Bird Construction reports record Q4 profit; will increase dividend 5.5%

TORONTO – Bird Construction Inc. (TSX:BDT) has reported record fourth-quarter revenue and profits and says it is raising its monthly dividend by 5.5 per cent.

The news initially gave the Toronto-based industrial, commercial and general contractor a nice bump on the Toronto Stock Exchange before the issue turned lower later in the day and closed down two cents at $13.35.

The company had reported after markets closed Tuesday that it earned net income of $24.7 million or 58 cents per share on revenue of $420.3 million in the period ended Dec. 31.

That was almost double net income of $12.9 million or 30 cents per share on revenue of $332 million in the same 2011 period.

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Adjusted net income for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2012 was $25.6 million, compared with $14.2 million in 2011

For all of 2012, the company reported its second-highest annual net income – $58.2 million or $1.38 per share on record construction revenue of $1.45 billion.

That compared with $29.6 million or 70 cents per share on construction revenue of $974.5 million in 2011.

“The financial performance in the last three months of 2012 at both our traditional Bird operations and our O’Connell subsidiary allowed us to continue with the momentum established in the previous two quarters of 2012,” president and CEO Tim Talbott said in remarks accompanying the results.

“We enter 2013 with a backlog of approximately $1.1 billion,” Talbott said, adding that “there are a number of opportunities ahead of the company which will contribute to our longer-term prospects.”

However, he cautioned that while Bird was confident in its longer-term prospects “we do not believe that the 2012 results will be replicated in 2013” based on the level of profitability for its current backlog and expected market conditions in 2013.

The increase in the monthly dividend is to 6.33 cents per share from six cents, payable April 19 to shareholders of record March 29. The board has also given approval for the same dividend to be paid May 20 to shareholders of record on April 30.