Acrow Formwork (ASX:ACF) beating financial forecasts

• Acrow Formwork (ACF) has posted a financial and operations update, with the integrated construction firm skating ahead of its projections for the year
• The company improved its net debt position by an extra $1.5 million — reportedly better than expectations when Acrow made its last market announcement on March 24
• Acrow also says it’s bringing in higher than expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and lowered operating costs
• While the company didn’t give any exact figures on its net debt or earnings in either update, net debt was $17.5 million and EBITDA hit $5.5 million in Acrow’s February half-year update.
• The company also touted record levels of work secured over March and April
• Last year, Acrow acquired and integrated scaffolding company Uni-Span
• The decision to integrate the Uni-Span depots with Acrow’s infrastructure could save them as much as $2.2 million every year, which is set to be fully realised in the 2021 financial year
• Acrow shares are 17.4 per cent higher today, trading for 27 cents per share

Acrow Formwork (ACF) has posted a financial year to date operations update, with the integrated construction firm skating ahead of its projections for the year.

The company improved its net debt position by an extra $1.5 million — reportedly better than expectations when Acrow made its last market announcement on March 24.

Acrow also says it’s bringing in higher than expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and lowered operating costs.

While the company didn’t give any exact figures on its net debt or earnings in either update, net debt was $17.5 million and EBITDA hit $5.5 million in Acrow’s February half-year update.

In October last year, Acrow acquired Uni Span, a scaffolding and formwork company. 

The Uni-span acquisition has now been fully integrated with Acrow, with annualised savings beating the company’s previously announced guidance.

Two of the three Uni-span depots have been closed, while their were operations integrated into existing Acrow depots.  This is set to save the company some $2.2 million per annum, and should be fully realised in FY21.

While the company has seen a slowdown in commercial building work and had several shutdown programs in its scaffolding business deferred, activity in the key civil infrastructure business has ramped up.

This has largely offset the losses felt from the downturn in its other business segments.

Managing Director and CEO of Acrow, Stephen Boland, said the company welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to classify the building and construction industry sectors as essential services, which had kept the economy moving during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Extended working hours across the East Coast States and a commitment by State Governments to fast track major projects will assist in supporting building activity as the economy recovers,” Stephen noted.

“I have been delighted by the attitude and commitment of all the Acrow team over this period and have been especially proud that none of our staff have been financially affected by the need of the Company to make changes to their employment conditions,” he continued.

“Medium-term, with the combination of the engineering-led expertise of our group, along with the market-leading suite of equipment provided by the combination of Acrow, Natform, and Uni-span, I feel confident that the company is well placed to participate in some of the sizeable upcoming civil projects, across the breadth of the country and especially in the key East Coast market,” he concluded.

Acrow shares are 17.4 per cent higher today, trading for 27 cents per share at 11:09 am AEST.