ICF Reports Second Quarter 2024 Results

-- Favorable Business Mix and Higher Utilization Drove Strong EPS Performance --

-- Record Business Development Pipeline of $10.5 Billion at Quarter-End --

-- Increasing Full Year EPS and EBITDA Guidance Primarily to Reflect Mix Shift --

Second Quarter Highlights: 

• Revenue Increased 2% to $512 Million; Up 6% Excluding Divestitures
• Net Income Was $25.6 Million and GAAP EPS Was $1.36, Up 27%
• Non-GAAP EPS¹ Was $1.69, Up 8%
• EBITDA¹ Was $55.6 Million, Up 17%; Adjusted EBITDA¹ Was $56.0 Million, Up 10%
• Contract Awards Were a Record $810 Million, Up 83% Year-on-Year for a TTM Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.40

RESTON, Va., Aug. 1, 2024 -- ICF (NASDAQ: ICFI), a global consulting and technology services provider, reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024.

Commenting on the results, John Wasson, chair and chief executive officer, said, "We delivered strong performance across all key financial metrics in the second quarter, demonstrating the benefits of our diversified portfolio and reflecting continued favorable business mix. Revenues increased 2% year-on-year and increased 6% from last year's levels adjusting for the divestiture of our commercial marketing business lines in 2023.

"Similar to the first quarter, our second quarter results were led by robust growth in higher-margin revenues from commercial energy clients. We experienced especially strong demand from our utility clients for ICF's core energy efficiency programs as well as our expanded offerings in priority areas including grid resilience, electrification, decarbonization and flexible load management, all of which are particularly relevant given the growth in data center demand. Revenues from our Energy, Environment, Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery client market increased 14% to account for 45% of ICF's second quarter revenues, compared to its 41% contribution to last year's second quarter revenues.

"Margin expansion was a key driver of our strong second quarter earnings. In addition to favorable business mix and higher utilization, margin performance reflected lower facility costs, together with the benefits of our increased scale. Also, lower depreciation and amortization expense and lower interest expense enhanced our net income and earnings per share results for the period.

"This was a record second quarter of contract awards for ICF, which reached $810 million, representing a quarterly book-to-bill ratio of 1.58 and a trailing twelve-month book-to-bill ratio of 1.40. New business wins accounted for approximately 55% of our first half awards, demonstrating how well ICF's capabilities are aligned with client spending priorities. Additionally, an increasing percentage of the value of our year-to-date awards represented contracts that include an AI component, a good indicator of our recognized expertise in this high-demand area."

Second Quarter 2024 Results

Second quarter 2024 total revenue was $512.0 million, a 2.4% increase from the $500.1 million reported in the second quarter of 2023, and up 6.2% from last year's second quarter revenues adjusted for the divestiture of our commercial marketing business lines. Subcontractor and other direct costs were 25.9% of total revenues compared to 27.5% in last year's second quarter. Operating income was $42.4 million, up 32.3% from $32.0 million last year, and operating margin on total revenue expanded to 8.3% from 6.4%. Net income totaled $25.6 million, and GAAP EPS was $1.36 per share. This compares to net income and GAAP EPS of $20.3 million, and $1.07, respectively, reported in the second quarter of 2023, which included $3.5 million, or $0.13 per share of tax-effected special charges. In the 2024 second quarter, the company's tax rate was 26.3% compared to 4.4% in the 2023 second quarter.

Non-GAAP EPS increased 7.6% to $1.69 per share, from $1.57 per share reported in the comparable period in 2023. EBITDA was $55.6 million, 17.2% above the $47.5 million reported in the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9.9% to $56.0 million from $51.0 million for the comparable period in 2023.

Backlog and New Business

Total backlog was $3.8 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2024. Funded backlog was $1.7 billion, or 45% of the total backlog. The total value of contracts awarded in the 2024 second quarter was $810 million, up 83% year-on-year for a book-to-bill ratio of 1.58, and trailing twelve-month contract awards totaled $2.8 billion, up 12% year-on-year for a book-to-bill ratio of 1.40.

