Vertex Resource Group Ltd. Reports Record Third Quarter 2022 Results

Achieved record revenue – $59.0 million and record Adjusted EBITDA – $10.4 million of any quarter in the Company’s history.

Sherwood Park, Alberta, November 10, 2022 (TSXV: VTX) – Vertex Resource Group Ltd. (“Vertex” or the “Company”) reports its financial and operational results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022. The following should be read in conjunction with the Management Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) and
the audited consolidated financials statements of Vertex for the year ended December 31, 2021, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The third quarter continued on momentum built in the first and second quarters and achieved the highest quarterly revenue and adjusted EBITDA in the Company’s history. The Company is continuing to maintain its focus on cost containment, operating efficiencies, geographic diversification, and sector diversification while pursuing growth opportunities.

Key financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021 are as follows:

HIGHLIGHTS
	Three months ended September 30,					Nine Months ended September 30,
(in thousands of Canadian Dollars)
	2022		2021		% Change	2022		2021		% Change
Revenue	59,139		42,284		40%	158,537		113,362		40%
Gross profit	15,934		12,082		32%	39,614		31,319		26%
Adjusted EBITDA (1)	10,412		7,633		36%	24,629		19,827		24%
Free cash flow (1)	8,885		7,094		25%	21,555		17,577		23%
Adjusted EBITDA per share, basic and diluted	0.09		0.08		13%	0.24		0.22		9%

(1) See “Non-IFRS Financial Measures”

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

• Vertex achieved the highest revenue and adjusted EBITDA for any quarter in company history at $59.1 million and $10.4 million respectively.
• Net income of $2.5 million for the quarter compared to $0.6 million in Q3 2021.
• On September 29, 2022, Vertex completed the acquisition of Young EnergyServe Inc. (“Young”).
• Adjusted working capital increased by $13.7 million to support the operating needs of an excellent quarter.
• The Company received an advance on its syndicated term loan of $10 million and used $1.2 million to fund the cash component of the purchase consideration and $5.8 million to settle Young acquisition liabilities.
• Free cash flow amounted to $8.9 million compared to $7.1 million in Q3 2021 (See Non-IFRS Financial Measures – Section 7.0).

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

• Revenue increased to $158.5 million from $113.3 million for the same period in 2021, the highest in any previous nine-month period.
• Record Adjusted EBITDA of $24.6 million for the nine months of 2022 compared to $19.8 million in 2021 where Adjusted EBITDA included wage subsidies of $3.0 million.
• Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was $3.7 million compared to $0.3 million in the comparative period.
• On April 25, 2022, Vertex completed the acquisition of Cordy Oilfield Services Inc. (“Cordy”).
• The Company extended the maturity date of its secured credit facilities to May 31, 2025, increased the revolving loan commitment by $10 million and increased the syndicated term loan by $10M for the Young acquisition.
• Syndicated bank indebtedness to trailing bank EBITDA improved to a ratio of 2.70:1.00 compared to 3.56:1.00 at December 31, 2021.
• Free cash flow amounted to $21.6 million compared to $17.6 million in Q3 2021.

OUTLOOK
2022 continues to exceed our expectations with excellent third quarter results being driven by operational efficiencies, realized synergies from our previous acquisitions including the acquisition of Cordy Oilfield Services Inc. during the second quarter of 2022, strong, stable commodity pricing, as well as the gradual return to pre-COVID activity levels across other industries. Our outlook for the 4th quarter of 2022 and 2023 is that North American economies will continue to benefit from favourable commodity prices in energy, utilities, agriculture, and forestry. In addition, we have major capital projects from multiple
midstream, utilities/telecommunications, municipal infrastructure, and energy transition projects in 2022 and 2023.

Vertex is well positioned for strong earnings growth for 2023 with significant secured backlog and increased demand for our services, which is increasing our utilization of equipment and staff. The current trend towards less carbon-intensive energy sources is presenting new opportunities for Vertex. Vertex is working closely with several of our Indigenous Partners and customers to advance projects that reduce atmospheric carbon emissions, enhance biodiversity, carbon sequestering, utilize or convert to wind or solar, renewable natural gas (RNG), biofuels, helium, and emerging hydrogen opportunities.

Vertex’s future outlook is very positive with strong commodity prices supporting maintenance and development activity as well as the continued strengthening of environmental legislation in both Canada and the United States resulting in increased asset retirement liabilities being addressed. Further government and industry initiatives around energy transition and lowering carbon intensity are providing Vertex with numerous opportunities for our solutions and services. Vertex continues to demonstrate the strength and resiliency of our business model and is in an enviable position to facilitate further growth through cross-selling of our services throughout the life cycle of our clients’ projects in a variety of industries.

In addition, we are very excited with the two acquisitions we completed in 2022, with the most recent one closing on September 29, 2022. The latest acquisition specializes in robotic industrial cleaning services and will provide many opportunities for cross-selling with our existing service lines and customers. The benefits of these acquisitions will be impactful in 2023 providing additional free cashflow generation through savings from integration, elimination of duplicate corporate office costs, and by increasing the utilization of the equipment fleet and personnel.

Vertex’s vision of being a world-leading environmental services company has not changed. As an environmental service business, we believe we are uniquely positioned for ESG performance. We understand that we have a responsibility to maximize our internal ESG performance and have made a corporate commitment to do so. More substantially, we understand that our opportunity to support the ESG initiatives of our customers has a significantly broader global impact. As such our ESG system design includes both an internal and a customer focus. As our ESG journey evolves so too will our measurement and reporting, holding ourselves accountable to internal and customer metrics. Ultimately, our intent is to create business resiliency by becoming a primary source of executable ESG supply chain solutions for our customers.

ABOUT VERTEX

Since 1962, Vertex has been a leading North American provider of environmental services. Headquartered in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Vertex employs a staff of approximately 950 employees and lease operators that provide services to help clients achieve their developmental and operational goals. From initial site selection, consultation, and regulatory approval, through construction, operation, and maintenance, to conclusion and environmental cleanup, Vertex provides a wide array of services to customers operating in industries such as energy, mining, utilities, private development, public infrastructure, construction, telecommunications, forestry, agriculture, and government.

Vertex principally operates in Canada with select locations in the United States.

For further information please contact:

Terry Stephenson, CEO, or Sherry Bielopotocky, CFO at 780-464-3295

NT4