Conifex Announces Special Cash Dividend of $0.20 Per Share

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Conifex Timber Inc. (“Conifex”, “we” or “us”) (TSX: CFF) announced today that our board of directors (the “Board“) has declared a one-time special cash dividend of $0.20 per share, which will be paid on or before August 8, 2022 to shareholders of record on July 15, 2022.

Based on the current number of shares outstanding, the special dividend will result in an aggregate distribution of approximately $8 million. The dividend will be funded from cash on hand, which amounted to $32.9 million as at May 31, 2022, an increase of $18.1 million from March 31, 2022. Conifex’s available liquidity, comprising cash on hand and amounts available under its revolving credit facility totaled $44.4 million as at May 31, 2022.

“This special dividend reflects a partial distribution of the strong cash flows generated after funding capital expenditures related to safety, environmental and mill reliability in the first half of 2022 due to favourable pricing and positive operating results,” said Ken Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer of Conifex. “We are pleased to return capital to our shareholders while finalization of our modernization and upgrade plans await the release of the Ministry of Forest’s harvest level and apportionment decisions.”

This will be designated an “eligible dividend” for Canadian tax purposes.

The declaration and payment of dividends is at the discretion of the Board and any future declaration of dividends will depend on our financial results, market conditions, capital allocation opportunities, cash requirements, and any other factors deemed relevant by the Board.

For further information, please contact:

Winny Tang
Chief Financial Officer
(604) 216-2949                                        

About Conifex Timber Inc.

Conifex and its subsidiaries’ primary business currently includes timber harvesting, reforestation, forest management, sawmilling logs into lumber and wood chips, and value added lumber finishing and distribution. Conifex’s lumber products are sold in the United States, Canadian and Japanese markets. Conifex also produces bioenergy at its power generation facility at Mackenzie, BC.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may constitute “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are statements that address or discuss activities, events or developments that Conifex expects or anticipates may occur in the future. When used in this news release, words such as “estimates”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “projects”, “will”, “believes”, “intends” “should”, “could”, “may” and other similar terminology are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations and beliefs of Conifex’s management. Because forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, actual results, performance or achievements of Conifex or the industry may be materially different from those implied by such forward-looking statements. Examples of such forward-looking information that may be contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding any future dividends, financial results, market conditions, capital allocation, cash requirements, and other relevant factors. Forward-looking statements involve significant uncertainties, should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be an accurate indication of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, risk factors described in Conifex’s management’s discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the quarter ended March 31, 2022, each of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should exercise caution in relying upon forward-looking statements and Conifex undertakes no obligation to publicly revise them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.