MONTREAL – SNC-Lavalin swung to a $72.7-million loss in the third-quarter, just weeks after warning that its net income for the full year would drop dramatically due to money-losing legacy contracts, weak mining markets and a European restructuring charge.
The Montreal-based engineering giant lost 48 cents per share for the period ended Sept. 30, one penny worse than analyst forecasts.
SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) earned $114.1 million or 75 cents per share a year ago.
Excluding higher profits from its concessions assets, SNC’s core operations lost $128.4 million, compared to an $83.1 million profit in the year prior. Proceeds from its investments in Highway 407, AltaLink and other concessions investments nearly doubled to $55.7 million, from $30.9 million in the 2012 quarter.
Revenues in the quarter were down about $300 million to $1.94 billion, while its order backlog was $9 billion, compared to $10.1 billion at the end of December 2012.
The company said the weaker quarterly results reflected an operating loss in its infrastructure and environment segment, mainly due to cost reforecasts, particularly in the hospital and road sectors, plus a lower contribution from its power operations due to projects, including one in North Africa.
It recorded a $68.2 million restructuring charge and goodwill impairment in the quarter related to its European reorganization.
