KEW MEDIA GROUP Reports First Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Reaffirms Full Year 2019 Outlook

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–KEW MEDIA GROUP INC. (“KEW MEDIA”, “KEW” or the “Company”) (TSX:KEW and
KEW.WT) today released its financial results for the three month period
ended March 31, 2019 (“Q1 2019”). KEW MEDIA’s audited annual financial
statements along with its Management’s Discussion and Analysis for Q1
2019 are available on the Company’s investor relations website at https://investors.kewmedia.com
and under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com.
All financial results are reported in Canadian dollars unless otherwise
stated.

Q1 2019 Highlights

• Revenue of $52.0 million (2018: $39.8 million)
• Gross Profit¹ of $14.1 million (2018: $12.8 million)
• General and Administrative expenses² (“G&A”) of $14.0
  million (2018: $10.5 million)
• Adjusted EBITDA³ of ($0.1) million (2018: $2.5 million)
• Net Loss of ($7.9) million (2018: ($0.2) million)
• Adjusted Net Loss⁴ after tax⁵ of ($3.2) million
  (2018: $2.5 million)
• Reaffirmed full year 2019 outlook of mid to high single digit
  percentage organic growth over the annualized Pro forma 2018 Adjusted
  EBITDA of $31.9 million⁶

Steven Silver, Chief Executive Officer of KEW MEDIA, said, “Our first
quarter results were in line with our expectations as the group saw a
meaningful increase in revenues and gross profits, which were offset by
higher levels of budgeted G&A. The difference in profitability in the
first quarter compared to the prior year period is due to timing
differences related to revenue recognition and product mix. Our sales
momentum is strong and we have made excellent progress with our full
year product pipeline. We remain focused on enhancing our quality of
revenues and driving greater margins and profitability across the group.”

Peter Sussman, Executive Chairman of KEW MEDIA, added, “These are
exciting times for KEW with a mountain of content being produced, both
internally and by third party producers which is being sold around the
world by our distribution teams. The demand for content and the
proliferation of streaming players coming to market continues to be a
significant tailwind for our business.”

Financial Highlights for the Three Months Ended
March 31, 2019

KEW MEDIA’s results in any given quarter or year can be affected by
seasonality and/or specific product mix timing. Typically, production
occurs over the summer and starts delivering in the fall and winter
months. Q1 2019’s revenue of $52.0 million was comprised of $33.5
million from Production and $18.5 million from Distribution. Gross
Profit of $14.1 million included $9.0 million from Production and $5.0
million from Distribution. Gross Profit Margin was 26.9%, with segmented
Gross Profit Margin of 26.9% for Production and 27.0% for Distribution.
Overall margins met management’s expectations for the quarter. Inside
the Production segment, Gross Profit Margins were higher due to improved
margins in the quarter, including the introduction of Essential. Inside
the Distribution segment, margin percentages met management’s
expectations and were lower than in previous periods due to product mix
and revenue recognition timing. Adjusted EBITDA was ($0.1 million), the
Net Loss was ($7.9 million), or ($0.64) per share and Adjusted Net Loss
after tax was ($3.2 million), or ($0.24) per share.

Segment Information

Production

During the first quarter, Revenues were $33.5 million, an increase of
36.7%, Gross Profit was $9.0 million, an increase of 38.5%, and the
Gross Margin percentage was 26.9% (2018: 26.5%). G&A increased by 38.7%
to $7.2 million. All of these increases were predominantly due to the
inclusion of Essential in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $0.2
million to $1.0 million. The titles that were produced across the
segment included: Texas Flip and Move 12-13, Death Row Stories
4 for CNN in the US, Dance Moms 8 for A&E in the US, Dirty
Money 2 for Netflix, Stats of Life 2 for CBC, Backyard
Builds 2 for Corus, Fire Masters for Corus, and The Brigade
for Outdoor Network.

