ADF Group Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
June 9, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: ADF reported a record quarterly backlog of CAD 645.8 million, including CAD 266.5 million from the long-term Gocław contract, giving the company stronger visibility into future work and revenue.
  • Positive Sentiment: First-quarter revenue jumped 78.8% year over year to CAD 99.3 million, with gross margin also improving to 24.2% from 22%, driven by higher volume and better fixed-cost absorption.
  • Positive Sentiment: Net income rose to CAD 12.0 million or CAD 0.42 per share, up from CAD 8.7 million a year ago, while cash remained strong at CAD 62.1 million and working capital stood at CAD 111.9 million.
  • Neutral Sentiment: The company said the Groupe LAR acquisition contributed CAD 18.1 million of revenue and CAD 1.3 million of gross margin in the quarter, and management expects LAR’s expansion to double capacity once completed next fiscal year.
  • Negative Sentiment: Management said U.S. tariff policy remains a significant irritant and continues to pressure costs, although they believe their proactive approach is helping offset the impact.
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Earnings Conference Call
ADF Group Q1 2027
00:00 / 00:00

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Speaker 2

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ADF Group Inc. results for the three-month period ended April 30th, 2026 conference call. At this time, note that all participant lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star for the operator. I'm sorry, star zero for the operator. Also, note that this call is being recorded on Tuesday, June 9th, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Monsieur Jean-François Boursier, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Operator

Merci. Good morning and welcome to ADF's conference call covering the first quarter ended April 30th, 2026. I am with Pierre Paschini, Chief Operating Officer of ADF, who will be available to answer your questions at the end of the call. We are currently an hour from hosting our 2026 annual shareholders meeting, which will take place here at our corporate office in Terrebonne. I will now update you on our quarterly results, which were disclosed earlier this morning by press release. First, a word of caution. Please note that some of the issues discussed today may include forward-looking statements. These are documented in ADF Group's management report for the first quarter ended April 30th, 2026, which were filed with SEDAR this morning. Our fiscal 2027 is off to an excellent start.

Operator

Even if we are dealing with the numerous and never-ending tariff changes, we are still keeping our focus and managing these challenges proactively. Revenues during the three-month period ended April 30th, 2026, totaled CAD 99.3 million, 78.8% higher than the CAD 55.5 million for the same period ended a year ago. The increase comes from the recently signed contracts, which are now in fabrication. It is also worth mentioning that our first quarter revenues a year ago were negatively impacted by the then recently announced tariffs. The gross margin at CAD 24.0 million almost double when compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year. Gross margin as a percentage of revenues went from 22% during the three-month period ended April 30th, 2025, to 24.2% during the same period ended April 30th, 2026.

Operator

The increase in margin, both in dollars and as a percentage of revenues, is explained by the higher revenues, which improved the absorption of fixed costs despite higher input prices, including the price of steel and the recent changes to tariffs. The revenues and margin for the quarter ending April 30th, 2026, are now inclusive of the Groupe LAR acquisition, which was finalized in September 2025. As such, our revenues and gross margin for the quarter ended April 30th, 2026, included CAD 18.1 million and CAD 1.3 million respectively, coming from Groupe LAR. For the three-month period ended April 30th, 2026, selling and administrative expenses amounted to CAD 7.6 million, boasting a CAD 4.2 million increase compared with the same period a year ago.

Operator

This variation is mainly explained by the adjustment in the market value of Deferred Share Units and in Performance Share Units granted to external board of directors members and certain members of senior management, in line with the variation in the corporation share price during the periods analyzed. The acquisition of Groupe LAR Inc. also had an upward impact on selling administrative expenses of CAD 1.1 million during the three-month period ended April 30th, 2026. We therefore closed our first quarter with net income of CAD 12 million, or CAD 0.42 per share, compared to CAD 8.7 million or CAD 0.30 per share for the same quarter a year ago. Our balance sheet remains very strong. We closed our first quarter, ended last April 30th, with cash and cash equivalent of CAD 62.1 million, only CAD 0.6 million lower than our January 31st, 2026, ending balance.

Operator

Working capital stood at CAD 111.9 million for a 2.2 to 1 ratio. Acquisition of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets for the first quarter ended last April 30th total CAD 9 million, including the modification of an existing fabrication bay in Terrebonne, the start of the expansion CapEx in Métabetchouan for Groupe LAR Inc., and the redesign of the corporation's integrated ERP software package. We actually had the first shovel ceremony last week for our LAR expansion project. We expect full-year CapEx to be approximately CAD 35 million. Finally, we closed the quarter with a record-breaking backlog of CAD 645.8 million. This backlog includes CAD 266.5 million coming from Gocław, which includes the multi-year contract announced last April. Worth mentioning, the April 30th, 2026 backlog includes 72% of Canadian projects.

