-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:
WSP reported a double beat quarter with net revenues of CAD3,709M, narrowly beating consensus by 1% and growing 10.8% Y/Y, while adjusted EPS of CAD2.21 rose 25.6% and beat consensus by 7%. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 80 bps to 16.8% as adjusted EBITDA increased 16.5% to CAD622.2M, near the high end of management's outlook range. Organic growth of 5.0% combined with 9.0% acquisition growth from the TRC and Ricardo acquisitions drove the revenue increase, with adjusted net earnings climbing 29.9% to CAD297.7M. Management noted a CAD50M Q/Q improvement in free cash flow when adjusting for prior-year factoring benefits, though free cash flow shifted to an outflow of CAD29M. Long-term debt increased significantly to CAD7,259.8M from CAD3,441.8M following TRC acquisition financing, pushing the leverage ratio above the target range to 2.3x. Backlog reached CAD19.7B, up 19.0%, representing 11.5 months of revenue, while days sales outstanding improved to 67 days from 70 days.