Cortex Business Solutions Reports Fiscal 2015 Financial Results

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Oct. 22, 2015) - Cortex Business Solutions Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CBX)(OTCQX:CTPNF), the online network helping companies connect and interact with each other to transmit documents and grow their businesses, today announces its Q4 F2015 and F2015 Annual Report, including Management's Discussion and Analysis and Consolidated financial statements.

Joel Leetzow, President and CEO commented, "Although Cortex faced some significant challenges in 2015 retooling, we were also able to take advantage of the current downturn in the Oil & Gas market to spend some long overdue time with our customers and partners. Listening to what they expected and how we could improve our value proposition for them has set us on a course to create what I will refer to as Cortex 2.0. This is not a version of our product, but a cultural revolution at Cortex that will prepare us for the next decade of business. I appreciate their time and willingness to work with us as partners which I think is a testament to the value we provide. 

"I believe that 2016 will be the year to capitalize on our strengths as a company. The changes we have made thus far are not small and they were by no means easy, but they were essential to protect our significant and loyal customer base, improve upon a product suite that pays more than it costs and ensure our dedicated partners and employees were clearly aligned with our building shareholder value."

Fiscal 2015 Highlights:

Revenue

During a year where many oil and gas companies struggled to remain profitable and grow revenue, Cortex was able to:

• Grow total revenue 18%.
• Increase recurring access and usage fee 27%.

Gross Profit and Cost of Sales

During F2015, the Company improved its gross profit from 36% to 40%. 

• Amortization in fiscal 2015 was 62% higher than it was in fiscal 2014 as the Company revised its estimates of the useful life of intangible assets which accelerated its amortization.
• The cost of sales, with the impact of amortization removed, remained flat, while the total revenue line grew at 18%, resulting in an improvement to the gross profit. 

Expenses

The new leadership made significant changes to the companies cost structure during the last two quarters of fiscal 2015. Although these reductions will not be fully realized until fiscal 2016; the results were material in Q4 F2015. 

• Total expenditures for F2015 increased 24%. 
• Non-recurring severance and termination benefits were $789,325 in the year compared to $153,190 in the preceding year.
• The staff reductions carried out in Q4 F2015 will result in a reduction in annualized salaries and related expenditures of $1.4M annually. In addition there are savings related to the reduction in the officers of the Company. These will result in an additional reduction in F2016 of $625,229 compared to spend in F2015. 
• Research and development costs grew 101% to $3,008,873 in fiscal 2015. The majority of the research and development costs were related to the additional team added in the year in order to complete special projects. 
• The general and administrative expenses increased 10% F2015 over F2014. Included in general and administrative expenses are the transitional costs related to the change in leadership during Q3 and Q4. 

Operational

• Billable transactions increased 16% F2015 over F2014. The majority of that increase was in Q1 F2015 which saw an increase in billable transactions of 25% over Q4 F2014. Q2 through Q4 was impacted by the downturn in the oil and gas industry.
• Active suppliers on the Network increased 9% at July 31, 2015 compared to July 31, 2014 to a total of 8,997 suppliers (July 31, 2014 - 8,236).
• There were 86 active buying organizations on the Network at July 31, 2015 compared to 75 at July 31, 2014. The increase of 15% in active buying organizations has contributed to the increase of active suppliers on the Network. 
• The Company consolidated its share capital on a 50 to 1 basis and began trading on a consolidated basis on July 15, 2015. 

Cash Position

	July 31, 2015		July 31, 2014		Change
Cash	$	3,986,950	$	9,547,661	$	(5,560,711	)
Working Capital	$	3,138,608	$	8,182,822	$	(5,044,214	)

Subsequent to the year end, on September 2, 2015 the Company completed a bought deal private placement and raised net proceeds of approximately $2,800,000 through the issuance of 1,551,375 common shares at a price of $2.00 per share. This additional cash further solidifies the Company's balance sheet and provides stability. 

Fiscal Q4 2015 Highlights:

Revenue

• The Company had an 11% decline in revenue Q4 F2015 over Q4 F2014. 
• The access and usage fees increased 10% Q4 F2015 over Q4 F2014. 

Gross Profit and Cost of Sales

• Cost of sales, as reported, decreased 20% F2015 over F2014; cost of sales, net of amortization, decreased 25% over the same periods,
• Gross profit, as reported, improved 16%; gross profit, net of amortization, improved 10%.
• The Company streamlined some of its departments and had some natural attrition based on some of the management changes. These positions have not been subsequently filled and as a result, the Company has lower expenditures.

Expenses

The Company had an increase in total expenses, excluding the income tax provision of 1% Q4 F2015 over Q4 F2014.

• Sales and marketing in Q4 F2015 declined 16% compared to Q4 F2014. The downsizing in Q4 impacted mostly the sales organization. Although the savings won't be fully realized in this quarter, the reduction, net of severance and termination benefits costs, was seen for half of July and contributed to the decline. 
• Research and development increased 29% Q4 F2015 over Q4 F2014. The increase in research and development Q4 F2015 over Q4 F2014 is the result of an increase in salaries with the addition of a second team to the development team in order to work on some new product development.
• General and administrative expense increased 38% Q4 F2015 over Q4 F2014. As a result of the downsizing, there were additional legal and professional fees as well as recruitment expenditures. 

Our recent focus on right sizing the business resulted in considerable future cost savings to the Company, with no negative impact on our ability to serve existing customers. In addition to this consolidation activity, we made the difficult decision to remove certain individuals from the Company in an effort to reduce our recurring costs. After careful review, we strengthened our leadership structure by consolidating the base of operations into our headquarters located in Calgary, AB.

Conference Call

Cortex management will host a conference call, followed by a question and answer period. The details of the conference call are as follows:

Date: Friday, October 23, 2015

Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (9:00 a.m. Mountain time)

Toll-free dial-in number: 1-800-355-4959

International dial-in number: 1-416-340-8527

Please call the conference telephone number ten minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Cortex Business Solutions at 403-219-2838.

A replay of the conference call will be available after the call through October 30, 2015.

Toll-free replay number: 1-800-408-3053

Toll replay number: 1-905-694-9451

Replay ID: 9199355

About Cortex Business Solutions

Cortex Business Solutions Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CBX)(OTCQX:CTPNF) is an enterprise e-Procurement solutions company that improves efficiencies, reduces costs and streamlines procurement and supply chain processes for its customers. Accessing the Cortex Network enhances the exchange of business critical documents, such as purchase orders, receipts and invoices, resulting in improved cash flow management and business controls, while reducing day's outstanding and administrative costs. Cortex is a low cost, low risk solution that can be implemented quickly by leveraging clients' existing business environment. For more information, please visit www.cortex.net.

To view the Consolidated Statements associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/cbx1022tables.pdf.