Waste Management Earnings Beats Estimates as Business Rebounds
| Waste Management, Inc. (WM) | ||
| Three Months Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 4,067 | 3,846 |
| EBITDA | 1,090 | 1,050 |
| EBITDA Margin | 26.8% | 27.3% |
| Net Income | 438 | 447 |
| Year Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 15,218 | 15,455 |
| EBITDA | 4,105 | 4,280 |
| EBITDA Margin | 27.0% | 27.7% |
| Net Income | 1,496 | 1,670 |
Waste Management, Inc. (Houston, TX) reported year-end and fourth quarter results that beat estimates. The company reported fourth quarter earnings of $1.13 per share on revenue of $4.07 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.11 per share on revenue of $3.98 billion. The quarter showed a remarkable rebound in business from previous quarters impacted by the pandemic where a sharp decline in commercial volume accompanied suspended price increases and fees to impacted customers. Whereas revenue growth for the year was flat, fourth quarter revenue was up 250 basis points from the previous quarter and up 890 basis points from the low of the second quarter. The company expects to continue this momentum through 2021 where revenues are predicted to grow between 10.75% and 11.25%...Read More »
Republic 2020 Financials Show Steady Improvement on Strong Pricing
| Republic Services, Inc. (RSG) | ||
| Three Months Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 2,573.3 | 2,576.7 |
| EBITDA | 565.9 | 652.0 |
| EBITDA Margin | 22.0% | 25.3% |
| Net Income | 236.3 | 290.0 |
| Year Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 10,153.0 | 10,299.4 |
| EBITDA | 2,647.8 | 2,797.4 |
| EBITDA Margin | 26.1% | 27.2% |
| Net Income | 969.6 | 1,073.8 |
Republic Services' (Phoenix, AZ) roughly flat revenue growth for 2020 is good news amid the major business disruptions caused by the pandemic. Waste volumes which were off by 3.1% for the year had shown improvement and were off by only 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Overall landfill volumes were down 2.4% largely the result of special waste volumes that were off by 9.8% versus last year. "The economy is coming out of it and we're coming out of it with it," said CEO Don Slager. Revenue from recycling reached $297.1 million for the year, up from $273.3 million in 2019 having gotten a big boost from the 67% year-over-year jump in commodity prices in the fourth quarter, which was offset slightly by a 3% decrease in inbound volume...Read More »
Waste Connections 4Q Beats Estimates
| Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) | ||
| Three Months Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 1,398 | 1,362 |
| EBITDA | 427 | 419 |
| EBITDA Margin | 30.5% | 30.8% |
| Net Income | 131 | 133 |
| Year Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 5,446 | 5,389 |
| EBITDA | 1,662 | 1,674 |
| EBITDA Margin | 30.5% | 31.1% |
| Net Income | 205 | 567 |
Waste Connections (Vaughan, Ont.) posted fourth quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations on higher-than-expected solid waste volumes, and increased values for recycled commodities and renewable fuels. The company earned $130.7 million or $0.68 per share (adjusted for one-time gains and losses) on revenue of $1.4 billion in the quarter. Analysts were predicting earnings of $0.63 per share on revenue of 1.34 billion.
Business lost during the pandemic is returning. An estimated 56 percent of commercial customers who had paused business had returned by year-end. And while landfill tons were down 5 percent year-over-year, they were up 2 percent in the fourth quarter. The company now predicts 5 percent volume growth in 2021...Read More »
GFL Environmental Posts 38% Jump in Revenue on $4 Billion of M&A
| GFL Environmental Inc. (GFL) | ||
| Three Months Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 1,235.6 | 896.6 |
| EBITDA | 311.2 | 208.9 |
| EBITDA Margin | 25.2% | 23.3% |
| Net Income | (486.7) | (180.4) |
| Year Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 4,196.2 | 3,346.9 |
| EBITDA | 1,076.7 | 825.7 |
| EBITDA Margin | 25.7% | 24.7% |
| Net Income | (994.9) | (451.7) |
GFL Environmental (Vaughan, Ont.) reported a 38% jump in annual revenue during its first year as a public company having spent close to $4 billion on acquisitions. The largest of which included the divestitures of the Waste Management/Advanced Disposal deal for US$863.5 million and its US$1.2 billion purchase of WCA Waste Corp. All told, the company closed on 22 acquisitions last year, including seven tuck-ins for a combined price of $80 million during the fourth quarter. These followed acquisitions of American Waste and County Waste before the company completed a US$2.2 billion initial public offering last March...Read More »
Casella Posts Strong Results Helped by Capacity Crunch in Northeast
| Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (CWST) | ||
| Three Months Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 200.2 | 193.6 |
| EBITDA | 42.6 | 41.1 |
| EBITDA Margin | 21.3% | 21.2% |
| Net Income | 62.9 | 9.1 |
| Year Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 774.6 | 743.3 |
| EBITDA | 171.4 | 156.5 |
| EBITDA Margin | 22.1% | 21.1% |
| Net Income | 91.1 | 31.7 |
All things considered; Casella Waste Systems (Rutland, VT) posted a relatively strong fourth quarter which exceeded analysts' expectations by leveraging a tightening northeast market. Quarterly and annual revenue, which rose by 3.4% and 4.2% respectively, were powered by a strong pricing environment amid diminishing landfill capacity in the region. Pricing for the quarter was up 3.9%, driven by robust collection pricing, up 3.8%, and strong landfill pricing, up 5.6%, from the same period in 2019. This more than compensated for the 7.2% decline in year-over-year solid waste volumes. Volumes for the quarter were down 4.6% from those in 2019 and show marked improvement since the full impact of the pandemic in the second quarter. In an acknowledgment of the company's focus leaning its operations, CEO John Casella noted that "despite the negative volume and cost impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020, we still increased Adjusted EBITDA by 9.5% and Adjusted Free Cash Flow by 24.7% year-over-year."...Read More »
Covanta Sees Volumes Return and Higher Energy Revenue
| Covanta Holding Corporation (CVA) | ||
| Three Months Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 491 | 485 |
| EBITDA | 103 | 125 |
| EBITDA Margin | 21.0% | 25.8% |
| Net Income | 12 | 12 |
| Year Ended Dec. 31 | ||
| (millions of $) | 2020 | 2019 |
| Revenue | 1,904 | 1,870 |
| EBITDA | 424 | 428 |
| EBITDA Margin | 22.3% | 22.9% |
| Net Income | (28) | 10 |
Covanta Holding Corp. (Morristown, NJ) reported a 1.8% gain in 2020 revenue despite the drop in waste volumes due to the pandemic. The company says waste volumes have since returned to pre-pandemic levels. Quarterly revenue rose to $491 ahead of analysts' expectations. Revenues from energy generation were up 13% for the quarter and 8.5% for the year. "Covanta's 2020 results highlighted the underlying resilience of our business model and the capabilities of our incredible operating team," said Michael Ranger, President and CEO. Under Ranger, who is new to the helm, the company is engaging in a strategic review of its operations that might include the divestiture of some assets. The company has highlighted its investments into UK Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facilities as one of its primary opportunities for growth. Four projects there now under construction are expected to provide upward of $110 million in annual earnings benefits once complete...Read More »
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