also

demand,

demand's

been

strong.

Just

wondering

if

there's

any

inflation

that

you

index

into

your

contracts

and

how

quickly

do

those

contracts

roll

over?

And,

wondering

if

there's

any

ways

or

at

least,

is

there

any

lag

with

respect

to

your

ability

to

pass

on

higher

prices?

T
Trevor Haynes

Yeah.

I

guess

we're

protected

because

we

have

so

many

contracts

across

the

platform.

And

so

you've

got

this

– even

though

we

were

to

place

assets

where

they're

going to

have

an

extended

duration

with

that

customer

at

that

location,

we

still have

a

turnover

where as

assets

go

out,

they

go

out

and

do

rates.

And

so

you

get

this

gradual

increasing

in

rental

rates.

What

we

have

done

recently

is

look

where

a

contract

comes

to

term,

but

the

customer is

continuing

to

use

the

asset.

In

the

past,

we

would

just

let

that

go

month

to

month

and

be

happy

for

the

utilization

as

we're

building

into

our

contracts

these

days

at

maturity

of

that

contract.

That's

where

we

would

stipulate

in

advance

what

the

increase

in

rate

is.

And

that's

a

response

to

a

different

environment.

If

the

customer

doesn't

want

to pay

the

rate

and

it

actually

comes

back

to

us,

well,

we

have

more

demand

than

we

have

assets

in

most

of

our

categories

right

now.

And

so

they'll

go

out

to

work

at

market

rates

elsewhere.

So,

that's

one

of

the

ways

that

we've

responded.

But

as

you

point

out,

I

mean,

we've

got

in

our

MSS

fleet roughly

9,000

buildings.

And

so

if

you

think

of

those

costs

being

fixed

and

if

we

can

get

higher

and

higher

rental

rates

against

that

original

fixed

cost,

that's

where

you'll

see

a

bit

of

an

exponential

profile

in

ROA

if

inflation

does

continue

or

accelerate.

And

as

you

mentioned

earlier,

we're

not

labor-intensive,

although

on

the

people

side

we

do

feel

cost

pressure,

but

it's

not

a

big

component

of

our

business.

And

so

far

outweighed

by

the

upside

on

an

asset

management

business

in

an

inflationary

period.

And

go

ahead, Mike.

M
Michael Ridley

Just

a

couple of

other

points,

Frederic,

on

some

of

our

longer-term

contracts

as

well.

We

have

CPI

built

in

to

the

contracts

that

we

are

able

to

get

increases

throughout

the

duration

of

the

contract.

And

then

secondly,

when

we

put

our

assets

out

to

work

is,

as

you

know,

there's

often

a

transport

installation

component.

And

with

rapid

rising

material

prices,

labor

prices,

we're

able

to

sort

of

drive

to

sort

of

a

cost-plus

model

where

we're

not

really

impacted

by

inflation

as

much.

T
Tobias Gerald Labrie

Yeah.

And

maybe

finally,

I

think

what

you're

getting

at

as

well,

Frederic,

is

that

the

9%

rate

increases

that

we're

seeing

on

average

in

the

MSS

business

that

is

the

average

through

the

fleet.

And

so,

at

the

margin

we're

seeing

rate

increases

quite

a

bit

higher

than

that,

probably

averaging upwards

of

20%.

And

certain

markets

are

seeing

more

strength

than

others,

but

certainly

the

9%

is

an

average

because

we

do

have

the

turnover

of

our

assets.

As

Trevor

mentioned,

we

are

pushing

rate

increases

on

those

more

frequently

than

we

have

in

the

past.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Awesome.

Thanks

for

that

very

detailed

answer,

guys.

Next

one

would

be

around

whether

Omicron

has

had

any

impact

on

lodging

occupation

in

Q1

thus

far? I

assume

it

has,

but

– and

obviously your

diversification

efforts

have

allowed

this

business to

become

less

meaningful,

but

just

curious

how

that

business

is

doing?

Thank

you.

T
Trevor Haynes

Yeah,

Mike

Ridley,

why

don't

you

add

some color?

M
Michael Ridley

Yeah.

