BMTC Group Inc. announces financial results for its year ended December 31st, 2011

MONTREAL, Feb. 24, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - For the fiscal year ended December 31^st, 2011, the Corporation's revenue decreased by $73,776,000 to $748,731,000, from the $822,507,000 recorded in the corresponding 2010 period. Net income for the fiscal year ended December 31^st, 2011, stood at $57,231,000 compared with $74,193,000, for the previous fiscal year. Basic earnings per share decreased from $1.44 in 2010 to $1.16 in 2011.

Results from the costing of options had the effect of reducing net basic earnings by $0.04 per share, compared to a decrease of $0.19 per basic share for the previous year. While the Corporation costs options as either an expense or revenue in the net earnings calculation, the Corporation believes it is preferable to inform readers of its financial statements of the impact of this element, which is outside the Corporation's control and which varies according to calculation based on the Black Scholes method. An increase in this value incurs an expense, while a decrease incurs revenue. Of particular concern is that the reader could be made to believe that the Corporation's profitability had risen in the context of a major decrease in the value attributed. It is for this reason that the Corporation includes net earnings in absolute dollars and per-share dollars excluding this costing of options effect, it is therefore unlikely that we can compare them with the same type of measures presented by other issuers. It is worth noting that the Corporation offers a stock option program that allows the holder to exercise his options in lieu of cash therefore being one of few public companies to expense options on an ongoing basis.

During the month of December 2011, the Corporation paid an amount of $9,518,000 before taxes or $6,815,000 after taxes or $0.14 per basic share, as a contribution to pension fund for past services in order to cover the solvability deficit that occurred during the 2010 period. The share repurchase program contributed $0.08 to net per basic share earnings.

Excluding these effects, net earnings would have decreased by $18,060,000 or $0.37 per basic share.

The adjusted $18,060,000 decrease in net earnings breaks down as follows:

	2011	2010
	($ in thousands)
Net Earnings	57,231	74,193
Variation of cost of options (after-tax)	1,842	9,755
Contribution to pension fund for past services	6,815	-
Adjusted Net Earnings	65,888	83,948
MINUS : Adjusted Net Earnings for the 2010 period	83,948
Decrease 2011	18,060

This decrease in adjusted and after tax operating earnings was spread out through the quarters as follows:

	($ in thousands)
	Increase (decrease)		Increase (decrease)
	retail operating	Increase (decrease)	adjusted
	earnings	investment income	operating earnings
1st quarter 2011	(3,197)	738	(2,459)
2nd quarter 2011	(749)	928	179
3rd quarter 2011	(7,433)	(1,552)	(8,985)
4th quarter 2011	(7,083)	288	(6,795)
Total:	(18,462)	402	(18,060)

Annual Financial Information
($ in thousands, except for per share amounts)

	IFRS		GAAP*
	2011	2010	2010	2009
Revenue	748,731	822,507	822,507	818,072
Net earnings	57,231	74,193	75,122	67,029
Total Assets	274,446	320,182	347,502	313,925
Net Earnings per share**             Basic             Diluted	1.16 1.16	1.44 1.38	1.46 1.40	1.27 1.23
Dividends per share	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.19

*The financial information has been prepared in accordance with Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles («GAAPs»)
** After taking into account the 2 for 1 stock split effect of April 6^th, 2010, all comparables have been adjusted.

Quarterly Results (unaudited)
($ in thousands, except for per share amounts)

	March 31		June 30		September 30		December 31
	2011	2010	2011	2010	2011	2010	2011	2010
	$	$	$	$	$	$	$	$
Revenue	163,714	183,148	194,146	207,801	196,715	215,712	194,156	215,846
Net earnings	2,814	3,821	21,456	16,966	17,857	21,362	15,104	32,044
Net Earnings per share*             Basic             Diluted	0.05 0.05	0.07 0.06	0.43 0.42	0.33 0.33	0.36 0.36	0.41 0.40	0.32 0.33	0.63 0.59

* After taking into account the 2 for 1 stock split effect of April 6^th, 2010, comparables have been adjusted.

For the three month period ended December 31^st, 2011, the Corporation's revenue decreased by $21,690,000 to $194,156,000 from the $215,846,000 recorded in the corresponding 2010 period. Net income for the three month period ended December 31^st, 2011, stood at $15,104,000 or $0.32 per basic share compared with $32,044,000 or $0.63 per basic share, for the corresponding 2010 period. The result from costing of options had the effect of increasing the basic earnings per share by $0.02 compared to an increase of $0.09 for the corresponding 2010 period. The share repurchase program increased by $0.02 to net basic per share earnings for the quarter ended December 31^st, 2011.

During the month of December 2011, the Corporation paid an amount of $9,518,000 before taxes or $6,815,000 after taxes or $0.14 per basic share, as a contribution to pension fund for past services in order to cover the solvability deficit that occurred during the period.

Excluding these effects, net earnings would have decreased by $6,795,000 or $0.14 per basic share for the three-month period ended December 31^st, 2011.

The adjusted $6,795,000 decrease in net earnings breaks down as follows for the three-month period ended December 31^st, 2011:

	2011	2010
	($ in thousands)
Net Earnings	15,104	32,044
Variation of cost of options (after-tax)	(1,224)	(4,554)
Contribution to pension fund for past services	6,815	-
Adjusted Net Earnings	20,695	27,490
MINUS : Adjusted Net Earnings for the 2010 period	27,490
Decrease 2011	6,795

During the twelve month period ended December 31^st, 2011, options were exercised. On March 16^th, 2011, the Corporation paid an amount before tax of $21,114,000 as cash award in lieu of shares, as a result of the exercise of 1,088,000 options. On July 21^st, 2011, the Corporation paid an amount before tax of $250,001 as cash award in lieu of shares, as a result of the exercise of 13,777 options. On November 17^th, 2011, the Corporation paid an amount before tax of $12,649,199 as cash award in lieu of shares, as a result of the exercise of 690,223 options. As at December 31^st, 2011, options for 262,800 Class A Subordinate Voting Shares, representing 0,005% of the Corporation's shares in circulation, therefore remain outstanding and 5,710,864 options, representing 12% of the Corporation's shares in circulation, may still be issued pursuant to the Plan. The outstanding options may be exercised at a price of $17.85 per Class A Subordinate Voting Shares.

The number of outstanding shares of the Corporation changed during the twelve month period ended December 31^st, 2011 due to the share redemption programs implemented in March 2011 and the conversion of Class B Multiple Voting Shares. Accordingly, 2,410,500 Class A Subordinate Voting Shares were redeemed by the Corporation and cancelled and 346,951 Class B Multiple Voting Shares were converted into 346,951 Class A Subordinate Voting Shares. As a result of these changes, the Corporation had, as of December 31^st, 2011, 2,118,835 Class B Multiple Voting Shares and 46,156,165 Class A Subordinate Voting Shares outstanding.

During the fiscal year, the Corporation paid eligible dividends of $0.24 per share to holders of Class A Subordinate Voting Shares and Class B Multiple Voting Shares.

BMTC Group inc., which Class A Subordinate Voting Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is an important retailer of furniture, electronic goods and household appliances in appliances in the areas of Montreal, Quebec City, Repentigny, Ste-Therese, Laval, Longueuil, Kirkland, St-Georges, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Chicoutimi, Rivière-du-Loup, Rimouski, Levis, Beauport, Ste-Foy, Gatineau, Ste-Hyacinthe, St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu, Granby, Vaudreuil, Mascouche and St-Jérôme through its subsidiary Brault & Martineau and Ameublements Tanguay. 

Mr. Yves Des Groseillers
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer
BMTC Group inc.   [phone]