- Delivered continued accelerating organic NSR growth and margin expansion
- Design backlog increased by 9% to a record high, driven by a 1.3 book-to-burn ratio and continued near-record win rate
- Strong cash flow enabled the execution of the Company’s returns-focused capital allocation policy
- Reiterated all financial guidance for fiscal 2023 and all long-term 2024 financial targets
DALLAS — (BUSINESS WIRE) — February 6, 2023 — AECOM (NYSE: ACM), the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, today reported first quarter fiscal 2023 results.
|
First Quarter Fiscal 2023 |
|||
(from Continuing Operations;
|
As Reported |
Adjusted1
|
As Reported
|
Adjusted
|
Revenue |
$3,382 |
-- |
4% |
-- |
Net Service Revenue (NSR)2 |
-- |
$1,593 |
-- |
8% |
Operating Income |
$152 |
$194 |
(10%) |
10% |
Segment Operating Margin3 (NSR) |
-- |
14.0% |
-- |
+40 bps |
Net Income |
$88 |
$120 |
(26%) |
(7%) |
EPS (Fully Diluted) |
$0.62 |
$0.86 |
(23%) |
(3%) |
EBITDA4 |
-- |
$224 |
-- |
8% |
Operating Cash Flow |
$120 |
-- |
(38%) |
-- |
Free Cash Flow5 |
-- |
$84 |
-- |
(49%) |
First Quarter Fiscal 2023 Highlights
- Revenue increased 4% to $3.4 billion, operating income decreased 10% to $152 million, the operating margin decreased 70 basis points to 4.5%, net income decreased 26% to $88 million and diluted earnings per share decreased 23% to $0.62.
- Organic net service revenue2 growth accelerated to 8% and included 9% growth in the design business, which was driven by accelerating growth in the Americas and continued strong growth in International markets.
-
The design business had a 1.3 book-to-burn ratio6 and design backlog increased by 9%7 to a record high, including strong growth in both the Americas and International markets.
- The Company’s pipeline of opportunities expanded at an even faster rate than backlog and NSR, including nearly 30% growth in proposals and submitted bids, which is up from 20% growth in the prior quarter and is a strong leading indicator of continued backlog and NSR growth.
-
The segment adjusted1 operating margin3 increased by nearly 40 basis points to 14.0%, setting a new high for a first quarter.
- This performance reflects strong execution and accelerated investments to deliver on a growing pipeline of opportunities.
-
Adjusted1 EBITDA4 of $224 million and adjusted1 EPS of $0.86 were consistent with expectations and included strong underlying operational growth.
- Adjusting for the lower first quarter tax rate in the prior year, adjusted EPS increased by 8% and 13% on a constant-currency basis.
Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and Capital Allocation Update
- Operating cash flow was $120 million and free cash flow 5 was $84 million.
-
The Company’s capital allocation policy is built on the continued intent to return substantially all available cash flow to stockholders through share repurchases and dividends.
- The Company executed additional share repurchases in the quarter and has now repurchased approximately $1.5 billion of stock since September 2020 when share repurchases commenced, which represents more than 16% of shares outstanding.
- As part of its quarterly dividend program, the Company paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share in January, which marked a 20% increase over the prior quarterly dividend and reflected the Company’s commitment to increasing its quarterly dividend by a double-digit percentage annually.
