POLLARD BANKNOTE REPORTS 4TH QUARTER AND ANNUAL FINANCIAL RESULTS

WINNIPEG, MB, March 10, 2026 /CNW/ – Pollard Banknote Limited (TSX:PBL) (“Pollard”) today released its financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2025.

Full Year 2025 Results and Highlights

• Established a new record for revenue at $596.0 million, up 7.0% from last year.
• Combined sales⁽¹⁾ in the year, including our share of NeoPollard Interactive LLC (“NPi”) joint venture sales, attained $725.0 million, up 8.9% from $665.9 million in 2024.
• Net income was $34.7 million, a decrease of $0.5 million or 1.4% from $35.2 million earned in 2024.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ achieved a record annual amount of $119.9 million, which was $5.4 million or 4.7% higher than the previous year.
• Our joint venture iLottery operations, including our Michigan iLottery contract, generated very strong results in comparison to last year, contributing $73.8 million in combined income before income taxes in 2025, 24.5% higher than the $59.3 million earned in 2024.
• Successfully went live with our Catalyst^TM iLottery solution with the Kansas Lottery, the first implementation of our new technology. 
• The California Lottery, the largest seller of instant tickets in the United States, announced the award of their primary instant ticket contract to Pollard with a six-year contract and up to an additional six years of extensions. 
• Loterie Nationale (“Belgium Lottery”) awarded a twelve-year contract to Pollard to provide its gaming platform including a full omni-channel solution supporting both retail and iLottery. 
• Continued to expand our product offerings with the acquisition of Pacific Gaming, LLC, a leading manufacturer of hand-held electronic bingo devices used in the charitable gaming market.

Fourth Quarter Results and Highlights 

• Revenue reached $150.8 million, up 7.5% from the fourth quarter of last year.
• Combined sales⁽¹⁾ in the quarter, including our share of our NPi’s joint venture sales, reached $185.0 million, up 10.0% from $168.2 million earned in the same quarter last year.
• Net income was $4.6 million, an increase of $6.4 million from the net loss of $1.8 million in 2024.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ achieved $27.7 million, up 9.9% from $25.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• The Oklahoma Lottery Commission awarded Pollard a contract to provide a turnkey player loyalty solution and related digital services, effective November 24, 2025. The contract includes a one-year term with six one-year renewal options, with a total potential value of approximately U.S. $10.0 million.

“2025 was a transformative year for Pollard Banknote marked by significant achievements across many of our business lines,” remarked John Pollard, Co-Chief Executive Officer. “We achieved new records for both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA while generating strong operational cash flow. This enabled us to continue investing in key capital initiatives that support our long-term strategic objectives.”

“Our Combined sales were $725.0 million in 2025, 8.9% above prior-year results and reflecting substantial progress in expanding our revenue base. Despite temporary pressure on gross margins due to startup costs associated with launching a full standalone iLottery operation and certain regulatory changes in a large charitable eTab market, our Adjusted EBITDA nonetheless improved over 2024. We remain very confident that initiatives underway in our iLottery and eTab operations will help offset these impacts in 2026.”

“During the year our first iLottery operation, powered by our Catalyst™ solution, went live with the Kansas Lottery in record time and has exceeded all operational expectations, including handling very smoothly a number of large jackpot runs experienced over the last four months of the year. This was followed by an award of a major contract from the Belgium Lottery to provide a complete suite of technologies including key components such as a central gaming system for draw-based games, management of eInstant games, player engagement technology, an instant ticket management system for warehousing and distribution, and a new iLottery platform. It is important to highlight that this is not just an iLottery system, but a full omni-channel solution that manages both traditional retail sales of Belgium’s lottery products alongside their iLottery offerings. Both of these significant wins demonstrate that the market recognizes the value of our state-of-the-art Catalyst™ solution.”

“Instant ticket margins improved during the year driven by the full impact of our repricing strategy enacted a few years ago, supplemented by greater sales of our higher-value proprietary products including our patented Scratch FX^® process. The award to Pollard for the contract for primary instant ticket supply by the California Lottery, one of the largest instant ticket sellers in the world, is a major achievement and creates the foundation for higher ticket volumes in 2026.”

“Our charitable gaming group continues to actively expand into opportunities in both print-based and electronic solutions,” stated Doug Pollard, Co-Chief Executive Officer. “The acquisitions of C.J. Venne and Pacific Gaming over the past two years expanded our product offerings and enhanced our ability to compete more broadly with key distributors. Our new ICON gaming kiosks have been extremely well received in the market and have been placed in a number of jurisdictions during 2025. We also continue to see considerable eTab interest to support charities and we are excited about these opportunities.”

“The importance of good game content is fundamental to the ongoing success of Pollard, whether on printed instant and pull-tab tickets, eInstants for iLottery operations, or eTabs. Our dedicated internal game studio, working alongside expanded game development resources across our company, has had significant success in developing distinctive and exceptional content across all platforms and will remain a continued focus in the future. We currently have launched 146 eInstant games across nine jurisdictions.”

