TORONTO, May 15, 2024 /CNW/ - Aimia Inc. (TSX:AIM) ("Aimia" or the "Company"), today reported its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024, provided clarity on its corporate strategy aimed at accelerating value creation, and provided guidance for 2024. All amounts are in Canadian currency unless otherwise noted. EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN COMMENTARY "Our first quarter results were marked by the strong performances of our core subsidiaries, Bozzetto and Cortland International ("Cortland"), who each improved their gross margins and adjusted EBITDA from the prior period," said Tom Finke, Aimia's Executive Chairman. "Bozzetto, in particular, demonstrated a combination of organic growth driven by increased customer demand as well as accretive growth resulting from the initial contributions from its acquisition of StarChem, which closed in January.  We look forward to sustaining this momentum through 2024 and beyond." Mr. Finke added, "In conjunction with valuable feedback from our shareholders and input from our Board, we have re-aligned our strategy to focus on our core holdings and accelerate shareholder value creation. Our priorities in the near term will center on three main objectives: First, unlock the growth potential of our core holdings, Bozzetto and Cortland, two global companies operating in specialty markets with significant organic and accretive growth potential.  Second, responsibly monetize our non-core assets in an expedited manner. And third, optimize Aimia's capital structure to support the return of capital to shareholders. With respect to the latter, we expect to launch a normal course issuer bid later this year with amounts to be determined pending receipt of our anticipated earn-out from the PLM transaction, completion of certain strategic developments, and assessing our liquidity requirements." Mr. Finke concluded, "Given our performance in Q1 and confidence in our near-term outlook, we anticipate generating adjusted EBITDA in 2024 for our core businesses in the range of $80 to $85 million on a combined basis and anticipate corporate operating costs for the year to be approximately $13 million, exclusive of one-time expenses of $13 to $14 million." AIMIA'S Q1 2024 HIGHLIGHTS Consolidated Results and Corporate Developments Reported consolidated revenue of $122.1 million. The total was particularly driven by the strong contributions from Aimia's sustainable speciality chemicals subsidiary, Bozzetto, which generated $88.1 million or 72.2% of Aimia's consolidated total. Reported consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $6.7 million, which marked a positive turnaround of $10.7 million from the Adjusted EBITDA loss of $4 million in Q4 2023. Reported a consolidated net loss of $4.2 million or $0.09 per common share. Ended Q1 with a total liquidity of $111.2 million, comprised of $98.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $13 million in public securities. Named Tom Finke as Executive Chairman and Karen Basian as Lead Independent Director following the resignations of Phil Mittleman as CEO and Michael Lehmann as President. The Company continues to make progress on the search for a new CEO. Appointed Robert Feingold, a finance and asset management professional with more than 30 years of industry and academic experience, to the Company's Board of Directors. Received notice that that the earn-out conditions from the sale of its 48.9 percent stake in PLM Loyalty to Aeromexico have been met, resulting in an anticipated cash earn-out payment of approximately $33 million in the second quarter of 2024. Subsidiaries and Investments Aimia's Bozzetto and Cortland segments generated Adjusted EBITDA of $19.5 million on a combined basis. Aimia's Bozzetto subsidiary closed its acquisition of a 65% interest in StarChem S.A, a Honduras-based manufacturer of chemicals for the textile industry, for a base consideration of $24.1 million with a potential earn-out of up to $12.3 million based on EBITDA targets to be met over the next two years. The acquisition enables Bozzetto to establish a beachhead in the North American market and take advantage of several customer and cost synergies. In Q1, StarChem contributed revenue of $7.3 million. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Aimia (in millions of dollars except for margin and per share data) Q1 2024 Q4 2023 Q1 2023 Revenue from contracts with customers 122.1 100.1 2.0 Gross Profit 34.6 23.8 0.1 Gross Margin 28.3 % 23.8 % 5.0 % Operating Expenses (35.0) (37.8) (19.8) Operating Income (loss) (3.6) (51.0) (7.6) Adjusted EBITDA1 6.7 (4.0) (6.3) Net earnings (loss) (4.2) (59.0) (20.7) Earnings (loss) per share diluted (0.09) (0.69) (0.29) Aimia's financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024, reflect the acquisitions of Bozzetto and Cortland completed in 2023, and the acquisition of StarChem completed on January 2, 2024. Comparisons to the Company's performance in the comparable period of 2023 may not be meaningful. This quarterly earnings release should be read in conjunction with Aimia's consolidated financial statements and management discussions and analysis (MD&A) for the three months ended March 31, 2024, which can be accessed from SEDAR+ and www.aimia.com.  __________________________ 1 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. Balance Sheet and LiquidityAs at March 31, 2024, Aimia had a total liquidity of $111.2 million, which was comprised of $98.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $13 million in public securities.  At December 31, 2023, Aimia had total liquidity of $136.9 million, which was comprised of $109.1 million in cash and $27.8 million in public securities. The quarter over quarter decrease was attributable to a number of developments in Q1, including $15.5 million spent towards the StarChem acquisition, net of cash acquired.  At March 31, 2024, Aimia held cash and cash equivalents of $98.2 million of which $44 million was held in Bozzetto, $9.3 million in Cortland International and $44.9 million in the Holdings segment. Cash Flow from OperationsAimia used $5.7 million of cash in operating activities on a consolidated basis in the first quarter of 2024. The amount includes $1.6 million of expenses related to acquisition activities and $7 million of expenses paid mainly related to shareholder activism, including litigation settlement agreements. Available Tax LossesAt March 31, 2024, Aimia had $727.8 million of tax losses available for carry forward that may be used to reduce taxable income in future years.  The total available for carry forward is comprised of $441.2 million of operating tax losses and $286.6 million of capital tax losses. DividendsAimia paid $3.2 million in dividends for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, on its two series of outstanding preferred shares. Aimia's Board of Directors declared quarterly dividends of $0.300125 per Series 1 preferred share,  $0.485813 per Series 3 preferred share, and $0.570677 per Series 4 preferred share, in each case payable on June 28, 2024, to shareholders of record on June 14, 2024. With the reset of the annual dividend rate for Series 3 Preferred shares and the introduction of Cumulative Floating Rate Series 4 Preferred Shares, Aimia quarterly dividend payments will increase by approximately $700,000 beginning in Q2 2024. SEGMENT RESULTSAimia is comprised of three segments: Bozzetto, Cortland International, and Holdings.  Financial highlights for each segment for the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, follow. BozzettoAimia owns a 94.1% equity stake in Bozzetto, one of the world's leading providers of sustainable specialty chemicals with applications mainly in the textile, home and personal care, geothermal, construction, and agrochemical markets.  Bozzetto's management team owns the remaining 5.9%. The Bozzetto segment includes results since Bozzetto's acquisition on May 9, 2023, and the results since the acquisition of StarChem on January 2, 2024.  Comparisons to Bozzetto's results for comparable three-month period ended March 31, 2023, are, as a result, not presented. Bozzetto2 (in millions of dollars expect for margin data) Q1 2024 Q4 2023 Q1 2023 Revenue from contracts with customers 88.1 70.3 - Gross Profit 26.8 19.1 - Gross Margin 30.4 % 27.2 % Operating Expenses3 (17.1) (14.7) - Operating Income 10.1 5.3 -