TORONTO, Nov. 10, 2014 /CNW/ - Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) today reported results for the third quarter of 2014, including backlog of $2.7 billion at the end of the third quarter, an increase of 28 per cent compared to the end of the same period in 2013.
"Aecon's third quarter results were consistent with seasonally stronger results posted in the second half of the year for the construction industry in Canada. We anticipate that Aecon will complete 2014 with another year of solid financial performance through a continued focus on execution and margins," said Teri McKibbon, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aecon Group Inc.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Revenue was $840 million for the third quarter of 2014 compared to $897 million for the same period of 2013, largely due to longer than anticipated ramp-up on new projects as a result of externally-driven delays.
- Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2014 was $76.5 million (margin of 9.1 per cent) compared to $79.5 million (margin of 8.9 per cent) for the third quarter of 2013.
- Profit for the third quarter of 2014 was $39.5 million ($0.49 EPS - diluted) compared to $34.4 million ($0.53 EPS - diluted) in the third quarter of 2013.
- Backlog of $2.7 billion at September 30, 2014 was 28 per cent higher than the $2.1 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2013.
- New contract awards of $818 million were booked in the third quarter of 2014 compared to $772 million in the same period of 2013. New contract awards of $2,787 million were booked in the first nine months of 2014 compared to $1,824 million in the same period of 2013, an increase of 53 per cent.
- Subsequent to quarter end, Aecon announced a mining contract for approximately $200 million for the K+S Potash Canada Legacy project in Saskatchewan.
- Aecon announced today that it has been awarded fabrication and module assembly work with a value of approximately $155 million for a major client in Alberta.
- For the eighth consecutive year, Aecon was named to the 50 Best Employers in Canada through the Aon Hewitt national survey published by Maclean's magazine.
| CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS(1) | |||||||||||
| Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||
| $ millions (except per share amounts) | September 30 | September 30 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 840.4 | $ | 897.3 | $ | 1,891.8 | $ | 2,162.4 | |||
| Gross profit | 92.7 | 94.1 | 162.7 | 175.9 | |||||||
| Marketing, general and administrative expenses | (31.4) | (31.1) | (112.7) | (113.7) | |||||||
| Income from projects accounted for using the equity method | 8.2 | 9.5 | 22.1 | 26.6 | |||||||
| Foreign exchange gain (loss) | (0.2) | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | |||||||
| Gain (loss) on sale of property, plant and equipment | (0.3) | - | (0.8) | 0.5 | |||||||
| Loss on disposal of a subsidiary | - | - | (2.6) | - | |||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | (15.3) | (15.0) | (46.3) | (46.8) | |||||||
| Operating profit (2) | 53.7 | 57.6 | 22.8 | 42.6 | |||||||
| Financing expense, net | (11.1) | (9.7) | (33.6) | (27.8) | |||||||
| Fair value gain (loss) on convertible debentures | 8.7 | (2.8) | 9.3 | (2.4) | |||||||
| Profit (loss) before income taxes | 51.4 | 45.1 | (1.5) | 12.5 | |||||||
| Income tax recovery (expense) | (11.8) | (10.7) | 2.9 | (0.1) | |||||||
| Profit | $ | 39.5 | $ | 34.4 | $ | 1.4 | $ | 12.4 | |||
| Profit | $ | 39.5 | $ | 34.4 | $ | 1.4 | $ | 12.4 | |||
| Exclude: | |||||||||||
| Fair value gain (loss) on convertible debentures | (8.7) | 2.8 | (9.3) | 2.4 | |||||||
| Income tax on fair value gain/loss | 2.3 | (0.8) | 2.5 | (0.6) | |||||||
| Adjusted profit (loss)(3) | $ | 33.1 | $ | 36.4 | $ | (5.4) | $ | 14.2 | |||
| Gross profit margin | 11.0% | 10.5% | 8.6% | 8.1% | |||||||
| MG&A as a percent of revenue | 3.7% | 3.5% | 6.0% | 5.3% | |||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA(4) | 76.5 | 79.5 | 93.5 | 105.0 | |||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 9.1% | 8.9% | 4.9% | 4.9% | |||||||
| Operating margin | 6.4% | 6.4% | 1.2% | 2.0% | |||||||
| Earnings per share - basic | $ | 0.73 | $ | 0.65 | $ | 0.03 | $ | 0.23 | |||
| Earnings per share - diluted | $ | 0.49 | $ | 0.53 | $ | 0.03 | $ | 0.22 | |||
| Adjusted earnings (loss) per share - basic(5) | $ | 0.61 | $ | 0.69 | $ | (0.10) | $ | 0.27 | |||
| Adjusted earnings (loss) per share - diluted(5) | $ | 0.49 | $ | 0.53 | $ | (0.10) | $ | 0.25 | |||
| Backlog | $ | 2,667 | $ | 2,090 | |||||||
