NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES.FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF UNITED STATES SECURITIES LAW. CALGARY, Alberta, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alaris Equity Partners Income Trust (together, as applicable, with its subsidiaries, "Alaris" or the "Trust") is pleased to announce its results for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The results are prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. All amounts below are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. In January 2024, Alaris determined that it met the definition of an investment entity, as defined by IFRS 10, Consolidated financial statements. This change in status has fundamentally changed how Alaris prepares, presents and discusses its financial results relative to prior periods. IFRS requires that this change in accounting be made prospectively and as a result prior periods are not restated to reflect the change in Alaris' investment entity status. Accordingly, the readers of this press release, Alaris' first quarter interim MD&A and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements should exercise significant caution in reviewing, considering, and drawing conclusions from period-to-period comparisons and changes, as the direct comparisons between dates or across periods can be inappropriate if not carefully considered in this context. Highlights: For the period ended March 31, 2024, Alaris generated $0.54 per unit of additional book value, improving this metric to $21.66 which represents a record book value per unit for Alaris; For the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Trust, together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries (the "Acquisition Entities") earned $38.8 million in Partner Distributions, including realized foreign exchange and $0.5 million of transaction fees, a total of $39.3 million, which was consistent with guidance of $39.2 million, and compares to $36.7 million of Partner Revenue in Q1 2023, an increase of 7%; During Q1 2024, the Acquisition Entities had a net unrealized gain on partner investments of $6.7 million, primarily related to increases in Sono Bello, LLC ("Sono Bello") Edgewater Technical Associates, LLC ("Edgewater") and Fleet Advantage LLC ("Fleet"), and a net realized gain from partner investments of $2.0 million related to the receipt of Alaris' share of the indemnity escrow amounts from the sale of the Falcon Master Holdings LLC, dba FNC Title Service ("FNC"); Adjusted EBITDA (1) in the three months ended March 31, 2024 of $39.1 million or $0.86 per unit, represents an increase of 28.4% as compared to $30.1 million or $0.67 per unit in the respective period in 2023; The Actual Payout Ratio (2) for the Trust, based on the Alaris net distributable cash (8) flow for the three months ended March 31, 2024 was 66%; Subsequent to March 31, 2024, Brown & Settle Investments, LLC ("Brown & Settle") redeemed all of Alaris' investments in preferred and common equity for gross proceeds to Alaris totalled US$71.5 million resulting in a total return on the Brown & Settle investment of US$30.8 million, representing an unlevered IRR(3) of 15% and MOIC (4) of 1.5x. Alaris expects to use the incremental borrowing capacity under its credit facility as a result of the foregoing redemption to repay Alaris' convertible debentures on their maturity date in June 2024; Following the quarter end, Alaris made an initial investment of US$20.0 million of preferred equity in Cresa LLC ("Cresa"), a commercial real estate advisory firm focused on tenant representation. In exchange Alaris received preferred equity with an initial annual distribution of US$2.8 million resetting annually, up to a maximum of +/- 7%, based on changes in Cresa's revenue. Cresa may pay-in-kind up to a specified percentage of the total annual pre-tax yield, which Cresa must fully pay on the earlier of the 5th anniversary of the initial investment or redemption of Alaris' preferred equity; The weighted average combined Earnings Coverage Ratio (5) for Alaris' Partners is approximately 1.5x with eleven of twenty Partners greater than 1.5x. In addition, eleven of our partners have either no debt or less than 1.0x Senior Debt to EBITDA on a trailing twelve-month basis; Subsequent to quarter end Alaris reduced its outstanding senior debt to approximately $195 million with $305 million of available capacity based on covenants and terms. "Our first quarter has delivered another steady, predictable result. Our payout ratio remains right on target, our balance sheet is strong, the underlying businesses in our portfolio are performing well. Alaris continues to manage a robust pipeline of deployment based on our longstanding investment strategy that resonates more in the current environment. Our twenty year track record and our successful marketing of the Sono Bello special purpose vehicle last year has also increased interest from outside institutional investors looking to participate in our deal flow. We believe that both of these factors will broaden the market of opportunities for us and allow Alaris to grow into the future. We're looking forward to an active 2024 and remain confident in our ability to grow the business." said Steve King President and CEO. Results of Operations Note where the financial information for Q1 2024 is comparable to specific information from the prior period Q1 2023 condensed consolidated interim financial statements, amounts have been provided for comparative purposes. As noted above, users of this press release, interim management discussion and analysis and the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements to which it relates should exercise significant caution in reviewing, considering and drawing conclusions from period-to-period comparisons and changes.         