Earnings call transcript: Southland Holdings Q4 2024 sees revenue drop

Southland Holdings Inc. reported its Q4 2024 earnings, revealing a decline in both revenue and gross profit compared to the previous year. The company recorded a net loss of $105 million for the year, translating to a loss of $2.19 per share. Despite these financial challenges, the company’s stock price rose by 2.1% following the earnings announcement, closing at $3.34. According to InvestingPro data, the stock is currently trading near its Fair Value, with a market capitalization of $180 million. The company’s financial health score is rated as "FAIR," though three analysts have recently revised their earnings expectations downward.

Key Takeaways

• Q4 2024 revenue decreased by $49 million year-over-year.
• Southland reported a full-year net loss of $105 million.
• Stock price increased by 2.1% post-earnings announcement.
• The company is focusing on infrastructure projects in key markets like Texas and Florida.
• Future guidance suggests a return to positive EBITDA by the end of 2025.

Company Performance

Southland Holdings faced a challenging year with significant declines in revenue and gross profit. Q4 2024 revenue was $267 million, a decrease of $49 million compared to the same quarter in 2023. The full-year revenue totaled $980 million, down from the previous year. InvestingPro analysis reveals concerning metrics, including a negative gross profit margin of -4.82% and a revenue decline of -9.65% over the last twelve months. Despite these setbacks, the company is strategically pivoting towards high-value infrastructure projects, particularly in Texas and Florida, to stabilize its financial performance. For deeper insights into Southland’s financial health and future prospects, investors can access the comprehensive Pro Research Report, available exclusively on InvestingPro.

Financial Highlights

• Q4 2024 Revenue: $267 million (down $49 million YoY)
• Q4 2024 Gross Profit: $8 million (down from $21 million in Q4 2023)
• Full Year 2024 Revenue: $980 million (decreased from 2023)
• Full Year 2024 Gross Loss: -$63 million (compared to +$36 million in 2023)
• Net Loss: $105 million or -$2.19 per share in 2024
• Gross Profit Margin Q4: 3% (vs 6.7% in Q4 2023)
• SG&A Expenses: $63 million (decreased $4 million YoY)
• Interest Expense: $30 million (increased $10 million YoY)

Outlook & Guidance

Southland Holdings is optimistic about its future, expecting to return to positive EBITDA by the end of 2025. The company aims to complete the majority of non-legacy M&P work by this time and anticipates strong cash flow from operations. Upcoming projects, such as the $7 billion Iona Island wastewater treatment plant and the $2 billion Northern Colorado Water Glade Reservoir program, are expected to contribute to future growth.

Executive Commentary

CEO Frank Renda emphasized the company’s focus on operational excellence and disciplined project selection, stating, "We are focused on delivering operational excellence, maintaining a disciplined approach to project selection and driving sustainable profitability over the long term." CFO Cody Galarta added confidence in the company’s financial recovery, noting, "We expect to return to positive EBITDA numbers by the end of this year."

Risks and Challenges

• Supply Chain Disruptions: While currently minimal, any changes could impact project timelines and costs.
• Weather Delays: Potential weather-related delays could affect early 2025 project schedules.
• Economic Uncertainty: Changes in federal spending and economic conditions could alter infrastructure investments.
• Interest Rate Increases: Higher interest expenses could pressure financial performance.
• Competitive Market: Intense competition in the infrastructure sector may affect project margins.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about potential impacts from federal spending changes, to which executives responded with confidence in minimal effects. Questions also focused on the company’s procurement strategy and its resilience against supply chain disruptions, which Southland addressed by highlighting its "Made-in-America" approach and minimal exposure to tariffs.

Full transcript - Southland Holdings Inc (SLND) Q4 2024:

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: mute.

Rhee, Conference Operator: Good morning. My name is Rhee and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like now to welcome everyone to the Southland Fourth Quarter and Full Year twenty twenty four Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers’ remarks, there will be a question and answer session.

Thank you. Alex, you may now begin your conference.