| (1) | This press release presents certain non-GAAP and additional GAAP (GAAP refers to Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial measures to assist readers in understanding the Company's performance. Non-GAAP financial measures are measures that either exclude or include amounts that are not excluded or included in the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP in the consolidated financial statements. Further details on non-GAAP and additional GAAP measures are included in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and available through the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval at www.sedar.com. |
| (2) | "Operating profit" represents the profit from operations, before net financing expense, income taxes and non-controlling interests. |
| (3) | "Adjusted profit (loss)" represents the profit (loss) adjusted to exclude the after-tax fair value gain (loss) on the embedded derivative portion of convertible debentures. |
| (4) | "Adjusted EBITDA" represents operating profit adjusted to exclude depreciation and amortization, the gain (loss) on sales of assets and investments, and net income from projects accounted for using the equity method, but including "JV EBITDA" from projects accounted for using the equity method. |
| (5) | "Adjusted earnings (loss) per share" represents earnings (loss) per share calculated using adjusted profit (loss). |
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL RESULTS
"Revenue in the third quarter in each of our segments was impacted by longer than anticipated ramp-up on new projects due to externally-driven delays. An overall more cautious approach is being adopted by clients to moving projects forward at a normal pace. This trend has continued into the early part of the fourth quarter with ongoing uncertainty being seen in the broader Canadian economy, in large part linked to weakness in the resource sector. If the current market conditions persist, it may be difficult to reach our Adjusted EBITDA margin target of 9% in 2015, but we are confident in our ability to grow the Adjusted EBITDA margin toward the 9% target. We have a strong backlog of work in each of our three market sectors that reflects the overall strategic shift in recent years to larger, more sophisticated, and higher margin projects, and there is a robust pipeline of opportunities in front of us that fit with our overall margin target," said Teri McKibbon.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, revenue was lower by $57 million and $271 million, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2013. Each of the Infrastructure, Energy and Mining segments have been impacted in the third quarter and year-to-date from a volume perspective by longer than anticipated ramp-up on new projects. The individual project delays were attributable to the availability of required permits, status of design and engineering not being sufficiently advanced, and in some cases delays caused by hand-over of sites by other contractors.
Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2014 was $76.5 million (margin of 9.1 per cent) compared to an Adjusted EBITDA of $79.5 million (margin of 8.9 per cent) for the third quarter of 2013. For the nine month period, Adjusted EBITDA was $93.5 million (margin of 4.9 per cent) compared to $105.0 million (margin of 4.9 per cent).
Operating profit for the three months ended September 30, 2014 was $3.9 million lower than the same quarter in 2013, while operating profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 of $22.8 million was $19.8 million lower compared to the same period in 2013.
Lower volume was the primary reason for reduced operating profit for the third quarter of 2014, with higher overall gross profit margin percentage unable to fully offset reduced volume. Similarly, operating profit for the nine months of 2014 was impacted by lower gross profit due to lower revenue of $271 million not sufficiently offset by an increase in gross profit margin percentage from 8.1 per cent to 8.6 per cent.
Backlog increased by 28 per cent to $2.667 billion at September 30, 2014 compared to $2.090 billion at the end of the third quarter 2013.
New contract awards of $818 million were booked in the third quarter of 2014 compared to $772 million in the same period of 2013. New contract awards of $2,787 million were booked in the first nine months of 2014 compared to $1,824 million in the same period of 2013.
Subsequent to quarter end, Aecon announced a mining contract for approximately $200 million for the K+S Potash Canada Legacy project in Saskatchewan.
Aecon announced today that it has been awarded fabrication and module assembly work with a value of approximately $155 million for a major client in Alberta.
Not included in backlog, but important to Aecon's prospects due to the significant volume involved, is the expected recurring revenue from Aecon's growing alliances and supplier-of-choice arrangements where the amount and/or value of work to be carried out is not specified. This recurring revenue represents approximately 25 per cent of annual revenue.
