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SSC Security Services Corp. Announces Q1 FY2025 Results with Increased Gross Margins and Continued Share Buybacks

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REGINA, SK, Feb. 11, 2025 /CNW/ – SSC Security Services Corp. (“SSC” or the “Company) (TSXV: SECU) (OTCQX: SECUF), a national provider of cyber, physical and electronic security services to commercial, industrial and public sector clients across Canada, is pleased to release its results for the first quarter ended December 31, 2024. All figures are presented in Canadian dollars. 

“Our first quarter results came in as expected.  We are seeing improved profitability from stronger margins as a result of careful expense management. We continue to buy back our shares and take a disciplined approach to acquisitions.  Our objective is always to protect our cash and be opportunistic in our efforts to grow the company. We continue to be well capitalised and debt free”, said Chairman and CEO Doug Emsley.

Key Highlights for Q1 2025:

Improved Margins- Gross profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 was $5.0 million (17.1%) up from $4.9 million (15.7% of revenue) during the same quarter last year. 

34th Consecutive Quarterly Dividend- During the quarter we paid $0.03 per share in dividends to shareholders.

Share Buy-backs- During the quarter we bought back 161,400 shares of the Company at an average of $2.61 per share (cancelled 157,400 shares with 4,000 shares held in Treasury to be cancelled early January 2025).  

Consistent Revenues- During the first quarter ended December 31, 2024, revenue was $29.2 million, consistent with revenues last quarter (fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024: $29.6 million).  Revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 were $30.9 million.

We finished the quarter ended December 31 with:Cash and cash equivalents of $11.4 million equal to $0.62 per share;Working capital of $26.3 million;Total shareholders’ equity of $63.4 million; andNo long-term debt.  

Key Performance Indicators for the comparable periods are summarized below:  

Key Performance Indicators

Quarter ended

Dec 31

2024

2023

Revenue

29,195

30,882

Cost of Sales

24,198

26,029

Gross Margin

4,997

4,853

Gross Margin (%)

17.1 %

15.7 %

Comprehensive net (loss) income

(125)

66

Comprehensive net (loss) income per share (basic)

$(0.01)

$0.00

Adjusted EBITDA

1,171

1,377

Adjusted EBITDA per share (basic)

$0.06

$0.07

REVENUE, GROSS PROFIT & NET INCOME 

Revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 were $29.2 million compared with $30.9 million during the quarter ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $1.7 million (revenue decrease of 5.5%). The decrease in revenues was primarily due to higher temporary contracts in the prior year.  These temporary short-term contracts can fluctuate from one period to another, but the Company’s long-term recurring monthly revenues remain strong. 

Gross profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 increased to $5.0 million (17.1% of revenue) from $4.9 million (15.7% of revenue) during the same quarter last year.  The year-over-year increase in gross margin is a result of our continued focus on higher operational efficiencies and cost savings initiatives.  

Comprehensive net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 was $0.1 million (loss of $0.01 per share), compared to comprehensive net income in the same quarter last year of $0.1 million (income of $0.00 per share).

ADJUSTED EBITDA 

Adjusted EBITDA is the primary KPI used by the Company to measure the financial performance of the Company. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, was $1.2 million ($0.06 per share), consistent with the average adjusted EBITDA per quarter over the past twelve months. 

A reconciliation of earnings to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA is provided in the Non-IFRS section of the MD&A published concurrently with this press release.*

BALANCE SHEET 

Key balance sheet items are summarized below: 

Statements of Financial Position

As at

As at

31-Dec-24

31-Dec-23

Cash

11,422

9,779

Accounts receivable

22,578

25,298

Legacy business assets

6,203

7,707

Working capital

26,255

27,808

Long-term debt

0

0

Total assets

80,800

82,755

Total liabilities

17,367

15,872

Total shareholders’ equity

63,433

66,882

Common shares outstanding

18,546

19,193

UPDATE ON NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID 

During the quarter ended December 31, 2024, we bought back 161,400 shares at an average price of $2.61 per share (Same quarter last year: 128,100 shares at an average price of $2.59 per share).  We cancelled 157,400 shares with 4,000 shares held in Treasury to be cancelled early January 2025.  

