Bird revenue drops slightly in Q3, backlog soars following Stuart Olson purchase

Bird Construction Inc. again saw its profitability improve in the third quarter of 2020, even as revenues declined.

The company reported its Q3 earnings Nov. 11, recording net income of $8.8 million and revenue of $345.1 million, compared to net income of $6.8 million and revenue of $378.6 million in the same quarter of 2019. Despite the lower volume, partly tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bird said higher margin industrial work helped boost its earnings.

“While there have been impacts to top line revenue due to challenges faced in the current global pandemic, our eighth sequential quarter of improving Adjusted EBITDA margin performance validates our efforts on disciplined execution, diversification and delivering consistency in earnings,” Teri McKibbon, the company’s president and CEO, said in a release.

Bird’s major tie up with Calgary-based Stuart Olson Inc. also closed at the end of the quarter, marking a major shake up for the company and wider construction industry.

Folding in Stuart Olson’s catalogue of work, Bird said its backlog climbed to $2.59 billion at the end of September, up roughly 80 per cent from a year earlier.

“Our near record backlog and pending backlog will provide ample work at good margins to help the company be considerably more profitable in 2020 than recent years despite a projected decline in revenue year-over-year,” McKibbon said.