Granite Q3 - positive comments on materials, 6-month outlook "We are encouraged with overall margin improvement in the business, driven by a continued rebound in our Construction Materials business," said James H. Roberts, President and CEO of Granite Construction Incorporated.
"As we have discussed over the past few years, our materials business acts as a leading indicator of changes in the overall economic environment. This positive change is encouraging not only for our materials business, but it also reflects increased opportunities for our other business lines," Roberts said.
Construction Materials
- Construction Materials revenue increased 12.1 percent to $93.2 million, compared with $83.2 million last year. The revenue increase was attributable to improved volumes related to private sector activity and mixed trends in public markets.
- Gross profit margin for the quarter was 13.1 percent, compared with 8.8 percent in 2013. Gross profit performance was driven by improved volumes and pricing, along with operational efficiencies.
Outlook and Guidance
"A new long-term highway bill is essential to ensure longer term funding can meet the increasing demand for critical infrastructure projects across the country. We recently experienced delays in project awards and lettings. The delays were an unanticipated headwind in 2014, and will result in a benefit to our business in 2015, highlighting how swiftly current federal funding uncertainty impacts the timing of public sector work," Roberts continued.
"Across the country, our business units are extremely busy executing on our record backlog," Roberts said. "We are focused on leveraging this momentum as we look to finish strongly in 2014. This late-year activity, coupled with opportunities for resolution of outstanding issues, provides us with an opportunity for strong performance in the fourth quarter and in early 2015."