We continue to believe that our shares have been trading in a price range which does not adequately reflect their value and that the purchase of shares under the NCIB will enhance shareholder value in general.  Over the past eight fiscal years, the Company has bought back and cancelled roughly 47% of the outstanding shares.

OUTLOOK 

We are seeing continued growth in demand for the kind of innovative and cost-effective security services and solutions that we offer at SSC. Our ability to combine physical and electronic security services in a fully integrated way is the future of our industry.  Additional growth may also come via acquisition, as we look to acquire other profitable companies in the Canadian security industry. Acquisitions may help us reach our growth targets more quickly, but we will not rush to complete new deals, and we will maintain our financial conservatism throughout.  

Most of our remaining legacy assets are expected to convert to cash over the next year. Our objective is to make these resources available for the expansion of our security business.  

We also plan to continue to distribute capital to shareholders via our dividend, operate with minimal to no debt while maintaining solid liquidity, focusing on maintaining strong margins, and maximizing our Adjusted EBITDA per share. 

ABOUT SSC 

SSC Security Services Corp. is a national provider of cyber, physical and electronic security services to corporate and public sector clients across Canada. For more information, please visit www.securityservicescorp.ca

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. 

Forward Looking Statements  

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding SSC and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of SSC’s management. In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “potential”, “estimate”, “believe” or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting SSC, including risks regarding the security industry, the agricultural industry, economic factors and the equity markets generally and many other factors beyond the control of SSC. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and SSC undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. 

*Non-IFRS Measures 

SSC measures key performance metrics established by management as being key indicators of the Company’s strength, using certain non-IFRS performance measures, including: 

EBITDA, EBITDA per share, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA per share. 

The Company uses these non-IFRS measures for its own internal purposes. These non-IFRS measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and these measures may be calculated differently by other companies. The presentation of these non-IFRS measures is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. The Company provides these non-IFRS measures to enable investors and analysts to understand the underlying operating and financial performance of the Company in the same way as it is frequently evaluated by Management. Management will periodically assess these non-IFRS measures and the components thereof to ensure their continued use is beneficial to the evaluation of the underlying operating and financial performance of the Company.  For more detailed information, please refer to the Company’s Management Discussion and Analysis dated February 11, 2025 available on the Company’s website at www.securityservicescorp.ca and on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.  

SOURCE SSC Security Services Corp.

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Walmart Has 23.6% of U.S. Grocery Sales – But Costco Owns the AI Answer – 5W Grocery Retail AI Visibility Index 2026

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Walmart Owns 21% of U.S. Grocery — But Costco Owns the AI Answer 

NEW YORK, May 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 5WPR, the premier AI communications firm in the United States, today released the U.S. Grocery Retail AI Visibility Index 2026 — the 11th installment in 5W’s AI Visibility Index research series, and the first to rank American grocery retailers by how frequently they are cited inside AI-generated answers.

The headline finding rewrites the category league table.

Walmart, with approximately 21 percent of U.S. grocery market share — the largest in the country — ranks fourth in AI citation share. The retailer cited most often when American shoppers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews where to buy their groceries is Costco. Trader Joe’s ranks second. Whole Foods ranks third. Aldi, H-E-B, and Wegmans are all punching far above what their physical footprint would predict.

“Market share is a lagging indicator. AI citation share is a leading indicator,” said Ronn Torossian, Founder and Chairman of 5W. “The grocers who close that gap in 2026 will define the category in 2030. Most grocery CMOs we talk to are running 2019 playbooks against 2026 consumer behavior.”

5W researchers ran more than 80 consumer-intent queries across 12 sub-categories — best overall grocery store, cheapest, highest-quality produce, best private label, best organic, best meal planning, best bulk, best delivery, best customer service, best regional, and others — across the four leading consumer AI platforms. Each retailer was scored on citation frequency, position within the answer, sentiment, and sub-category dominance.