Distribution

During the first quarter, Revenues were $18.5 million, an increase of
20.6%, Gross Profit was $5.0 million, a decrease of 20.1%, and the Gross
Margin percentage was 27.0% (2018: 41.3%). G&A increased by 32.4% to
$4.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $2.4 million to $0.5 million.
The segment’s revenues benefitted from the delivery in the quarter of
some high revenue/low margin titles. Consequently, whilst revenues
increased, gross profit decreased compared to Q1 last year, which had a
product mix with comparatively higher margin titles. Additionally, we
have budgeted for higher G&A in this segment this year to drive its
growth. The titles that were distributed across the segment included: Slasher
3, Paranormal 911, Republic of Doyle, Leaving
Neverland, Egypt’s Unexplained Files, and Abandoned
Engineering.

Gross Profit and G&A

KEW MEDIA focuses on Gross Profit as a performance indicator given that
the Company has a diverse product range with some low revenue items
attracting 100% Gross Profit Margins and other high revenue items having
Gross Profit Margins as low as 5%. Gross Profit for Q1 2019 was $14.1
million compared to $12.8 million last year, an overall increase of 9.4%.

G&A was in line with our expectations, with an increase of $3.5 million
in the quarter compared to last year. This was predominantly due to the
inclusion of Essential in this year’s Q1 results, together with an
increased investment in our distribution platform and the addition of
centralized infrastructure costs.

Developments in the Quarter

Across the Group there have been a number of positive developments in Q1
that have contributed to our confidence in the full year result. These
include:

• Leaving Neverland became one of the industry’s most prominent
  documentaries attracting front page coverage and some of the highest
  ratings seen for a documentary in particular territories. Some of the
  revenues for this title were recognized in Q1 and will continue in Q2
  and throughout the year
• The highly awaited reboot of Dance Moms, one of the largest
  series in the Group, went into full production and will start
  delivering in Q2 with a forecast first broadcast date in June. Several
  specials in relation to the series have been ordered and ongoing
  revenues are anticipated throughout the year
• Jigsaw delivered The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,
  the highly anticipated documentary on Elizabeth Holmes and the
  Theranos scandal for HBO in the US
• Several major series have been renewed in the Distribution segment,
  including Frankie Drake Mysteries 3 and Abandoned Engineering
  4
• In the Production segment, there have been renewals for Best Cake
  Wins 2, Paranormal Survivor 5 and Haunted Hospitals
  2, and new series were commissioned including Backyard Beats as
  well as several new documentaries from Jigsaw

Balance Sheet and Net Debt

As of March 31, 2019, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $23.6
million, approximately $3.6 million in loan availability and Net Debt⁷
of $103.9 million.

Adjusted Net Debt⁸ as of March 31, 2019 was $84.7 million.
This figure takes into account material foreign exchange movements since
the beginning of the year and amounts expended by KEW MEDIA’s treasury
on interim production financing.

The Adjusted Net Debt of $84.7 million to Pro forma 2018 Adjusted EBITDA
of $31.9 million is 2.7:1. The Company continues to anticipate that this
ratio will reduce further into 2019 with an overall target of 2:1 or
below, reflecting the projected growth in our Adjusted EBITDA for the
year, together with the expected benefits from positive cash flow
generation.

Free Cash Flow (FCF)⁹¹

FCF before movements in working capital and before movements in film and
television rights was ($3.0 million) compared to $1.1 million last year.
FCF after movements in working capital but before investments in film
and television rights was $6.2 million compared to ($2.0 million) last
year. After movements in both working capital and investments in film
and television rights, FCF was ($2.0 million) compared to ($2.2 million)
last year.

At the segment level, Production FCF before movements in working capital
and investments in film and television rights was $0.6 million. FCF
after movements in working capital but before movements in investments
in film and television rights was $5.4 million. After movements in both
working capital and investments in film and television rights, FCF was
($1.1 million).

Distribution FCF before movements in working capital and movements in
investments in film and television rights was $0.5 million. FCF after
movements in working capital but before movements in investments in film
and television rights was $3.9 million. After movements in both working
capital and investments in film and television rights, FCF was $2.2
million.