Alex Murray, Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Southland: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Southland fourth quarter and full year twenty twenty four conference call. This is Alex Murray, Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Joining me today are Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer and Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I’d like to remind everyone that this conference call may contain forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance.

Forward looking statements are uncertain and outside of Southland’s control. Southland’s actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward looking statements and we do not undertake any duty to update these statements. For a discussion of some of the risks that could affect results, please see the risk factors section of our Form 10 K for the year ended 12/31/2024, that was filed with the SEC last night. We will also refer to non GAAP financial measures, and you will find reconciliations of these non GAAP financial measures in the press release relating to this conference call, which can be found on the Investor Relations page of our website.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Frank.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Thank you, Alex. Good morning and thank you for joining Southland’s fourth quarter and full year twenty twenty four conference call. As we reflect on the year, I’d like to highlight and commend how our team has continued to push forward despite challenges, delivering key projects, maintaining operational excellence and reinforcing our commitment to safety and community impact. We have successfully delivered several high profile projects during the year. We completed the SR80 Bridge in Palm Beach, Florida, also known as the Mar A Lago Bridge.

We also recently opened the East Adam Bridge in Connecticut, improving connectivity and regional access. We completed a cruise destination project for a private entertainment client in The Caribbean, which demonstrates our ability to deliver complex infrastructure that enhances local economies. In our water resources group, we continue to expand our reach with the completion of the San Juan lateral project for the Bureau of Reclamation, providing essential water infrastructure to support communities in need. We also completed the Romeo Arms flip line project in Detroit, Michigan. Beyond our technical expertise, our strong safety culture makes these successes possible.

I’m pleased to report that multiple projects, including Ash Bridges, Bay Out Fall Tunnel, CELA 20 6, and Mill Creek Drainage Relief Tunnel have each surpassed 1,000,000 safe work hours without a lost time incident, a testament to the dedication of our teams and our unwavering commitment to safety as the foundation of everything we do. Additionally, this year marked the fiftieth anniversary of two of our subsidiaries, a milestone that not only honors our rich history but also the strong foundation we have established over many decades which sets us up well to succeed for years to come. While this has been a demanding period, our team’s resilience and ability to execute at a high level have positioned us for future success. I want to thank our employees and stakeholders for their commitment and continued trust in us. With that, let’s turn to the quarter’s results.

Fourth quarter revenue was $267,000,000 with a gross profit of $8,000,000 Excluding unfavorable adjustments from the M and P business and certain legacy projects, our gross profit in the quarter was $35,000,000 The unfavorable adjustments negatively impacted our results by $27,000,000 The unfavorable adjustments were driven by dispute resolutions and increased completion costs on certain legacy projects. At the end of the quarter, we had approximately $163,000,000 of remaining M and P backlog and approximately $83,000,000 of non M and P legacy backlog. We are encouraged by the continued strong performance of our new core projects, which delivered double digit margins in the quarter. We ended the quarter with $2,570,000,000 of backlog. I’d also like to note that we currently have approximately $750,000,000 of pending alternative delivery contracts not included in backlog for which pre construction phases are already underway.

Notable alternative delivery projects include the earthquake ready Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon and phase two of the North End Treatment Plant in Winnipeg. We are currently working on phase one of this project. Our new core work makes up approximately $2,300,000,000 of backlog. We have several new core projects that we expect to ramp up this year and create a more significant impact on results. This includes the $600,000,000 Shands Bridge in Florida, the $410,000,000 Robert F.

Kennedy Bridge Rehab in New York and the $243,000,000 US 19 project in Florida, which we are in the early stages of their project life cycles. We also have several quicker burn water resource projects with strong margins that we expect to have a meaningful impact on 2025 results. We booked approximately $105,000,000 of new awards during the quarter. This included a $60,000,000 wastewater treatment plant in the Southwest, several water resource emergency projects and a broadband project for a private client. We continue to see a large pipeline of opportunities, particularly from our long standing federal, state and local clients.

