SNC-Lavalin Group announces its results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015. For Q4 2015, reported IFRS net income was $49.2 million, or $0.33 per diluted share.
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This compares with a net income of $1,146.6 million, or $7.51 per diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2014. The Q4 2014 included a net gain of $1,320.7 million, or $8.65 per diluted share, on the disposal of our interest in AltaLink.
Adjusted net income from E&C for Q4 2015 increased to $66.1 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, compared with $22.7 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2014. The increase was mainly due to improved Segment EBIT from all segments, compared to Q4 2014.
Total E&C revenues for the year ended December 31, 2015 increased by 28% to $9.4 billion, as a result of increases in the Oil & Gas segment with incremental revenue generated by Kentz, and in the Power segment, partially offset by a decrease in the Infrastructure & Construction and the Operations & Maintenance sub-segments, as well as a decrease in Mining & Metallurgy.
The company maintained a backlog at the end of December 2015 totalling $12 billion, which is representative of our broad offering and the diversified nature of our company and market segments.
New awards for the quarter were $1.9 billion, including $0.9 billion in Oil & Gas and $0.4 billion in Infrastructure. Note that the December 2015 backlog excludes SNC-Lavalin’s share of the recently awarded $2.75 billion contract for the execution phase of a nuclear refurbishment project in Canada.
It also excludes the recently awarded contract for developing the infrastructure and processing facilities for a gas field in the Middle East with an approximate value of $800 million. These two contracts will be added to the Power and the Oil & Gas segment backlogs, respectively, in the first quarter of 2016.
SNC-Lavalin’s cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year was $1.6 billion, and this balance sheet resilience remains an important differentiator with our key clients.
During the year, the company repurchased approximately 2.8 million of its common shares for $121.8 million under its Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB), and paid $150.9 million in dividends to its shareholders.
In 2015, the company successfully completed its STEP Change program. This program has delivered increased competitiveness and agility, as well as identifying a significant number of cost reduction initiatives. It has also aligned our organization with market conditions.
For the year ended December 31, 2015, the company recorded a total of $87.7 million after taxes ($116.4 million before taxes) of charges relating to its restructuring and right-sizing plan, including the STEP Change, which is $7 million after taxes less than previously announced.
The company will continue to take additional measures throughout the year, if required, to ensure we achieve its target of delivering an annualised adjusted E&C EBITDA( margin of 7% in 2017. ■