Operator

As previously mentioned, we are very satisfied with the results of our first quarter, which is highlighted by the progress of our operating activities and the ongoing growth of our order backlog. As announced this past April, we have finalized a long-term contract in the hydroelectric sector in Quebec for Gocław, which confirms our optimism expressed in our year-end reporting and communication and highlights the importance of the investments we will make in the coming quarters to not only increase the production capacity of Gocław's plant, but also outfit it with state-of-the-art equipment. Our financial position remains strong, and we are continuing our discussion with the goal of securing adequate financing for our capital investment in Lac-Saint-Jean. As such, we were able to reach an agreement with the Federal Government for a CAD 12.5 million loan, which, subject to certain conditions, would be 50% forgivable and 50% interest-free.

Operator

We expect to have the full financing package confirmed before the end of the second quarter, ending next July 31st. Though our market remains active, U.S. tariff policy remains a significant irritant and will continue to add pressure, directly and indirectly, to our cost structure. This being said, and as shown by our results for the first quarter, our proactive approach allows us to continue our orderly growth and minimize the risks associated with existing uncertainties. Thank you for your interest and confidence in ADF. Gary and I will now answer your questions.

Speaker 2

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you do have any questions at this time, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. You will then hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to withdraw from the polling process, please press star followed by two. If you're using a speakerphone, you will need to lift the handset first before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now if you have any questions. Thank you. Your first question will be from Nicholas Cortellucci at Atrium. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good morning, gentlemen. Thanks for answering my questions, and congrats on the quarter here. Really strong results.

Operator

Thanks, Nick.

Speaker 1

I was wondering about the timeframe on the Lar CapEx plan. Is it a phased approach, or how long do you think it'll take to get a meaningful revenue impact from that?

Operator

Well, construction, actually, as I mentioned, we had the first shovel ceremony last week. We actually started construction on the site yesterday. We plan to have the building closed out before the winter, so around November, December, finalize the setup during the winter. Technically April, May, the plant should be up and running. Starting with the second quarter of next fiscal year, we should start to see some impact from the additional volume and the improved efficiency coming from the new equipment.

Speaker 1

Great. Would you be able to tell us what LAR's capacity was prior to this? Maybe just in dollars versus after or maybe even just a % increase if that is easier.

Operator

Well, typically, volume-wise with the mix of product they presently have, they were able to do about CAD 100 million, maybe a bit more. The expansion will double the capacity. Again, depending on mix, we should be able to double that. On a revenue standpoint, it always depends on margins and the pricing of the projects, but basically, the expansion should double the capacity.

Speaker 1

Okay. That sounds good. Then for J.F., on the SG&A levels going forward, is this the baseline, what we saw in Q4 and Q1 if we exclude the stock-based compensation?

Operator

Yes, pretty much. LAR is included. As I mentioned, the impact of LAR alone in Q1 is CAD 1.1. We can grow the revenues without really having to grow much of the SG&A, at least not significantly. Besides inflation on salaries, SG&A should be pretty flat. There's always the PSUs and DSUs fluctuation based on market. Just based on this morning's stock reaction, my SG&A just went up significantly. I guess that's good. Besides that, it should be pretty stable.

Speaker 1

Okay, got it. Understood. Last one from me, if you guys have an update on more of the growth sectors or growth projects, whether that's nuclear or data centers. Are you seeing more volume in areas like that?

Speaker 3

Okay, yeah, we've got some volumes coming in the U.S., also. We're looking at some data centers and some other jobs, big jobs that we can do at Great Falls and all that. I think there's a lot of jobs bidding. There's competition. There's niche work that we can do over here in Canada. Well, there's a lot of work coming with Quebec and other places in Ontario, also some nuclear stuff. We'll be busy in estimating, basically. We grew our gang to do more estimates so we can pick up more work, but at decent prices. For us, the market is good. The reason why we're able to do what we're doing is that we can do jobs in the U.S. Buy American Act is not an issue with the Great Falls plant and some other stuff.

Speaker 3

Even with the tariffs, with the new equipment, we can be competitive here in Montreal. LAR, well, LAR I think is quite an acquisition and they're going to do their work. There's enough volume and I think the volume is going to be there for the next 5 years.

Speaker 1

Yeah, very good. Okay, thanks for answering my questions and congrats again, guys.

Operator

Thanks, Dave.

Speaker 3

Thanks.

