Posted on November 9, 2017
Orion Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ORN) (the “Company”), a leading specialty construction company, reported a net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2017, of $5.0 million, or ($0.18) diluted loss per share. These results compare to net income of $4.7 million, or ($0.17) diluted earnings per share for the same period a year ago. During the three months ended September 30, 2017, the Company experienced unprecedented weather impacts, including three major hurricanes – Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria – which affected over 85 percent of its operations. This resulted in total impacts of $12.4 million, or $0.44 per share.
“There is no doubt this has been a historic weather quarter with significant personal and professional losses,” said Mark Stauffer, Orion Group Holdings’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our primary concern was, and continues to be, our employees’ well-being. As the storms subsided, our employees actively volunteered within their communities and worked to aid in hurricane recovery efforts. Employees helped fellow co-workers, family, schools and charitable organizations to collectively clean up and move forward. I am extremely proud of the way our team has responded to these devastating events. We were also focused on the return to full operations when we were safely able to do so. I am also pleased to report that we have returned to full operations, and are safely back to work. As a result of the destruction caused by the hurricanes, we are experiencing higher demand for services in our marine segment. To date, we are processing and working on multiple emergency call-out projects and we are ready to meet our customers’ needs. Additionally, we anticipate increased demand for dock repair and construction in the short term. Finally, we continue to focus on developing opportunities across the infrastructure, industrial, and building sectors through organic growth, greenfield expansion, and strategic acquisition opportunities.”
During the third quarter, three major hurricanes impacted 85% of the Company’s operations. This caused a change in the anticipated timing of the majority of the Company’s projects along the Gulf Coast, East Coast, and Caribbean operations. While these jobs only experienced minor changes in the estimated cost to complete as a result of the weather events, the projects will see cost burn and revenue recognition extend beyond the originally anticipated completion date. However, the overall project margin contribution will not change as a result of the weather events and will not impact the overall cash flow of the projects.
Consolidated Results for Third Quarter 2017 compared to Third Quarter 2016
•Contract revenues were $140.2 million, a decrease of 14.5%, as compared to revenues of $164.0 million. The decrease is primarily attributable to unprecedented weather events affecting operations.
•Gross profit was $10.8 million, or a gross profit margin of 7.7%, as compared to gross profit of $24.2 million, or a gross profit margin of 14.7%. The decrease is primarily attributable to unprecedented weather events affecting operations.
•Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses were $16.5 million, as compared to $15.3 million. The increase is primarily attributable to the recently acquired Central Texas concrete company.
•Net loss was $5.0 million, as compared to a net income of $4.7 million. Diluted loss per share was $0.18, as compared to earnings per share of $0.17. The decrease is primarily attributable to unprecedented weather events affecting operations.
•EBITDA was $2.0 million, representing an 1.4% EBITDA margin which compares to EBITDA of $18.1 million, or a 11.0% EBITDA margin (EBITDA and EBITDA margin are non-GAAP measures, defined on pages 3-4 of this release; reconciliation tables are provided on Page 7).
Mr. Stauffer continued, “Fundamentally our operations remained solid during the third quarter, with continued strong bid opportunities across both segments. While the third quarter varied greatly from our initial expectations, our underlying business remains healthy, and we continue to see good bid opportunities going forward.”
Segment Results for Third Quarter 2017 Compared to Third Quarter 2016
Marine Segment
•Contract revenues were $68.4 million, a decrease of $13.8 million, or 16.8%. The decrease is primarily attributable to unprecedented weather events affecting operations.
•Operating loss was $9.8 million, as compared to an operating income of $3.3 million. Operating margin for third quarter 2017 was (10.9)%, as compared to 5.7%.
•Pre-tax loss was $8.8 million, as compared to pre-tax income of $3.1 million. The decrease is primarily attributable to unprecedented weather events affecting operations.
•EBITDA was $(2.4) million, representing a (3.5)% EBITDA margin which compares to EBITDA of $10.2 million, or a 12.5% EBITDA margin (EBITDA and EBITDA margin are non-GAAP measures, defined on pages 3-4 of this release; reconciliation tables are provided on pages 7-8).
Concrete Segment
•Contract revenues were $71.8 million, a decrease of $10.1 million, or 12.3%. The decrease is primarily attributable to unprecedented weather events affecting operations partially offset by the inclusion of the recently acquired Central Texas concrete company.
•Operating income was $4.5 million, a decrease of $1.8 million. Operating income margin for third quarter 2017 was 3.0%, as compared to 6.0%.
•Pre-tax income was $2.1 million, as compared to $4.9 million. The decrease is primarily attributable to unprecedented weather events affecting operations.
•EBITDA was $4.4 million, representing an 6.1% EBITDA margin which compares to EBITDA of $7.9 million, or a 9.7% EBITDA margin (EBITDA and EBITDA margin are non-GAAP measures, defined on pages 3-4 of this release; reconciliation tables are provided on pages 7-8).
