Canada’s big three publicly traded companies report financial results

Last week WSP Global of Montreal, SNC-Lavalin of Montreal, and Stantec of Edmonton and New York all reported their financial results for the second quarter of 2015. These are the three largest Canadian engineering companies that are publicly traded.
On August 5, WSP reported “solid” results for the quarter March 29 to June 27, 2015 compared to the same quarter last year. Pierre Shoiry, the company’s president and chief executive officer, said: “I am pleased with our results, as we continue to see momentum in all of our business areas and have performed strongly in terms of many of our key metrics….We believe in the strength of our business model and the effectiveness of our growth strategy and we will remain focused on driving organic growth, leveraging our global know-how and identifying opportunities to acquire professional services firms with complementary expertise.”
The Board of WSP declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share.
Highlights from WSP’s statement on the results comparing the second quarter of 2015 with the same quarter of 2014, include:
– Revenues and net revenues of $1,497.2 million and $1,088.9 million, up 148.5% and 112.2%, respectively, mainly as a result of business acquisitions. Global organic growth of 5.0% on a constant currency basis and 13.8% including favourable foreign exchange impact.
– Record EBITDA of $106.0 million, up $51.0 million or 92.7%. EBITDA margins at 9.7% of net revenues.
– Net earnings attributable to shareholders, excluding non-underlying items (net of income taxes), at $45.8 million, or $0.51 per share, up 74.1% and 18.6%, respectively.
– Net earnings attributable to shareholders, excluding non-underlying items and amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes), at $56.3 million, or $0.63 per share, up 82.8% and 26.0%, respectively.
– Backlog of $4,562.0 million representing approximately 9.5 months of revenues, stable compared to Q1 2015.
During the second quarter, WSP completed the sale of its shares in Multiconsult for $97 million, increased its credit facility by US $200 million, and acquired two Swedish firms FLK Sverige (50 people) and Vicicom AB (35 people), both of Sweden.
To see the full WSP announcement, click here.
To see an analysis in the Financial Post, click here.

Stantec announced on August 6 that the company “continued to perform well” in the second quarter of 2015. It announced a cash dividend of $0.105 per share.
Bob Gomes, Stantec president and chief executive officer, said: “With both our buildings and infrastructure businesses demonstrating strong performance, our diverse business model is providing a solid foundation for managing our company through the economic factors impacting the oil and gas industry.”
Highlights from Stantec’s announcement, comparing the second quarter of 2015 with the second quarter of 2014 (Canadian dollars) included:
– Gross revenue increased 12.1% to $710.3 million compared to $633.8 million
– EBITDA increased 5.1% to $82.2 million compared to $78.2 million
– Net income decreased 2.7% to $43.1 million compared to $44.3 million.
– Diluted earnings per share decreased 2.1% to $0.46 compared $0.47.
To see the full Stantec announcement, click here.

SNC-Lavalin Group reported a lower net income for the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year: $26.5 million ($0.17 per share on a diluted basis) this year, compared to $32.0 million ($0.21 per share on a diluted basis) last year.
The results included a net loss from Engineering & Construction and Operations & Maintenance (E&C) for the second quarter of 2015 of $18.5 million, or -$0.12 per diluted share. This loss was less than the E&C net loss for the second quarter of 2014 which was $46.9 million, or -0.31 per diluted share.
President and chief executive officer Robert G. Card said: “Despite some challenges in the second quarter in our infrastructure segment, we believe that historical volatility in the backlog will dissipate. We are maintaining our current outlook for 2015, and believe the company is well positioned to deliver a strong second half, as we continue to focus on our operations and leveraging our platform for growth.”
Among the detailed explanations given for the results, the company attributed some negative results in the infrastructure and construction segments as “mainly due to challenging soil conditions relating to the tunnel portion of a mass transit project and additional costs to secure the completion date on a major highway project, both in Canada.”
The company statement also noted that over the first six months of 2015, revenues had increased by 32% to $4.5 billion. This increase was, they said: “mainly due to an increase in the Oil & Gas segment, as incremental revenues were generated by Kentz, the acquisition of which was completed on August 22, 2014, as well as an increase in the Power segment, as the Company is no longer required to eliminate E&C revenues generated between the Company and AltaLink, since its disposal in the fourth quarter of 2014. These increases were mainly partially offset by a decrease in Infrastructure & Construction and Operations & Maintenance revenues, as well as a decrease in ICI revenues, principally due to the disposal of our AltaLink investment.”
To read the full SNC-Lavalin announcement of August 6, click here.
To see an analysis in the Financial Post, click here.