Non-GAAP financial measures that are historical information

Companion Policy to NI 52-112 Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures Disclosure

Non-GAAP financial measures that are historical information

Re ss. 6(1)(a)

Labelling a non-GAAP financial measure that is historical information

Any label or term used to describe a non-GAAP financial measure, or adjustments in a reconciliation, must be appropriate given the nature of information.

For example, the following are not in compliance with the labelling requirement in paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Instrument:

Labels that are the same as, or confusingly similar to, those normally used under the financial reporting framework used to prepare the financial statements. For example, a measure labelled “cash flows from operations” and calculated as cash flows from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital items is confusingly similar to the term “cash flows from operating activities” specified in IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows;
Labels that purport to represent “results from operating activities” or a similar title but exclude items of an operating nature, such as inventory write-downs, restructuring costs, impairment of assets used for operations and stock-based compensation;
Labels that are overly optimistic (e.g., guaranteed profit or protected returns); and
Labels that may cause confusion based on the financial measure’s composition. For example, in presenting EBITDA as a non-GAAP financial measure, it would be inappropriate to exclude amounts for items other than interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The above list is not exhaustive.

Companion Policy to NI 52-112 Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures Disclosure

Non-GAAP financial measures that are historical information

Re ss. 6(1)(b)

Identification of a non-GAAP financial measure that is historical information

An issuer may satisfy the paragraph 6(1)(b) identification requirement by inserting a footnote to the non-GAAP financial measure that is disclosed in the document, with a statement similar to the following: “This is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of this document for more information on each non-GAAP financial measure”.

The issuer should exercise judgement in assessing whether the non-GAAP financial measure should be identified with a footnote each time the measure is disclosed in the document, considering the nature and extent of the use of this measure.

Companion Policy to NI 52-112 Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures Disclosure

Non-GAAP financial measures that are historical information

Re ss. 6(1)(d)

Prominence of a non-GAAP financial measure that is historical information

Determining the relative prominence of a non-GAAP financial measure is a matter of judgment, involving consideration of the overall disclosure and the facts and circumstances in which the disclosure is made.

The presentation of a non-GAAP financial measure should not in any way confuse or obscure the presentation of the most directly comparable financial measure that is presented in the primary financial statements of the entity to which the measure relates.

The following are examples that would cause a non-GAAP financial measure to be more prominent than the most directly comparable financial measure presented in the primary financial statements:

Presenting a non-GAAP financial measure in the form of a statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income without presenting it in the form of a reconciliation to the most directly comparable financial measure, sometimes referred to as a “single column approach”;
Omitting the most directly comparable financial measure from a news release headline or caption that includes a non-GAAP financial measure;
Presenting a non-GAAP financial measure using a style of presentation (e.g., bold, underlined, italicized, or larger font) that emphasizes the non-GAAP financial measure over the most directly comparable financial measure;
Multiple non-GAAP financial measures being used for the same or similar purpose thereby obscuring disclosure of the most directly comparable financial measure;
Providing tabular or graphical disclosure of non-GAAP financial measures without presenting an equally prominent tabular or graphical disclosure of the most directly comparable financial measures; and
Providing a discussion and analysis of a non-GAAP financial measure in a more prominent location than a similar discussion and analysis of the most directly comparable financial measure. For greater certainty, a location is not more prominent if it allows an investor who reads the document, or other material containing the non-GAAP financial measure, to be able to view the discussion and analysis of both the non-GAAP financial measure and the most directly comparable financial measure contemporaneously (e.g., within the previous, same or next page of the document).

The above list is not exhaustive.

The Instrument requires that the non-GAAP financial measure be presented with “no more prominence in the document than that of the most directly comparable financial measure” presented in the primary financial statements. If the most directly comparable financial measure is presented with “equal or greater prominence” than the non-GAAP financial measure, the requirement under paragraph 6(1)(d) of the Instrument has been met.