stockwatch.com Globe says Bird Construction thrives on acquisitions
2024-02-13 08:52 ET - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Bird Construction has successfully completed its turnaround. Guest columnist Philip MacKellar writes that in 2020, Bird bought competitor Stuart Olson on the cheap, as it flirted with bankruptcy. The purchase turned out to be a steal as it allowed Bird to significantly expand its backlog of projects, push into more stable businesses with recurring revenue streams and cut duplicative costs. Since 2020, the organization has continued buying peers, though none of them have had the same scale or impact as the Stuart Olson acquisition. Fast forward to 2023, and the stock had a great year. The ticker rallied 77.3 per cent and the monthly dividend was increased to 3.6 cents from 3.3 cents. In the third quarter, results showed strong year-over-year expansion, which exceeded consensus analyst estimates and even management's forecasts. Sales grew to $783.8-million from $688.2-million and the pending backlog of projects increased to $3.3-billion from $2.1-billion. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) jumped to 6.3 per cent from 4.7 per cent, earnings per share ballooned to 54 cents from 27 cents, and the dividend payout ratio was 20 per cent.