Concrete Pumping Holdings, Inc. Common Stock 2026 Q3 Earnings Call

I'd like to remind everyone that during this call, to give you a better understanding of our operations, we will be making certain forward-looking statements regarding our business and outlook. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For information concerning these risks and uncertainties, see Concrete Pumping Holdings annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and other publicly available filings with the SEC. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. On today's call, we will also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, net debt, and free cash flow, which we believe provide useful information for investors.

We provide further information about these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations with comparable GAAP measures in our press release issued today or the investor presentation posted on the company's website. I'd like to remind everyone that this call will be available for replay later this evening. A webcast replay will also be available via the link provided in today's press release, as well as on the company's website. Additionally, we have posted an updated investor presentation to the company's website. Now I'd like to turn the call over to the CEO of Concrete Pumping Holdings, Bruce Young.

Bruce? Thank you, Cody, and good afternoon, everyone. 2026 remains on track to be a strong year for our company as we continue to execute our strategy and prove ourselves to be the partner of choice of our customers, particularly in large, more complex projects.

I'm pleased to report that we delivered another strong quarter, with revenue increasing 13% year-over-year and adjusted EBITDA also growing 13%, reflecting continued momentum across our U.S. operations, disciplined operational execution, and healthy demand across several of our key end markets. Our performance during the quarter continued to be led by large-scale commercial and infrastructure construction activity. As we have discussed in the last couple of quarters, data centers and other large-scale commercial projects remain the primary driver of growth. In addition, we are also seeing encouraging activity across education, utilities, energy, and other infrastructure-related projects.

These larger, more complex projects continue to support healthy fleet utilization across both our Brundage-Bone and Eco-Pan businesses and reinforce the competitive advantages created by our national footprint, scale, and operational expertise. We remain optimistic about the continued growth in these segments for the foreseeable future. The broader construction backdrop remains largely unchanged. Heavy commercial construction has remained relatively resilient, while light commercial activity continues to be pressured by elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty. Residential construction also remains soft as affordability challenges continue to weigh on new home construction, despite favorable long-term housing fundamentals. Our Eco-Pan Concrete Waste Management Services business again delivered an excellent quarter and remains on track for another record year, benefiting from continued strength in commercial construction activity, pricing execution, and ongoing penetration into new customer accounts.

Eco-Pan continues to demonstrate the attractive operating characteristics of the business and remains an important differentiator for our overall platform. Turning to our U.K. operations, market conditions remain more challenging than those in the U.S., with inflation, elevated interest rates, and slower commercial construction environment continuing to pressure demand. That said, we were encouraged to see commercial activity improve during the months of July and August, and while it's too early to call an inflection point, the trends are encouraging. In addition to our recent expansion into the temporary power market, Templant is performing well, is executing in line with our strategy to build a diversified multi-service platform supporting the construction and infrastructure sectors. Along with our Republic of Ireland expansion, these strategic growth investments continue to strengthen our long-term platform. Overall, we are pleased with our performance through the first nine months of fiscal 2026.

We continue to grow profitably and generate meaningful free cash flow, and our balance sheet is in an excellent position as we have driven net leverage down to 3.6 times, on track towards our near-term target of three times. Liquidity is also very strong at about $357 million, giving us tremendous flexibility to grow shareholder value through accelerated organic growth opportunities, M&A, and other capital allocation strategies. The consistency of our execution, the durability of demand across large commercial and infrastructure projects, and the strength of our operating model give us confidence as we enter the final quarter of fiscal 2026. As a result, we are once again raising our full-year revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow outlook while remaining focused on disciplined execution, free cash flow generation, and long-term value creation for our shareholders.

Looking out longer term, we are excited about the opportunities we see in front of us. We believe these opportunities, coupled with our differentiated business model, will translate to profitable growth across all segments, both organically and through potential M&A. Today, we made an important update regarding capital allocation, and we are pleased to announce that our board of directors has approved the initiation of a regular quarterly cash dividend. The first expected payment of $0.13 per share is to be paid on October 2nd, 2026, and on an annualized basis, this equates to $0.52 per share, representing a yield of approximately 5.6% based on our current stock price. The dividend does not change our growth investment priorities and our ability to pursue strategic initiatives.

Rather, it reflects our confidence in the durability of our free cash flow and our commitment to returning capital to shareholders through multiple channels. I will now turn the call over to Iain to walk through financial results in more detail.

Iain? Thanks, Bruce, and good afternoon, everyone.

Moving directly into our third quarter results. Revenue increased 13% to $116.8 million compared to $103.7 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was driven by continued strength in U.S. commercial and infrastructure activity, particularly large-scale data center and infrastructure projects, along with pricing improvement and mostly stable weather conditions across our U.S. markets. Revenue in our U.S. Concrete Pumping segment increased 10% to $76.2 million, compared to $69.3 million in the prior year quarter. Commercial and infrastructure activity remained healthy, led by continued demand from data centers, while utilities, education, and energy-related projects also contributed to growth. These gains were partially offset by continued softness in light commercial construction and subdued residential demand resulting from elevated interest rates and ongoing economic uncertainty.

Revenue in our Eco-Pan Concrete Waste Management Services business increased 14% to $21.9 million, compared to $19.3 million in the prior year quarter. Growth was driven by organic volume increases, pricing improvements, and continued success expanding relationships with new customers, demonstrating the scalability and resiliency of the business. Turning to our U.K. operations, revenue increased 24% to $18.7 million. The increase primarily reflected the contribution from the Templant temporary power acquisition, while underlying commercial construction activity remained relatively soft. Although inflationary pressures continued to impact fuel costs, we were encouraged by the improving commercial demand activity during July and August and continue to believe our strategic investments are positioning the business for long-term growth. At a consolidated level, gross margin was 38.7%, compared to 39% in the prior year quarter. Pricing execution largely offset inflationary pressures with a modest decline, primarily reflecting higher fuel costs during the quarter.

General and administrative expenses increased to $30.1 million, compared to $27.5 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting higher stock compensation and costs from recent acquisitions. However, G&A, as a percentage of revenue, improved to 25.8% from 26.5%, demonstrating continued operating leverage. Net income attributable to common shareholders increased to $4.5 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to $3.3 million or $0.07 per diluted share last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 13% to $30.4 million, with margin improving to 26%. Within U.S. Concrete Pumping, adjusted EBITDA increased 18% to $18.4 million, while Eco-Pan adjusted EBITDA increased 19% to $8.8 million, reflecting continued operating leverage from higher volumes and improved pricing.