AirBoss Announces Participation in Upcoming Investor Conferences and Provides Outlook on Upcoming Results

NEWMARKET, Ontario, Jan. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AirBoss of America Corp. (TSX: BOS) (the "Company" or "AirBoss") today announced its participation in certain upcoming investor conferences and reported a preliminary outlook on selected unaudited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. All dollar ($) amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Institutional Investor Conference Participation

AirBoss is pleased to announce that it will be participating in the 24th Annual CIBC Western Institutional Investor Conference January 20, 2021 and the 42nd Annual Cowen & Co. Aerospace/Defense & Industrials Conference taking place February 9-11, 2021.

FY2020 Anticipated Results

The Company is providing preliminary unaudited 2020 results now to enable it to participate fully in these important upcoming investor conferences during what would otherwise be its routine blackout period. The Company cautions readers that the information may not be appropriate for any other purposes. For important information on risk factors, refer to "AirBoss Forward Looking Information Disclaimer" later in this news release.

Based on preliminary unaudited results, the Company anticipates reporting record 2020 revenues in the range of $498 to $503 million, with Adjusted EBITDA¹ margin anticipated to be approximately 19.5% to 21.0% of revenues. Net debt as at December 31, 2020 is estimated to be approximately nil due to cash generated in 2020. This information is based on unaudited expected results and certain accounting assumptions. These views on anticipated results are based on management's initial review of its operations and performance for the year ended 2020, do not include all results expected to be reported and are subject to the completion of the Company's customary closing and review procedures.

"2020 was another record year for AirBoss, as the diversity of our operations enabled us to offset the negative impact of COVID-19 on the rubber industry in North America and continue generating significant cash while maintaining our dividend," said Gren Schoch, Chairman and CEO of AirBoss. "The creation of AirBoss Defense Group at the beginning of 2020 proved timely as we leveraged the global sales expertise of the company we acquired, Critical Solutions International, and our own production capacity and expertise to satisfy skyrocketing demand for our domestically manufactured personal protective equipment, notably our proprietary powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) and related filters and peripherals. After completing a major PAPR order for FEMA in Q3 on time and on budget, during the fourth quarter we completed our delivery of PAPRs to HHS and expect to complete delivery of remaining related peripherals over the next several months. While COVID-19 has driven the size of these important contracts, we believe it will also result over time in an expanded end-user market opportunity for our PPE from military and federal governments to municipalities, hospitals, medical personnel and first responders."

"During the fourth quarter, we also saw a rebound in demand for our rubber products in other areas of the economy, with levels approaching 2019 in many areas, similar to the V-shaped recovery experienced by the broader rubber industry in 2020," added Chris Bitsakakis, President and COO of AirBoss.

"The outlook for the industry in 2021 is obviously dependent on continued normalization of the economy and the impact of COVID-19 on defense, automotive, industrial and other end market budgets," concluded Mr. Bitsakakis. "However, the outlook remains healthy over the medium term, with industry estimates for approximately 4% top line growth over the next five years². We have outperformed the industry over the past number of years and, excluding the impact of our COVID-19-related contracts in 2020, our aim remains to continue expanding our market share while increasing our margins through a combination of product mix and operational efficiencies. We are also entering 2021 in the strongest financial position in our history, with a healthy cash balance and undrawn credit facilities providing us significant dry powder to complement our organic growth strategy with potential tuck in acquisitions."

AirBoss expects to announce its full year 2020 audited financials in early March and will provide timing and conference call and webcast details ahead of that date.

Corporate Presentation

An updated investor presentation is available on AirBoss' website at: https://airbossofamerica.com/investor-media-center

AirBoss of America Corp.

AirBoss of America Corp. is a group of complementary businesses supplying custom compounded rubber, survivability solutions and anti-vibration components to a diverse group of customers globally. AirBoss Rubber Solutions is a top-tier North American custom rubber compounder with 500 million turn pounds of annual capacity. AirBoss Defense Group manufactures and supplies a growing array of Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear and Explosive ("CBRN-E") protective solutions and is a leading provider of personal protective equipment to governments, militaries and frontline healthcare workers both in the U.S. and internationally. AirBoss Engineered Products is a supplier of innovative anti-vibration solutions to the North American automotive market. The Company's shares trade on the TSX under the symbol BOS. Visit www.airbossofamerica.com for more information.

