Uni-Select Inc. is providing a business update for July and August, including market conditions in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., its organic sales growth, the status of its Continuous Improvement Plan and its financial position.

• Key industry metrics in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. are showing clear signs of recovery. In the U.S., claim counts are gradually recovering, in Canada, traffic levels are getting closer to the 2019 level and in the U.K., transport use has essentially returned to more normalized levels.
• Uni-Select’s sales trend improved progressively month after month to reach (10.9%) in August since the (45.8%) trough experienced in April.
• As at August 31, 2020, Uni-Select had realized over 90% of the targeted $28 million of annualized cost savings through the Continuous Improvement Plan.
• As at August 31, 2020, driven by better than expected operations, Uni-Select was able to further improve its access to liquidity to reach over $200 million, up from $182 million at the end of the second quarter.

“Market conditions in all three of our segments have improved sequentially since the trough set in April which is encouraging in the current context. In turn, our monthly organic sales growth has mirrored the improvement in the market. As expected, the Canadian Automotive Group and the Parts Alliance U.K. business segments are returning to historical sales levels at a faster rate than the refinish sector FinishMaster U.S., overall demonstrating the resiliency of our automotive aftermarket businesses,” stated Brent Windom, President and Chief Executive Officer of Uni-Select Inc.

“Furthermore, we continued executing our Continuous Improvement Plan, and as at the end of August, realized over 90% of the targeted $28 million annualized cost savings. We will continue to diligently monitor the evolution of COVID-19 and its impact on our business, improve our operations and transition to automation to enhance organizational speed and position the Corporation for growth post-COVID-19. In addition, we continued to focus on our cash management plan. As at the end of August, we had sufficient liquidity and were in compliance with our covenants. I would like to thank our team members for their perseverance and dedication as well as our customers and suppliers for their understanding and support,” concluded Mr. Windom.

Further information will be provided in third quarter results which will be released November 13, 2020.

Selected Credit Agreement Covenants

Uni-Select must comply with the following credit agreement covenants:

• Liquidity: Greater than $35 million from Q3-20 to Q1-22
• Consolidated EBITDA: Greater than $0 from Q3-20 to Q1-21; greater than $20 million for Q2-21 and greater than $25 million for Q3-21
• Total Debt / EBITDA Ratio: Lower than 4.50:1.00 for Q4-21 and Q1-22; lower than 4.00:1.00 for Q2-22 and Q3-22; lower than 3.50:1.00 for Q4-22 and lower than 3.75:1.00 for Q1-23
• EBITDA / Interest Expense Ratio: Greater than 2.50:1.00 from Q4-21 to Q3-22; greater than 3.00:1.00 for Q4-22 and Q1-23

Please refer to the Credit Agreement on Sedar for a list and description of all covenants and their calculation.

ABOUT UNI-SELECT

With over 4,800 employees in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., Uni-Select is a leader in the distribution of automotive refinish and industrial coatings and related products in North America, as well as a leader in the automotive aftermarket parts business in Canada and in the U.K. Uni-Select is headquartered in Boucherville, Québec, Canada, and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (UNS).

In Canada, Uni-Select supports over 16,000 automotive repair and collision repair shops and more than 4,000 shops through its automotive repair/installer shop banners and automotive refinish banners. Its national network includes over 1,000 independent customer locations and more than 74 company-owned stores, many of which operate under the Uni-Select BUMPER TO BUMPER, AUTO PARTS PLUS and FINISHMASTER store banner programs.

In the United States, Uni-Select, through its wholly-owned subsidiary FinishMaster, Inc., operates a national network of over 148 automotive refinish company-owned stores under the FINISHMASTER® banner, which supports over 30,000 customers annually and is the primary supplier to more than 5,500 collision repair centre customers.

In the U.K. and Ireland, Uni-Select, through its Parts Alliance group of subsidiaries, is a major distributor of automotive parts supporting over 23,000 customer accounts with a network of over 171 company-owned stores. www.uniselect.com