NEW YORK, Mar 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM):

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) today announced revenues for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 of $869.9 million compared to first quarter of fiscal year 2009 revenues of $887.5 million. Net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $12.8 million, a 10.1% decrease from $14.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009. Net income per diluted share for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 decreased 14.3% to $0.24 compared to first quarter of fiscal year 2009 net income per diluted share of $0.28. Net income for the first quarter of 2010 included a $1.2 million after-tax expense ($0.03 per diluted share) from items impacting comparability compared to a net gain of $1.8 million ($0.04 per diluted share) from items impacting comparability in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, which included a $5.8 million after-tax benefit from a settlement with a former third-party administrator of workers' compensation claims.

"The Company's financial results essentially met our expectations for the first quarter of the fiscal year," said Henrik Slipsager, president and chief executive officer, ABM Industries Incorporated. "We are encouraged that revenues increased sequentially, our sales pipeline remains strong and client retention is improving compared to the first half of fiscal 2009 - all pointing to an improving sales outlook.

"We are successfully executing our operating strategies around cost controls and cash and expense management. We decreased total expenses by nearly 2% in the first quarter, and reduced our SG&A expenses by 12% year-over-year. SG&A reductions were driven by lower information technology costs as we conclude the upgrade of our enterprise systems and continued aggressive cost controls measures by the Janitorial Division. Operating cash flow remains on plan for the year. Our rigorous focus on managing job profitability helped us achieve 8% increases in both adjusted income and adjusted EBITDA year-over-year.

"Operating profit for our divisions increased nearly 6%. Engineering had a very strong first quarter, with revenues growing nearly 16%, operating profit increasing 7% and a robust sales pipeline building, particularly for ABM Energy Services. Parking increased operating profit by 21% and Janitorial by nearly 6%. We also continue to meet our clients' demand for an environmentally sustainable approach to facility services as we surpassed more than 200 million square feet of space operating under ABM Janitorial's industry-leading green cleaning program, including more than 50 million square feet of space that is LEED(R)-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council."

Income from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $12.8 million ($0.24 per diluted share) compared to $14.8 million ($0.29 per diluted share) in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items impacting comparability, income from continuing operations increased to $14.0 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010. This compares to income from continuing operations (excluding items impacting comparability) of $13.0 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.

The Company's adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and excluding discontinued operations and items impacting comparability) for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $32.7 million compared to $30.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.

Slipsager continued: "During last year's recession, we took a series of actions to navigate a difficult economy and position the Company for future growth. We see the signs of progress as revenue trends are moving in the right direction, even with extended sales cycles. While we anticipated increases in state unemployment insurance rates, the states raised these even beyond our projections, which impacted first quarter results by $0.01 to $0.02 cents per diluted share and will have greater impact in the second quarter. We are taking the appropriate action across the Company to mitigate the effect of these taxes going forward. Our existing sales pipeline, coupled with an improving economy, should lead to top line growth year-over-year in the second half of fiscal 2010, and we will continue our aggressive measures to generate bottom line savings by successfully executing our operating strategies."

The Company also announced that the Board of Directors has declared a second quarter cash dividend of $0.135 per common share payable on May 3, 2010 to stockholders of record on April 8, 2010. This will be ABM's 176^th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.

Guidance

The Company reiterates its estimates that full fiscal year 2010 income from continuing operations per diluted share will be in the range of $1.25 to $1.35 and adjusted income from continuing operations per diluted share, for the same period, will be in the range of $1.35 to $1.45. For comparison purposes, the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 has one additional work day compared to the year-ago quarter.

Conference Call

On Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. (EST), ABM will host a live webcast of remarks by President and Chief Executive Officer Henrik Slipsager and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer James Lusk.

The webcast will be accessible at: http://investor.abm.com/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=78298

Listeners are asked to be online at least 15 minutes early to register, as well as to download and install any complimentary audio software that might be required.

Following the call, the webcast will be available at this URL for a period of 90 days.

