Investor Relations
Dec 22, 2024 7:21 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO, CA June 7, 2005 ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM), a leading facility services contractor in the United States, today reported income from continuing operations for the second quarter of fiscal 2005 was $10.1 million ($0.20 per diluted share), up 39.1%, compared to $7.3 million ($0.15 per diluted share) for the prior year second quarter. Sales and other income for the second quarter of fiscal 2005 were $639.6 million, up 10.1% from $580.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2004. Net income, which includes income from discontinued operations, was $10.5 million ($0.20 per diluted share) for the second quarter of fiscal 2005, up 43.2% compared to $7.3 million ($0.15 per diluted share) for the prior year second quarter. On June 2, 2005, the Company completed the sale of substantially all of the operating assets of its wholly owned subsidiary, CommAir Mechanical Services, which was included in discontinued operations. The Company will realize a pre-tax gain from the sale of CommAir Mechanical Services of approximately $21.0 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2005.
"We're very pleased with the performance of our business," commented Henrik Slipsager, ABM's president and chief executive officer. "Quarterly sales reached an all-time high for a second quarter and, exclusive of one-time items, net income was in line with previous guidance, despite higher costs associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance."
Slipsager continued, "The Company's sales grew due to contributions from acquisitions, new customers in all operating segments, and an expansion of services with existing Janitorial and Engineering customers. Our Parking, Security, Engineering and Lighting businesses posted double-digit growth in operating profits. Parking benefited from new contracts, improvement at airport locations due to increased air traffic across the country, and the termination of unprofitable contracts. Profit contributions from SSA, Sentinel, and Amguard acquisitions enabled Security to achieve year-over-year growth of 37.9% despite absorbing a pre-tax charge of $0.4 million for bad debt."
Quarterly income from continuing operations include a number of one-time items. As previously announced by the Company, the Janitorial operation recognized a $6.3 million pre-tax charge, or $3.8 million ($0.08 per diluted share) after-tax, for amounts awarded to the plaintiff in a discrimination lawsuit following the Company's loss on appeal. The Company has further appealed to the Washington Supreme Court. Substantially offsetting this charge, the Company recognized a $2.7 million ($0.05 per diluted share) income tax benefit from the settlement of prior year state tax audits and recorded a $1.2 million pre-tax gain, or $0.7 million ($0.01 per diluted share) after-tax, related to indemnity payments received on the Company's World Trade Center insurance.
The second quarter of fiscal 2005 had one fewer workday than the comparable period in fiscal 2004, resulting in an after-tax benefit of $1.4 million ($0.03 per diluted share) on contracts with variable labor cost but fixed monthly pricing. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, workdays were the same as the comparable prior year period.
The Company's income from continuing operations during the first six months of fiscal 2005 was $18.2 million ($0.36 per diluted share), up 35.4%, compared to $13.4 million ($0.28 per diluted share) for the same period last year. Sales and other income for the six months ended April 30, 2005 were $1.28 billion, up 11.8%, compared to $1.14 billion for the comparable period last year. Net income, which includes income from discontinued operations, was $18.4 million ($0.36 per diluted share) up 34.8% compared to $13.7 million ($0.28 per diluted share) for the first half of 2004.
"ABM is focusing its financial and management resources on businesses that contribute to our position as a leader in the facility services industry," Mr. Slipsager continued. "Our financial position remains very strong. At the end of the second quarter, excluding the proceeds from the CommAir sale, the Company had over $52 million in cash and cash equivalents, approximately $246 million in working capital and no debt giving us the base to expand our existing operations by continuing to execute ABM's acquisition strategy."
Mr. Slipsager concluded, "Given the current economic climate, our operations are expected to continue to generally perform at or above our earlier forecasts. The time and costs associated with the initial certification of internal controls, as required by Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, is higher than anticipated. Reflecting continued operational strength and the previously mentioned third-quarter gain related to the sale of CommAir, we are increasing our fiscal 2005 guidance for net income to $1.17 to $1.23 per diluted share."
CONFERENCE CALL
Wednesday morning, June 8, 2005 at 6:00 a.m. (PDT), ABM will host a live webcast of remarks by President & Chief Executive Officer Henrik C. Slipsager, and Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer George B. Sundby. A webcast of the conference call will be accessible at www.irconnect.com/primecast/05/q2/abm_2q2005.html. 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 one year. 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 877/440-9648 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 800/642-1687, and then entering ID # 6676327.
About ABM Industries
ABM Industries Incorporated is among the largest facility services contractors listed on the New York Stock Exchange. With fiscal 2004 revenues in excess of $2.4 billion and more than 73,000 employees, ABM provides janitorial, parking, security, engineering and lighting services for thousands of commercial, industrial, institutional and retail facilities in hundreds of cities across the United States and British Columbia, Canada. The ABM Family of Services includes ABM Janitorial; Ampco System Parking; ABM Security, which includes American Commercial Security (ACSS) and Security Services of America (SSA); ABM Facility Services; ABM Engineering; and Amtech Lighting 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 plans and assumptions. Any number of factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (1) acquisition activity slows or is unsuccessful; (2) an increase in costs that the Company cannot pass on to customers; (3) intense competition that lowers revenue or reduces margins; (4) a change in actuarial analysis that causes an unanticipated change in insurance reserves; (5) a change in the frequency or severity of claims against the Company, a deterioration in claims management, or the cancellation or non-renewal of the Company's primary insurance policies; (6) a decline in commercial office building occupancy rates lowers sales and profitability; (7) financial difficulties or bankruptcy of a major customer; (8) major labor disputes that disrupt business; (9) the loss of long-term customers; (10) weakness in airline travel and the hospitality industry that affects the results of the Company's Parking segment; (11) low levels of capital investments by customers that impacts project sales of the Lighting segment; (12) the Company's significant accounting and other control costs increase; (13) an adverse internal control evaluation under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act affects ABM's stock price; and (14) other issues and uncertainties that may include: labor shortages that adversely affect the Company's ability to employ entry level personnel, a reduction or revocation of the Company's line of credit that increases interest expense and the cost of capital, legislation or other governmental action that detrimentally impacts the Company's expenses or reduces sales by adversely affecting the Company's customers such as state or locally mandated healthcare benefits, new accounting pronouncements or changes in accounting policies, impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, the resignation, termination, death or disability of one or more of the Company's key executives that adversely affects customer retention or day-to-day management of the Company, and inclement weather that disrupts the Company in providing 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 and in other reports it files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Minimum 15 minutes delayed. Source: LSEG