SunOpta Inc. - Quarter Report: 2023 April (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

Commission file number: 001-34198

SUNOPTA INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.              ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐                            No ☒

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

The number of the registrant's common shares outstanding as of May 5, 2023 was 115,419,623.

SUNOPTA INC.

FORM 10-Q

For the Quarterly Period Ended April 1, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Basis of Presentation

Except where the context otherwise requires, all references in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q ("Form 10-Q") to the "Company," "SunOpta," "we," "us," "our" or similar words and phrases are to SunOpta Inc. and its subsidiaries, taken together.

In this report, all currency amounts presented are expressed in thousands of United States ("U.S.") dollars ("$"), except per share amounts, unless otherwise stated. Other amounts may be presented in thousands of Canadian dollars ("C$") and Mexican pesos ("M$").

Forward-Looking Statements

This Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Generally, forward-looking statements do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and are typically accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "intend," "project," "potential," "predict," "continue," "believe," "expect," "can," "could," "would," "should," "may," "might," "plan," "will," "budget," "forecast," the negatives of such terms, and words and phrases of similar impact and include, but are not limited to, references to future financial and operating results, plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions; our expectations regarding the future profitability of our plant-based and fruit-based businesses, including anticipated results of operations, revenue trends, and gross margin profiles; the expected impact of the inflationary cost environment on our business, including raw material, packaging, labor, energy, fuel and transportation costs; the expected impact of pricing actions on sales volumes and gross margins; the expected impact of cost containment measures and productivity initiatives; our expectations regarding customer demand, consumer preferences, competition, sales pricing, availability and pricing of raw material inputs, and timing and cost to complete capital expansion projects; our ability to successfully execute on our capital investment plans, and the viability of those plans; the adequacy of internally generated funds and existing sources of liquidity, such as the availability of bank financing; the anticipated sufficiency of future cash flows to enable the payments of interest and repayment of debt, working capital needs, planned capital expenditures; and our ability to obtain additional financing or issue additional debt or equity securities; our intentions related to the potential sale of selected businesses, operations, or assets; the outcome of litigation to which we may, from time to time, be a party; and other statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, expectations and analyses we make in light of our experience and our interpretation of current conditions, historical trends and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate in the circumstances. Whether actual results and developments will be consistent with and meet our expectations and predictions is subject to many risks and uncertainties, including those set forth under Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, under Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of this report, and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators

All forward-looking statements made herein are qualified by these cautionary statements, and our actual results or the developments we anticipate may not be realized. Our forward-looking statements are based only on information currently available to us and speak only as of the date on which they are made. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update our forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, after the date of this report for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this report.

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity
As at and for the quarters ended April 1, 2023 and April 2, 2022
(Unaudited)
(All dollar amounts expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)

(See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements)

4. Accounts Payable

The Company is party to a supplier finance program with a third-party financial institution, which is offered to certain of the Company's major suppliers. Under this arrangement, the Company agrees with a supplier on the contractual payment terms for the goods the Company procures regardless of whether the supplier elects to participate in the program. If a supplier does participate in the program, the supplier determines, at its own discretion, which invoices, if any, it wants to sell to the financial institution in order to be paid earlier than the contractual payment terms provide. A supplier's voluntary inclusion of an invoice in the program has no bearing on the Company's payment terms, which remain the original due date of the supplier invoice, or the amounts it pays the financial institution, and the Company has no economic interest in a supplier's decision to participate in the program. In addition, the Company has not pledged any assets to the financial institution as it relates to the program. Amounts due to suppliers that elected to participate in the program are included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities on the Company's consolidated balance sheets. As at April 1, 2023, the Company had outstanding payment obligations to these suppliers of $19.6 million confirmed under the program. Payments of obligations associated with the program are reported as operating cash flows on the Company's consolidated statements of cash flows.

5. Notes Payable

Commencing in the first quarter of 2023, the Company is financing certain purchases of trade goods and services through a third-party extended payables facility. Under this facility, a third-party intermediary advances the amount of the scheduled payment to the supplier based on the invoice due date and issues a short-term note payable to the Company for the face amount of the supplier invoice. Interest accrues on the note payable from the contractual payment date of the supplier invoice to the extended due date of the note payable, as specified by the negotiated terms of the facility. The Company does not maintain any form of security with the third-party intermediary. As at April 1, 2023, the Company had outstanding principal payment obligations to the third-party intermediary of $5.2 million, which is recorded as notes payable on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. Proceeds from, and repayments of the notes payable associated with this facility are reported as financing cash flows on the Company’s consolidated statements of cash flows.

