KBR Announces Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results

HOUSTON, Oct. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR), a global provider of differentiated, professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the government services and hydrocarbons industries today announced third quarter 2017 financial results.

Consolidated revenue in the third quarter of 2017 was $1.0 billion compared to $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2016.  Net income attributable to KBR was $45 million or $0.32 per diluted share ($0.35 per diluted share excluding $4 million in pre-tax U.S. Government legacy legal fees) in the third quarter of 2017 compared to net loss of $(63) million or $(0.44) per diluted share (($0.44) per diluted share excluding pre-tax U.S. Government legacy legal fees of less than $1 million) in the third quarter of 2016. 

Revenue in the third quarter decreased slightly from the same period a year ago driven by lower activity on various projects in our Engineering and Construction segment.  The revenue decreases were partially offset by the acquisitions and organic growth in our Government Services segment, and continued growth in our Technology and Consulting segment.

Net income attributable to KBR reflects good performance across all segments.  Gross profit improved to $87 million from a loss of $(36) million in the prior year quarter.  Program performance this quarter was at or above expectations for all segments, whereas the results in the third quarter of 2016 included $126 million in charges on two projects, the majority of which was for an electric power-generating facility within our Non-Strategic Business segment.  These projects have been completed.  Equity in earnings this quarter improved to $23 million from $19 million in the prior year quarter, driven by growth in our Affinity joint venture in the U.K. within our Government Services segment.

During the quarter, KBR was awarded several key contracts in its Government Services segment totaling more than $1 billion dollars.  These awards provide support services to Navy bases in Diego Garcia, Djibouti, Bahrain and also to the US Army in Europe and the Arabian Peninsula.  This business segment continues to strengthen and grow its core business area of providing base operations support to the military and coalition forces across the world.

"We are pleased to once again report strong earnings with continued good performance across all business segments. In particular, our Technology & Consulting segment delivered exceptional margins in the quarter," said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO.  "Our strategy to grow our Government Services business continues to be successful, including recently winning over a billion dollars in contracts to provide base operations support services at U.S. Naval bases."

"As we continue to experience improved and more consistent profit momentum and cash generation, KBR is positioned for strong long-term growth with less risk and increased financial flexibility," Bradie continued.

Segment Business Results (All comparisons are third quarter 2017 versus third quarter 2016 unless otherwise noted.)

Government Services (GS) Results

GS revenue was $582 million, an increase of $181 million compared to the third quarter of 2016.  The increase was primarily due to the acquisition of HTSI in the third quarter of 2016, continued expansion of task orders on existing U.S. Government contracts including LogCAP IV and growth on existing program management projects in the U.K.

GS gross profit was $39 million (6.7% of revenues), an increase of $7 million from the third quarter of 2016, due to expansion of task orders on LogCAP IV and profits related to the HTSI acquisition that occurred in the third quarter of 2016.  The increases were partially offset by non-recurring gains from the funding of previously expensed legal fees and an insurance reimbursement that occurred in the third quarter of 2016 and did not recur in 2017.

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates was $14 million, an increase of $6 million from the prior year, due to increased activity within our Affinity joint venture in the U.K. 

Technology & Consulting (T&C) Results

T&C revenue was $78 million, an increase of $11 million compared to the third quarter of 2016, due primarily to new consulting contracts from upstream projects. 

T&C gross profit was $20 million (25.6% of revenues), up $3 million from the third quarter of 2016, due to a favorable technology mix and stronger consulting performance.

Engineering & Construction (E&C) Results

E&C revenue was $370 million, a decrease of $225 million from the third quarter of 2016, primarily due to reduced activity on several projects across the sector.  These decreases were partially offset by projects ramping up from new awards in the second half of 2016, including a construction project in Canada.

E&C gross profit was $25 million (6.8% of revenues), an increase of $24 million compared to the third quarter of 2016.  The increase can be attributed to strong execution and commercial focus in the quarter, coupled with losses on an ammonia project during the third quarter of 2016 that did not recur in 2017.  The increase was partially offset by reduced activity on several projects across the sector as mentioned above. 

Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates was $9 million, a decrease of $2 million from the prior year predominantly due to lower activity on the Ichthys joint venture partially offset by increased earnings on our industrial services joint ventures in the Americas as well as our joint ventures in Europe.  

Non-strategic Business (NSB) Results

NSB revenue was $4 million, a decrease of $6 million from the prior year, primarily due to EPC power projects in final close-out phase as we exit this business.

NSB gross profit was $3 million, improved by $89 million compared to the third quarter of 2016, due to non-recurring cost increases and delays on a power project in the third quarter of 2016.

Cash Flow and Liquidity

Cash flow from operating activities was $28 million, an increase of $8 million compared to the third quarter of 2016.  Cash and equivalents at September 30, 2017 totaled $511 million.  As of September 30, 2017, our $1 billion revolving credit agreement had an outstanding balance of $470 million.