Per Unit Results Three months ended Period ending March 31   2024   2023 % Change Partner related changes in net gain on Corporate Investment $ 1.04 $ 0.83 +25.3 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 0.86 $ 0.67 +28.4 % Alaris net distributable cashflow $ 0.51 $ 0.54 -5.6 % Fully diluted earnings $ 1.52 $ 0.12 +1166.7 % Weighted average basic units (000's)   45,498   45,308   During Q1 2024, net book value (6) increased by $0.54 per unit to $21.66 per unit at March 31, 2024 ($21.12 per unit – December 31, 2023). The increase in per unit net book value (6) is the result of the current quarters $1.62 basic earnings per unit, less the earnings impact of the gain on reclassification of the translation reserve of $0.74 per unit, and further reduced by the quarterly dividend declared and paid of $0.34 per unit. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, Partner related changes in net gain on Corporate Investments (7) per unit increased by 25.3%. This increase was partially the result of an increase in Partner Distribution revenue driven by new investments in FMP and Shipyard as well as LMS paying full Distributions in Q1 2024, (partially offset by a reduction in Partner Distributions due to Heritage deferring Distributions for 2024 to support cashflow flexibility, and a reduction in Sono Bello's preferred Distributions on account of the strategic transaction that occurred during Q1 2023). It was also the result of there being a larger realized and unrealized gain to the fair value of Partner investments in Q1 2024 as compared to Q1 2023. The current quarters net realized and unrealized gain in the fair value in Partner investments was largely driven by increases in the fair value of Alaris' investments in Sono Bello, Edgewater and Fleet. Adjusted EBITDA (1) increased by 28.4% in the current quarter as compared to Q1 2023 due to the increases in Partner Distributions and a larger net realized and unrealized gain in the fair value of Partner investments as discussed above, partially offset by a per unit increase in unit-based compensation expense. Alaris' net distributable cashflow (8) provides a summary of third-party cash receipts less operating cash outflows by the Trust in combination with the Acquisition Entities. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, Alaris net distributable cashflow(8) decreased by 5.6% per unit as compared to Q1 2023. The decrease is mainly due to higher total cash interest paid in Q1 2024, as a result of the senior credit facility having a higher realized interest rate on a larger average amount of debt outstanding in the period as compared to Q1 2023. In Q1 2023, changes in net working capital resulted in a cashflow increase which partially offsets the incremental general and administrative costs in the prior period, which was largely the result of the Sandbox related legal and settlement costs being recognized and accrued for in Q1 2023, but paid for in the following quarter, Q2 2023. The Actual Payout Ratio (2) for the Trust, based on Alaris net distributable cashflow (8) for the three months ended March 31, 2024, was 66%. Outlook In the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Trust, through its Acquisition Entities invested $7.7 million as a follow-on Partner investment and together with its Acquisition Entities earned $38.8 million in Partner Distributions and $0.5 million on transaction fees, which was consistent with previous guidance of $39.2 million. Subsequent to March 31, 2024, the Acquisition Entities made additional investments of $34.1 million and received proceeds of approximately $96.5 million (US$71.5 million) from the redemption of Alaris' investment in Brown and Settle. Alaris expects to use the incremental borrowing capacity under its credit facility, as a result of the foregoing redemption, to repay Alaris' convertible debentures on their maturity date in June 2024. The impact of these investments and redemption, as well as the impact of the Heritage deferral, are included in Run Rate Revenue (9) for the next twelve months, which is expected to be approximately $158 million as outlined in the outlook below. This includes current contracted amounts, an additional US$1.7 million from Ohana related to deferred Distributions during COVID-19, and an estimated $10.5 million of common dividends. Alaris expects total revenue from its Partners in Q2 2024 of approximately $39.3 million, inclusive of new investments. The Run Rate Cash Flow (10) table below outlines the Trust and its Acquisition Entities combined expectation for Partner Distribution revenue, transaction fee revenue, general and administrative expenses, third party interest expense, tax expense and distributions to unitholders for the next twelve months. The Run Rate Cash Flow (10) is a supplementary financial measure and outlines the net cash from operating activities, less the distributions paid, that Alaris is expecting to generate over the next twelve months. The Trust's method of calculating this supplementary financial measure may differ from the methods used by other issuers. Therefore, it may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Run rate general and administrative expenses are currently estimated at $16.5 million and include all public company costs incurred by the Trust and its Acquisition entities. The Trust's Run Rate Payout Ratio (11) is expected to be within a range of 65% and 70% when including Run Rate Revenue (9), overhead expenses and its existing capital structure. The table below sets out our estimated Run Rate Cash Flow (10) as well as the after-tax impact of positive net investment, the impact of every 1% increase in SOFR based on current outstanding USD debt and the impact of every $0.01 change in the USD to CAD exchange rate. Run Rate Cash Flow ($ thousands except per unit)   Amount ($) $ / Unit Run Rate Revenue, Partner Distribution revenue   $ 157,700   $ 3.47   General and administrative expenses     (16,500 )   (0.36 ) Third party Interest and taxes     (52,100 )   (1.15 ) Net cash from operating activities   $ 89,100   $ 1.96   Distributions paid     (61,900 )   (1.36 ) Run Rate Cash Flow   $ 27,200   $ 0.60           Other considerations (after taxes and interest):       New investments Every $50 million deployed @ 14%   +2,288     +0.05   Interest rates Every 1.0% increase in SOFR   -1,100     -0.02