The ongoing capital infusion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act combined with historically strong state and local infrastructure programs

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: provides a

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: favorable tailwind for our business in the years ahead. Texas and Florida remain at the forefront of state driven infrastructure investment with record setting funding levels aimed at addressing critical transportation, water and resilience needs. Given the sustained economic growth and population expansion in these areas, we anticipate continued prioritization of large scale infrastructure projects. With our established presence and deep expertise in these key markets, we are well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities. In recent years, the timing of new project awards has been somewhat uneven with a tendency to ramp up in the back half of the year.

We anticipate a similar pattern this year as project timelines and funding cycles influence the flow of opportunities. The demand in our core markets remains robust, driven by ongoing infrastructure needs and strong public and private sector investments. Given this favorable environment, we remain disciplined in our approach prioritizing projects that align with our strategic goals, operational strength and margin expectations. Our extensive pipeline of opportunities positions us well to secure a healthy share of projects while maintaining a selective quality over quantity approach to bidding. As we move forward, we are confident in our ability to capitalize on the right opportunities and drive long term success.

Upcoming opportunities in our civil segment include the $7,000,000,000 Iona Island wastewater treatment plant program in Vancouver and the $2,000,000,000 Northern Colorado Water Glade Reservoir program in Fort Collins. We’re also tracking the $600,000,000 Jordan Lake water supply program in North Carolina and additional phases of the Winnipeg North End treatment plant in Canada. In our transportation segment, we also expect to bid on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge rehab in New York and the Washington Bridge in Providence, Rhode Island. During the fourth quarter, we also successfully executed another strategic initiative to bolster our balance sheet. We converted $20,000,000 of certain promissory notes due to myself and the two other founders of Southland, Tim Wynn and Lee Vrinda, to come in stock.

We feel strongly about the long term potential of Southland. This transaction reinforces our confidence in the business while improving the balance sheet. In closing, our strong new core backlog pipeline and the continued strong execution on new core projects give us confidence in our long term trajectory. We are focused on delivering operational excellence, maintaining a disciplined approach to project selection and driving sustainable profitability over the long term. As we move into 2025, our strategic priorities remain clear.

Executing our core projects with precision, winding down legacy work and strengthening our position in our core markets. With a talented and dedicated team and a favorable industry environment, we are well equipped to deliver long term value to our stakeholders. With that, I will now turn the call over to Cody for a financial update.

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: Thanks, Frank, and good morning, everyone. I will discuss an overview of our financial performance for the fourth quarter and full year ending 2024. You can find additional details and information in the financial statements, footnotes and management’s discussion and analysis that were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10 ks last night. With respect to the fourth quarter, revenue was $267,000,000 down $49,000,000 from the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. Gross profit for the fourth quarter was $8,000,000 down from $21,000,000 for the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three.

Gross profit margin in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four was 3% compared to 6.7 in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter were $16,000,000 a decrease of $4,200,000 compared to the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. This reduction was primarily driven by reduced compensation expense. Interest expense for the fourth quarter was $9,600,000 an increase of $3,900,000 compared to the fourth quarter for 2023. The increase was attributable to higher debt balances and elevated borrowing costs.

As previously discussed, we expect interest expense to remain in the $9,500,000 per quarter range going forward. Income tax benefit was $14,000,000 for the quarter compared to an income tax expense of $2,900,000 in the same period last year. This was primarily driven by changes in our effective tax rate, the recognition of certain deferred tax liabilities and the cumulative catch up impact of adjustments to forecasted versus actual year end results. More information regarding the changes in our effective tax rate, valuation allowance adjustments, deferred tax liabilities and the impact of prior tax election changes can be found in our Form 10 ks filing. We reported a net loss of $4,000,000 or negative $0.09 per share in the fourth quarter compared to a net loss of $6,000,000 or negative $0.12 per share in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three.

In the fourth quarter, we produced EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of negative $3,000,000 compared to EBITDA of $9,000,000 for the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. Now to touch on segment performance for the fourth quarter. Our Civil segment had revenues of $104,000,000 a decrease of $4,000,000 from the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. Our Civil segment’s gross profit was $8,000,000 a decrease from $25,000,000 from the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. As a percentage of revenue for the quarter, our Civil segment had gross profit margin of 8% compared to 23% in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three.

