TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 27, 2013) - Prism Medical Ltd., ("Prism Medical" or "the Company") (TSX VENTURE:PM), a leading provider of durable medical equipment and related services to the mobility challenged, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter (Q4) and fiscal year ended November 30, 2012.

Q4 and Fiscal Year 2012 Highlights

• The Company generated cash from operations of $7,291, an improvement of $1,952 (37%) versus the $5,339 generated in the previous year and paid $0.32 per share in dividends.
  
  
• In all markets we continue to make strong gains in the Home Care market with the introduction of new products and an increased network of distributors. During the last two quarters, the Company has taken significant action to right size its cost base particularly in the US, changing a significant part of our cost structure to a more variable model more consistent with the lumpy nature of our US revenues.
  
  
• In Q4 of 2012, we incurred $0.5M of restructuring costs. We expect that this restructuring will reduce our annual costs by more than $3.7 million. Also in Q4 of 2012, we incurred a further $0.2 million of costs related to the MedCare acquisition.
  
  
• On September 13, 2012, the Company's lender increased the Credit Facility relating to the demand revolving loan from $15.0 million to $17.5 million and the demand revolving loan to finance acquisitions was increased from $7.5 million to a $27.5 million.
  

Subsequent to November 30, 2012, the Company announced:

• The acquisition of the manufacturing assets of MedCare Products Inc. (MedCare) and entered into a 10-year agreement to exclusively supply all products MedCare sells in the moving and handling industry. The Company also acquired a 49% interest in MedCare.
  
  
• The completion of an agreement with Sunrise Senior Living to provide its range of lifting and transfer products to Sunrise's communities across the United States and Canada. The agreement also includes comprehensive clinical training and product preventative maintenance at each community.
  

Financial Review

Revenues

Revenues for the quarter ended and year ended November 30, 2012 decreased by $2,136 or 10.5%, and increased by $2,214 or 3.0% respectively as detailed below:

United Kingdom (UK)

Revenues for the year ended November 30, 2012 increased $1,530 or 3.8% versus last year driven by the Leonard Cheshire contract, better productivity in the service and maintenance business and our continued ability to win business by delivering cost effective solutions to our customers using our expertise in safe patient handling.

United States (US)

For the three months ended November 30, 2012, US revenues declined $1,533 or 27.5% versus the same period last year. For the year ended November 30, 2012, revenues declined $2,247 or 11.3% versus the same period last year. Both declines were caused by the economic and political uncertainty that existed in the US in 2012, particularly in the second half. While budget constraints and the cyclicality of the institutional order pipeline can cause variability in the timing of revenues, our US customers are committed to creating safe patient handling environments in their facilities. Our home care business continued to grow and we significantly expanded our distribution network by adding 127 new dealers in 2012. In addition, our position in the long-term care sector was significantly strengthened with signing of the Sunrise Senior Living Agreement in December 2012.

In December 2012, the Company announced the acquisition of the manufacturing assets of MedCare Products Inc. As part of the transaction, the Company entered into a 10-year agreement to exclusively supply all the products MedCare sells in the moving and handling industry and purchased 49% of the Company. MedCare's operations are based in Minnesota, US. The Company's product offering will expand with the acquisition of the MedCare product ranges which the Company intends to market in other world geographies. In addition, the Company expects to leverage MedCare's strong base of dealer business in the long-term care sector and continue to build the hospital group customer base in new geographies with the inclusion of several world-renowned hospital groups.

Canada

For the three months ended November 30, 2012, revenues decreased $569 or 15.0% from the same period in the previous year as demand returned to normal levels. The increase of revenues for the year ended November 30, 2012 of $2,931 or 21.0% over the same period last year was driven by strong institutional demand for our products as end of life products were replaced which occurred in the first and second quarters of 2012. In addition, new institutional facilities were built in several provinces and we continued to penetrate the Quebec market.

Gross Margin

For the quarter ended November 30, 2012, gross margin decreased $2,354 or 26.8% compared to the same period last year. For the year ending November 30, 2012, gross margin decreased $1,222 or 4.0% compared to the same periods last year. As a percentage of revenues, gross margin decreased from 43.1% to 35.2% in the quarter and from 41.2% to 38.4% for the year ended November 30, 2012. Margin rates were unfavourably impacted by higher freight cost in the early part of the year, a slightly poorer product mix, the high fixed cost base in our US installation business which has now been eliminated and certain non-recurring adjustments. The Company estimates that there were approximately $1,200 in costs of products and services sold that are not expected to re-occur in 2012.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling and marketing expenses for the three months and year ended November 30, 2012 decreased by $244 or 11% and increased by $261 or 3.5% respectively compared to the same periods last year. General and administrative expenses for the three months and year ended November 30, 2012 increased by $361 or 8.7% and by $2,361 or 15.2% respectively compared to the same periods last year. The increase in SG&A was due to costs associated with various strategic initiatives including the Company's cost of acquisition for MedCare's manufacturing assets, investments in the US management and sales teams and the acquisition of Movement 2 in the UK. As a result of the restructuring initiatives taken the Company estimates that in excess of $2,500 of 2012 SG & A costs are not expected to re-occur in 2013.

