Conferencia de resultados del T3 del ejercicio fiscal 2026 de Concrete Pumping Holdings (BBCP): eleva previsiones, lanza dividendo

Puntos clave

• Los ingresos del tercer trimestre fiscal de 2026 aumentaron un 13% interanual hasta los 116,8 millones de dólares, impulsados por proyectos comerciales, de infraestructura y de centros de datos en Estados Unidos.
• El EBITDA ajustado aumentó un 13% hasta los 30,4 millones de dólares, mientras que el margen EBITDA ajustado mejoró hasta el 26%. El beneficio neto atribuible a los accionistas ordinarios aumentó hasta los 4,5 millones de dólares, o 0,09 dólares por acción diluida.
• Los ingresos de Eco-Pan crecieron un 14% hasta los 21,9 millones de dólares y el EBITDA ajustado aumentó un 19% hasta los 8,8 millones de dólares, respaldados por mayores volúmenes, ajustes de precios y nuevas relaciones con clientes.
• La dirección elevó sus previsiones para el ejercicio fiscal 2026 a unos ingresos de 425-435 millones de dólares, un EBITDA ajustado de 103-108 millones de dólares y un flujo de caja libre de aproximadamente 50 millones de dólares.
• El apalancamiento neto disminuyó a aproximadamente 3,6x frente a las 3,8x del trimestre anterior. La liquidez disponible fue de aproximadamente 357 millones de dólares.
• El consejo de administración inició un dividendo trimestral ordinario en efectivo, con un primer pago previsto de 0,13 dólares por acción el 2 de octubre de 2026. El dividendo anualizado es de 0,52 dólares por acción.

Datos financieros clave

Rendimiento operativo y del negocio

Los ingresos de U.S. Concrete Pumping aumentaron un 10% hasta los 76,2 millones de dólares desde los 69,3 millones de dólares. Los centros de datos a gran escala siguieron siendo el principal motor de crecimiento, acompañados también por proyectos de servicios públicos, educación y energía. La construcción comercial ligera se mantuvo bajo presión, mientras que la demanda residencial continuó moderada debido a los elevados tipos de interés y la incertidumbre económica.

El EBITDA ajustado del segmento aumentó un 18% hasta los 18,4 millones de dólares, lo que refleja mayores volúmenes, mejoras de precios y apalancamiento operativo.

Los ingresos de Eco-Pan Concrete Waste Management Services subieron un 14% hasta los 21,9 millones de dólares frente a los 19,3 millones de dólares. La dirección atribuyó el incremento al crecimiento orgánico del volumen, las mejoras en los precios y la expansión con nuevos clientes. El EBITDA ajustado avanzó un 19% hasta los 8,8 millones de dólares, y la dirección afirmó que el negocio se encamina hacia otro año récord.

Los ingresos en el Reino Unido aumentaron un 24% hasta los 18,7 millones de dólares, debido principalmente a la adquisición de la empresa de energía temporal Templant. La actividad subyacente en la construcción comercial se mantuvo relativamente débil, aunque la dirección informó de una mejora de la actividad en julio y agosto. La inflación y los mayores costes de combustible continuaron afectando al negocio.

Los precios consolidados compensaron en gran medida la inflación, pero los mayores costes de combustible redujeron el margen bruto en 30 puntos básicos hasta el 38,7%.

Previsiones de la dirección

La dirección elevó las perspectivas tras los resultados obtenidos por la empresa en los primeros nueve meses del ejercicio fiscal 2026. La compañía mantiene como objetivo un apalancamiento neto de aproximadamente 3x, al tiempo que equilibra la reducción de deuda, la inversión orgánica, posibles fusiones y adquisiciones, dividendos y recompras de acciones.

Se prevé que el primer dividendo trimestral de 0,13 dólares por acción se pague el 2 de octubre de 2026 a los accionistas registrados a fecha de 18 de septiembre de 2026. Los dividendos futuros seguirán sujetos a la aprobación trimestral del consejo de administración en función de la situación financiera, el flujo de caja y las necesidades de capital.