The top 10: Costco, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Walmart, Kroger, Aldi, H-E-B, Publix, Wegmans, and Target.

Key structural findings:

Market share no longer predicts AI citation share. Walmart’s roughly 21 percent share translates to an estimated 8 to 10 percent AI citation share across premium query categories. The decoupling is the single largest such gap in American retail.Private label is the highest-leverage citation asset a grocer owns. Kirkland, Trader Joe’s, 365, Good & Gather, and Great Value are cited directly by name in AI answers at rates that exceed most national CPG brands.Regional loyalty translates directly into regional AI dominance. Regional chains outperform national chains in their home markets by 3x or more.Reddit and TikTok are under-priced citation surfaces. Perplexity pulls a majority of its answers from community sources. ChatGPT and Claude weight Reddit heavily.

The report also identifies six 2026 dynamics reshaping the category, including the new GLP-1 grocery basket, Aldi’s expansion as a citation-compounding program, and Walmart’s CEO transition from Doug McMillon to John Furner — effective February 1, 2026 — as a brand-narrative inflection point.

The full Index, including ranks 11 through 25 and sub-category breakdowns, is available as a free download at 5wpr.com/research.

About 5W

5W is the AI Communications Firm, building brand authority across the platforms where decisions now happen — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — alongside earned media, digital, and influencer channels. 5W combines public relations, digital marketing, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and proprietary AI visibility research, helping clients measure and grow their presence in AI-driven buyer research. 

Founded more than 20 years ago, 5W has been recognized as a top U.S. PR agency by O’Dwyer’s, named Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards®, and honored as a Top Place to Work in Communications in 2026 by Ragan. 5W serves clients across B2C sectors including Beauty & Fashion, Consumer Brands, Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Travel & Hospitality, Technology, and Nonprofit; B2B specialties including Corporate Communications and Reputation Management; as well as Public Affairs, Crisis Communications, and Digital Marketing, including Social Media, Influencer, Paid Media, GEO, and SEO. 5W was also named to the Digiday WorkLife Employer of the Year list.

For more information, visit www.5wpr.com.

Media Contact
Chris Bergin
cbergin@5wpr.com

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SOURCE 5W Public Relations

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ICAT Logistics Appoints Youssef Annali as Chief Financial Officer

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Transportation and logistics finance leader joins as ICAT accelerates its next phase of growth

DALLAS, May 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ICAT Logistics announces the appointment of Youssef Annali as Chief Financial Officer. Annali brings more than two decades of senior finance leadership across global logistics and supply chain businesses, and joins as the company scales its platform, team, and operational capabilities globally. 

Annali joins ICAT from OIA Global, a $1.4 billion revenue supply chain management leader, where he served as CFO for four years overseeing Finance, Corporate Development, Strategy, Legal, Compliance, and Real Estate. Prior to OIA, he spent eleven years at CEVA Logistics—one of the world’s largest freight and logistics providers—rising to CFO & EVP Finance for North America, where he held financial accountability for a business generating over $4.5 billion in annual revenue and more than 14,000 employees. Earlier in his career, he served in senior finance roles at Abbott, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Annali has a consistent track record of building finance functions that support strategic growth and has deep experience across financial planning, M&A, treasury, and corporate restructuring. He holds a Post-Master’s in Finance and Control from the University of Amsterdam and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Groningen.

“Youssef has led high-performing finance teams at the highest levels of global logistics. He brings the operational depth and strategic mindset our platform demands as we enter the next phase of growth,” said Brad Stogner, CEO of ICAT Logistics.

“ICAT has built something genuinely differentiated—a specialized platform operating in verticals where precision and domain expertise are non-negotiable. The foundation is strong, and the opportunity ahead is significant. I look forward to working with the team to accelerate that momentum,” said Youssef Annali, Chief Financial Officer of ICAT Logistics.

