Ameresco's First Quarter Revenues Up 15 Percent

Ameresco, Inc. , an energy efficiency and renewable energy company, announced financial results for the fiscal quarter that ended on March 31.

The company has its headquarters in Framingham.

“2015 is off to a strong start,” stated George P. Sakellaris, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ameresco, in a statement. “Revenue has been growing for the past year and adjusted EBITDA remains consistently positive. Based on strong execution from our Federal Solutions team in a market that appears to be primed for growth, we expect Federal to drive both current performance and backlog for the remainder of 2015.”

Sakellaris continued, “While we are pleased with our performance this quarter and we are cautiously optimistic in our outlook, we also recognize that our recovery is not yet complete. We are addressing challenges in Canada that hurt results this quarter, and we still see room for improvement in some of our regions and business units. Nonetheless, given the strong execution in both our U.S. Federal and U.S. Regions segments, we continue to remain confident in our near term and long term business fundamentals.”

Note: All figures refer to the first quarter of 2015 period unless stated otherwise. All comparisons are to the first quarter of 2014, unless stated otherwise.

Revenues were $115.4 million, an increase of 15 percent.

Growth was driven by particular strength in the U.S. Federal and U.S. Regions segments, offset by an expected decline in revenues from our Canada segment.

Project revenues of $68.5 million grew 28 percent.

Recurring O&M and renewable energy revenues were more than 22 percent of total revenues and grew 7 percent.

Operating loss was $4.4 million, which compares to an operating loss of $6.8 million. The operating loss is largely attributable to a $3.9 million loss incurred in the Canada segment mostly related to one large project. The company has reserved for potential future losses in that project.

Net loss was $4.2 million, an improvement of $4.1 million. Net loss per diluted share was $0.09, compared to $0.18 in the prior-year period.

Fully contracted backlog grew slightly from December 31, 2014 to $387.4 million as of March 31, 2015, and continues to represent more than 50% of full year 2015 revenue guidance.

The majority of fully contracted backlog is expected to convert to revenue in the next four quarters. Awarded projects also increased sequentially to $868 million as of March 31, 2015.

Ameresco continues to focus on developing its portfolio of renewable energy assets, and had $148.4 million of assets in development as of March 31, 2015, an increase from $140.5 million and $62.1 million as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

The Company placed 2.4 MW of solar assets into service during the quarter ended March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2015, the Company owns and operates 45 small-scale renewable energy plants and solar photovoltaic installations with the capacity to generate more than 137 megawatt equivalents. Ownership includes plants controlled through sale and leaseback transactions.

“Assets in development” represents the potential design/build project value of small-scale renewable energy plants that have been awarded or for which the Company has secured development rights. Depending upon customer preference, the Company either retains ownership of the completed plants or transfers ownership to the customer.

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

The Company expects to generate revenue in the range of $610 million to $640 million, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $43 million to $48 million and net income per diluted share to be in the range of $0.16 to $0.24.

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

• Project revenues from contracted backlog of approximately $285 million;
• Project revenues from awarded projects and proposals in the range of $60 million to $90 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.