Layne beats market consensus with strong Q2 numbers

Layne Christensen shares opened nearly 4% up after the company released better than expected second-quarter results this morning, though the share price lost ground as the day progressed. The Q2 EPS number came in at $0.33 – comfortably above the market consensus – on net income of $6.5 million, against a loss of $8.6 million in Q2 last year.

Revenues were up by 16.6% at $253.3 million, driven by the water infrastructure division (where sales were up 11.4% at $194.0 million), and the mineral exploration segment (up 67.8% at $50.8 million).

The second half of the year looks more challenging. “We will have tougher year-over-year comparables with the absence of last year’s Katrina related work in New Orleans, lower natural gas prices and water infrastructure margins that are weaker,” warned CEO Andrew Schmitt. The weakness should be partially offset by improvements in Layne’s legacy water business over the next six months.