WSP Global beat earnings expectations last quarter, increasing profits nearly 9% year over year and forecasting a similar rise in adjusted profit for 2024.
The Montreal engineering company’s organic growth generated net profit attributable to shareholders of 130.6 million in the fourth quarter, compared to 120.0 million a year earlier.
“As we continue to move forward and realize our ambitions, we enter the final year of our strategic cycle with confidence fueled by healthy market conditions and sustained growth opportunities,” said the President. and WSP CEO Alexandre L’Heureux on Thursday, referring to the company’s three-year growth plan.
This plan included the US1.81 billion acquisition of the environment and infrastructure business of the UK-based John Wood Group in September 2022. Since then, the company has acquired four other engineering companies located on three continents and with approximately 1,100 employees, bringing WSP’s workforce to 66,500.
The Montreal company pushed its order intake for the year to a record level of 15.12 billion, thus allowing the creation of an order book of 14.1 billion as of December 31, 2023, which corresponds to an increase by 8.2% during the financial year.
WSP also forecasts net revenues of 11.2 billion to 11.7 billion this year, an increase of between 3 and 7 percent.
Mr. L’Heureux said organic revenue growth in the range of 5% in the Canadian and U.S. businesses would fuel the overall rise as the company continues to benefit from spending triggered by the U.S. government’s tax bill. jobs and investment in infrastructure of US 1,200 billion adopted in November 2021.
“We continue to see positive momentum coming from the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” Mr. L’Heureux told analysts during a conference call.
“The biggest opportunities for this bill and other stimulus programs globally lie in roads, bridges and large transportation projects,” a segment that has seen a surge in organic revenue l last year, he said.
The company has also diversified its design and engineering services to cater to “hyper-growth sectors” including healthcare, hospitality, data centers and manufacturing, Mr. The happy one.
“We are ensuring the sustainability of WSP to support our growth ambitions,” he said.
The company forecast adjusted profit of between 2.05 billion and 2.13 billion this year, an expected increase of 7 to 11%.
On Wednesday evening, WSP said its revenue for the quarter ended December 31 was 3.7 billion, up from 3.6 billion in the same three months in 2022.
On an adjusted basis, earnings rose to $1.99 per share, up from $1.68 per share a year earlier. That result also beat analysts’ expectations of $1.90 per share, according to financial markets data firm Refintiiv.
Profit for the full financial year increased 27% to 550.0 million, from 431.8 million in 2022. Revenue also increased 21% to 14.4 billion, from 11.9 billion one year earlier.