Government Revenue Second Quarter 2024 Highlights

Revenue from government clients was $387.0 million, up 1.8% year-over-year. 

• U.S. federal government revenue was $273.5 million, an increase of 0.2% compared to the $273.1 million reported in the second quarter of 2023 and was unfavorably impacted by a year-over-year decrease in revenues from subcontractor and other direct costs of $9.1 million in the quarter. Federal government revenue accounted for 53.4% of total revenue, compared to 54.6% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2023.
• U.S. state and local government revenue increased 4.7% to $84.8 million, from $81.1 million in the year-ago quarter. State and local government clients represented 16.6% of total revenue, up from 16.2% from the second quarter of 2023.
• International government revenue was $28.7 million, up 9.5% from the $26.2 million reported in the year-ago quarter. International government revenue represented 5.6% of total revenue, compared to 5.2% in the second quarter of 2023.

Key Government Contracts Awarded in the Second Quarter 2024

Notable government contract awards won in the second quarter of 2024 included:

Health and Social Programs

• A recompete contract with a value of $236.8 million with the U.S. Agency for International Development Bureau for Global Health to continue to deliver the Demographic and Health Surveys Program.
• Two recompete framework contracts with a combined value of $6.5 million with a directorate general of the European Commission to provide evaluation services.

IT Modernization

• A new subcontract with a value of $87.7 million to continue modernizing and executing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Quality Payment Program.
• A contract extension with a value of $29.8 million with a U.S. federal agency to continue to provide digital modernization services.
• A new contract with a value of $16.8 million with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to build a cloud-based data exchange platform to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of FEMA's disaster response and recovery efforts.
• A contract extension with a value of $15.2 million with a U.S. federal agency to continue to provide digital modernization and maintenance services.

Disaster Management and Mitigation

• A recompete contract with a value of $84.1 million with the Government of Puerto Rico's Public-Private Partnership Authority to continue supporting long-term disaster recovery and mitigation efforts across the territory.

Climate, Energy and Environment

• A recompete contract with a ceiling of $17.1 million with The Los Angeles County Southern California Regional Energy Network to design and deliver their full portfolio of residential energy efficiency programs.
• A recompete master services agreement with a ceiling of $11.7 million with a Western U.S. state transportation department to provide on-call environmental services.
• A contract modification with a value of $7.6 million with a Northwest U.S. public utility to support its public electric vehicle charging program.

Commercial Revenue Second Quarter 2024 Highlights

Commercial revenue was $125.0 million, compared to $119.8 million reported in the second quarter of 2023, up 22.6% compared to revenues of $101.9 million excluding divestitures in 2023.

• Energy markets revenue, which includes energy efficiency programs, increased 24.8% and represented 86.6% of commercial revenue.
• Commercial revenue accounted for 24.4% of total revenue compared to 23.9% of total revenue in the 2023 second quarter.

Key Commercial Contracts Awarded in the Second Quarter of 2024

Notable commercial awards won in the second quarter of 2024 included:

Energy Markets

• A large multimillion-dollar recompete contract with a Northeastern U.S. utility to provide program implementation services for its residential energy efficiency portfolio.
• A new contract with a Northeastern U.S. utility to provide program implementation services for its residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) energy efficiency programs.
• A contract modification with a Northeastern U.S. utility to continue to serve as the utility's agency of record for its energy efficiency programs.
• A new contract with a Northwestern U.S. utility to support its portfolio of energy efficiency products programs.
• A subcontract modification to administer a Midwestern U.S. utility's pilots program.
• A new contract with an Eastern U.S. utility to provide program implementation services for its residential and C&I energy efficiency programs.

Dividend Declaration

On August 1, 2024, ICF declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per share, payable on October 11, 2024, to shareholders of record on September 6, 2024.

