Construction steel-structures builder ADF GROUP INC. (DRX.TO) reported Tuesday a decrease in first-quarter profit, hurt by a drop in revenues.
For the first quarter, net earnings declined to C$2.2 million or C$0.06 per share from C$3.2 million or C$0.09 per share in the previous year.
Revenues for the quarter declined sharply to C$16.8 million from C$25.2 million in the same period last year.
Gross margin rose to 32% of revenues from 28% of revenues, reflecting the greater proportion in the revenue mix for the first quarter of 2010 of contracts consisting exclusively of in-plant labor hours, whereas the prior-year quarter included a relatively larger proportion of contracts which also consisted of the supply of steel, connection design and engineering and installation services.
Jean Paschini, chief executive of ADF said that the company would keep focused on its long-term sustainable value-creating strategy, based on selective positioning in market niches highly specialized and less subject to the cyclic fluctuations and on value-added fabrication activities.
Including the C$22 million contract that ADF won in May, order backlog was C$90 million as on April 30, 2009, down from C$148 million a year ago.
DRX.TO closed Monday at C$2.60 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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