It

actually

from,

sort

of

as

we

kick

into

this

new

year,

it's

had

very

little

impact,

quite

frankly.

Our

team

is

very

diligent

in

terms

of

how

we

monitor

it.

And

we

have,

for

example,

at

many

of

our

camps,

we

have

set

aside

dorms

where

if

they

do

come

down

with

a

case

they

need

to

be

isolated.

So

we're

not

really

seeing

it.

I

think

we're

coming

out

of

it,

which

is

great

and

sort

of

on

a

go-forward

basis,

we

just

don't

see

it

being

as

much

of

an

issue,

but

we're

certainly

not

taking

our

eye

off

the

ball

operationally

on

how

we're

dealing

with

it

and

the

service

that

we're

providing

to

our

customers

and

making

sure

we

have

the

appropriate

manpower

at

our

camps

in

the

event

that

we

end

up

with

a

few

cases

here

and

there.

But

at

this

point,

it

has

not

really

had

that

much

of

an

impact.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Thanks,

Mike.

I

have

other

questions

about, but I'll

pass

it

on.

I

will

get

back

in queue.

Thanks.

T
Trevor Haynes

Thanks,

Frederic.

Operator

And

our

next

question comes

from

the

line

of

Brent

Watson

from

Cormark

Securities.

You

may

begin.

B
Brent Watson
Analyst, Cormark Securities, Inc.

Hi,

guys.

I

guess

my

question

was

related

to

the

supply

chain

there.

Maybe,

if

you

can

kind

of

quantify

how

order

lead

times

has

changed

in

the last

three,

four

months?

T
Trevor Haynes

Yeah.

Thanks,

Brent.

As

Ted

alluded

to,

we're

having

to

adjust

our

typical

methodology

by

committing

farther

ahead

for

line

time

to

ensure

that

we've

got

access

to

supply

to

match

up

with

what

we

see

in

our

sales

pipeline,

not

just

for

rental

contracts

coming

up,

but

also

we

do

it

in

certain

regions,

a

healthy

amount

of

new

project

sales

where

the

customer

is

buying

the

asset,

but

we

handle

the

full

turnkey

transaction.

So,

there's

certainly

a

change

that

way.

And

it's

also

somewhat

regional.

Certainly

in

all

three

countries,

we

have

seen

strong

demand

and

the

demand

for

line

space

from

manufacturers

has

increased.

And

so

the

offline

from

order

time

has

expanded.

I

would

say

we're

seeing

on

average

a

six-month

turnaround,

where

a

year

and

a

half

ago

would have

been

six

weeks.

And

so

it

does

change

how

we

approach

the

supply

side

of

the

business.

That

said,

I

think

our

team

has

done

a

really good

job

and

we've

got

long-term

relationships

with

our

core

manufacturers.

And

so

we're

working

to

ensure

that

we

do

have

capacity

available

to

us,

slightly

different

adjustment

in

risk,

but

also

looking

at

ways

that

we

can

have

some

flexibility

with

our

manufacturers.

And

just

to

flip

over

to

the

manufacturing

side,

I

mean, they

have

struggled

as

most

businesses

have

that

are

more

labor

intensive.

They

have

struggled

to

get

their

staffing

levels

up.

They've

struggled

with

increases

in

wages

to

attract

when

we

look

at

whether

it's

the

US

or

Canada

or

even

Australia.

And

so

they've

got

challenges

that

way.

And

then

they

have

challenges

in

all

type

of

material

components,

whether

it's

–

everything

from

lumber,

insulation,

drywall

to

a

lot

of

the

adhesives

and

paints,

etcetera,

overhang

from

the

Texas

freeze

up

a

couple

of

years

ago.

So

it's

just –

it's

very

complicated.

And

so

if

you

think

of

it

from

a

positive

side,

high

demand

in

the

marketplace,

the

industry is

struggling

to

add

capacity,

which

means

we

should

see

continued

high

utilization

and

reasonably

strong

rates.

I'll

just

pause

there.

Ted

Redmond,

it impacts

MSS

perhaps

more

than

WFS

currently,

any

additional

color

you

would

add

to

that?

