Bill George
Analyst · Tahira Afzal, KeyBank
Thanks, Brian. So please refer to Slide 2 through 6, as I provide some explanations and details of our results. Second quarter revenue was $535 million, an increase of $70 million or 15% compared to the second quarter of 2017. Most of this increase resulted from a high level of construction project activity this quarter. Gross profit was $111 million for the second quarter of 2018, an increase of $15 million or 16% compared to the second quarter of 2017. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue increased by 20 basis points from 20.6% in the second quarter of 2017 to 20.8% for the same quarter this year. SG&A expense was $71 million for the second quarter of 2017 compared to $67 million last year. The increase is due to the increase in revenue and increase compensation costs related to the earnings growth. SG&A as a percentage of revenue decreased from 14.3% in the second quarter 2017 to 13.3% for the second quarter of 2018. Pretax income was $43.3 million for the second quarter of 2018, an increase of $15.7 million or 57% compared to the second quarter last year. Income tax expense was $10.8 million with an effective tax rate of 24.9%, that compares to income tax expense of $9.7 million with an effective tax rate of 35.1% for the same period in last year in 2017. Net income for the second quarter was $32.5 million or $0.87 per share, compared to $18 million or $0.48 per share last year. Of the $0.87 of earnings per share that we’re reporting, $0.08 reflected gain from a legal settlement. The settlement was $4 million, and it related to claims for disruptions in our Gulf Coast operations in connection with the oil spill in 2010. Without that, we would have earned $0.79 this quarter. We had very strong free cash flow during the quarter, especially given the fact that we’re in the second quarter and that we had to deploy working capital to defend our strong revenue growth. For the quarter, our free cash flow was $25.4 million, and that compares to $4.9 million a year ago. Our six months free cash flow was $24 million which compares to $10.1 million for the first six months of 2017. We’re continuing to deploy our discretionary cash flow to add value for our shareholders. Acquisitions are an important component of our strategy. And as Brian mentioned, we’ve acquired companies that were combined with existing operations during the first six months of this year. We also teamed up with Dilling Mechanical, as Brian mentioned, a fantastic industrial company in the Midwest and that was right on the first-day of the third quarter. These companies are expected to contribute annualized revenues of approximately $120 million and profitability levels that are generally comparable to our other companies. In light of the required amortization and expense related to intangibles and other cost associated with the transaction, these acquisitions are expected to make a neutral to slightly accretive contribution to earnings per share during the first 12 months to 18 months after acquisition. During 2018, we have purchased 166,000 of our shares at an average price of $41.19. And since we began our stock repurchase program in 2007, we’ve bought back 7.8 million shares at an average price of $14.34. As Brian noted, we just increased our quarterly dividend to $0.085, and this is the first time that we’ve increased our dividend in two consecutive quarters. In April, we amended our credit facility to increase it from $325 million to $400 million, and the amended facility will not expire until April 2023. Overall, we’re happy with our results and optimistic about the remainder of the year. That’s all I have on financials, Brian.