Riesgos y aspectos a vigilar

• Los elevados tipos de interés, las limitaciones de accesibilidad económica y la incertidumbre económica continúan presionando la construcción residencial y comercial ligera.
• La demanda comercial en el Reino Unido sigue siendo débil a pesar de los indicios de mejora en julio y agosto. La dirección señaló que es demasiado pronto para identificar un punto de inflexión.
• La mano de obra en el Reino Unido es menos variable que en Estados Unidos, lo que limita la capacidad de la empresa para reducir los costes laborales cuando la demanda disminuye.
• La inflación de los costes de combustible presionó el margen bruto consolidado durante el trimestre.
• El plazo para alcanzar el objetivo de apalancamiento de 3x depende en parte del gasto destinado a iniciativas de crecimiento y posibles adquisiciones.

Aspectos destacados del turno de preguntas de los analistas

La dirección señaló que la previsión de flujo de caja libre de aproximadamente 50 millones de dólares se puede calcular desde el punto medio del rango orientativo de EBITDA ajustado (unos 105-106 millones de dólares), menos aproximadamente 32 millones de dólares en intereses y 23 millones de dólares en gastos de capital de reposición. Se prevé que el CapEx de reposición del cuarto trimestre sea de aproximadamente 2-3 millones de dólares.

La empresa adelantó aproximadamente 22 millones de dólares de gastos de capital del ejercicio fiscal 2027 al ejercicio fiscal 2026, incluidos unos 18 millones de dólares para U.S. Concrete Pumping y 4 millones de dólares para Eco-Pan. La mayor parte de este gasto corresponde a equipos de reposición. Excluyendo este adelanto, la dirección prevé que el CapEx de reposición del próximo año para U.S. Concrete Pumping se sitúe en el rango bajo de un solo dígito porcentual.

La dirección afirmó que el nuevo dividendo ordinario no modifica los términos de las acciones preferentes de Nuveen.

Salvo que se realicen inversiones extraordinarias en crecimiento, la dirección considera que un plazo razonable para reducir el apalancamiento neto de 3,6x al objetivo de 3x es de aproximadamente 18 meses. La compañía indicó que reducir el apalancamiento al menos medio giro en 12 meses no es algo descabellado, aunque el avance real dependerá de las inversiones en crecimiento y de las recompras de acciones.

La dirección atribuyó la debilidad de los márgenes en el Reino Unido principalmente a una menor eficiencia laboral en un contexto de demanda más floja, y no a la adquisición de Templant. La empresa prevé que los márgenes mejoren si se mantiene el reciente repunte de la actividad.

Transcripción completa de la llamada de resultados

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Comentarios de la dirección

Operator

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for participating in today's conference call to discuss Concrete Pumping Holdings' financial results for the third quarter ended July 31, 2026. Joining us today are Concrete Pumping Holdings' CEO, Bruce Young, CFO, Iain Humphries, and the company's External Director of Investor Relations, Cody Slach.

Before we go further, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Slach to read the company's safe harbor statement within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that provides important cautions regarding forward-looking statements. Cody, please go ahead.

Cody Slach

Thank you. I'd like to remind everyone that during this call, to give you a better understanding of our operations, we will be making certain forward-looking statements regarding our business and outlook. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.

For information concerning these risks and uncertainties, see Concrete Pumping Holdings' Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and other publicly available filings with the SEC. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise.

On today's call, we will also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, net debt, and free cash flow, which we believe provide useful information for investors. We provide further information about these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations with comparable GAAP measures in our press release issued today or the investor presentation posted on the company's website.

I'd like to remind everyone that this call will be available for replay later this evening. Our webcast replay will also be available via the link provided in today's press release, as well as on the company's website. Additionally, we have posted an updated investor presentation to the company's website.

Now I'd like to turn the call over to the CEO of Concrete Pumping Holdings, Bruce Young. Bruce?

Bruce Young

Thank you, Cody, and good afternoon, everyone. 2026 remains on track to be a strong year for our company as we continue to execute our strategy and prove ourselves to be the partner of choice of our customers, particularly in large, more complex projects. I'm pleased to report that we delivered another strong quarter with revenue increasing 13% year over year and adjusted EBITDA also growing 13%, reflecting continued momentum across our U.S. operations, disciplined operational execution, and healthy demand across several of our key end markets.

Our performance during the quarter continued to be led by large-scale commercial and infrastructure construction activity. As we have discussed in the last couple of quarters, data centers and other large-scale commercial projects remain the primary driver of growth.

In addition, we are also seeing encouraging activity across education, utilities, energy, and other infrastructure-related projects. These larger more complex projects continue to support healthy fleet utilization across both our Brundage-Bone and Eco-Pan businesses and reinforce the competitive advantages created by our national footprint, scale, and operational expertise.