Summary and Outlook

"Following our strong year-to-date performance and based on our current visibility for continued favorable business mix and utilization metrics, we are pleased to increase our earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA guidance for full year 2024. Our revised guidance is for GAAP EPS in the range of $5.60 to $5.90 and Non-GAAP EPS of $6.95 to $7.25, up $0.35 from prior guidance and representing year-on-year growth of 32.2% and 9.2%, respectively, at the midpoints. Adjusted EBITDA is now expected to range between $225 million and $235 million, up from our prior guidance of $220 million to $230 million. The midpoint of this range will result in ICF achieving the three-year EBITDA objective we provided at our 2022 Investor Day adjusted for the 2023 divestitures, and we expect to accomplish this with substantially fewer acquisitions than originally contemplated.

"Our first half results have put us on track to achieve our full year revenue guidance for 2024. Based on our current visibility, we expect our Energy, Environment, Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery client market to show robust growth in the second half of this year, continuing to more than offset results in our Health and Social Programs client market, where gross revenue comparisons have been impacted by lower pass-through revenues. Operating cash flow guidance remains at approximately $155 million.

"A growing backlog and our record business development pipeline of $10.5 billion at the end of the second quarter support our expectations for continued strong growth in 2024 and give us confidence in ICF's ability to continue to grow at a high single-digit rate in the coming years. We are experiencing high demand from commercial clients for our energy and environmental expertise and implementation skills. We have excellent credentials to assist state and local government clients in meeting their planning, resilience and mitigation objectives, as well as supporting their disaster recovery efforts. We also have significantly expanded our capabilities in areas in the federal government that have bipartisan support, particularly IT modernization, which remains an area of priority spending.

"We appreciate the tremendous contributions of our staff in driving the success of ICF by supporting our clients with multi-disciplinary advisory work and cross-cutting implementation skills. Their passion for their work and for the impact it has on society is ICF's 'secret sauce'," Mr. Wasson concluded.

About ICF
ICF is a global consulting and technology services company with approximately 9,000 employees, but we are not your typical consultants. At ICF, business analysts and policy specialists work together with digital strategists, data scientists and creatives. We combine unmatched industry expertise with cutting-edge engagement capabilities to help organizations solve their most complex challenges. Since 1969, public and private sector clients have worked with ICF to navigate change and shape the future. Learn more at icf.com.

Caution Concerning Forward-looking Statements
Statements that are not historical facts and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may concern our current expectations about our future results, plans, operations and prospects and involve certain risks, including those related to the government contracting industry generally; our particular business, including our dependence on contracts with U.S. federal government agencies; and our ability to acquire and successfully integrate businesses. These and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those indicated in forward-looking statements that are included in the "Risk Factors" section of our securities filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included herein are only made as of the date hereof, and we specifically disclaim any obligation to update these statements in the future.

Note on Forward-Looking Non-GAAP Measures
The company does not reconcile its forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to the corresponding U.S. GAAP measures, due to the variability and difficulty in making accurate forecasts and projections and because not all of the information necessary for a quantitative reconciliation of these forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures (such as the effect of share-based compensation or the impact of future extraordinary or non-recurring events like acquisitions) is available to the company without unreasonable effort. For the same reasons, the company is unable to estimate the probable significance of the unavailable information. The company provides forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures that it believes will be achievable, but it cannot accurately predict all of the components of the adjusted calculations, and the U.S. GAAP financial measures may be materially different than the non-GAAP financial measures.

Investor Contacts:

Lynn Morgen, ADVISIRY PARTNERS, lynn.morgen@advisiry.com +1.212.750.5800
David Gold, ADVISIRY PARTNERS, david.gold@advisiry.com +1.212.750.5800

Company Information

This News is brought to you by Qube Mark, your trusted source for the latest updates and insights in marketing technology. Stay tuned for more groundbreaking innovations in the world of technology.