T
Ted Redmond

Well,

I

think

that

was

very

comprehensive,

Trevor.

So

we've –

like

Trevor

said

we've

got

great

multi-year

relationships

with

our

suppliers,

so

we're

literally

working

with

them

on

a

daily,

weekly

basis

and

making

sure

that

we're

booking

ahead line

time

and

they're

reserving

space

for

us

based

on

our

estimated

CapEx

and

custom

sales

needs.

So

we

just

work

very

closely

with

them.

Our

sales

team

is

also

well

aware

of

the

lead

times

and

pushing

our

customers,

which

helps

us

close

deals

quicker

because

we

tell

our

customers

if

they

want

their

building

by

their

deadlines,

they've

got

to

give

us

quick

decisions

and

get

their

orders

in.

So

that's

a

positive

as

well.

So

I

think

we're

managing

the

situation

quite

well,

but

we

have

to

stay

on

top

of

it.

B
Brent Watson
Analyst, Cormark Securities, Inc.

Okay.

Great.

That's

fantastic

color.

Maybe

just

a

quick

one

here

on

LodgeLink.

Do

you

see

the

head

count

expanding

much

this

year

or

do

you

think

you're

at

a

point

where

you

can

push

kind

of

the

next

level

of

sales

with

the

current

count?

T
Trevor Haynes

As

Toby

mentioned,

from

a

growth

G&A

perspective,

we

did

have

a

push

on

the

commercial

side

last

fall

to

give

us the

capacity

for

the

sales

and the

opening

up

of

markets

that

we

had

planned

for

this

year.

Where

we

do

struggle

a

bit

is

on

the

technology

side

and

trying

to

meet

our

objectives

in

terms

of

enhancement

of

the

sophistication

of

the

tech

platform.

And,

Patrick,

why

don't

you

give

us some

color

around

our

expectation

for

not just

increasing

head

count,

but

the

access

to

talent.

P
Patrick Melanson

Thank

you,

Trevor.

Yes,

the

access

to

talent, I

think,

is

well-documented

where

[ph]



technologists (00:38:26)

are

in

demand

right

across

the

planet.

We'd

love

to

have them

in

Calgary

here

in

town to

work

with.

But

the

reality

is

some

of

them

will

work

from

home,

the

pandemic

has

made

that

easy

for

all

of

them

to

take

on

jobs

around

the

planet.

Flip

side,

this

is

an

opportunity

for

us

to

retain

talent

from

around

the

planet.

But

it

is

highly

competitive

in

the

market.

We

are

not

Silicon

Valley-based,

but

we

still

have

an

offering

that's

very

appealing

to

certain

segments

of

the

development

community.

And

we

do

our

best

to

retain

the

ones

that

we

do

have.

We

have

a

good

complement

of

what I consider to

be

very

seasoned

experts

in

our

technology

team.

We

keep

working

at

bringing

in

the what

I

call

intermediate

and

junior

developers

into

our

team

to

round

out

support

and

other

needs

in the

business.

And

lastly,

I

would

say

that

with

some

partnerships

with

vendors

to

augment

what

we

need

in

the

space

where we

want to

have

good

partnerships,

not

just

transactional

vendors that

are

coming

off

our

platform,

we

want to

protect

our

intellectual

property

very

carefully. We

have

those

in

place

as

well

to

ensure

we

can

meet

our

product

development

requirements.

T
Trevor Haynes

And

I

would say

overall,

Brent,

to

meet

our

plan

for

this

year

we

issued

a

head

count

increase

of

between

20%

and

30%.

So,

a

lot

of

what

we

require

is

already

on

team

as

we

exited

the

year

and

entered

this

year

in

order

to

deliver

that

meaningful

growth

over

the

course

of

the

year.

And

then

we

probably

see

if

we're

on

plan

the

next

level

of

growth

in

terms

of

head

count

would

be

later

this

year

going

into

2023.

B
Brent Watson
Analyst, Cormark Securities, Inc.

Okay.

That's

great.

I'll

turn

it

back.

Thanks.

T
Trevor Haynes

Thanks,

Brent.