We remain optimistic about the continued growth in these segments for the foreseeable future. The broader construction backdrop remains largely unchanged.

Heavy commercial construction has remained relatively resilient, while light commercial activity continues to be pressured by elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty.

Residential construction also remains soft as affordability challenges continue to weigh on new home construction despite favorable long-term housing fundamentals. Our Eco-Pan Concrete Waste Management Services business again delivered an excellent quarter and remains on track for another record year, benefiting from continued strength in commercial construction activity, pricing execution, and ongoing penetration into new customer accounts. Eco-Pan continues to demonstrate the attractive operating characteristics of the business and remains an important differentiator for our overall platform.

Turning to our U.K. operations, market conditions remain more challenging than those in the U.S. with inflation, elevated interest rates, and slower commercial construction environment continuing to pressure demand. That said, we were encouraged to see commercial activity improve during the months of July and August, and while it's too early to call an inflection point, the trends are encouraging.

In addition to our recent expansion into the temporary power market, it's performing well as executing in line with our strategy to build a diversified multi-service platform supporting the construction and infrastructure sectors.

Along with our Republic of Ireland expansion, these strategic growth investments continue to strengthen our long-term platform. Overall, we are pleased with our performance through the first nine months of fiscal 2026. We continue to grow profitably and generate meaningful free cash flow, and our balance sheet is in an excellent position as we have driven net leverage down to 3.6x on track towards our near-term target of 3x.

Liquidity is also very strong at about $357 million, giving us tremendous flexibility to grow shareholder value through accelerated organic growth opportunities, M&A, and other capital allocation strategies. The consistency of our execution, the durability of demand across large commercial and infrastructure projects, and the strength of our operating model give us confidence as we enter the final quarter of fiscal 2026.

As a result, we are once again raising our full-year revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow outlook while remaining focused on disciplined execution, free cash flow generation, and long-term value creation for our shareholders.

Looking out longer term, we are excited about the opportunities we see in front of us. We believe these opportunities, coupled with our differentiated business model, will translate to profitable growth across all segments both organically and through potential M&A.

Today we made an important update regarding capital allocation, and we are pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has approved the initiation of a regular quarterly cash dividend. The first expected payment of $0.13 per share is to be paid on October 2, 2026, and on an annualized basis, this equates to $0.52 per share, representing a yield of approximately 5.6% based on our current stock price. The dividend does not change our growth investment priorities and our ability to pursue strategic initiatives.

Rather, it reflects our confidence in the durability of our free cash flow and our commitment to returning capital to shareholders through multiple channels.

I will now turn the call over to Iain to walk through financial results in more detail. Iain?

Iain Humphries

Thanks, Bruce, and good afternoon, everyone. Moving directly into our third quarter results. Revenue increased 13% to $116.8 million compared to $103.7 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was driven by continued strength in U.S. commercial and infrastructure activity, particularly large-scale data center and infrastructure projects, along with pricing improvement and mostly stable weather conditions across our U.S. markets.

Revenue in our U.S. Concrete Pumping segment increased 10% to $76.2 million compared to $69.3 million in the prior year quarter. Commercial and infrastructure activity remained healthy, led by continued demand from data centers while utilities, education, and energy-related projects also contributed to growth. These gains were partially offset by continued softness in light commercial construction and subdued residential demand resulting from elevated interest rates and ongoing economic uncertainty.

Revenue in our Eco-Pan Concrete Waste Management Services business increased 14% to $21.9 million compared to $19.3 million in the prior year quarter. Growth was driven by organic volume increases, pricing improvements, and continued success expanding relationships with new customers, demonstrating the scalability and resiliency of the business.

Turning to our U.K. operations, revenue increased 24% to $18.7 million. The increase primarily reflected the contribution from the Templant temporary power acquisition while underlying commercial construction activity remained relatively soft.

Although inflationary pressures continue to impact fuel costs, we were encouraged by the improving commercial demand activity during July and August and continue to believe our strategic investments are positioning the business for long-term growth.

At the consolidated level, gross margin was 38.7% compared to 39% in the prior year quarter. Pricing execution largely offset inflationary pressures with a modest decline primarily reflecting higher fuel costs during the quarter.