Adjusted EBITDA¹

For the three months and year ended November 30, 2012, Adjusted EBITDA decreased $2,418 or 78.3% and $3,220 or 33.1% respectively compared to the same periods last year.

Net Income

Net Income for the three months and year ended November 30, 2012 decreased $1,721 or 109% and $1,724 or 43.1% respectively compared to the same periods last year.

Liquidity

As at November 30, 2012, total debt net of cash was $10,137 compared to $12,601 as at November 30, 2011.

During the year ended November 30, 2012, bank indebtedness decreased by $723 compared to an increase in bank indebtedness of $2,790 for the same period last year. The repayment of long term debt was $4,072 compared to $2,707 for the comparative period as the company settled debt related to acquisition promissory notes.

Outlook

Prism intends to grow sales, profitability and return on shareholders' equity. The Company believes that performance will be positively affected by continued North American institutional demand for our products, improved manufacturing efficiencies, greater geographic coverage, and revenues and profits from new product introductions. Through the addition of additional distribution, both through independent dealers and Company-owned platforms and the multi-year supply agreement in the U.S. announced in December 2012, Prism hopes to achieve continued growth in UK and North American profitability even with the ongoing uncertain economic environment.

The demand for our core products and services, in management's estimation, continues to experience growth at different rates in the geographic markets in which we participate. Government funding for our products, particularly in Canada and the UK is a key driver of sales. Although government policies related to healthcare in the markets in which we operate continues to change, we believe that our ability to deliver cost effective solutions to the healthcare providers combined with the ageing demographics, mean the long term trends continue to be favorable.

In the Company's view the US market holds the greatest long-term potential to provide above-average revenue growth. Institutional penetration for safe patient moving and handling equipment is well below what may be witnessed in mature markets such as the UK and the homecare market is similarly underdeveloped. While budget constraints and the cyclicality of the institutional order pipeline can cause variability in the timing of US revenues, our customers are committed to creating safe patient handling environments in their facilities. Our efforts to build a larger footprint in this market have already translated into strong revenue growth. Additionally Prism is actively growing its dealer footprint in the US and designing affordable products for the private-pay homecare market.

With the actions taken on the cost side and with the Medcare acquisition the Company expects a significant improvement in its profitability in the coming year.

Notice of Conference Call

Prism Medical will host a conference call on March 28^th, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. EST to discuss its financial results. Stuart Meldrum, CEO, will Chair and George Chiarucci, CFO, will co‐chair the call. All interested parties can join the call by referring to the information below:

Please dial in 15 minutes prior to the call to secure a line. A live audio webcast of the conference call will also be available at [ www.prismmedicalltd.com ]. Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to join the webcast.

About Prism Medical Ltd.

Prism Medical Ltd. is one of the largest providers and manufacturers of durable medical equipment and related services to the mobility challenged in Canada, the US and the UK, with more than 100,000 installations and 200,000 product solutions sold. The Prism Medical brands include Waverley Glen and ErgoSafe, North America's leading supplier of lifting, handling and repositioning aid products and services across Canada and the US Freeway and Prism Service & Repair are leading suppliers of moving and handling products and services in the UK. For further information visit Prism Medical's website at [ www.prismmedicalltd.com ] or [ www.sedar.com ].

¹Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Prism Medical's consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The Company also uses non‐GAAP measures such as Adjusted EBITDA to measure its financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA consists of earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and stock‐based compensation expense. Adjusted EBITDA is a financial metric used by many investors to compare companies on the basis of operating results, asset value and the ability to incur and service debt. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a useful measure for evaluating the performance of the Company. Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized measure under GAAP and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled financial metrics reported by other companies.

Forward-Looking Information

This document contains forward-looking statements relating to our operations and to the environment in which we operate and our strategy, action plans and investments, which may involve estimates, forecasts and projections. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and/or are beyond our control. A number of important factors could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. These factors include those set forth in this report and our other public filings. Consequently, readers should not place any undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this report. Prism Medical is under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein should material facts change due to new information, future events or other factors. All forward-looking statements attributable to Prism Medical are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.

Contributing Sources

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