L.B. Foster reports Q3 EPS $3.27 vs 5c last year

Reports Q3 revenue $119.322M vs $131.065M last year. John Kasel, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented “As expected, we started the second half of the year with a strong quarter of profitability expansion and cash generation. These results are a clear indication that our strategy to transform the profitability profile of our business portfolio remains on track. While sales were down 5.4% year over year, gross margins improved to 23.8%, the highest level we’ve seen in over 10 years. Net income in the quarter was $35.9 million and reflected a $30.0 million benefit as we released our tax valuation allowance in line with the improving profitability trends and outlook, and adjusted EBITDA grew 16.4% to $12.3 million. We also had an exceptional cash generation quarter, with cash provided by operations totaling $24.7 million, up from $18.6 million last year. The operating cash was deployed to fund $3.1 million in capital programs supporting our growth initiatives and $2.6 million to repurchase 126,688 common shares in the quarter. This level of repurchases represents a 262% increase versus the average of the two previous quarters in 2024. Remaining funds were used to reduce our net debt by $17.7 million to $65.4 million at quarter end and down $3.3 million from $68.7 million last year. The lower borrowings and improved profitability translated into gross leverage per our credit facility of 1.9x at quarter end, which was improved compared to both 2.7x at the start of the quarter and 2.0x last year.”