Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Tuesday reported a $112.3% increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2020, even as the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit its business.
Sales rose from $11.7 million in the first quarter of 2019 to $24.9 million in the three-month period ending March 31 of this year, according to a press release from the Atlanta-based waste treatment provider.
Quarterly Services revenue was up 748% on a year-over-year basis, from $1.8 million in 2019 to $15.3 million in 2020. Management attributed the boost to a number of contracts and task orders the company won beginning in early 2019, “resulting from the success of our implemented strategic plan in winning contract bids.”
Revenue in Perma-Fix’s Treatment business drooped slightly, from $9.9 million in first-quarter 2019 to $9.6 million this year. That was largely due to lower waste volumes for treatment, according to a Perma-Fix press release.
In total, the latest numbers were good for $1.2 million in first-quarter net income, or $0.10 per share, a significant improvement from a net loss of $672,000, $0.06 per share, in 2019.
Like many companies, Perma-Fix felt the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis toward the end of the first quarter.
“The Services Segment began demobilization activities at certain projects in mid- to late-March and numerous waste shipments from Treatment Services clients were delayed at that time,” the release says. “This resulted in temporary layoffs for many project personnel along with implementation of work-from-home policies.”
That situation continued throughout April, but field personnel are being remobilized as some projects start up again. The pandemic’s effects could show up in second-quarter earnings, the release says.
In April, Perma-Fix secured a $5.7 million, two-year bank loan under the federal CARES Act to pay its personnel. No workers are known to have contracted the viral disease, according to the Tuesday release.
Perma-Fix executives are scheduled to discuss the latest earnings during a conference call starting at 11 a.m. ET today.
