Commercial Solutions Announces Another Quarter of Significant Growth in Profitability

EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- (Marketwire) -- 05/14/12 --

Fiscal 2012 Second Quarter - Highlights

--  Revenues improved by 8.6% over same quarter in the prior year 
--  EBITDA growth of 25.3% over same quarter in the prior year driven by
    increased revenues and improved gross margins 
--  Net Earnings growth of 106.9% due to increased EBITDA and lower interest
    expenses 
--  EPS growth from $0.01 to $0.03 
All figures in CAD                              Three Months Ended March 31 
                        ----------------------------------------------------
                                      2012              2011       % Change 
                        ----------------------------------------------------
Revenue                   $     30,508,231  $     28,094,634            8.6%
EBITDA (i)                $      1,518,321  $      1,211,796           25.3%
Net Earnings              $        603,656  $        291,700          106.9%
Basic EPS (ii)            $           0.03  $           0.01                
Diluted EPS (ii)          $           0.03  $           0.01                
                        ----------------------------------------------------
(i) EBITDA is defined as Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation &    
 Amortization (ii) EPS is defined as Earnings Per Share                     
All figures in CAD                                Six Months Ended March 31 
                        ----------------------------------------------------
                                      2012              2011       % Change 
                        ----------------------------------------------------
Revenue                   $     60,029,591  $     52,506,072           14.3%
EBITDA (i)                $      2,776,089  $      1,935,669           43.4%
Net Earnings              $        971,674  $        236,775          310.4%
Basic EPS (ii)            $           0.05  $           0.01                
Diluted EPS (ii)          $           0.04  $           0.01                
                        ----------------------------------------------------
(i) EBITDA is defined as Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation &    
 Amortization (ii) EPS is defined as Earnings Per Share                     

COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS INC. ("Commercial" or "Company") (TSX:CSA) a leading Canadian distributor of bearings, power transmission equipment, oilfield, industrial, and safety products today announced its financial results for the three-month and six-month periods ended March 31, 2012. A complete copy of the Company's report will be available on the Internet at www.sedar.com.

Financial highlights from second quarter of fiscal 2012 are as follows:

Commercial reported revenues of $30.5 million, an 8.6% growth from the same period in the prior year. EBITDA for the quarter was $1.5 million in comparison to $1.2 million in the same period last year, representing a 25.3% improvement. The Company reported net earnings of $0.6 million for the quarter compared to $0.3 million during the same quarter of fiscal 2011.

For the six months ended March 31, 2012, the Company reported revenues of $60.0 million, a 14.3% growth from the same period in the prior year. EBITDA for the six months was $2.8 million in comparison to $1.9 million in the same period last year, representing a 43.4% improvement. The Company reported net earnings of $1.0 million for the six months ended March 31, 2012 compared to $0.2 million during the same period in the prior fiscal year.

The Company achieved revenue growth of 8.6% in the current quarter after accounting for a one-time large fire-service equipment sale in the same period of the prior year. Normalized for the one-time sale, revenue growth in the three months and six months was 14.7% and 17.7% respectively. Significant growth in net earnings during the quarter is primarily due to the increase in EBITDA and lower interest expense as the Company repaid its mezzanine debt of $3 million late fiscal 2011.

Jim Barker, President and CEO of Commercial noted, "We have just completed a very busy quarter. All of our growth this year has been organic as we have focused on increasing our market share in key sectors while capitalizing on the higher economic activity in Alberta and Saskatchewan. If the economy and commodity prices remain stable, the only factors that can slow down the growth in these provinces are the weather and limited skilled labour. Over the last six months, we have invested significant efforts in our USA operation, ensuring that we are fully able to service the energy sector in Texas. Spring break up in Texas is a foreign concept and field activity continues all year round which will lessen the impact of weather on our revenues. We have also been focusing on our key employee retention programs to respond to the difficulty in filling the demand for trained, qualified and committed employees. We have reinstated the matching pension plan, improved benefits package and training programs for our employees. We will continue to focus on these key success factors for the remainder of the year and look forward to continued growth in revenues and profitability".

About Commercial

Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Commercial is one of Canada's leading independent industrial distributors with 23 Services Centres and approximately 270 employees located primarily in Western Canada. Commercial offers more than 160,000 items critical to maintenance repair and operations (MRO) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers. The Company represents 450 leading manufacturers and serves over 11,000 customer accounts within a broad cross-section of industries, including oil and gas, forestry, agriculture, firefighting, food processing, chemical processing, mining, utilities, manufacturing, and construction. Commercial trades under the symbol "CSA" on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For further information on the Company, please visit www.commercialsolutions.ca and for detailed financial information visit www.sedar.com.