Q2 2025 AECOM Earnings Call

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Presentation

Operator

Good morning and welcome to the AECOM second-quarter 2025 conference call. I would like to inform all participants, this call is being recorded at the request of AECOM. This broadcast is a copyrighted property of AECOM. Any rebroadcast of this information in whole or part without the prior written permission of AECOM is prohibited. As a reminder, AECOM is also simulcasting this presentation with slides at the investors section at www.aecom.com. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)
I would like to turn the call over to Will Gabrielski, Senior Vice President, Finance, Treasury, and Investor Relations.

Thank you, operator. I would like to direct your attention to the Safe Harbor statement on page 1 of today's presentation. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements about future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties, including the risks described in our periodic report filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements.
We use certain non-GAAP financial measures in our presentation. The appropriate GAAP reconciliations are incorporated into our materials, which are posted to our website. Growth rates are presented on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. Any reference to segment margins or segment adjusted operating margins will reflect the performance for the Americas and international segments. When discussing revenue and revenue growth, we will refer to Net Service Revenue or NSR, which is defined as revenue excluding pass-through revenue. NSR growth rates are presented on a constant currency basis unless otherwise noted.
Today's remarks will focus on continuing operations. On today's call, Troy Rudd, our Chief Executive Officer, will review our key accomplishments, our strategy, and our outlook for the business. Lara Poloni, our President, will discuss key operational successes and priorities. And Gaurav Kapoor, our Chief Financial and Operations Officer, will review our financial performance and outlook in greater detail. We will conclude with a question-and-answer session. With that, I will turn the call over to Troy.

Thank you, Will, and thank you all for joining us today. The second quarter was defined by change, some anticipated and some unexpected. As we've done over the past six years where we have faced events that created macroeconomic volatility, we successfully navigated the business to deliver strong results.
Our second quarter results are a testament to the strength of our culture and of our professionals across the organization. Our teams are the best and brightest in our industry, and through their efforts, we deliver a technical advantage to every client and every project. Importantly, they continue to showcase the competitive edge that we have created in our platform that allows us to deliver results. I want to highlight two recent notable accomplishments that demonstrate our industry leading market position.
First, E&R released its annual survey results last month, and I'm pleased to report that we moved up one place to earn the distinction as the number one overall design firm. We also had our number one rankings in transportation, water, and facilities affirmed. And when combined with our existing number one ranking in the environment, we hold a leadership position in each of our end markets.
Second, in March, we were appointed as the sole venue infrastructure partner for the LA '28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We are honored to be selected for an unprecedented scope that includes all critical elements of architecture, engineering, planning, program management, and construction management. The unrivaled depth and breadth of our technical expertise, as well as our proven track record of delivering past iconic global sporting events were essential in our success. No other company can rival what we offer and deliver to our clients on these types of large, complex projects.
Turning to our financial results, I'm pleased to report strong second quarter and first half financial results highlighted by record second quarter NSR, margins and EPS. Growth was the highest in the Americas, our largest and most profitable region. IIJ spending continues to increase, and with less than 35% of the total funding spent thus far, several years of strong federal funding for infrastructure remain for our markets.
I should note two items impacted our NSR growth. First, we had fewer workdays in the quarter due to the timing of holidays. This reduced growth by approximately 100 basis points in the quarter. Second, we experienced isolated delays and deferred decisions on a limited set of projects which impacted our top line growth. That said, these delays are not uncommon whenever there is a change in administration, and the impact to our backlog was minimal.
The segment adjusted operating margin rose 90 basis points to 16.1%, which is a second quarter record. This increase reflects strong execution, growing contribution from higher margin advisory services, faster growth in our highest margin markets, and ongoing continuous improvement initiatives. Our industry leading margins include record investments in innovation, technical excellence, and business development, all of which are accelerating in the second half of the year based on the opportunities ahead.
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 8% to $290 million and adjusted EPS increased by 20% to $1.25 both of which also set new second quarter highs. Free cash flow in the quarter increased by 141% to $178 million. We returned $110 million to shareholders during the quarter through share repurchases and dividends, and $165 million in the first half of the year. Our returns-based capital allocation policy remains unchanged, and we will continue to allocate our consistently strong cash flow to the highest returning opportunities. This includes the $900 million remaining on our current share repurchase authorization.
Looking ahead, our confidence for the rest of the year and beyond is supported by several key factors. First, our backlog increased quarter to quarter to a new record, driven by a 1.1 times book to burn ratio. Our underlying book to burn ratio was even higher, but changes in a small number of government contracts following US federal agency reviews resulted in the removal of approximately $100 million from backlog. In addition, our pipeline of opportunities is also at a record level, and growth is fastest at the earliest stages of our pipeline, consistent with our expectations for several years of continued growth in our largest markets.
Second, through our competitive edge platform, we are delivering record high win rates. This includes 80% success on large enterprise critical pursuits year-to-date and a better than 50% win rate overall. Our consistent success comes from strategically deploying our best technical resources to the highest value clients and opportunities, strong client relationships, and differentiate capabilities across the investment life cycle, from design to advisory and program management.
Third, global megatrends remain robust, including $50 trillion in projected infrastructure investment through 2040 across transportation, water, and energy. Aging infrastructure, growing requirements for sustainability and resilience, and the rising energy demand create a favorable backdrop that drives inevitable demand. Infrastructure enjoys strong bipartisan support across all of our markets and is an essential element of thriving economies.
Fourth, we are investing to accelerate organic growth and expand our competitive advantage. This includes ongoing additions to our advisory and program management teams to meet growing demand as our clients navigate greater regulatory uncertainty and larger investments. This is consistent with our long-term objective of delivering 50% of revenue from advisory and program management over time.
Lastly, against a backdrop of changing political dynamics and resulting policy shifts after the unprecedented number of elections last year, a few points bear repeating. The work we do for our clients is highly technical and critical to their missions. In fact, many projects that were paused have now resumed. Given the professional services nature of our work, tariffs are not expected to directly affect our business. Over 70% of our workforce is versatile across market sectors and can be deployed to the strongest growth opportunities. The regulation and permitting reform are tailwinds to our business and a declining public sector workforce has been a secular tailwind for our industry and increasingly a demand driver for advisory and program management services.
To summarize, our first half results were ahead of our initial expectations. Our backlog is at a record high. This performance underscores our confidence, and as a result, we are increasing the midpoints of our EBITDA and EPS guidance for a second consecutive quarter. With that, I will turn the call over to Lara.