About ICAT

ICAT is the world’s leading specialized logistics company, delivering customized solutions and deep vertical expertise to industries where failure is not an option. With 65 offices and operating capabilities in 190 countries, ICAT serves customers across Live Events, Luxury, Technology, Defense & Aerospace, Life Sciences, and Financial Institutions—sectors defined by uncompromising performance standards. ICAT’s proprietary, AI-powered technology platform provides end-to-end visibility and predictive intelligence, enabling precise execution for the most demanding operations.

ICAT is backed by New Atlas Capital following its acquisition of the Company in 2024.

Contact Information

ICAT Logistics, Inc.
8840 Cypress Waters Blvd, Ste 325,
Coppell, TX, 75019
marketing@icatlogistics.com

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SOURCE ICAT Logistics, Inc.

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HelloNation Article Highlights Poughkeepsie’s Focus on Youth Investment, Neighborhood Parks and Sustainable Reuse

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The article examines how redevelopment projects and youth programs are reshaping community life across Poughkeepsie.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., May 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — What does long term community growth look like when a city invests in both people and public spaces? HelloNation has published a HelloNation article that provides the answer through a detailed look at how Poughkeepsie is combining youth investment, neighborhood improvements and adaptive reuse projects to support residents and strengthen the city’s future.

The article explains that Poughkeepsie is undergoing a period of reinvention centered on infrastructure upgrades, youth programming and redevelopment along the city’s Northside. According to the article, local and county leaders are working to create spaces where residents can learn, gather and build stronger community connections. The article notes that these efforts are intended to improve quality of life while helping the city grow in a more sustainable and inclusive way.

A major focus of the article is the planned Youth Opportunity Union, also known as the YOU, a large multipurpose youth facility backed by Dutchess County. The HelloNation article describes the project as a 19,000 square foot center that will include childcare services, wellness support, tutoring areas, teaching kitchens and both indoor and outdoor recreation spaces. The article explains that the project reflects a larger regional effort to increase opportunities for children and teenagers in underserved communities.

The article also highlights additional youth centered investments connected to sports, education and recreation. According to the article, Dutchess County has awarded grants to local organizations serving young people between the ages of 6 and 17. The article further explains that Poughkeepsie’s City Parks program has introduced mini grants designed to support renovations and activities in neighborhood parks, including Pershing Avenue and Malcolm X parks.

Beyond youth programs, the article details how the city is working to improve transportation and neighborhood infrastructure. The HelloNation article explains that Poughkeepsie launched its first five year paving plan in 2025, beginning with major roadway improvements on Main Street and other corridors. The article states that these upgrades are intended to improve safety, durability and daily conditions for residents while supporting broader redevelopment goals throughout the city.

Another important part of the article focuses on adaptive reuse and environmental redevelopment on the Northside. The article describes how Scenic Hudson plans to transform the former Standard Gage Factory into the Northside Hub, a redevelopment project designed to serve as both a nonprofit headquarters and a community gathering space. According to the article, the project will feature solar powered operations, office space, public parkland and community facilities near the Walkway Over the Hudson and Dutchess Rail Trail.

The article also explains that Poughkeepsie’s selection as the Mid Hudson winner in New York’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative adds additional momentum to current redevelopment efforts. The HelloNation article notes that the funding will support new downtown projects that build on existing investments in youth programs, infrastructure and adaptive reuse. Together, these efforts are presented as part of a broader strategy to create long term stability and opportunity for local residents.

The article concludes that Poughkeepsie’s emerging identity is closely tied to projects that strengthen neighborhoods while supporting future generations. Poughkeepsie Puts Youth, Neighborhood Parks and Sustainable Reuse at the Center of Renewal features insights from HelloNation Staff Writer, community development coverage of Poughkeepsie, New York, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is America’s Good News Network, a premier media platform built on the idea that good news travels faster when real people tell real stories. Through its community-focused digital publications and innovative “edvertising” approach, HelloNation delivers expert-driven, good-news content that informs, inspires, and spotlights the leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities. HelloNation maintains partnerships with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the United States First Responders Association.

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SOURCE HelloNation

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