The Brick Group Income Fund today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2008. The Brick Group's third quarter results and Management's Discussion and Analysis can be found on the Brick Group's website at www.thebrickgroup.ca .
Against increasingly challenging economic conditions and a strong comparative quarter in the third quarter of 2007 which included same store sales growth of 7.7%, we achieved positive total corporate and franchise store sales growth of 2.6%, consolidated corporate sales and operating revenue growth of 1.5%, and same store sales growth that was effectively flat.
As a result of sudden and dramatic changes in the economic and financial outlook, both domestically and internationally, we have and will continue to assess the potential impact on The Brick Group. Management has already implemented a number of operating initiatives to reduce and control costs, and intends to take advantage of these difficult times to use our strengths to increase market share. Management's focus for the balance of fiscal 2008 and 2009 will also include taking a prudent and proactive approach to cash flow management. Accordingly, we believe a reduction in distributions is prudent at this time, and anticipate that, beginning with the November 2008 distribution, our monthly distribution will be reduced from $0.10 per unit to $0.05 per unit. The Brick Group is also presently reviewing the strategic concept of an early conversion to a corporation.
The Distribution Committee of the Brick Group's Board of Trustees will continue to review and approve the level of cash distributions on a monthly basis, taking into account the Brick Group's reported distributable cash, its current and prospective performance, seasonality, and other factors they consider prudent. The Distribution Committee will meet on November 19, 2008 to set the November 2008 cash distribution, to be paid on December 15, 2008. Based on the October 31, 2008 closing price of $4.51 per Class A Trust Unit, our anticipated reduced monthly distribution of $0.05 per unit represents an annualized cash-on-cash yield of approximately 13.3%.
"We believe these strategies are necessary and prudent at this time and will help The Brick Group to be able to deal with the future economic uncertainty", said Kim Yost, President and Chief Executive Officer. "With the volatility and uncertainty in the economic environment, the management team is singularly focused on driving operating results." -- www.cnxmarketlink.com
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