Assuming CH2M shareholders approve that company’s acquisition by Jacobs Engineering in a few weeks, Jacobs Chairman and CEO Steve Demetriou sees the combined company getting off to “a running start.”
During a conference call with Wall Street analysts Tuesday following release of Jacobs’ quarterly earnings, Demetriou said he has already visited many CH2M offices and met with clients that would be affected by the merger of the two engineering and infrastructure companies. Demetriou dubbed it an effort at “winning the hearts and minds of the combined employee base.” The Jacobs CEO did not reveal if any of the clients he visited were involved in cleanup of Department of Energy nuclear site.
CH2M shareholders are set to vote on the $3.27 billion deal on Dec. 13. With their blessing, Demetriou expects the merger to close in mid-December, creating a $15 billion company with over 70,000 employees based on current payrolls.
The companies have already notched necessary regulatory approvals from governments in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Jacobs reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2017 net earnings of $94.1 million, $0.78 per diluted share, on $2.7 billion in revenue. That beats fourth-quarter 2016 net earnings of $29.6 million, $0.24 per diluted share, on revenue of $2.6 billion.
Jacobs reported net earnings of almost $294 million for all of fiscal 2017, compared to $210 million in the prior budget year.
For the Aerospace and Technology segment, which includes its Department of Energy business, Jacobs reported an operating profit of about $56 million for the most recent quarter, which compares to roughly $47 million for the final quarter of fiscal 2016. For the just-completed fiscal year, the same business reported operating profit of less than $203 million, compared to about $204 million in operating profit for fiscal 2016.
Jacobs’ latest quarterly net earnings included about $24.2 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in after-tax charges associated with the CH2M merger.