General and administrative expenses increased to $30.1 million compared to $27.5 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting higher stock compensation and costs from recent acquisitions. However, G&A as a percentage of revenue improved to 25.8% from 26.5%, demonstrating continued operating leverage.

Net income attributable to common shareholders increased to $4.5 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to $3.3 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 13% to $30.4 million, with margin improving to 26%.

Within U.S. Concrete Pumping, adjusted EBITDA increased 18% to $18.4 million, while Eco-Pan adjusted EBITDA increased 19% to $8.8 million, reflecting continued operating leverage from higher volumes and improved pricing.

Turning to liquidity, and as Bruce mentioned earlier, we ended the quarter with total debt of $425 million and net debt of approximately $382 million, reducing our net leverage ratio to approximately 3.6x adjusted EBITDA compared to 3.8x last quarter. We also ended the quarter with approximately $357 million of available liquidity.

The continued reduction in leverage reflects our strong free cash flow generation and disciplined capital allocation strategy and positions us well to continue investing in the business while maintaining balance sheet flexibility.

Turning now to our outlook for fiscal 2026, based on our continued strong performance through the first nine months of the year, we are once again increasing our 2026 full year guidance. We now expect revenue between $425 million and $435 million compared to our prior range of $410 million to $425 million.

We are also raising our adjusted EBITDA outlook to a range of $103 million to $108 million from our prior range of $98 million to $105 million. And lastly, we are also increasing our free cash flow expectation to approximately $50 million from our prior expectation of at least $45 million.

Turning to capital allocation, over the last four years, we have returned approximately $91 million to shareholders through share purchases and a special dividend. As Bruce mentioned earlier, today we have added to our capital allocation strategy by initiating a regular quarterly cash dividend program.

The first expected payment of $0.13 per share is to be paid on October 2, 2026 to shareholders of record as of September 18, 2026. On an annualized basis, this equates to $0.52 per share, representing a yield of approximately 5.6% based on our current stock price. As always, the declaration and payment of any future dividends remains subject to the discretion and approval of our Board of Directors each quarter based on our financial position, cash flow generation, and capital needs at the time.

As a reminder from last quarter, since the initiation of our share repurchase program in 2022, we have repurchased approximately 5.9 million shares for $38.1 million. There is $11.9 million remaining under the current authorization, and the Board of Directors recently extended its authorization through November 30, 2028.

These items, in addition to our strategic growth initiatives, reflect our confidence in our business model and ability to generate healthy free cash flow as we remain committed to our near-term net leverage target of 3x.

With that, I'll turn the call back to Bruce.

Bruce Young

Thanks, Iain. As we look toward the remainder of the year, we remain encouraged by both the consistency of our execution and the resilience of our business. Demand across large commercial and infrastructure projects continues to provide a solid foundation for growth, while our diversified service offering and disciplined operating model continue to differentiate us in the marketplace.

Our priorities remain unchanged. We will continue to execute with discipline, investing strategically in our fleet, expanding complementary service offerings, and maintaining a strong balance sheet. The progress we've made reducing leverage to 3.6x while continuing to invest in the business demonstrates the strength of our cash generation and provides additional flexibility to pursue active growth opportunities.

Our newly established regular dividend program sits alongside our disciplined capital allocation commitment to continued investment in growth opportunities, providing superior shareholder value and lower leverage. While remaining mindful of ongoing softness in residential construction and the uncertainty that persists in portions of the U.K. market, we believe our diversified end markets, operational discipline, and strategic investment positions us well to continue delivering long-term value for our customers and shareholders.

With that, I'd like to turn the call back over to the operator for Q&A. Shamali?

Operator

Thank you, sir. We will now begin a question and answer session. [Operator Instructions]

And our first question comes from the line of Andy Wittmann with Baird. Please proceed with your question.

Preguntas y respuestas

Andrew J. Wittmann

Great, good afternoon. Thanks, guys, for taking my questions. Iain, I guess I wanted to just start a little bit on the cash flow dividend here. It was interesting news; I was a little surprised by it, but I'm sure the market will like that. Not sure, but I think it will. I guess my question has to do with the free cash flow guidance here. Year to date, you're already free cash flow, like $40 million. So 4Q is like $10 million.

I guess you pay the coupon on some of the debt, or paid it in August. It kind of feels like that's not just a lot of cash flow in the fourth quarter. Can you maybe talk through some of the moving pieces? And I know you're pulling forward some of the — I don't know if that, if you consider the CapEx for the fleet that you're pulling forward to get ahead of the emission stuff. Is that the reason why free cash flow is not better?