Speaker 2

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have any questions, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. Next question will be from Sébastien Charlin at Agave Capital. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Good morning, gentlemen. Congratulations on the record quarter.

Operator

Merci.

Speaker 3

Si.

Speaker 4

My first question is regarding the gross margin. I think a very positive surprise this morning. Last quarter, I believe the guidance or perhaps what we discussed was more in the lower 20% range, 20%-22%. It seems we are recovering towards that 24% and up despite the lower margin contracts at LAR Inc. I'm just wondering what could explain the stronger performance in Q1? I think we were more expecting this in the second half of the year. Has there been any project pull forward? Anything exceptional? Do you expect a second quarter a bit weaker?

Operator

Well, I'd love to be more precise on the guidance. That's why we don't provide specific guidance. Sometime it's not a whole lot of things. It's just a project coming in sooner than expected or one not coming in with lower margin as soon as expected. It's really more a matter of the product mix. It's not a huge shift, but to your point, maybe a point or two higher than we might have expected. I expect margins in the second quarter to be pretty similar, as with considering the volume that we should be able to tackle in that second quarter. As we also mentioned at year-end, we're still working on the integration of Groupe LAR Inc. In the second half of the year, we should start seeing some of the benefits from the synergies being driven by this.

Operator

The step change will really be, as I mentioned on the first question, the step change will really be next year when the addition and the expansion in Groupe LAR Inc. kicks in with the new equipment. Again, we're obviously happy with the numbers. I guess it just shows that we've been able to execute the project. As I said, sometime it's not a whole lot, it's just timing of maybe a couple of weeks that might have pushed some of the margins up higher than expected.

Speaker 4

Got it. That's helpful. Apologies, I shouldn't have said guidance. Perhaps I should say you manage our expectations right. That was a positive surprise. On the financing agreement news, that's great to see the feds, Le Fédéral, coming in with this. I was wondering, would it be crazy to expect the provincial level to maybe come in as well, especially in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region?

Operator

It wouldn't, but still having discussions, hopefully we'll be able to button down everything we're working on. We're looking at obviously both level of government, and we've always had a good relationship at both levels, we're pleased to be able to finalize on the federal side and working for the rest of the package. We'll have more to say in the coming weeks, definitely, at least, unless something drastic happens. As I said, we should be able to button down everything by the end of the quarter.

Speaker 4

Got it. Maybe the last one for me. I think we understand LAR is pretty much buckled up for the foreseeable future, plus the expansion plan. If we focus back on Terrebonne and even Great Falls. Can you comment on perhaps the capacity that's left there, maybe as a percentage or calendar-wise for 2026 and 2027?

Operator

Well, Great Falls, obviously with the issues with the tariffs, it's definitely much easier to sign contract for U.S. projects being fabricated in Great Falls because obviously you take the tariff discussion out of the equation. As it stands now, our Great Falls plan is getting pretty full for the year, and we already have volume for next year. At Terrebonne this year, obviously, in normal circumstances, we do have good volume coming from the U.S. As surprising as it may seem, even with the difficulties, we're still having U.S. projects that are coming in Terrebonne, where we manage the tariff's impact along with our clients. We're also, because of the success we have and the fact that the expansion in Lau for Groupe LAR Inc. is not in place, we're also doing volume that would have normally been done at the Groupe LAR Inc. site.

Operator

We're helping out Lau, which fills some of the capacity here in Terrebonne. For next year, you saw the backlog, we're starting also to have good volume. The long-term contract gives us longer-term visibility, which is something new for ADF, which is also really nice to have, the longer-term visibility. As Pierre mentioned, in spite of everything, the market are still strong. There's still a lot of projects out there. The plan is to fill as much as possible the shops. The initial objective was really to put additional effort on Lau, and I think we've been pretty successful of doing that. Now it's just making sure that we fill the capacity here in Terrebonne for the remainder of the year and next year. We still have room. There's still capacity available.

Operator

Things are looking good and there's always a possibility also in Great Falls, as we have mentioned in previous communication, to add capacity should we get to that point. There's nothing on the table now, but we're obviously monitoring the situation.

Speaker 4

Got it. That's it for me. Congrats again, [Foreign language].

Operator

Thanks.

Speaker 2

Thank you. At this time, Monsieur Boursier, we have no other questions registered. Please proceed.

Operator

Again, we wish to thank you for your interest in ADF Group and remind you that we will hold our fiscal 2026 shareholders meeting in just a few minutes at 11:00 A.M. here at our corporate office in Terrebonne, Quebec. Thank you.

Speaker 5

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending. At this time, we ask that you please disconnect your lines. Enjoy the rest of your day.

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