John R. Hewitt
Analyst · Stephens Inc
Thank you, Kevin, and welcome, everyone, to our second quarter fiscal year 2013 update communication. I trust everyone has had a restful holiday and like us, are looking forward positively to the new year. For the 6 months ended December 31, 2012, Matrix Service Company had a total recordable incident rate, or TRIR, of 0.69. Our experience modification rate, or EMR, which is evaluated May 1 of each year, was 0.59 for 2012. While these statistics are considerably below the construction industry average, our entire organization remains committed to a 0 incident culture and mindset. We feel our safety performance is a major differentiator in the markets we serve and represent one of the primary reasons why our customers choose Matrix Service Company over our competitors. We recently completed an annual strategy refresh with the leadership team, which confirms our baseline plan. Overall, we continue to see progress in the execution of our strategy, and we are comfortable with the direction we are headed and the strength of our markets. As we have discussed on previous calls, growth and expansion is not without its risks and challenges, but we firmly believe that the strategic journey we are on is creating a world-class business and driving value for our shareholders. We continue to work hard to minimize risks and challenges, with diligence in our management processes, upgrades and improvements to our systems and procedures, along with driving toward best-in-class employee recruitment, development and training. We are actively exercising and improving these aforementioned core business elements in alignment with the strategic evolution of the business. The leadership team's ability to minimize the downside while maximizing the upside potential is a critical part of our long-term success. These core elements are integral to the success and consistent performance across all of our business segments and services. I say this to you to set the framework for the $0.08 EPS impact we recognized in the second quarter. This charge related to a single project in the Storage Solutions segment as part of our Western Canadian operations. The project contains some estimated elements related to field labor productivity and their associated costs that did not accurately represent the actual costs we are experiencing in this geographic area. Further, the active energy industry in Western Canada has changed the market dynamics for construction labor and its associated costs that added stress to the project. The project, while estimated, proposed and won in late 2011, did not commence field construction activities until the fall of 2012. As such, this skill-related cost issues were not known until the end of the second quarter of this fiscal year. In this specific instance, our estimate development, proposal clarification and review process in place at the time was not diligently followed. Consistent with our strategic growth plans for our Western Canadian operations, we have added a considerable amount of experienced management, including positions in project management, estimating and project controls, over this past year. We are very comfortable that all steps necessary to strengthen the controls environment and minimize these events in the future have already been taken. Additionally, the forecast for this project has been thoroughly reviewed by multiple levels of the organization, checked against other active and completed projects in the region and, therefore, we believe the forecast at completion reflects current market conditions. Further, we have reviewed all projects in backlog and confirmed that the appropriate estimate elements are in place. Western Canada is an area of high growth and opportunity for our organization. It continues to be a region that will be a foundational element of our long-term strategy. We are very diligent in selecting projects that provide us the best opportunity for success. Only the projects which we can staff with top teams of craftsmen and management are targeted. In some cases, we have passed on opportunities in order to better assure our success and strategically control the growth of the business. As it relates to our entire Storage Solutions segment, we continue to identify, bid on and win opportunities throughout North America, both inside our historical core markets and in new geographies. We are pleased that the growth in this segment, as it has exceeded the top end of our growth rate expectation, developed in our strategic planning process. Pipeline activity in North America, including new pipeline construction and repurposing of existing pipeline infrastructure, is part of the driver of this growth. Storage tanks and terminals are needed close to resource plays and at the beginning of the line, along its length, at intersections and at the termination point of the pipeline. The result of this activity, new awards for the quarter of $169.8 million, resulted in backlog at December 31, 2012, of $337.1 million. This represents a 42.5% increase in backlog since year-end June 30, 2012. Despite the one challenging project, we are pleased with the growth of this segment and believe we have the foundation in place for continued success going forward. Moving on to our Electrical Infrastructure segment. While backlog of $118 million at December 31, 2012, represents a slight decline of 7.6% from year-end June 30, 2012, gross profit increased by 45.8% year-over-year for the 6-month time frame. Storm restoration work along with better overhead recovery from increased business volume were the significant pieces impacting profitability in this segment. While the backlog dropped slightly, we continue to see significant opportunities in this segment. Our reputation for quality, efficient work completed in a safe, professional manner continue to serve as our primary marketing tool and method of growth in this segment. As mentioned on prior calls, the Electrical Infrastructure segment represents a high-growth area for Matrix Service Company. We're actively expanding our capabilities and service offerings, as well as evaluating new geographies. Our recent entry into the transmission and distribution business is exceeding our plan in fiscal 2013. In addition to this planned organic growth, we are regularly evaluating and approaching acquisition targets. We are committed to putting acquisition capital to work in this segment. The Oil, Gas & Chemical segment continues to benefit from strong turnaround volumes throughout our markets, as well as capital construction work. Despite backlog being essentially flat at $115.5 million, we remain optimistic about the strength in the turnaround market. At the end of the quarter, we closed on the acquisition of various assets from the Pelichem Industrial Cleaning Services. I can report that integration of these assets and the employees of Pelichem into the Matrix family is progressing smoothly. Located in Reserve, Louisiana, this new industrial cleaning operating unit will continue to work with some of the top refining and petrochemical customers along the Gulf Coast. We expect this acquisition to double our industrial cleaning services revenue and expand our geographic reach. The addition of Pelichem to our family strengthens our ability to provide a more complete range of services to new and existing clients. Our ability to provide more end-to-end industrial cleaning, maintenance and turnaround services is a unique differentiator for Matrix Service and a key component of our growth in this segment. We continue to look for additional acquisitions of this nature throughout our footprint in North America. Lastly, results to our Industrial segment highlight the startup nature of the business that it comprise. While profitability remains impacted by startup costs related to entry into the bulk material handling and mining and minerals markets, we feel the business is gaining traction and a positive reputation. Backlog of $34.5 million is nearly double from what was reported last quarter. We are already working for some of the top names in these markets. And as backlog continues to grow, profitability will improve. We anticipate this segment to meet our expectations for the fiscal year. These businesses remain a key part of our 5-year strategy, and our efforts to build them organically are beginning to show results. I'll now turn the call back to Kevin to discuss the details of our financial performance. Kevin?