SNC SNC Lavalin Group Inc

MONTREAL, March 4, 2011 /CNW/ -- Highlights Fourth Quarter -------------- - Net income for the fourth quarter of 2010 increased to $139.2 million ($0.91 per share on a diluted basis), compared to $98.7 million ($0.65 per share on a diluted basis) for the fourth quarter of 2009. Year Ended December 31, 2010 ---------------------------- - Net income for the year ended December 31, 2010 increased by 21.6% to $437.0 million ($2.87 per share on a diluted basis), compared to $359.4 million ($2.36 per share on a diluted basis) for the year ended December 31, 2009. This reflects an 8.9% net income increase, when we exclude a net gain after taxes of $26.1 million from the disposal of two Infrastructure Concession Investments and a gain after taxes of $19.6 million from the disposal of certain technology solution assets. - Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2010 increased to $6.3 billion, compared to $6.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2009. - Total revenue backlog for the four categories: Services, Packages, Operations & Maintenance and Infrastructure Concession Investments increased to $13.0 billion at the end of December 2010, compared to $10.8 billion at the end of December 2009. - Balance sheet position remained strong with cash and cash equivalents of $1.3 billion at December 31, 2010. - Return on average shareholders' equity was 27.4% for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2010. Dividend Increase ----------------- - The Board of Directors increased the quarterly cash dividend by 23.5% to $0.21 per share for the fourth quarter of 2010. MONTREAL, March 4, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. Financial Highlights (unaudited) Year ended Fourth Quarter December 31 --------------------------- --------------------------- (in thousands of Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated) 2010 2009 2010 2009 --------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Revenues by activity Services $ 601,338 $ 557,156 $ 2,051,894 $ 2,221,410 Packages 757,684 587,316 2,409,000 2,202,162 Operations and Maintenance 383,233 335,302 1,330,501 1,297,905 Infrastructure Concession Investments (ICI) 153,193 103,439 523,595 380,260 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- $ 1,895,448 $ 1,583,213 $ 6,314,990 $ 6,101,737 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- Net income excluding ICI $ 107,016 $ 76,045 $ 354,132 $ 322,510 SNC-Lavalin's net income from ICI 32,143 22,689 82,882 36,884 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- Net income $ 139,159 $ 98,734 $ 437,014 $ 359,394 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- Diluted earnings per share ($) $ 0.91 $ 0.65 $ 2.87 $ 2.36 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- Shares outstanding (in thousands) Weighted average number of outstanding shares - Basic 151,187 151,073 151,020 151,042 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- Weighted average number of outstanding shares - Diluted 152,454 152,267 152,221 151,992 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- Return on average shareholders' equity (ROASE)(1) 27.4% 27.3% ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- Revenue backlog by activity at December 31 2010 2009 ------------- ------------- Services $ 1,410,700 $ 1,464,900 Packages 5,912,100 4,197,500 Operations and Maintenance 2,732,800 2,596,100 ICI 2,949,900 2,578,700 ------------- ------------- $ 13,005,500 $ 10,837,200 ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Corresponds to the trailing 12-month after-tax earnings, divided by a trailing 13-month average shareholders' equity, excluding "accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)". N.B.: All amounts indicated are in Canadian dollars. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (TSX:SNC) announced its results today for the fourth quarter and the year ended December 31, 2010. For the fourth quarter 2010, net income increased to $139.2 million ($0.91 per share on a diluted basis), compared to $98.7 million ($0.65 per share on a diluted basis) for the comparable quarter in 2009. This increase mainly reflects higher contributions from the Infrastructure & Environment, Mining & Metallurgy and Other Industries segments, partially offset by a lower contribution from the Chemicals & Petroleum segment. The increase also reflects a net income increase in Infrastructure Concession Investments, which included a net gain after taxes of $26.1 million from the disposal of Valener Inc. shares and Trencap Limited Partnership units in the fourth quarter 2010. For the year ended December 31, 2010, net income increased by 21.6% to $437.0 million ($2.87 per share on a diluted basis), compared to $359.4 million ($2.36 per share on a diluted basis) for the same period in 2009. This reflects an 8.9% net income increase when we exclude the above-mentioned net gain from the disposal of two Infrastructure Concession Investments and the after tax gain of $19.6 million from the disposal of certain technology solution assets in August 2010. This 8.9% increase was mainly due to higher contributions from the Infrastructure & Environment and Infrastructure Concession Investments segments. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 increased by 19.7% to $1.9 billion compared to $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, due to a higher volume of activities in all revenue categories, but particularly in Packages which increased by 29.0%. Revenues for the year were $6.3 billion compared to $6.1 billion for the corresponding period in 2009, mainly reflecting higher revenues from Packages and Infrastructure Concession Investments, partially offset by lower revenues from Services. Total revenue backlog for the four categories: Services, Packages, Operations & Maintenance and Infrastructure Concession Investments, remained strong at $13.0 billion at the end of December 2010, compared to $12.7 billion at the end of September 2010 and $10.8 billion at the end of December 2009. The above-mentioned backlog of $13.0 billion does not include any fourth quarter 2010 bookings of Libyan projects, such as the $450 million Al Kufra Wellfield contract, or the Company's backlog of previously booked Libyan projects which amounted to $484 million at year-end. The Company decided to remove these projects as a precautionary measure that will remain in place until the situation is further clarified. "I am pleased with what was accomplished in 2010. We signed many new contracts, were awarded two new concessions in Canada and invested in one concession in India, disposed of two non-core Infrastructure Concession Investments and added about 1,200 new employees from business acquisitions, mainly in Colombia. We also increased our net income by 21.6%, continued to build up a strong revenue backlog, and maintained a solid cash position," said Pierre Duhaime, President and Chief Executive Officer, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. "Even given recent events, we expect our 2011 net income to be in line with 2010, when we exclude the gains recorded in 2010 from the disposal of the two Infrastructure Concession Investments and from the disposal of certain technology solution assets." The Company's balance sheet position remained strong with cash and cash equivalents totalling $1.3 billion as at December 31, 2010. The Company's return on average shareholders' equity was 27.4% for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2010, in line with last year. Considering the Company's results and outlook, the Board of Directors has increased the quarterly cash dividend by 23.5% to $0.21 per share, payable on April 1, 2011 to shareholders of record on March 18, 2011. This represents the tenth consecutive year that the Company's dividend paid per share has been increased. This dividend is an "eligible dividend" for income tax purposes. SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure, and in the provision of operations and maintenance services. SNC-Lavalin has offices across Canada and in over 35 other countries around the world, and is currently working in some 100 countries. In business since 1911, the Company celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011. www.snclavalin.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reference in this press release, and hereafter, to the "Company" or to "SNC-Lavalin" means, as the context may require, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and all or some of its subsidiaries or joint ventures, or SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. or one or more of its subsidiaries or joint ventures. Statements made in this press release that describe the Company's or management's budgets, estimates, expectations, forecasts, objectives, predictions or projections of the future may be "forward-looking statements", which can be identified by the use of the conditional or forward-looking terminology such as "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "expects", "may", "plans", "projects", "should", "will", or the negative thereof or other variations thereon. The Company cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and that its actual actions and/or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, or could affect the extent to which a particular projection materializes. For more information on risks and uncertainties, and assumptions that would cause the Company's actual results to differ from current expectations, please refer to the section "Risks and Uncertainties" and the section "How We Analyze and Report our Results", respectively, in the Company's 2009 Financial Report under "Management's Discussion and Analysis". The forward-looking statements herein reflect the Company's expectations as at the date of this press release and are subject to change after this date. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any such forward-looking statements, unless required by applicable legislation or regulation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SNC-Lavalin's Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis and other relevant financial materials are available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.snclavalin.com. These and other Company reports are also available on the website maintained by the Canadian Securities regulators at www.sedar.com. Investors: Denis Jasmin, Vice-President, Investor Relations, 514-393-8000, ext. 7553, denis.jasmin@snclavalin.com; Media: Leslie Quinton, Vice-President, Global Corporate Communications, 514-393-8000, ext. 7354, leslie.quinton@snclavalin.com

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