REPORTING SEGMENTS
Aecon reports its financial performance on the basis of four segments: Infrastructure, Energy, Mining, and Concessions.
INFRASTRUCTURE SEGMENT
The Infrastructure segment includes all aspects of the construction of both public and private infrastructure, primarily in Canada, and on a selected basis, internationally. The Infrastructure segment focuses primarily on the transportation, heavy civil and social infrastructure markets.
| Financial Highlights | ||||||||||||
| Three months ended | Nine months ended | |||||||||||
| $ millions | September 30 | September 30 | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | |||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 335.5 | $ | 332.4 | $ | 633.0 | $ | 722.1 | ||||
| Gross profit | $ | 30.9 | $ | 28.8 | $ | 31.3 | $ | 21.6 | ||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 26.1 | $ | 25.4 | $ | 4.5 | $ | (5.8) | ||||
| Operating profit (loss) | $ | 21.7 | $ | 20.9 | $ | (10.5) | $ | (18.4) | ||||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 7.8% | 7.6% | 0.7% | (0.8)% | ||||||||
| Operating margin | 6.5% | 6.3% | (1.7)% | (2.6)% | ||||||||
| Backlog | $ | 1,436 | $ | 925 | ||||||||
For the third quarter of 2014, revenue in the Infrastructure segment of $335 million was about the same as the comparable period last year with increases in revenue occurring in heavy civil operations and transportation operations offset by lower revenue in social infrastructure operations.
Operating profit in the third quarter of 2014 in the Infrastructure segment of $21.7 million was $0.8 million higher than the same period in 2013. Increases in operating profit occurred in transportation, primarily from higher revenue in Ontario and from higher margins in Western Canada, as well as in heavy civil. Partially offsetting these increases was a decrease in operating profit in social infrastructure primarily from lower volume in buildings operations and lower margins in mechanical operations.
Infrastructure backlog at September 30, 2014 was $1,436 million, which is $511 million higher than the same time last year with the largest increases in backlog occurring in heavy civil and transportation operations. New contract awards totaled $286 million in the third quarter of 2014 and $1,249 million for the nine months of 2014, compared to $230 million and $527 million, respectively, in the prior year. The increase in new awards reflects the impact of several large project awards announced in 2014 including the John Hart Generating Station project in British Columbia in heavy civil; the Waterloo Light Rail Transit project, the York Viva Bus Rapid Transit project, the Second Concession Road project, and the Highway 410 project all in Ontario in transportation; along with Regina's new Wastewater Treatment Plant in social infrastructure.
ENERGY SEGMENT
The Energy segment encompasses a full suite of service offerings to the energy market including industrial construction and manufacturing activities such as in-plant construction, site construction and module assembly. The Energy segment focuses primarily on the following sectors: oil and gas, power generation, pipelines, utilities, and energy support services.
| Financial Highlights | |||||||||||
| Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||
| $ millions | September 30 | September 30 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 368.6 | $ | 406.9 | $ | 910.9 | $ | 930.0 | |||
| Gross profit | $ | 40.6 | $ | 52.4 | $ | 90.2 | $ | 88.5 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 27.9 | $ | 38.9 | $ | 49.8 | $ | 44.2 | |||
| Operating profit | $ | 24.4 | $ | 35.2 | $ | 39.4 | $ | 34.5 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 7.6% | 9.6% | 5.5% | 4.8% | |||||||
| Operating margin | 6.6% | 8.7% | 4.3% | 3.7% | |||||||
| Backlog | $ | 928 | $ | 1,028 | |||||||
Revenue in the Energy segment for the three months ended September 30, 2014 of $369 million was $38 million, or 9 per cent, lower than the same period of 2013. Revenue from utilities operations was lower by $61 million, primarily due to less volume from a large pipeline project in Western Canada. This lower revenue was partially offset by an increase in revenue of $23 million in industrial operations. The higher revenue in industrial was primarily from increases in site construction projects in the resource sector in Western Canada, as well as from a higher volume of fabrication projects in Atlantic Canada, increased heat recovery steam generator sales in IST, partly offset by lower revenue in Central Canada primarily from projects in the power sector.
Operating profit in the third quarter of $24.4 million was $10.8 million lower than the same period last year. The decrease in operating profit occurred almost entirely in the industrial segment, and primarily resulted from lower profit in Western Canada and from lower volume and profit in Central Canada.