For the quarter, our Transportation segment had revenues of $163,000,000 a decrease from $2.00 $8,000,000 from the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. Our Transportation segment’s gross loss was $400,000 an improvement from a gross loss of $3,000,000 in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. As a percentage of revenue for the quarter, our Transportation segment had a gross profit margin of negative 0.2% compared to negative 1.6% for the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. Within the transportation segment, the M and P business line contributed $36,000,000 to revenue and approximately negative $8,000,000 to gross profit in the fourth quarter. Our core operating results in this segment, which excludes M and P, would have been $127,000,000 of revenue and $8,000,000 of gross profit for a gross profit margin of approximately 6%.

Consolidated core results in the quarter, which excludes M and P, would have been $231,000,000 of revenue and approximately $15,000,000 of gross profit for an approximate gross profit margin percentage of 6.5%. Now to touch on results for the full year ended 12/31/2024. Our full year revenue was $980,000,000 down from the full year 2023. Gross profit for the full year ended 12/31/2024 was negative $63,000,000 a decrease from a positive $36,000,000 from the full year 2023. Our gross loss margin was negative 6.4% in 2024 compared to a positive 3.1% in 2023.

SG and A expenses for the year ended 12/31/2024, were $63,000,000 a decrease of $4,000,000 compared to the prior year. The decrease was primarily driven by a decrease in compensation related expenses. SG and A expenses as a percentage of revenue were 6.5% for the year ending 12/31/2024 compared to 5.8% for the full year 2023. Interest expense for the year ended 12/31/2024 was $30,000,000 an increase of $10,000,000 compared to 2023. The difference was attributable to increased borrowing costs and higher debt balances.

We reported an income tax benefit for the year of $47,000,000 on a pretax loss of $152,000,000 which represents an effective tax rate of 31%. This compares to a tax benefit of $9,000,000 on a pretax loss of $27,000,000 also for an effective tax rate of 31% in 2023. As discussed on prior calls, our 2023 tax position was impacted by numerous revocations of Subchapter S election, which were no longer available to us. More information around the revocation of the S election, valuation allowance changes, GILTI inclusions, and more can be found in our recently filed Form 10 ks. On a go forward basis, we expect the tax rate to be in the 20% to 24% range depending on certain tax credits, non deductible items, and certain state, local and international taxes.

We reported a GAAP net loss of $105,000,000 or negative $2.19 per share in the year compared to a net loss of $19,000,000 or negative $0.41 per share last year. For the year ended 12/31/2024, we reported an adjusted net loss of $105,000,000 or negative $2.19 per share. This compares to an adjusted net loss of $39,000,000 or negative $0.82 per share in 2023 after backing out other income from changes in the fair value of an earn out liability for 2023, offset by transaction related expenses. Now to touch on our segment performance for the full year ended 2024. For the full year ending 12/31/2024, our Civil segment had revenues of $323,000,000 a decrease of $14,000,000 from full year 2023.

Our Civil segment gross profit for the year was $17,000,000 a decrease from $52,000,000 from full year 2023. As a percentage of revenue for the full year ended 2024, our Civil segment had gross profit margin of 5.2% compared to 15.3% for 2023. For the full year ending 12/31/2024, our Transportation segment had revenues of $657,000,000 a decrease of approximately $166,000,000 from full year 2023. Our Transportation segment gross loss for the year was $80,000,000 compared to a gross loss of $16,000,000 from full year 2023. As a percentage of revenue for the full year ended 2024, our Transportation segment had gross profit margin of negative 12% compared to negative 1.9% in 2023.

Within the Transportation segment, the M and P business line contributed $101,000,000 to revenue and negative $83,000,000 to gross profit in 2024. Our core operating results in this segment, which excludes M and P, was $556,000,000 of revenue and 3,000,000 of gross profit. Consolidated core results in the year, excluding M and P, would have been $879,000,000 of revenue and $20,000,000 of gross profit. As of 12/31/2024, M and P backlog makes up approximately 163,000,000 and non M and P legacy work makes up approximately $83,000,000 of backlog. Said differently, our legacy and M and P backlog makes up less than 10% of our total backlog and we are optimistic about the results expected to be produced from $2,300,000,000 of new core backlog.

