Alan Palmer
Analyst · Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Please proceed. And we will move on to our next question, which comes from the line of Adam Thalhimer with Thompson, Davis. Please proceed with your question
Thank you, Ned. And good morning everyone. I want to start by quickly highlighting our key performance metrics in the first quarter. From a financial standpoint, as Charles mentioned, year-over-year growth in the first quarter was driven by improved performance in our existing markets and by recent strategic acquisitions in Florida and Alabama. Revenue for the quarter increased to $175.3 million, up $21 million over the same quarter last year. Organic revenue growth was approximately $7.9 million and acquisitive revenue growth was approximately $13.1 million, attributable to acquisitions completed subsequent to the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Gross profit increased to $23.8 million, up approximately $2.6 million over the same period last year, primarily due to higher revenue and a higher margin. Net income was $5.5 million, up from $5.2 million compared to the same quarter last year. Earnings per share were $0.11 compared to $0.10 per share last year. Note that interest expense declined approximately $235,000 compared to the same quarter last year due to a decrease in the average interest rate as a result of amending our credit agreement in June 2019. Our effective tax rate was 19.5% compared to 24.3% for the same period last year. The lower effective tax rate was due to a discrete tax reduction of $363,000 in the quarter related to an amended state income tax return. We expect our effective tax rate for the remainder of the fiscal year to be approximately 25.2%. Adjusted EBITDA increased approximately $2.5 million to $17.2 million resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.8%, compared to 9.5% in the first quarter last year. The higher adjusted EBITDA was a combination of higher gross profit and depreciation, depletion and amortization, partially offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses were $17.1 million in the first quarter of 2020 compared to last year of $14.4 million. The $2.7 million increase was primarily the result of a $1.4 million increase in management personnel, payroll and benefits, a $797,000 increase attributable to acquisitions completed subsequent to December 31, 2018, and a $395,000 increase in stock compensation expense. Turning now to the balance sheet. At December 31, 2019 we had $49.4 million of cash and $13.6 million of availability under our $30 million revolving credit facility after deducting outstanding letters of credit. Our debt to trailing 12 months’ EBITDA ratio was less than one time at [indiscernible]. We have a very strong balance sheet to support our growth opportunities. Cash provided by operating activities was $1.5 million from three months ended December 31, 2019, compared to $1.2 million for three months ended into December 31, 2018. CapEx in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 was $23.6 million, excluding approximately $11.5 million to purchase certain equipment that was previously subject to operating laces, our CapEx was $12.1 million in the first quarter compared to $7.4 million in the same quarter last year. For fiscal 2020, we expect our capital expenditures to be in the range of $44 million to $47 million, excluding the $11.5 million purchase of equipment that was previously subject to operating leases. Project backlog at December 31, 2019 was $539.1 million compared to $531.6 million at September 30, 2019 and $572 million at December 31, 2018. Of our current $539 million in backlog, approximately 75% or $403 million is expected to be completed during the reminder of our fiscal year. We maintain a construction backlog composed primarily of recurring maintenance-related projects of the type that we prefer, and we continue to see opportunities to bid on these projects in our markets. Keep in mind that we focus on our backlog in 33 distinct markets, meaning we want to have six to nine months of backlog in our markets. As these market-specific backlogs are aggregated for our company-wide backlog, while the overall amount can fluctuate quarter-over-quarter based on several large projects either being added or completed, we focus on the overall health of backlog in terms of the next 12 months in each specific market. We also maintained a disciplined approach to strategically focus on recurring repair and maintenance projects. Historically, our backlog builds during our second and third quarters as more of these projects are typically let in February through May. We are maintaining our full year outlook for fiscal 2020 based on our historical experience of generating approximately 40% of our revenue in the first half of the fiscal year and approximately 60% during the second half. Our fiscal year 2020 outlook with regard to revenue, net income and adjusted EBITDA are as follows: revenue of $830 million to $870 million compared to $783.2 million in fiscal year 2019; net income of $39 million to $44 million compared to $43.1 million in fiscal year 2019; and adjusted EBITDA of $94 million to $102 million compared to $92.3 million in fiscal year 2019. In summary, we are pleased with our first quarter results, and we continue to see positive market trends and project demand in fiscal 2020. With that, we’ll now take questions. Operator?