Don R. Madison
Analyst · John Franzreb with Sidoti & Co
Thank you, Karen and good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review our fiscal 2012 first quarter results. I will be handling today's call. Tom recently had knee replacement surgery and will be out of the office for a few weeks. He is at home recovering and undergoing normal physical therapy. He is doing well and is expected to be back in the office in a couple of weeks.
I will begin by making some initial comments on the quarter and current market activity and then I will cover the financial details and open the call up to your questions. There has been little change in our key markets since our fourth quarter call 2 months ago. As we indicated then, we continue to anticipate a fairly competitive market environment throughout 2012. Despite these difficult market conditions, we generated strong first quarter orders of $189 million and our backlog increased to $474 million.
Our first quarter earnings results were disappointing. The loss was primarily due to project execution challenges in Canada, which we discussed on our last 2 conference calls. What was unexpected this quarter was the difficulty in negotiating change orders on a large project to cover the cost of customer-triggered schedule delays. Regarding our key markets, activity in the oil and gas sector continues to be solid. There are indications of opportunities and signs of activity in other sectors, but not enough to call a trend.
We have had some recent successes in the transit market and we are seeing some spotty activity in the utility sector. While most quotation activity continues to be in support of oil and gas projects, we believe there is pent-up demand in other markets. While substantial improvement in these markets will not likely occur until overall economic activity strengthens, we are encouraged by recent requests for proposals.
Now let me review our financial performance for the quarter. Revenues were $157.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, an increase of $33 million or 26% compared to the first quarter of 2011. This increase in revenues is a result of a strong backlog of orders of which we had coming into the year.
Gross profit as a percentage of revenues was 12.9% in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, compared to 20.7% in the first quarter of 2011. This decrease in gross profit resulted primarily from the project execution challenges in Canada as we previously discussed. In addition, we continue to experience low margins due to competitive price pressures that existed during the period in which the orders were awarded.
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by approximately $1.2 million to $19.8 million in the first quarter, compared to the first quarter last year. This decrease is primarily due to the mix of sales during the quarter, which resulted in lower sales commission expenses. Consolidated SG&A expenses decreased to 12.6% of revenues in the first quarter compared to 16.8% of revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, primarily as a result of the increase in revenues.
Amortization expense was $703,000 a decrease of $464,000 compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2011. This decrease is primarily the result of the decrease in tangible assets following the impairment charge recorded last year.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2012, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $1.6 million, which reflects the estimated tax liability on our non-Canadian earnings. First quarter losses incurred at our Canadian operations have not been tax effective. We reported a net loss of $1.7 million or $0.15 per share in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, compared to net income of $2.4 million or $0.21 per diluted share in the first quarter of fiscal 2011.
As of December 31, 2011, our order backlog was $474 million, an increase of $31 million over the previous quarter, and $130 million compared to a year ago. New orders were $189 million in the first quarter, compared to $125 million in the prior quarter, but roughly equivalent to the first quarter of last year.
For the quarter, cash used by operating activities totaled $9.9 million and investments in property, plant and equipment totaled $9.4 million. At December 31, 2011, we had cash and cash equivalents of $104 million, compared to $124 million at September 30, 2011. Long-term debt and capital lease obligations, including current maturities, totaled $4.8 million.
Looking ahead, based on our backlog, current business conditions, as well as additional cost incurred on a certain large project in the first quarter, we expect full year fiscal 2012 revenues to range between $625 million and $675 million, and full year earnings to range between $1 and $1.25 per diluted share. Our earnings outlook does not include an estimate of recoverable costs that the company will pursue.
Before I take your questions, I would like to make a few closing comments. First, regarding our Canadian operations. Most of our oil and gas customers have operations all over the world, and Western Canada, with its large reserves, is strategic to our ability to serve these customers. Many of our existing customers have projects in Canada, and more are planned. We are committed to this strategic market. Changes have been made and we continue to strengthen the organization and improve business processes.
The size and the quality of our Canadian backlog continues to improve. At this point, there is one sizeable project in process that is creating extraordinary challenges. We are currently scheduled to complete this job in March. However, we have experienced delays in receiving customer supply materials and documentation, so additional delays could be incurred. While we have received change orders in this project, as this project nears completion, change order negotiations have become increasingly difficult. Yet, we continue to incur additional cost. We will pursue recovery of these additional costs through change orders, or if necessary, through the claims process included in the contract.
In conclusion, Powell's overall business is subject to the market, normal market capital investment cycles. We have the flexibility to adapt quickly to market forces and we are committed to providing the products and solutions our customers demand. We will continue to provide the technical insight and superior service that our customers rely upon and expect.
In closing, our orders have grown during the quarter and our backlog is increasing. Revenues are up and we expect improved earnings in the coming quarters. At this point, I will be happy to take your questions.