In addition to the webcast, a limited number of toll-free telephone lines will also be available for listeners who are among the first to call 888-213-3754 within 15 minutes before the event. Telephonic replays will be accessible during the period from two hours to seven days after the call by dialing 888-203-1112 and then entering ID #4391493.

Conference Call Presentation

In connection with the conference call to discuss earnings (see above), a slide presentation related to earnings and operations will be available at the Company's website at www.abm.com, and can be accessed through the Investor Relations portion of ABM's website by clicking on the "Presentations" tab.

About ABM Industries Incorporated

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM), which operates through its subsidiaries (collectively "ABM"), is the leading provider of facility services in the United States. With fiscal 2009 revenues of approximately $3.5 billion and approximately 91,000 employees, ABM provides janitorial, facility, engineering, parking and security services for thousands of commercial, industrial, institutional and retail facilities across the United States, Puerto Rico, and British Columbia, Canada. ABM's business services include ABM Janitorial Services, ABM Facility Services, ABM Engineering Services, Ampco System Parking and ABM Security Services.

Cautionary Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements that set forth management's anticipated results based on management's current plans and assumptions. In addition, the financial results reported in this release continue to be subject to adjustment until filing of the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2010. Any number of factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include but are not limited to the following: (1) risks relating to our acquisition strategy may adversely impact our results of operations; (2) intense competition can constrain our ability to gain business, as well as our profitability; (3) we are subject to volatility associated with high deductibles for certain insurable risks; (4) an increase in costs that we cannot pass on to clients could affect our profitability; (5) we provide our services pursuant to agreements which are cancelable by either party upon 30 to 60 days' notice; (6) our success depends on our ability to preserve our long-term relationships with clients; (7) our transition to a shared services function could create disruption in functions affected; (8) we incur significant accounting and other control costs that reduce profitability; (9) a decline in commercial office building occupancy and rental rates could affect our revenues and profitability; (10) deterioration in economic conditions in general could further reduce the demand for facility services and, as a result, reduce our earnings and adversely affect our financial condition; (11) the financial difficulties or bankruptcy of one or more of our major clients could adversely affect results; (12) our ability to operate and pay our debt obligations depends upon our access to cash; (13) because ABM conducts business operations through operating subsidiaries, we depend on those entities to generate the funds necessary to meet financial obligations; (14) certain future declines or fluctuations in the fair value of our investments in auction rate securities that are deemed other-than-temporarily impaired could negatively impact our earnings; (15) uncertainty in the credit markets and the financial services industry may impact our ability to collect receivables on a timely basis and may negatively impact our cash flow; (16) any future increase in the level of debt or in interest rates can affect our results of operations; (17) an impairment charge could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations; (18) we are defendants in several class and representative actions or other lawsuits alleging various claims that could cause us to incur substantial liabilities; (19) since we are an attractive employer for recent émigrés to this country and many of our jobs are filled by such, changes in immigration laws or enforcement actions or investigations under such laws could significantly adversely affect our labor force, operations and financial results and our reputation; (20) labor disputes could lead to loss of revenues or expense variations; (21) we participate in multi-employer defined benefit plans which could result in substantial liabilities being incurred; and (22) natural disasters or acts of terrorism could disrupt our services . Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties the Company faces is contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2009 and in other reports we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

To supplement ABM's consolidated financial information, the Company has presented income from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal years 2010 and 2009 and guidance for fiscal year 2010, as adjusted for items impacting comparability. These adjustments have been made with the intent of providing financial measures that give management and investors a better understanding of the underlying operational results and trends and ABM's marketplace performance. In addition, the Company has presented earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and excluding discontinued operations and items impacting comparability (adjusted EBITDA) for the first quarter of fiscal years 2010 and 2009. Adjusted EBITDA is among the indicators management uses as a basis for planning and forecasting future periods. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. (See accompanying financial tables for supplemental financial data and corresponding reconciliations to certain GAAP financial measures.)

SOURCE: ABM Industries Incorporated

ABM Industries Incorporated
Investors & Analysts:
David Farwell
212-297-9792
dfarwell@abm.com
or
Media:
Tony Mitchell
212-297-9828
tony.mitchell@abm.com

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