Chicago Bridge & Iron Beats

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CBI - Analyst Report) reported net income of $40.8 million, or 42 cents per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009, compared with $8.6 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2008. This was higher than Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter was $1.0 billion compared with third quarter 2008 revenue of $1.6 billion. 

New awards for the reported quarter totaled $1.6 billion, including CB&I’s $550 million Gorgon LNG contract in Australia and the $530 million GASCO award in Abu Dhabi. With less work, the company cut sales-related costs 39%, although overhead shrank by a more modest 12%. 

Earlier, the company had announced that it has agreed to buy hydrogen-management technology from H2Gen Innovations Inc. in order to get hold of the Mars modularized Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology. H2Gen's PSA technology is used to recapture hydrogen and noble gases from waste streams in a variety of industries including oil & gas, petrochemicals and metals. Small footprint PSA process modules provide gas separation and purification with high reliability at a low cost. Financial terms of the proposed transaction were not disclosed. 

Cash and cash equivalents increased to $212.0 million as of Sep 30, up from $88.2 million at year-end 2008. Long-term debt was $120 million and shareowners’ equity was $810 million. 

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. provides engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) solutions, as well as process technologies for the energy infrastructure projects. It primarily focuses on projects related to oil and gas companies. CB&I operates approximately 80 locations around the world. The company was founded in 1889 and is based in The Hague, the Netherlands. Major competitor is Matrix Service Company (MTRX - Snapshot Report).