⁷Net Debt is debt less any cash and cash equivalent balances. ⁸Adjusted
Net Debt is Net Debt less interim production loans provided by KEW MEDIA
treasury less effect of foreign exchange movements. See “Non-IFRS
Measures” and “Forward-Looking Statements” below in this press release.⁹Free
Cash Flow is Adjusted EBITDA adjusted for additions to Property and
Equipment, Interest and cash taxes. ¹⁰The statements set out
in this Outlook section are based on management’s assumptions, current
strategies and assessment of the outlook for the business. Given the
seasonal and other fluctuations in KEW MEDIA’s business, the Company may
not be in a position to provide periodic updates on its progress in
meeting its expectations. These statements constitute forward looking
information for purposes of applicable Canadian securities legislation
and readers are cautioned that KEW MEDIA’s actual result may vary from
these forward looking statements and that variation could be material.
See “Forward Looking Statements” for a description of the assumptions
and risks associated with these forward looking statements.

Outlook⁹

For the full year 2019, KEW MEDIA continues to expect a range of mid to
high single digit growth on full year 2018 Pro forma Adjusted EBITDA of
$31.9 million. KEW MEDIA’s results in any given quarter or year can be
affected by seasonality and/or specific product delivery timing.
Typically, production occurs over the summer and starts delivering in
the fall and winter months. As reflected in our 2018 performance, our
2019 results are expected to be heavily weighted in the fourth quarter.

Conference Call

KEW MEDIA will host a conference call to discuss the first quarter 2019
financial results on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. ET. The
conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing
877-407-0784 (USA and Canada) or 201-689-8560 (International). A replay
will be available from 12:00 p.m. ET on May 15, 2019 through May 22,
2019, and can be accessed by dialing 844-512-2921 (USA and Canada) or
412-317-6671 (International). The replay passcode will be 13689714.

The call will also be webcast live from KEW MEDIA’s investor relations
website at https://investors.kewmedia.com.
Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will
be available on the website.

About KEW MEDIA GROUP INC.

KEW MEDIA GROUP is a leading publicly-listed content company that
produces and distributes multi-genre content worldwide. Companies
included in the KEW family are the production companies: Architect
Films, Awesome Media & Entertainment, Bristow Global Media, Collins
Avenue Productions, Essential Media Group, 4East Media, Frantic Films,
Jigsaw Productions, Media Headquarters, Our House Media, Sienna Films,
Spirit Digital Media, and Two Rivers Media; and the distribution
companies: KEW Media Distribution and TCB Media Rights.

With primary offices in London, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney and
Toronto, the KEW MEDIA GROUP companies develop, produce and distribute
more than 2,000 hours of content every year, as well as manage a library
of more than 14,000 hours of content, for almost every available viewing
platform worldwide. KEW aspires to offer great content from all over the
world to viewers of all ages and tastes. KEW promotes transparency,
equality, respect, and inclusiveness and plans to grow with the benefit
of people from a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may include forward-looking statements. All such
statements constitute forward looking information within the meaning of
securities law and are made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of
applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include, but
are not limited to, statements about anticipated future events or
results including comments with respect to the Company’s objectives and
priorities for 2019 and beyond, and strategies or further actions with
respect to the Company, its business operations, financial performance
and condition. Forward-looking statements are statements that are
predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or
conditions and are identified by words such as “will”, “expects”,
“anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates” or similar
expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Such
statements are based on current expectations of the Company’s management
and inherently involve numerous risks and uncertainties, known and
unknown, including economic factors.