Energy segment backlog at September 30, 2014 of $928 million was $100 million lower than the same time last year. The decrease in backlog results primarily from a reduction in utilities backlog due to the work off of significant pipeline projects in Western Canada. New contract awards of $360 million in the third quarter of 2014 were $98 million lower than in the same period in 2013, although new awards of $964 million for the first nine months of 2014 were $3 million higher than 2013. Most of the year-to-date increase in new awards occurred in utilities, and offset lower awards in industrial operations in Western Canada and Atlantic Canada.
MINING SEGMENT
The Mining segment offers turn-key services consolidating Aecon's mining capabilities and services across Canada, including both mine site installations and contract mining. This segment offers construction services that span the scope of a project's life cycle: from overburden removal and resource extraction, to processing and environmental reclamation.
| Financial Highlights | |||||||||||
| Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||
| $ millions | September 30 | September 30 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 148.6 | $ | 172.7 | $ | 363.1 | $ | 536.4 | |||
| Gross profit | $ | 21.7 | $ | 13.0 | $ | 42.0 | $ | 66.2 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 16.0 | $ | 7.3 | $ | 24.2 | $ | 52.2 | |||
| Operating profit | $ | 9.7 | $ | 1.9 | $ | 4.4 | $ | 33.2 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 10.8% | 4.2% | 6.7% | 9.7% | |||||||
| Operating margin | 6.5% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 6.2% | |||||||
| Backlog | $ | 303 | $ | 137 | |||||||
Revenue in the Mining segment of $149 million for the third quarter of 2014 was $24 million, or 14 per cent, lower than the same period of 2013. The majority of the decrease was due to lower volume of site installation work in the commodity mining sector following the substantial completion of several projects since the same period last year, combined with initial delays related to securing and then ramping up construction on new contract awards during 2014. In addition, lower revenue was also the result of lower demand during the quarter for contract mining services in the oil sands. These decreases were partially offset by higher revenue from civil and foundations work related to mining projects, primarily in Western Canada.
For the three months ended September 30, 2014, operating profit of $9.7 million was $7.8 million higher than the same period last year with higher profit from civil and foundations work as well as from site installation work in the commodity mining sector. The higher operating profit from civil and foundations work resulted from higher volume and margins, whereas the increases from site installation work were the result of higher margin in comparison to the same quarter last year. Partially offsetting these improvements was lower operating profit in contract mining operations primarily from lower volume in the period.
Mining backlog at September 30, 2014 of $303 million was $166 million higher than the same time last year. New contract awards of $185 million in the third quarter of 2014 were $85 million higher than in the same period in 2013, and new awards of $590 million for the first nine months of 2014 were $227 million higher than the same period in 2013. The year-to-date increase in new awards was largely due to project awards in the contract mining sector in Western Canada including a large mining site development project award at the Fort Hills oil sands project in Alberta, and new awards with a potash customer in the commodity mining sector.
CONCESSIONS SEGMENT
The Concessions segment includes the development, financing, design, construction and operation of infrastructure projects by way of build-operate-transfer, build-own-operate-transfer and other public-private partnership contract structures.
| Financial Highlights | |||||||||||
| Three months ended | Nine months ended | ||||||||||
| $ millions | September 30 | September 30 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 0.7 | $ | 0.6 | $ | 2.1 | $ | 2.0 | |||
| Gross profit | $ | (0.4) | $ | (0.1) | $ | (0.8) | $ | (0.3) | |||
| Income from projects accounted for using the equity method |
$ | 7.1 | $ | 5.7 | $ | 18.8 | $ | 18.6 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 12.7 | $ | 11.9 | $ | 36.5 | $ | 32.3 | |||
| Operating profit | $ | 5.7 | $ | 5.1 | $ | 15.4 | $ | 16.4 | |||
Revenue reported in the Concessions segment for the third quarter was $0.7 million.
Operating profit for the third quarter of 2014 of $5.7 million was $0.6 million higher than the same period last year. Increases in revenue and Adjusted EBITDA from the new Quito airport concessionaire were offset by higher interest and amortization charges related to Quito operations. Following the opening of the new Quito airport on February 20, 2013, the project commenced expensing interest (whereas prior to the opening of the new airport, interest was being capitalized) and began amortizing airport assets that were put into service as of that date.