New Business Awards

Notable new awards:

Government Services

• We were awarded a $515 million fixed price with award fee contract by Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific to provide base operating support (BOS) services at Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory. The work is expected to be performed over the next eight years if all option years are exercised.
• We were awarded a $441 million contract for BOS services by NAVFAC Atlantic to provide services primarily at Naval Support Facility Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Chabelley Air Field in Djibouti and Camp Simba in Manda Bay, Kenya. The work is expected to be performed over the next eight years if all option years are exercised.
• We were awarded a $91 million contract for BOS services contract by NAVFAC Atlantic to provide services at various locations within the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The work is expected to be performed over the next eight years if all option years are exercised.
• We were awarded two task order modifications totaling $116 million to provide logistics support services to the U.S. Army in Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. The Army Contracting Command awarded these task order modifications under the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program IV contract.

Technology and Consulting

• We were awarded a contract by Dorogobuzh JSC (owned by JSC ACRON) to provide licensing and basic engineering design to revamp an ammonia plant - originally built by KBR - located in the Dorogobuzh, Smolensk region of Russia. Under the agreement KBR will supply its proprietary ammonia technology to increase plant capacity significantly to 2100 MTPD with improved efficiency.
• We were awarded a guidance study contract by the United States Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) for the Integrity Management Process of Tension Leg Platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. We will work with BSEE to build the framework for their assessments of tendon performance and their expectations for tendon integrity management.

Engineering and Construction

• We were awarded an engineering and project management services contract by JVGAS - a joint venture of Sonatrach, Statoil and BP for the provision of engineering, procurement and construction management services in Algeria. KBR will provide detail design engineering, procurement services as well as construction management at the major gas developments at In Salah Gas and In Amenas. This work is expected to be performed over 48 months.
• We were awarded pre-front end engineering design (FEED) and project support services contracts by BP for the development of the Tortue / Ahmeyim field offshore Mauritania and Senegal. KBR will provide pre-FEED and project support covering design of the subsea, pre-treatment floating production storage and offloading facility, inshore hub/terminal, and interfaces for floating liquefied natural gas for the Tortue Project. This new work will build on the earlier concept phase work for the development of the field already completed by KBR's subsidiary Granherne for BP's partner, Kosmos.
• We were awarded a project management services contract by OMV Offshore Abu Dhabi GmbH on behalf of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), for management of the FEED phase of the Hail & Ghasha Development project in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Hail & Ghasha Project, one of the largest sour gas field projects that ADNOC is developing, is forecast to produce about 1 billion cubic feet of sour gas per day.

KBR backlog remained flat at $10.3 billion as of September 30, 2017 compared to $10.3 billion as of June 30, 2017, with backlog growth of $292 million in the GS business segment offsetting declines primarily from our E&C segment.

Guidance

We are increasing the company's full year 2017 fully diluted adjusted earnings per share guidance to a range of $1.35 to $1.50 per share from the previous range of $1.25 to $1.45.  Our guidance of earnings per share is on an adjusted EPS basis, which excludes legacy legal costs for U.S. Government contracts.  These costs are estimated to be approximately $13 million or $0.09 per fully diluted share in 2017.  The estimated legacy legal costs do not assume any cost reimbursement from the U.S. Government that could occur in the future.  Our estimated effective tax rate for 2017 is estimated to range from 23% to 25%.  Our expected EBITDA has increased to a range of $320 million to $350 million from the previous range of $300 million to $350 million.  The operating cash flows are estimated to range from $120 million to $200 million for 2017.

About KBR, Inc.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors. KBR employs over 34,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses:

• Government Services, serving government customers globally, including capabilities that cover the full life-cycle of defense, space, aviation and other government programs and missions from research and development, through systems engineering, test and evaluation, program management, to operations, maintenance, and field logistics
• Technology & Consulting, including proprietary technology focused on the monetization of hydrocarbons (especially natural gas and natural gas liquids) in ethylene and petrochemicals; ammonia, nitric acid and fertilizers; oil refining; gasification; oil and gas consulting; integrity management; naval architecture and proprietary hulls; and downstream consulting
• Engineering & Construction, including onshore oil and gas; LNG (liquefaction and regasification)/GTL; oil refining; petrochemicals; chemicals; fertilizers; differentiated EPC; maintenance services (Brown & Root Industrial Services); offshore oil and gas (shallow-water, deep-water, subsea); floating solutions (FPU, FPSO, FLNG & FSRU) and program management

KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver.

Visit www.kbr.com

Forward Looking Statement
The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; the scope and enforceability of the company's indemnities from its former parent; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company.

KBR's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that KBR has identified that may affect the business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, KBR undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

SOURCE KBR, Inc.