Contact: Chris Bitsakakis, President or Gren Schoch, Chairman and CEO at 905-751-1188.

Non-IFRS Measures

This release contains non-IFRS Measures, Net Debt and Adjusted EBITDA. Net debt means loans and borrowings less leases included in loans and borrowings and cash and cash equivalents. Adjusted EBITDA means net earnings before interest and financing costs (net of interest income), income taxes, depreciation and amortization, impairment expenses and transaction-related costs and certain other items. AirBoss' non-IFRS measures are directly derived from the Company's consolidated financial statements but do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. The Company discloses these terms for use in financial measurements made by interested parties and investors to monitor the ability of the Company to generate cash from operations for debt service, to finance working capital and capital expenditures and to pay dividends. These terms are not a measure of performance under IFRS and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income under IFRS. Reconciliations of these measures for prior periods are presented in the Company's Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&As). The Company has not provided reconciliation of these measures included in the full year 2020 anticipated results provided in this news release because certain reconciling or adjusting items and costs for 2020 cannot be projected or predicted with reasonable certainty at this time without unreasonable effort due to a number of factors, including the typical variability arising from the preparation and completion of annual financial statements, including, without limitation, certain income tax provision accounting, annual impairment testing and other accounting matters.

AIRBOSS FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION DISCLAIMER

Certain statements contained or incorporated by reference herein, including those that express management's expectations or estimates of future developments or AirBoss' future performance, constitute "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, and can generally be identified by words such as "will", "may", "could" "expects", "believes", "anticipates", "forecasts", "plans", "intends" or similar expressions. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and performance.

Statements containing forward-looking information are necessarily based upon a number of opinions, estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at the time the statements are made, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and contingencies. AirBoss cautions that such forward-looking information involves known and unknown contingencies, uncertainties and other risks that may cause AirBoss' actual financial results, performance or achievements to be materially different from its estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information, including without limitation: impact of general economic conditions notably including its impact on demand for rubber solutions and products; dependence on key customers; global defense budgets, notably in the Company's target markets, and success of the Company in obtaining new or extended defense contracts; cyclical trends in the tire and automotive, construction, mining and retail industries; sufficient availability of raw materials at economical costs; weather conditions affecting raw materials, production and sales; AirBoss' ability to maintain existing customers or develop new customers in light of increased competition; AirBoss' ability to successfully integrate acquisitions of other businesses and/or companies or to realize on the anticipated benefits thereof; changes in accounting policies and methods, including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates; changes in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar; changes in tax laws and potential litigation; ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms; environmental damage and non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations; impact of global health situations; potential product liability and warranty claims and equipment malfunction. COVID-19 could also negatively impact the Company's operations and financial results in future periods. There is increased uncertainty associated with future operating assumptions and expectations as compared to prior periods. As such, it is not possible to estimate the impacts COVID-19 will have on the Company's financial position or results of operations in future periods. While the direct impacts of COVID-19 are not determinable at this time, the Company has an undrawn credit facility as at December 31, 2020 that can provide financing up to $60,000,000. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of AirBoss' forward-looking information. All of the forward-looking information in this press release is expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information.

All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information attributable to AirBoss or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this press release and, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, AirBoss disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly this forward-looking information except as required by applicable laws. Risks and uncertainties about AirBoss' business are more fully discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Information Form and are otherwise disclosed in our filings with securities regulatory authorities which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

¹ Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure. For important information on the Company's non-IFRS measures, see under "Non-IFRS Measures" in this news release.
² Sources: Global Info Research, "Global Rubber Compound Market 2019 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025"; BIS Research, "CBRNE Defense System Market - A Global Market and Regional Analysis: Focus on CBRNE Defense System Product and Application, Supply Chain Analysis, and Country Analysis - Analysis and Forecast, 2020-2025"; IHS Markit, North American car/light truck production estimates between 2020 and 2025

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/45baa4a7-182e-4ec5-94be-f21b8840c90f