CONSOLIDATED RESULTS
The consolidated results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013 are available at the end of this news release.
| Balance Sheet Highlights | |||||||
| Sept. 30 | Dec. 31 | ||||||
| $ thousands (unaudited) | 2014 | 2013 | |||||
| Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash | $ | 119,885 | $ | 244,536 | |||
| Other current assets | 979,616 | 885,052 | |||||
| Property, plant and equipment | 492,947 | 512,257 | |||||
| Other long-term assets | 390,955 | 351,741 | |||||
| Total Assets | $ | 1,983,403 | $ | 1,993,586 | |||
| Current liabilities | $ | 909,852 | $ | 940,356 | |||
| Long-term debt | 107,215 | 123,128 | |||||
| Convertible debentures (long term portion) | 248,589 | 248,817 | |||||
| Other long-term liabilities | 96,108 | 94,677 | |||||
| Equity | 621,639 | 586,608 | |||||
| Total Liabilities and Equity | $ | 1,983,403 | $ | 1,993,586 | |||
CONFERENCE CALL
A conference call has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 11, 2014 at 10 a.m. (ET) to discuss Aecon's 2014 third quarter financial results. Participants should dial 416-981-9073 or 1-888-225-2703 at least 10 minutes prior to the conference time. For those unable to attend the call, a replay will be available after 1 p.m. at 1-800-997-6910 or 416-626-4100 until midnight on November 18, 2014. The reservation number is 21736640.
ABOUT AECON
Aecon Group Inc. is a Canadian leader in construction and infrastructure development providing integrated turnkey services to private and public sector clients. Aecon is pleased to be consistently recognized as one of the Best Employers in Canada.
STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
The information in this press release includes certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans but are subject to risks and uncertainties. In addition to events beyond Aecon's control, there are factors which could cause actual or future results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or inferred herein including, but not limited to: interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition and operational and reputational risks, including Large Project Risk and Contractual Factors. Readers are referred to the specific risk factors relating to and affecting Aecon's business and operations as filed by Aecon pursuant to applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook for Aecon. Forward-looking statements, may in some cases be identified by words such as "will," "plans," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should" or the negative of these terms, or similar expressions. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Aecon undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME | ||||||||||||
| FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2014 AND 2013 | ||||||||||||
| (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts) (unaudited) | ||||||||||||
| For the three months ended | For the nine months ended | |||||||||||
| September 30 | September 30 | September 30 | September 30 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 2013 | 2014 | 2013 | |||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 840,399 | $ | 897,315 | $ | 1,891,838 | $ | 2,162,395 | ||||
| Direct costs and expenses | (747,656) | (803,229) | (1,729,176) | (1,986,479) | ||||||||
| Gross profit | 92,743 | 94,086 | 162,662 | 175,916 | ||||||||
| Marketing, general and administrative expenses | (31,412) | (31,119) | (112,694) | (113,718) | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | (15,287) | (14,973) | (46,251) | (46,751) | ||||||||
| Income from projects accounted for using the equity method | 8,156 | 9,523 | 22,056 | 26,582 | ||||||||
| Other income (loss) | (451) | 74 | (2,997) | 638 | ||||||||
| Operating profit | 53,749 | 57,591 | 22,776 | 42,667 | ||||||||
| Finance income | 939 | 374 | 1,845 | 1,727 | ||||||||
| Finance costs | (12,058) | (10,050) | (35,465) | (29,509) | ||||||||
| Fair value gain (loss) on convertible debentures | 8,723 | (2,830) | 9,320 | (2,410) | ||||||||
| Profit (loss) before income taxes | 51,353 | 45,085 | (1,524) | 12,475 | ||||||||
| Income tax recovery (expense) | (11,825) | (10,715) | 2,937 | (130) | ||||||||
| Profit for the period | $ | 39,528 | $ | 34,370 | $ | 1,413 | $ | 12,345 | ||||
| Basic earnings per share | $ | 0.73 | $ | 0.65 | $ | 0.03 | $ | 0.23 | ||||
| Diluted earnings per share | $ | 0.49 | $ | 0.53 | $ | 0.03 | $ | 0.22 | ||||
SOURCE: Aecon Group Inc.
Vince Borg
Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs
Aecon Group Inc.
416-297-2615
[email protected]
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