Turning to the balance sheet, as of 12/31/2024, we finished the year with net debt of $213,000,000 inclusive of cash and restricted cash of $88,000,000 We ended 2024 with just under $2,600,000,000 in backlog, and we expect to burn approximately 39% of this backlog in 2025. Thank you for your time and interest in Southland. I’ll now pass the call back to the operator for your questions.

Alex Murray, Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Southland: Thank

Rhee, Conference Operator: Your first question comes from Adam Thalhimer from Thompson Davis. Please go ahead.

Adam Thalhimer, Analyst, Thompson Davis: Good morning, guys.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Good morning, Adam. Hey, Cody. I just wanted

Adam Thalhimer, Analyst, Thompson Davis: to follow-up on or start where you left off, which is the thirty nine percent of the backlog burns in 2025. Curious how you see the book and burn work trending this year?

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: Yes. So I’ll start and then let Frank lead into where he sees the bidding activity going. Obviously, we had a lower than one book to burn ratio in Q4, but are excited about the $100,000,000 that we did pick up. We do expect to see that back weighted cadence that we’ve seen in prior years and are looking forward to announcing some impressive wins in 2025.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Yes, Adam. And I guess, this is a place to kind of address maybe why not more awards as we see the market is really healthy and we don’t see the demand slowing anytime soon. We’ve been winding down a business unit that was over 30% of our backlog and our focus was on completing this transition and returning to higher profitability. We’re adding work in a disciplined manner ensuring that we have the right resources for the projects and prioritizing high quality backlog in our core markets where we have historically performed very well. Demand is really good and we expect this trend to continue.

We’re confident in winning our fair share of new projects and we remain committed to protecting margins rather than pursuing growth at any cost. The timing of these new awards could be a little bit uneven and we expect new awards to really pick up in the back half of the year. We also have approximately $750,000,000 in pending alternative delivery contracts and we’re confident that these will convert into construction awards.

Adam Thalhimer, Analyst, Thompson Davis: Got it. And then, just thinking about how, The Street and myself are going to model EBITDA this year. As we sit here in March, I mean, is the expectation for the full year that we’ll have positive EBITDA and maybe you can comment on how you see the quarterly cadence shaken out?

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: Yes. So I’ll echo some of what we mentioned on our last call, Adam, is we expect to return to positive EBITDA numbers by the end of this year, whether that means Q1 looks positive, Q2 looks positive. Leading to your question, there are some unknowns around the cadence of that. But with the decreasing legacy and M and P backlog, which is down to less than 10%, what we’ve picked up in new work and potential unexpected new awards going into the end of the year, we’re looking forward to a much stronger finish to ’25.

Adam Thalhimer, Analyst, Thompson Davis: Great. And then just lastly for me, the process of bringing down contract assets, does that really ramp up as 2025 progresses?

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: So there’s a couple of different ways to look at that question, Adam. I want to address it from both the contract asset side in the context of the net contract position side, which takes out contract liabilities. When you look at where contract assets has been over the last couple of years, we’ve had meaningful decreases with collections as well as some of the unfortunate profit saves that we’ve had. But I really want to highlight the significant growth that we’ve seen in contract liabilities, which offsets that net balance sheet position. So looking at it from a net perspective, we’re slightly over $200,000,000 of net contract position at year end.

So I bring that up to say to make two points. The first being, everything that Frank has commented and we’ve shared and been talking about publicly on new work, having positive upfront cash flows is being realized. But then also to directly answer your question, there can be an increase in contract assets as we pursue closing out some of these troubled jobs where there are where there are claim pursuits. So want to be transparent on both sides of that equation. Yes.

And I think

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: on the claims, Adam, most of these claims were on jobs that happened in 2017, ’18 and ’19. And so, you know, we’re at the table and a lot of those claims and, you know, we continue to work through and make small progress on settling the legacy claims. Not a no major updates I guess on larger claims to report this quarter, but we do expect a significant amount of cash flow from these claims in the coming quarters and that should take that number down when that happens.