7. Series B-1 Preferred Stock

On April 15, 2020, the Company and SunOpta Foods entered into a subscription agreement (the "Series B Subscription Agreement") with Oaktree Organics, L.P. and Oaktree Huntington Investment Fund II, L.P. (collectively, "Oaktree") and Engaged Capital, LLC, Engaged Capital Flagship Master Fund, LP and Engaged Capital Co-Invest IV-A, LP (collectively, "Engaged"). On April 24, 2020, pursuant to the Series B Subscription Agreement, SunOpta Foods issued 15,000 shares of Series B-1 Preferred Stock to each of Oaktree and Engaged for aggregate consideration of $30.0 million and 30,000 shares total (the "Series B-1 Preferred Stock"). Preferred dividends accrue daily on the Series B-1 preferred stock at an annualized rate of 8.0% of the liquidation preference prior to September 30, 2029, and 10.0% of the liquidation preference thereafter. For the second quarter of 2020, SunOpta Foods elected to pay dividends on the Series B-1 preferred stock in kind and, as a result, the aggregate liquidation preference increased to $30.4 million, or approximately $1,015 per share.

On March 3, 2023, Engaged exercised their right to exchange all of their shares of Series B-1 Preferred Stock for 6,089,331 shares of the Company's common stock ("Common Shares") at an exchange price of $2.50, together with a cash payment to adjust for fractional Common Shares, plus accrued and unpaid dividends.as of the date of exchange. The Common Shares exchanged represented approximately 5.3% of the Company's issued and outstanding Common Shares on a post-exchange basis. After the exchange, the exchanged shares of Series B-1 Preferred Stock previously held by Engaged were cancelled and SunOpta Foods is no longer required to pay dividends on those shares. In addition, in connection with the exchange of the Series B-1 Preferred Stock, the Company redeemed all Special Shares, Series 2 of the Company that were held by Engaged. Upon the exchange, the Company derecognized the $14.1 million carrying amount of the Series B-1 Preferred Stock previously held by Engaged, net of $1.1 million of unamortized issuance costs, and recognized a corresponding amount for the Common Shares issued on exchange, less common share issuance costs of $0.1 million.

As at April 1, 2023, SunOpta Foods had 15,000 shares of Series B-1 Preferred Stock issued and outstanding to Oaktree. At any time, Oaktree may exchange the Series B-1 Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, into the number of Common Shares equal to, per share of Series B-1 Preferred Stock, the quotient of the liquidation preference divided by the exchange price of $2.50. On or after April 24, 2023, SunOpta Foods may cause Oaktree to exchange all of their shares of Series B-1 Preferred Stock if the volume-weighted average price of the Common Shares during the then preceding 20 trading day period is greater than 200% of the exchange price then in effect. In addition, at any time on or after April 24, 2025, SunOpta Foods may redeem all of the Series B-1 Preferred Stock for an amount per share equal to the value of the liquidation preference at such time, plus accrued and unpaid dividends.

In the first quarter of 2023, the Company paid cash dividends on the Series B-1 Preferred Stock of $0.6 million in the aggregate to Oaktree and Engaged related to the fourth quarter of 2022, together with a cash dividend $0.2 million paid to Engaged for the period from January 1, 2023 to March 3, 2023. As at April 1, 2023, the Company accrued unpaid dividends to Oaktree of $0.3 million for the first quarter of 2023, which are recorded in accounts payable and accrued liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. The carrying value of the Series B-1 Preferred Stock, net of unamortized issuance costs, is being accreted to the redemption value through charges to accumulated deficit, which amounted to $0.2 million for the quarter ended April 1, 2023 (April 2, 2022 - $0.1 million).

9. Income Taxes

In determining its quarterly provision for income taxes, the Company uses an estimated annual effective tax rate of approximately 25%, which is based on expected annual earnings and statutory tax rates in the various jurisdictions in which the Company operates. Certain significant or unusual items are separately recognized in the quarter in which they occur and can be a source of variability on the effective tax rates from quarter to quarter, including excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation. In addition, the Company's effective tax rate may change from period-to-period based on recurring and non-recurring factors including the jurisdictional mix of earnings between countries and between states within the U.S., enacted tax legislation, and tax audit settlements, as well as the impact of limitations on the deductibility of executive and stock-based compensation. The effective tax rate recognized for the quarter ended April 1, 2023 was 141.6%, compared with 15.7% for the quarter ended April 2, 2022. The variation in the interim effective tax rates from the annual effective tax rate was mainly due to the impact of stock-based compensation included in pre-tax earnings in the respective periods, and the recognition of excess tax benefits related to the vesting of stock-based awards in the first quarter of 2023 (see note 8).