Rock Products

DEC 2014

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www.rockproducts.com ROCK products • DECEMBER 2014 12 I N D U S T R Y N E W S IN THE KNOW IN THE KNOW In a scathing report on America's infra‐ structure, the venerable CBS News pro‐ gram 60 Minutes, as part of its Sunday, Nov. 23 broadcast, illustrated in the gravest terms the dire conditions of America's roads and bridges – and in‐ dicted congressional inaction on this major issue. News Correspondent Steve Kroft inter‐ viewed Andy Hermann, past president of the American Society of Civil Engi‐ neers; former transportation secretary Ray LaHood; former Pennsylvania gov‐ ernor Ed Rendell; Amtrak President Joe Boardman; and others. "Our infrastructure is on life support right now," LaHood said. "Politicians don't have the political courage" to find a solution to the funding deficit, he said. "It all comes down to funding," Herman said. In commenting on the horrible state of bridges in Pennsylvania, Rendell said, "It's a tragedy waiting to happen." Chairman of the House Transportation Committee Rep. Bud Shuster (R‐Pa.) turned down every 60 Minutes request to be interviewed on the issue, as did the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Dave Camp (R‐ Mich.) But the failure is a bipartisan one, said Rep. Earle Blumenauer (D‐Ore.), a member the House Ways and Means Committee. Blumenauer said during the broadcast that he's been asking for a hearing on funding for the Highway Trust Fund for 44 months "It has, to this point, not raised to the level of priority for the Republican leadership. Al‐ though, in fairness, when the Democ‐ rats were in charge we had a few hearings, but not much action." The report also tied in rail and air‐traf‐ fic concerns to round out the complete picture of an infrastructure in danger‐ ous condition. In response to the report, the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) urged its members to use this opportunity to reinforce the need for a long‐term fix to the Highway Trust Fund with members of Con‐ gress. "All NSSGA members need to push Congress to act. Call your repre‐ sentative and both senators to urge them to save the Highway Trust Fund before it's too late," the association said in a statement. 60 Minutes Attacks Infrastructure Failures FAST FACT Nov. 23 broadcast illustrated in the gravest terms the dire conditions of America's roads and bridges Granite Construction reported net in‐ come of $15.3 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2014, compared to re‐ vised net income of $13.0 million in the third quarter of 2013. Diluted earnings per share in the quarter were $0.38 compared to $0.33 in the prior‐year period. "We are encouraged with overall mar‐ gin improvement in the business, driven by a continued rebound in our construction materials business," said James H. Roberts, president and CEO of Granite Construction. "As we have discussed over the past few years, our materials business acts as a leading indicator of changes in the overall economic environ‐ ment. This positive change is en‐ couraging not only for our materials business, but it also reflects in‐ creased opportunities for our other business lines," Roberts said. Revenue for the third quarter de‐ creased 2.7 percent to $719.8 million compared with $739.8 million last year. Gross profit margin in the third quarter was 9.3 percent compared with 7.6 percent in 2013, driven pri‐ marily by improved performance in the large project construction and construction materials segments. Third quarter 2014 profit perform‐ ance was impacted by projects which have not reached profit recog‐ nition, coupled with outstanding claims and unsigned change orders. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the third quarter in‐ creased $1.9 million from 2013, to $47.4 million, driven by the timing of pre‐bid costs and investment in the Continuous Improvement initiative. Total company backlog was $3.0 bil‐ lion at the end of the third quarter, up from $2.8 billion last year. This total does not include the recently announced successful bid on the Pennsylvania Rapid Bridge Replace‐ ment Project, which is expected to add about $360 million to backlog in the fourth quarter. Construction segment revenue de‐ creased 5.0 percent to $447.1 million, Granite Construction Reports Third Quarter Results FAST FACT Company reported net income of $15.3 million for the quar- ter ended Sept. 30, 2014.

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