Are you considering that growth or maintenance CapEx? Because I guess your free cash flow definition is only including the maintenance side of that so I can just clarify what the fourth quarter looks like and what the, and the CapEx numbers in the fourth quarter, maybe?

Iain Humphries

Yes, thanks for the question, Andy. I'll start with the pull forward of the 2027 CapEx. So it's mostly a replacement that we're pulling forward in 2026. So that's, that would be reversed in next year's free cash flow update. I guess the best way to think about the free cash flow guide update for the full year, if you work from the midpoint of the EBITDA guide, so call it $105 million or $106 million, the difference between that and the $50 million is approximately $32 million of interest and about $23 million of replacement CapEx.

So there's a small amount of replacement CapEx in the fourth quarter, and that replacement CapEx is about 5% of revenue which is in line with our normal run rate, so they're probably like $2 million or $3 million of replacement CapEx in the fourth quarter.

Andrew J. Wittmann

So as we look forward then, with the pull forward, what's the right number for replacement CapEx that you're thinking, kind of broad strokes for '27? I'm not looking for decimal points or anything like that. I know you're not giving '27 guides. I just want to make sure we're thinking like you're thinking.

Iain Humphries

Yes. So, excluding the pull forward piece, it will be a low single digits in next year.

Andrew J. Wittmann

Excluding the pull forward. Got it. Okay.

Iain Humphries

Yes. So yes, if all the pull -- you might remember, so we had $22 million of pull forward, about $18 million of that was for U.S. Pumping and about $4 million for Eco-Pan. So depending on how much of the replacement comes through in the fourth quarter, the expectation for next year on replacement would be low percentage single digits for the U.S. Pumping business.

Andrew J. Wittmann

And then with the dividend, how does that work against the Nuveen preferred? Does that preferred conversion ratio change as a result of this? Can you just update us on that?

Because it used to have a mandatory conversion trigger and all these things, and so does that start moving now that you're paying the dividend on the common?

Iain Humphries

Doesn't change anything on the preferred.

Andrew J. Wittmann

Okay, got it, that makes sense. And then just as it relates to the 3.0 target now with a decent sized dividend here, what's a realistic timeframe to consider getting down to that 3.0 target? Understanding, obviously, that you're always looking at M&A, but maybe you could say, like, if you don't do M&A, X is the date we think is realistic or something like that?

Iain Humphries

Yes, it's a good question. So obviously it depends on the investments that we make in growth initiatives. But I mean, as you remember, we've had a healthy like share repurchase in prior years. So from last year, I want to say it was around $12 million to $14 million. I think in the, in the year prior to that, it was around $10 million.

So, depending on where the share price is, it would depend on what goes into share repurchases. From a cash perspective, we've always thought that, it's not a stretch for us to turn leverage down by at least a half a turn in 12 months.

Obviously, it's dependent on, what we do on the growth side as well, but a reasonable expectation, I would say, is, I would say around 18 months, barring anything extraordinary on the investment side.

Andrew J. Wittmann

Okay, and then my last question is just on the margins in the U.K. segment. It was a lower number than I think I expected here, and I was just wondering if there was a mix impact from the acquisition in there or something else that we should know about, just because that one just stood out a little bit and I wanted to understand?

Iain Humphries

Yes, nothing really from the acquisition side that have impacted margin. I mean, as you'll know, we've had some demand headwinds in the U.K. slightly. So there's been a slight loss of labor efficiency. But as Bruce mentioned in his comments, we've seen a bit of a pickup in the volume side in July in demand. So it's slightly from the labor component in the third quarter, just really based on demand.

Bruce Young

Yes, and I think what I would add to that, Andy, in the U.K., labor isn't as variable as what we see in the U.S., so we need to keep our team intact and we pay them while we have them employed for us. But we are seeing really strong signs of that market starting to come back, so we think that will improve.

Andrew J. Wittmann

Okay, that's good context. I appreciate you flagging the difference in the labor -- the labor force there, Bruce.

Operator

Thank you. At this time, this concludes our question and answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Young for closing remarks.

Bruce Young

Thank you, Shamali. We'd like to thank everyone for listening to today's call and we look forward to speaking with you when we report our fourth quarter and full year 2026 results in January. Thank you.

Operator

And ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.