“During 2025 we undertook a major project to implement a new ERP system across our core instant ticket and corporate operations to provide more timely and comprehensive information, and establish a foundation for future growth. The project remains on track and will continue through 2026.”

“Our NPi joint venture iLottery operations, including our Michigan iLottery contract, contributed a nearly record $19.1 million in the fourth quarter compared to $13.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. Higher revenue from eInstant and draw-based games was supported by two large jackpots awarded during the quarter including the second-largest jackpot ever with a U.S. dollar $1.8 billion Powerball^® win. The recent award of a two-year contract extension by the North Carolina Lottery to the joint venture, extending the contract through June 2028, is an important vote of confidence in the success of the business.”

“The environment surrounding protectionist trade measures including tariffs continues to be unpredictable. The overall structure of our businesses and processes has ensured no material impact on our organization and we expect this to continue. We will continue to monitor the ever-changing situation regarding tariffs and other protectionist trade measures, and their potential financial and operating impact on Pollard. The resilience of the lottery and charitable gaming industries in navigating economic uncertainty provides additional support for our future financial and operational results.”

“The fourth quarter generated solid earnings and revenue growth across a number of product lines, creating significant momentum going into 2026,” concluded John Pollard. “We are extremely proud of the accomplishments in the fourth quarter and throughout 2025. Our investments in modern solutions, advanced technology, specialized team resources and critical infrastructure have positioned Pollard to seize the opportunities in the lottery and charitable gaming markets. Multiple significant contract wins during the past twelve months confirm our strategy is the correct one to maintain Pollard as the partner of choice for lotteries and charities worldwide.”

Use of GAAP and Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The selected financial and operating information has been derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the audited consolidated financial statements of Pollard as at and for the year ended December 31, 2025. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the IFRS Accounting Standards (“IFRS” or “GAAP”).

Reference to “EBITDA” is to earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and purchase accounting amortization. Reference to “Adjusted EBITDA” is to EBITDA before unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses, and certain non-recurring items including ERP implementation costs, severance costs, acquisition costs, contingent consideration fair value adjustments and net insurance proceeds. Adjusted EBITDA is an important metric used by many investors to compare issuers on the basis of the ability to generate cash from operations and management believes that, in addition to net income, Adjusted EBITDA is a useful supplementary measure.

Reference to “Combined sales” is to sales recognized under GAAP plus Pollard’s 50% proportionate share of NeoPollard Interactive LLC’s (“NPi”) sales, its iLottery joint venture operation. Reference to “Combined iLottery sales” is to sales recognized under GAAP for Pollard’s 50% proportionate share of its Michigan Lottery joint iLottery operation plus Pollard’s 50% proportionate share of NPi’s sales, its iLottery joint venture operation.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Combined sales and Combined iLottery sales are measures not recognized under GAAP and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP.  Therefore, these measures may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other entities. Investors are cautioned that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Combined sales and Combined iLottery sales should not be construed as alternatives to net income or sales as determined in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of Pollard’s performance or to cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities as measures of liquidity and cash flows.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this report may constitute “forward-looking” statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.  When used in this document, such statements include such words as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “plan” and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this document.  There should not be an expectation that such information will in all circumstances be updated, supplemented or revised whether as a result of new information, changing circumstances, future events or otherwise.

POLLARD BANKNOTE LIMITED

Pollard is one of the leading providers of products and solutions to lottery and charitable gaming industries throughout the world. Management believes Pollard is the largest provider of instant tickets based in Canada and the second largest producer of instant tickets in the world. In addition, management believes Pollard is also the second largest bingo paper and pull-tab supplier to the charitable gaming industry in North America and, through our internal proprietary iLottery solution and our 50% joint venture, one of the largest suppliers of iLottery solutions to the U.S. lottery market.

On October 16, 2025, Pollard was awarded a contract from the Belgium Lottery to deliver and operate its next-generation gaming platform, Catalyst^TM. As part of this 12-year agreement, valued at approximately $289 million, Pollard will provide its Omnichannel Central Gaming System, Player Account Management, Player Engagement Technology, Game Aggregation Bridge, Instant Ticket Management System and its Integrated Marketing Engagement Platform.  

On April 1, 2025, Pollard acquired 100% of the business of Pacific Gaming, LLC and LIF Capital Group, LLC (collectively “Pacific”), for a purchase price of $10.0 million U.S. dollars ($14.4 million) prior to standard working capital adjustments. Pacific is a recognized leader in bingo electronics, handhelds, blowers, point-of-sale systems and bingo management systems. The purchase price was funded by proceeds from Pollard’s credit facility and cash on hand.

On July 31, 2024, Pollard acquired 100% of the equity of Clarence J. Venne, LLC (“Venne”) for a purchase price of $12.6 million U.S. dollars ($17.4 million) prior to standard working capital adjustments. Venne is one of the leading manufacturers of bingo daubers utilized primarily in the charitable gaming bingo market. The purchase price was funded by proceeds from Pollard’s credit facility and cash on hand.

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