Sparkling Spring Water Group, Ltd. (SSW Group), a subsidiary of Sparkling Spring Water Holdings, Ltd. (SSW Holdings), announced that it achieved record revenue of $21.1 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30th, an increase of $1.4 million or 7.1 percent over the same period last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") were $5.5 million, an increase of $0.7 million or 14.8 percent over the 2000 third quarter.
SSW Group's increase in quarterly revenue was nearly equally driven by customer growth from business acquisitions and organic growth of the company's customer base. Revenue from home and office water sales increased by $1.6 million or 13.5 percent over the 2000 third quarter. This increase was partially offset by a $0.5 million decline in revenue from sales of lower margin small package cases primarily due to the sale of SSW Group's small pack business in Seattle to Pure Water Corp., a subsidiary of SSW Holdings.
EBITDA in the 2001 third quarter includes non-recurring charges of $1.0 million related to acquisitions and closure of SSW Group's Seattle plant and certain facilities in the UK. In the year ago quarter, non-recurring charges totaled $0.2 million. Excluding these charges, EBITDA increased to $6.6 million in the third quarter of 2001 from $5.1 million in last year's third quarter, an increase of 30 percent. Decreases in the exchange rates for the Pound Sterling (2.6 percent) and Canadian Dollar (4.1 percent) reduced reported revenue growth in the 2001 third quarter by $1.0 million or 4.8 percent and reduced EBITDA growth by $0.3 million or 5.5 percent.
SSW Group recorded a net loss of $0.7 million in the 2001 third quarter compared to net income of $1.3 million in the third quarter of 2000. In the year ago quarter, an increase in the value of SSW Group's currency swaps reduced reported interest expense by $2.5 million. There was no gain or loss on currency swaps in the 2001 quarter. Excluding the impact of currency swaps, interest expense in the 2001 quarter was $0.2 million lower than in the 2000 quarter. SSW Group ended the quarter with a total customer location base of 207,000.
"We are very pleased with our strong third quarter performance and especially the improvements in our North America operations," said Stewart
Allen, president.
Source: Sparkling Springs Group
