Granite Says Financial Drivers Healthy, Stable

Granite Construction Inc. provided an update regarding the company’s operations and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic along with first quarter 2020 preliminary select financial information.

“The health and safety of our employees, their families and all of our stakeholders remains our top priority as we work together to provide essential services to our customers,” said James H. Roberts, president and chief executive officer at Granite. “While there is uncertainty around the duration of the impact of the pandemic, we all share the responsibility of following the recommended Centers for Disease Control (CDC) precautions to help shorten the timeline. Granite has implemented the CDC guidelines as a minimum requirement to ensure the safety of our employees and customers. In the face of rapidly changing market conditions, we will continue to adjust our operations to safely meet near-term demand shifts while ensuring we are positioned for long-term success.”

The company performs services that are categorized under one or more of the “Essential Critical Infrastructure Sectors,” as defined by federal and state law, and, as a consequence, work on the majority of our projects is continuing. However, COVID-19 restrictions and related market impacts have curtailed operations in Mexico and Canada, and in certain residential areas in the United States. “This has negatively impacted our Water and Mineral Services business. In our Transportation segment, certain owners have taken advantage of the substantial reduction in traffic to allow for more efficient execution of our work.” the company stated.

Under the direction of Granite’s COVID-19 response team, Granite is taking extra precautions and has established new policies and procedures to protect the health and safety of its employees, partners and communities. 

Granite has a strong balance sheet and access to liquidity. As of March 31, 2020, the company had more than $465 million of available liquidity, inclusive of more than $245 million in cash and marketable securities.

Additionally, preliminary results as of March 31, 2020 reflect debt unchanged at $364 million from the preliminary 2019 year-end balance. Given the uncertain market environment, Granite is focused on reducing or postponing non-critical expenditures, including capital investments, travel and related expenditures.

While the company’s financial drivers are currently healthy and stable, the company is withdrawing its full-year 2020 guidance issued on March 2, 2020 because of the rapidly evolving disruption COVID-19 is causing across the macroeconomic environment.

Related posts