Fugro delivers increased margin, robust cash flow and backlog growth
- Strong revenue growth in Europe-Africa and Asia Pacific, offset by short-term market driven challenges in the Americas and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, resulting in lower than anticipated top-line.
- Further increase in EBIT margin to 16.7% driven by improvement in Europe-Africa and Asia Pacific.
- Operating cash flow of EUR 124.2 million; free cash flow up by 53.3% due to higher EBITDA and lower working capital.
- Robust 12-month backlog with 16.8% increase.
- Outlook full-year 2024: mid-single digit revenue growth, EBIT margin around 13%.
| Key figures (x EUR million) - unaudited | Q3 2024 | Q3 2023 | YTD 2024 | YTD 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 596.5 | 608.9 | 1,687.6 | 1,627.2 |
| - comparable growth* | (0.7%) | 32.6% | 4.2% | 27.2% |
| EBITDA** | 140.3 | 135.9 | 364.3 | 296.3 |
| EBITDA margin** | 23.5% | 22.3% | 21.6% | 18.2% |
| EBIT** | 99.3 | 97.5 | 242.8 | 187.8 |
| EBIT margin** | 16.7% | 16.0% | 14.4% | 11.5% |
| Operating cash flow before changes in working capital | 124.2 | 134.7 | 311.2 | 265.7 |
| Cash flow from operating activities after investing (free cash flow)*** | 102.6 | 66.9 | (2.6) | 77.1 |
| Backlog next 12 months | 1,686.2 | 1,477.4 | ||
| - comparable growth* | 16.8% | 14.5% |
* Corrected for currency effect
** Adjusted for specific items with a total impact of EUR (7.5) million YTD 2024
*** Including discontinued operations
Mark Heine, CEO: 'In the typically busy summer season we delivered another strong set of results, by successfully executing numerous projects for clients across the energy, infrastructure and water markets. In Europe-Africa and Asia Pacific we are capitalising on the strong market backdrop, in particular in marine and nearshore, enabled by the expansion of our geotechnical vessel fleet; this resulted in significant top-line growth and improved margins.
We have achieved these results despite short-term market-driven challenges linked to subdued activity levels in the Americas, especially in offshore wind and LNG, and ongoing conflicts and slippage of key oil and gas projects in the Middle East. In both regions, effective cost management helped mitigate the effects of lower revenues. Overall, our well-diversified portfolio of markets and regions highlights the resilience of our overall performance. Additionally, continued focus on cash collection has led to a decrease in working capital and strong cash generation.
We continue to execute on our plans and realise further margin progression through our ongoing commitment to operational and commercial excellence. We see steady activity levels in the fourth quarter, resulting in a mid-single digit growth for the full year. I am confident about the overall market fundamentals and prospects for our Geo-data solutions. A great example is our recently announced partnership with Autodesk on game-changing software integration for smarter, safer construction of infrastructure. Our talented team, market agnostic asset base, cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions are key factors allowing us to effectively address our clients’ needs and deliver on our strategic goals and mid-term targets.'
Source: Fugro