In particular, the statements set out in the Outlook section of this
press release regarding our expected Adjusted EBITDA for the year ending
December 31, 2019, our expected financial performance for the remainder
of 2019 and our expectations regarding the performance of our production
and distribution segments for the remainder of 2019, constitute
forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management’s
current strategies, assumptions concerning growth and assessment of the
outlook for the business. In particular, such statements assume that:
(i) our production companies will continue to develop, produce and
deliver successful productions in a manner consistent with past
experience and on expected delivery schedules as outlined under
“Outlook” in the press release; (ii) the product mix of the Company’s
revenues will continue to be skewed towards higher margin titles; (iii)
we will continue to acquire and distribute content in a manner
consistent with past experience; (iv) our operating and overhead costs
will be within budget; and (v) that the companies we have acquired will
meet or exceed our performance expectations. We consider the foregoing
assumptions to be reasonable in the circumstances given the time period
for such outlook. However, readers are cautioned that KEW’s
actual results may vary from these forward-looking statements and that
variation could be material. The forward-looking information contained
in this news release is presented for the purpose of assisting readers
in understanding the Company’s business and strategic priorities and
objectives as at the periods indicated and may not be appropriate for
other purposes. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors may
cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements contained in this news release, including, among other
factors, those referenced in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the
Company’s annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2018,
a copy of which is available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com
under the Company’s profile. In particular, KEW’s results of operations
fluctuate significantly quarter to quarter depending on the number and
timing of content delivered or made available to various media. As in
past years, KEW anticipates that its 2019 financial results will be
heavily weighted in the fourth quarter and as a result, KEW may not have
visibility on its ability to meet the 2019 guidance until the end of the
fourth quarter of 2019.

Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are not
guarantees of future performance and, while forward-looking statements
are based on certain assumptions that the Company considers reasonable,
actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed
or implied by forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned to
consider these and other factors carefully when making decisions with
respect to the Company and not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Circumstances affecting the Company may change rapidly.
Except as may be expressly required by applicable law, KEW does not
undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any such
forward-looking statements, and as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.

Non-IFRS Measures

This news release contains references to certain measures that do not
have a standardized meaning under International Financial Reporting
Standards (“IFRS”) as prescribed by the International Accounting
Standards Board and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar
measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are
provided as additional information to complement IFRS measures by
providing a further understanding of operations from management’s
perspective. Accordingly, non-IFRS measures should not be considered in
isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of financial information
reported under IFRS. This news release makes reference to Gross Profit,
Gross Profit Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash
Flow, Net debt, and Adjusted Net Debt, each of which is a non-IFRS
financial measure. The Company believes these non-IFRS financial
measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other
interested parties as measures of financial performance and it is
therefore helpful to provide supplemental measures of operating
performance and thus highlight trends that may not otherwise be apparent
when relying solely on IFRS financial measures.

The Company’s definitions of non-IFRS financial measures are as
follows:

• Gross Profit is revenue less cost of sales.
• Gross Profit Margin is gross profit as a percentage of revenue.
• Adjusted Net Income is Income (Loss) before income tax recovery
  then includes add-back adjustments for items such as transaction
  costs, reorganization and exceptional costs, share-based compensation,
  deferred compensation, other intangibles amortization, gain on change
  in fair value of financial liabilities, and (gain) loss on sale of
  subsidiary.
• Adjusted EBITDA is also provided to better analyze trends in
  performance and present a truer economic representation on a
  comparative basis. Adjusted EBITDA is Adjusted Net Income including
  additional add-back adjustments for Interest Expense, net of Interest
  Income, Depreciation and any non-cash amortization (to the extent not
  added back to Adjusted Net Income).
• Free Cash Flow is Adjusted EBITDA adjusted for additions to
  Property and Equipment, Interest and cash taxes.
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow is Free Cash Flow adjusted for additions to
  film and television rights, net of amortization.
• Adjusted Net Income after tax is adjusted net income less income
  tax recovery.
• Adjusted Net Debt is Net Debt less intra-group interim production
  financing and adjusted for the impact of foreign exchange
• Adjusted Earnings Per Share is Adjusted Net Income divided by
  weighted average number of common shares in the capital of the Company

Please see the Company’s management’s discussion and analysis for the
three months ended March 31, 2019 for a detailed description of these
measures and a reconciliation of these measures to the nearest IFRS
measure.

Selected Comparative Information

Below is selected information from the consolidated statements of loss
for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and the three months ended
March 31, 2018.

Revenue, Cost of Sales, Gross Profit and Segmental Analysis

The Company’s business activities are conducted through two segments.

Contacts

Investor Relations:
Steven Silver
Chief Executive
Officer
647-957-2194
[email protected]

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