Ameresco Revenues Up 7 Percent to $152.5 Million

Ameresco, Inc., an energy efficiency and renewable energy company headquartered in Framingham, announced financial results for its second quarter on Thursday, June 30.

The company, with its corporate headquarters in Framingham, said revenues were up by 7 percent to $152.5 million for the second quarter.

“We continue to execute on our plan to accelerate revenue growth and improve profitability,” said George P. Sakellaris, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ameresco, in a press release.

“Revenue exceeded our target range, gross margin exceeded our near term targets,“ said Sakellaris. “We continued to build the foundation for future growth. New project awards were $189 million, up 66 percent from last year and 125 percent from the first quarter.”

He said “these outstanding results were due to solid execution in our core project business. Our U.S. Federal segment again led the way, with high growth and improving profit. The U.S. Regions segment was also a strong contributor. In addition, our recurring revenue streams performed well. Energy revenue from our operating assets rebounded to normal levels after a seasonally low first quarter, and operations and maintenance grew 6 percent. At the midpoint of 2015, we are hitting our targets and are optimistic about the quarters ahead.”

The Company announced revenue growth of 12.5 percent to $101.6 million. That growth was driven by solid performance in the U.S. Federal and U.S. Regions segments, which were up 17 and 19 percent, respectively.

Recurring operations and maintenance and renewable energy revenue was approximately 20 percent of total revenue.

Operating income was $5.1 million, an increase of 34 percent.

Net income was $2.0 million, a decline of $0.7 million.

Net earnings per diluted share were $0.04, compared to $0.06 in the prior-year period.

Net income was lower despite the higher operating income due to a higher tax rate as a result of a valuation allowance for losses expected in Canada during 2015.

Ameresco secured $189.0 million in new project awards in the quarter, a 66 percent higher level of award wins than the year-ago rate and the highest quarterly amount since the third quarter of 2012.

The Company converted $112.5 million of awards to contracted backlog, or approximately 13 percent of the starting award backlog.

Contracted backlog grew 3 percent during the quarter to $398.3 million.

Strength in award conversions was offset in part by the strength in revenue recognition, which reflects efficient execution by Ameresco’s implementation teams.

Ameresco continues to focus on developing its portfolio of renewable energy assets, and had a backlog of assets in development of $152.4 million, up 64 percent.

Total project assets as of June 30, 2015 were $223.8 million, up $9.7 million from the end of quarter one.

Based on second quarter results and new contracts signed during the first half of the year, Ameresco reaffirms its full year 2015 outlook.

The Company expects to generate revenue in the range of $610 million to $640 million.

The guidance assumptions for the remainder of 2015 are as follows:

• Project revenues from contracted backlog of approximately $240 million;
• Project revenues from awarded projects and proposals in the range of $20 million to $40 million;
• Gross margin in the range of 19-20 percent;
• Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue of 16-17 percent;
• An effective income tax rate of 25 percent using the midpoint of our guidance range, which further assumes certain owned solar assets will be placed in service by the end of the year; and
• Weighted average common shares outstanding of 47 million.

Founded in 2000, Ameresco, Inc. the company is an independent provider of comprehensive services, energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, asset sustainability and renewable energy solutions for businesses and organizations throughout North America and Europe.

With its corporate headquarters in Framingham, Ameresco has more than 1,000 employees providing local expertise in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.