Backlog
Backlog of work under contract as of September 30, 2017 was approximately $383 million, which is essentially flat when compared to backlog under contract at September 30, 2016 of approximately $388 million. Of the backlog as of September 30, 2017, approximately $199 million was attributable to the marine segment, while $184 million was attributable to the concrete segment. Currently, the Company has approximately $970 million worth of bids outstanding, including approximately $140 million on which we are apparent low bidder, or have been awarded subsequent to the end of the third quarter, of which, approximately $100 million pertains to the marine segment and approximately $40 million is in the concrete segment.
During the third quarter, the Company bid on $752 million of opportunities and was successful on $110 million. This resulted in a 0.79 times book-to-bill ratio for the quarter and a 15% win rate. The Company’s marine segment bid on $344 million during the third quarter 2017 and was successful on $57 million. This resulted in a 0.84 times book-to-bill ratio and a win rate of 17% for the quarter. In the concrete segment, the Company bid on $407 million in work while being awarded $53 million. This resulted in a 0.74 times book-to-bill ratio and a win rate of 13% for the quarter.
Credit Facility
During the third quarter 2017, as a result of the weather events, the Company amended its Credit Agreement to provide more room with regard to the leverage ratio. This included an adjustment for the weather-related events during the third quarter 2017.The adjustment was derived by examining all active projects in the Gulf Coast and Atlantic regions during the third quarter that were in the path of the related weather-events. Each project gross profit was adjusted for the number of days of inactivity during the quarter. Further, labor schedules were reviewed to determine employees that were unutilized during the periods of weather events and the associated labor cost is included in the adjustment. The total adjustment to net income in the period was $12.4 million with $2.8 million related to the commercial concrete segment and $9.6 million attributable to the marine construction segment.
Going forward, the Credit Agreement has been updated so that the leverage ratio cannot exceed 3.0 times the trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA. The Company is pleased with the continued support from its lenders and looks forward to maintaining a long relationship with its bank group.
Outlook
Comments from Mark Stauffer, President and Chief Executive Officer
“As we look ahead, we will continue executing on our strategic vision of being the premier specialty contractor in the infrastructure, industrial, and building sectors, while building our market share and enhancing shareholder value. Our continued strong backlog and the ongoing operational improvements we have made, provide long-term visibility to support our future success.
The infrastructure sector, which today is made up of our marine segment, continues to provide both public and private opportunities to maintain and expand marine facilities on and over U.S. waterways. Throughout our operating areas, market fundamentals remain positive, and we are seeing pockets of margin expansion in certain areas. The weather events of the third quarter will provide additional opportunities for marine segment projects in the near term. Private sector bid opportunities from downstream energy customers continue as they expand their waterside facilities associated with refining and storage. Recreational demand continues from private customers as local marinas are being expanded and remodeled, while business opportunities from cruise lines remain promising as we track opportunities related to new destinations, or refurbishment of existing destinations in the Caribbean.
The building sector, which today houses our concrete segment, is in solid shape as its three major metropolitan markets continuously retain their positions as leading destinations for families and businesses to reside. Population growth throughout our markets continues to drive new distribution centers, office expansion, retail and grocery establishments, new multi-family housing units, educational facilities and medical facilities. In Houston, we are experiencing some tightening in the market but we expect to continue to maintain market share. We are focused on expanding our market share in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, including adding structural opportunities. Finally, we expect to continue to see solid growth in the Central Texas market as we continue to expand with fundamentally strong end market drivers.
In the industrial sector, we will continue our greenfield expansion by combining talent and resources from the marine segment and concrete segment to continue to pursue concrete foundation work inside the industrial environment. The massive, long-term petrochemical driven opportunities along the Gulf Coast provides significant potential to expand our addressable project opportunities. In fact, the U.S. is on pace to become a net exporter of natural gas by 2018 as a result of the shale revolution, which has led to increased domestic production of natural gas. This will lead to outpaced growth in the petrochemical industry that should account for more than half of the construction spending in the manufacturing sector.”
Comments from Chris DeAlmeida, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer:
“Each of the Company’s business sectors continued to experience solid demand for services, and we placed competitive bids for projects throughout the third quarter. We remain encouraged by the volume and mix of projects scheduled or anticipated within our operating areas and the additional opportunities the third quarter weather events will create in the future.
As mentioned, the third quarter weather events greatly impacted our results due to the timing of project execution. Unfortunately, making up this impact during 2017 will be difficult, even though these events provide opportunities for the future. As a result of the weather impacts during the third quarter, we are discontinuing our EBITDA guidance for 2017. Our goal is, and will always be, to deliver profitable returns to shareholders. Expansion of our existing operations or future operations in the infrastructure, industrial, or building sectors could provide further catalysts for EBITDA growth. We believe Orion has a strong future and we are adapting to reduce the volatility in our earnings and results. As we look toward 2018, we will continue to adjust the business to reduce volatility. As a result, we expect to see some bottom line improvement in 2018 as compared to 2017. This bottom line improvement should expand more significantly in 2019 and beyond.”
Source: Orion Group Holdings