Operator

And

our

next

question comes

from

the line

of

Trevor

Reynolds

from

Acumen

Capital.

You

may

begin.

T
Trevor Reynolds
Analyst, Acumen Capital Finance Partners Ltd.

Good

morning,

guys.

T
Trevor Haynes

Good

morning,

Trevor.

T
Trevor Reynolds
Analyst, Acumen Capital Finance Partners Ltd.

Just

curious

where

you

guys

see

WFS

utilization

getting

to

in

the

current

environment

and

if

more

capital

investment

is

required

or

what

that

kind

of

looks

like?

T
Trevor Haynes

Yeah,

happy

to.

Well,

fortunately,

broadly

speaking

we

continue

to

have

capacity

to

match

up

with

increasing

demand

and

as

the

team

continues

to

build

our

network

into

other

end

markets

like

mining

and

disaster

recovery.

So,

it's

more

repositioning

some

maintenance

capital

for

assets

that

haven't

worked

for

some

time

as

we

match

them

up

with

the market.

But

Mike,

why don't

you

give

color

there?

M
Michael Ridley

Yeah.

Just

further,

just

sort

of

the

capital

side

of it.

In

Australia,

we

continue

that

capital

to

our

[ph]



silver

space (00:41:19)

rentals

piece

over

there. And

strategic

capital

on

our

workforce

where

we

can

get

good

term

and

good

rate.

In

this

market

here,

though,

Trevor

and

Toby

both

touched

on

our

strategy

and

really

super

happy

with

how

well

we've

done

with

it

the

last

few

years

and

put

ourselves

in

a

good

position

where

we

really, we're

not reliant

right

now

on

the

oil

and

gas

sector.

So

we

really

spread

our

network

of

opportunity

geographically

and

industry-wise.

So

we're

in

the

US

now.

We're

starting to

see

some

of

our

large-format

camps

be

marketed

and

sold

and

rented

into

the

United

States.

Eastern

Canada,

as

I

think

we

noted,

we're

up over

2,000

beds

now

in

that

marketplace

focused

primarily

on

mining.

We're

out

in

Labrador

where

we've

spread

very

far.

We

weren't

like

that

several

years

ago

and

construction,

government,

homeless

initiatives,

social

housing.

So

although

there

are

some

oil

and

gas

contracts

still

in play,

we're

a

much

different

company

than

we

were,

so

I

still

see

opportunity

for

our

utilization

to

improve. It's

a

longwinded

answer,

but

there's

just

more

opportunity

for

us

in

the

West.

T
Trevor Haynes

Upside

on

utilization

but

not

a

lot

of

capital

investment...

M
Michael Ridley

Correct.

T
Trevor Haynes

...to

meet

that

demand.

T
Trevor Reynolds
Analyst, Acumen Capital Finance Partners Ltd.

Got

it.

And

then

just

in

terms

of

Australia,

you're

fully

utilized

there.

Are

you

guys

looking

to

grow

that

fleet

or

just

harvest the

cash

flow?

What's kind of

the

plan

there?

T
Trevor Haynes

Australia

is

performing

really

well.

Our

team

has

done

a

fantastic

job.

We

are

investing

in

Australia.

I

believe

it's

less

than

the

cash

flow

we're

generating

there.

So

a

little

bit

of

both

in

our

answer

to

your

question.

Harvesting

and

investing.

The

return

metrics

on

an

ROI

or

ROA

basis

are

some

of

the

strongest

we

see

across

the

platform

and

where

we

talk

about

being

close

to

100%,

that's

on

the

workforce

side.

So

that's

the

camp

and

housing

side

of

the

business

as

we

see

some

of

the

commodity

end

markets,

whether

it's

iron

ore,

coal,

certainly

the

gas

side

of

the

business

supporting

some

of

the

drillers

and

producers,

but

also

remote

infrastructure,

disaster

recovery,

education,

using

dormitories,

etcetera.

So

it's

quite

robust.

But

then

the

other

part

of

the

business,

we

do

a

very

healthy

business

in

education,

providing

classrooms

and

schools

to

the

state,

to

school

districts.

Really

nice

return,

solid

utilization

there.

