Royal Canadian Mint Proud to Report Profits and Performance for 2018

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – May 10, 2019 – The Royal Canadian Mint (the "Mint" or the "Company") is pleased to release its 2018 financial results, which provide insight into our activities, the markets influencing our businesses and our expectations for the year ahead.

"The Mint has once again demonstrated its strength and resilience by outperforming its plan for 2018, even with a decrease in numismatics revenue, by seizing opportunities in foreign circulation and ancillary bullion services, while meeting its core obligation to reliably manage the production and distribution of Canada's circulation coins," said Marie Lemay, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "I look forward to leading a solution-driven organization, where our creative and committed staff continue to drive our profitability and sustainability."
 
The financial results are for the year ended December 31, 2018, and should be read in conjunction with the Company's Annual Report available at www.mint.ca. All monetary amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Financial and Operational Highlights

• Consolidated profit before income tax and other items increased to $46 million for the year (2017 – $43.9 million).
• Consolidated profit for the period decreased to $35.1 million for the year (2017 – $36.1 million).
• Consolidated revenue decreased to $1,420.6 million in 2018 (2017 - $1,691.3 million) as lower overall bullion global market demand led to lower bullion volumes. Gold volumes were 523.0 thousand ounces (2017 – 618.4 thousand) while silver volumes were 18.4 million ounces (2017 – 18.5 million).
• Sales of numismatic products decreased in 2018 after the highly successful Canada 150 program concluded in 2017, resulting in a decrease in revenue of $55.4 million.
• Foreign circulation revenue increased 48% year over year, as the production and/or shipments of foreign coins and blanks increased to 1,820 million in 2018 (2017 – 1,522 million).
• After 2017 saw all circulating denominations redesigned in celebration of Canada 150, a smaller commemorative coin program in 2018, combined with reduced availability of recycled coins, resulted in decreased Canadian circulation net new coin production of 369 million pieces in the year (2017 - 560 million pieces).
• Operating expenses decreased 17% year over year to $93.8 million (2017 - $113.2 million) mainly due to planned lower spending on marketing activities in 2018. Savings were further achieved through lower employee compensation expenses and the reduced cost of consolidating office workspace in Ottawa.
• Cash increased to $66.4 million as of December 31, 2018 from $56.3 million as of December 31, 2017, which remains within the range of the level of cash required to support the Mint's ongoing operations. In addition, the Mint declared and paid dividends to the Government of Canada in the amount of $10.0 million.

Consolidated results and financial performance

(in CAD $ millions for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017)

(1) A reconciliation from Profit for the period to Profit before income tax and other items is included on page 28 of the Mint's Annual Report for 2018.

To read more of the Mint's Annual Report for 2018, please visit www.mint.ca, www.facebook.com/CanadianMint/, or @CanadianMint.

About the Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. An ISO 9001-2008 certified company, the Mint is recognized as one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Earnings Release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's expectations regarding the Mint's objectives, plans, strategies, future growth, results of operations, performance, and business prospects and opportunities. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "plans", "anticipates", "expects", "believes", "estimates", "intends", and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are not facts, but only estimates regarding expected growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities (assumptions). While management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on available information, they may prove to be incorrect. These estimates of future results are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what the Mint expects. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, those risks and uncertainties set forth in the Risks to Performance section of the Narrative Discussion, as well as in Note 11 – Financial Instruments and Financial Risk Management to our Audited Consolidated Financial Statements.

The forward-looking statements included in this Earnings Release are made only as of May 10, 2019, and the Mint does not undertake to publicly update these statements to reflect new information, future events or changes in circumstances or for any other reason after this date.

For more information, please contact:

Alex Reeves
Senior Manager, Public Affairs
Tel: (613) 949-5777
reeves@mint.ca