Knife River reports Q3 EPS $2.60, consensus $2.81

Reports Q3 revenue $1.1B, consensus $1.12B.”Our third quarter results demonstrate the fundamental strength of our business and the benefits of our segment diversity,” said Knife River (KNF) President and CEO Brian Gray. “We achieved record quarterly revenue, gross profit and net income, and adjusted EBITDA was near our record from the third quarter of 2023. Our geographic segments contributed record EBITDA of $224.6 million for the quarter, a combined 6 percent increase year-over-year across the Pacific, Northwest, Mountain and Central segments, which helped us overcome the anticipated EBITDA reduction at our Energy Services segment.” “We are also excited to announce that we have closed on additional acquisitions, which we expect to generate an attractive financial return,” Gray said. “Through Nov. 2, 2024, we have deployed $129.3 million of capital on six acquisitions, with a focus on aggregate reserves and construction materials. Purchase multiples were between 6-8 times projected 2025 EBITDA.” “Recent acquisitions include aggregate-specific purchases in key markets, including the assets of Frank B. Marks & Son in Northern California, Rock Products Manufacturing in Central Oregon and a sand reserve in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,” Gray said. “Also, on Nov. 2, we purchased the business of Albina Asphalt. Based in Vancouver, Washington, Albina will expand the footprint of our high-margin liquid asphalt materials product line, with terminals in our most profitable geographic segment. While we incurred more corporate development costs during the quarter related to increased acquisition activity, we believe these investments will enhance our long-term profitability. We are excited to have a full pipeline of additional acquisition opportunities in front of us.” “Growth is a key component of our ‘Competitive EDGE’ strategy, and so are pricing optimization, cost control and continuous improvements,” Gray said. “During the quarter, our teams continued to optimize the pricing of our construction materials, control production costs through our Process Improvement Teams and realize higher margins on our contracting services. Our ‘EDGE’ strategy guides our decisions on quality of work over quantity of work.”