And

then

our

general

modular.

So

we

do

have

a

blended

platform

in

Australia

and

we're

seeing

strength

as

we

are

in

North

America

in

all

three

of

those

verticals.

And

based

on

the

returns,

it

does

warrant

investment

and

we're

continuing

to

invest

in

that

business

and

we

really

like

that

market.

T
Trevor Reynolds
Analyst, Acumen Capital Finance Partners Ltd.

Got

it.

And

then

last

one,

just

in

the

LodgeLink

sector

with

a

lot

of the

jobs

going

remote

there.

Are

you

guys

going to

be

able

to

take

advantage

of

that

opportunity,

Calgary

Investment

Fund,

that

you

guys

qualified

for

last

year?

T
Trevor Haynes

We

believe

so,

Trevor.

COVID

kind

of

threw

a

wrench

in

things. OCIF

is

based

on

partnering

to

bring

tech

talent

to

Calgary

physically

and

to

physically

work

here.

And

as

you

can

imagine

as

we

have

picked

up

team

members

in

various

parts

of

the

world

that

they

tended

to

work

remotely

more

than

moving

them

here.

And even

if

they

did

move

here,

I

mean

we

haven't

been

working

in

person

as

you

know

for

the

better

part

of

a

year

and a

half.

So

as

we

get

past

the

restrictions

of

COVID

and

start sort

of

forging

the

new

path

of

what

our

workplace

looks

like,

I

think

that's

where

OCIF

comes

back

into

frame

for

us.

And

Toby,

I

don't know

if

you

want

to add

anything

on

the

OCIF

side.

T
Tobias Gerald Labrie

Yeah,

I

think

our

ambition,

as

Trevor

mentioned,

is

to

continue

to

bring

tech

talent

into

Calgary.

So

far,

that

hasn't

quite

met

our

original

plans

based

on

the

headwinds

that

have

been

put

in

place

by

COVID

and

other

factors

and

the

tight

tech

market.

And

as

Trevor,

or

I'm

sorry,

as

Patrick

discussed,

the

ability

for

a

lot

of

those

individuals

to

work

remotely

and

essentially

create

a

worldwide

pool

of

talent.

But

we

are

continuing

to

work

with

OCIF,

and

we

believe

we're

working

in

the

spirit

of

the

agreement,

we're

making

some

headway,

but

perhaps

not

as

much

as

we

originally

contemplated.

T
Trevor Reynolds
Analyst, Acumen Capital Finance Partners Ltd.

Perfect.

That's

all

for

me.

Thanks.

T
Trevor Haynes

Thank

you.

[Operator Instructions]

Operator

Our

next

question

will

come

from the

line

of

Frederic

Bastien

from

Raymond

James.

You

may

begin.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Hey,

guys.

You

[ph]



note (00:47:11)

that

travel

bookings

represented

9%

of

your

quarterly

gross

bookings.

Just

curious

what

qualifies

as

travel

booking

or

not?

T
Trevor Haynes

Yeah. Thanks

for

the

opportunity

to

clarify

that.

We

acquired

a

full-service

travel

agency

about

a

year

and

a

half

ago,

so

that

in

addition

to

managing

the

accommodation

requirements

of

our

customers

moving through,

we

could

also

offer

them

the

airline

booking,

car

rental,

all

of

the

other

elements

of

full-cycle

travel.

Although

the

tech

platform

and

the

core

transaction

and

what

we've

been

building

in

terms

of

lines

of

code

is

to

solve

the

complicated

elements

of

moving

large

groups

of

people

to

and

from

accommodation,

increasingly

we're

wrapping

around

that

the

ability

to

provide

them

services

for

airline,

etcetera.

And

as

we

continue

to

build

the

platform,

it

will

become

more

integrated.

So

when

we

break

out

that,

we

do

have

some

customers

who

we

organize

charters

for

them

to

move

their

crew

in

and

out

of

remote

mining

sites,

for

example,

and

then

just

generally

more

of

the

airline

travel.

And

for

some

of

our

mid-sized

customers,

we'll

handle

even

their

management,

travel,

etcetera,

so

it's

all

one

stuff.

