Weeks after signing a $710 million deal to buy another company, Houston, Texas-based Kirby Corporation announced second quarter net earnings of nearly $26 million.
Kirby, the firm that acquired United Holdings and United Engines in Oklahoma six years ago announced in June its acquisition of Stewart and Stevenson LLC, a subsidiary of the Houston-based Parman Capital group.
United has 4 sites in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma while S and S has more than two dozen sites from the Rockies to the Gulf and East coasts. United Holdings is in the oilfield equipment manufacturing end while United Engines is a distributor and repair for Allison, Detroit Diesel, MTU and Isuzu.
Kirby revealed its 2017 second quarter earnings per share were $0.48 compared with $0.72 a year earlier. the company indicated the drop in per share earnings did not include any impact from the pending purchase of Stewart and Stewart in Houston.
Meanwhile consolidated revenues for the quarter totaled $473.3 million, up from the $441.6 million reported in the second quarter of 2016. And Kirby’s President and CEO, David Grzebinski said it was a reflection of business trends consistent with late 2016 and the 2017 first quarter.
“In particular, results in our land-based diesel engine business continue to drive higher, surpassing our expectations. While product demand in that market has been slow to build relative to upswings we’ve experienced in the past, service demand has been robust enough for us to reach near-peak operating margins, even on relatively low revenue,” he said.
The oil and gas industry’s recovery in the past year has been important to Kirby and United Engines. The company is deeply involved in the production of high-speed diesel engines, transmissions and pumps used in hydraulic fracturing units.
“We believe our decision to purchase S and S is well timed,” added Grzebinski. “The transaction will unlock new strategic opportunities for our distribution and services business, and afford us an opportunity to expand the service capability at S and S.”