And

Patrick,

maybe

from

the

platform

perspective,

if

you

could

just

give

some

more

color

on

the

difference

between

the

two

revenue

streams

and

Toby

as

well.

P
Patrick Melanson

Well,

the

core

offering

at

the

moment

is

accommodations

for

large

crews.

They

tend

to move

in

trucks, cabs

[ph]



before

(00:49:05)

on

a

convoy

kind

of

thing.

So

they're

more

ground-based.

And

because

crews

are

large,

their

movements

are

somewhat

unpredictable.

[ph]



Coming

in

late (00:49:15)

substitutions

and

so

on,

[ph]



this

is

always

our (00:49:18)

sweet

spot

in

our

offering,

where

the

common

mainstream

travel

platform

just

do

not

accommodate,

the

$60

billion a

year

addressable

market

that

Trevor

was

speaking

to.

So,

we're

totally

focused

on

that.

The

small

travel

agency

that

we

acquired

does

complement

today.

It

helps

us

understand

the

needs

of

our

customers

as

well

when

they

ask

which

tend

to

be

B2C

of

time.

But

we're

focused

on

B2B.

But

as

we

blend

the

two

together

over

time,

we

believe we're

going to

have

something

pretty

powerful

to

offer.

T
Trevor Haynes

Toby,

anything

to

add

on

the depreciation

of

the

revenue

streams?

T
Tobias Gerald Labrie

I

think

just

as

we

move

forward

part

of

our

ambition

is

to

integrate

that

into

the

technology

offering

currently

on

the

side

a

little

bit

as

a

bit

of

a

manual

offering

that

we

provide.

But

in

the

future,

we

see

it

being

an

integral

part

of

the

LodgeLink

service.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Okay.

Super.

How

should

we

think

about

the

EBITDA

eliminations

at

the

corporate

level?

We

saw

a

bit

of

a

step

change

in

the

second

half

presumably

due to

some

share-based

compensation

expenses.

But

any

guidepost

you can

provide

for

us

looking

at

2022?

T
Trevor Haynes

Yeah.

I

think

a

big

part

of

the

increase,

Frederic,

besides

the

standard

increase

that

we

saw

for

the

full

year because

of

the

Vanguard

acquisition

and

the

people

and

G&A

cost

that

came

with

that,

obviously

that

increased

thing

–

the

admin

costs

on

a

year-over-year

basis

for

each

quarter

of

this

year

compared

to the

same

quarter

in

2020,

but

especially

on

the

second

half

of

the

year,

we

started

to

increase

our

provision

for

bonuses

and

profit

incentives

as

we

had

a

really

strong

year.

And

so

with

that

we

saw

a

fairly

significant

increase

and

we

carry

those

costs

in

2021.

We've

carried

those

costs

up

to

corporate

level

for

the

full

business and

so

that's

the

majority

of

what

you're

seeing

there

in

addition

to

the

addition

of

Vanguard.

So

as

we

move

forward,

we

hope

to

outperform

our

growth

expectations

in

the

future

as

well.

But

I'd

say,

this

was

a

fairly

exceptional

year

on

that

basis.

And

so

looking

forward,

I

would

necessarily

model

in

the

same

level

of

G&A

for

a

standard

growth

assumption

over

top

of

2021.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Got

it.

Got

it.

And

then,

if

you

end

up

recording

the

same

amount,

well,

that's

a

good

news

story.

T
Trevor Haynes

Exactly.

Yeah.

F
Frederic Bastien
Analyst, Raymond James Ltd.

Okay,

thank

you.

T
Trevor Haynes

Thank

you.

Operator

And

I'm

not

showing

any

further

questions

in

the

queue.

I'll

turn

the

call

over

to

the

speakers

for

any

closing

remarks.

T
Trevor Haynes

Thank

you,

operator.

Thank

you

everyone

for

joining

us

today.

And

we

thank

you

for

spending

some

time

with us.

Take

care.

Operator

This

concludes

today's

conference

call.

Thank

you

for

participating.

You

may

now

disconnect.

Everyone,

have

a

great

day.