Adam Thalhimer, Analyst, Thompson Davis: Great. Thanks guys. Good luck in Q1.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Thanks Adam. Thanks Adam.

Rhee, Conference Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Giulio Romero from Sidoti and Company. Please go ahead.

Giulio Romero, Analyst, Sidoti and Company: Thanks. Hey, good morning. Frank Cody, Alex. Good morning. Maybe to start on the Civil segment, solid performance there and a nice sequential rebound from the third quarter.

Can you maybe just talk about the drivers of the gross profit there? And I guess you did realize less issues on non M and P legacy work in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter?

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Yes, I guess first on the civil margins, really excited about the civil work. We picked up some great civil projects over the last couple of quarters. And unfortunately, we had an unfavorable ruling on a dispute on a legacy civil project that significantly impacted results this quarter. But the core work continues to produce strong double digit margins. We also continue to pick up smaller quick burning civil projects that are producing strong margins and just feel really, really good about where we’re at in the civil sector.

On the legacy updates, our non M and P legacy backlog has been reduced to around $80,000,000 And a significant portion of the challenges we faced in this portfolio during 2024 stems from a bridge project in the Midwest. We recently achieved a major milestone by opening this new bridge. There’s some demolition work that remains, but reaching this milestone was a significant step forward for us and it meaningfully reduces the risk of further project fate on this project.

Giulio Romero, Analyst, Sidoti and Company: Got it. That’s helpful. And then that non M and P legacy number went down by $22,000,000 compared to last quarter. Is that due to the unfavorable ruling on the dispute you just mentioned? Or is that due to the bridge project in the Midwest?

Just trying to think about that number there.

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: Are you speaking specifically to the civil segment, Julio?

Giulio Romero, Analyst, Sidoti and Company: I’m just speaking I should speak about non MMP legacy, probably more broadly.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Non MMP legacy. Okay. Thank you. So we were down from Yes.

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: So it’s

Alex Murray, Director of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Southland: I think we’re 105

Giulio Romero, Analyst, Sidoti and Company: last quarter for that number.

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: Yes. So progressing work. And as time moves on, that number is going to continue to dwindle from a backlog perspective. And then if I understood maybe a nuance of the other part of your question, there’s some additional detail into the profit activity and the MD and A that we filed last

Giulio Romero, Analyst, Sidoti and Company: night. Got it. I’m just trying to get a sense for is $22,000,000 a quarter, should we be through this non M and P legacy by end of twenty twenty ’5 million dollars or does it go a lot longer than that?

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: So we do expect to complete the majority of the non legacy M and P work by the end of twenty twenty five. There is one project that can tail into 2026 that we’re working to accelerate, but no additional commentary beyond that at this time.

Giulio Romero, Analyst, Sidoti and Company: Okay. Got you. And then I guess, how should we be expecting cash flow to trend in ’twenty five?

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: Yes. So we certainly do expect to produce strong cash flow from operations in ’twenty five as you’ve seen that turn over time happening. There’s definitely going to be seasonality that you see with cash flow more weighted towards the back half of the year. Think of the meaningful driver behind that is going to be new core project contribution that continues to contribute at very healthy margins, but can be swayed by dispute resolutions on some of our legacy projects. But all of that being said, we expect to generate strong cash flow from operations this year.

Rhee, Conference Operator: Your next question comes from Christian Schwab from Craig Hallum Capital Group. Please go ahead.

Christian Schwab, Analyst, Craig Hallum Capital Group: Great. Thanks for taking my question. So I guess I need to ask, with the kind of, path based of change that’s going on in our government today, and people being told they can’t get money or may not get federal funding money or are you guys seeing any anxiety about some of these projects that you’re excited about that maybe those funds will not be able to be allocated to them?

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Hey, good morning, Christian. Great question. Listen to, you know, kind of listen to the administration speech last night and heard some some really positive things in there and, you know, some things that they got you thinking. But, the good thing about the kind of work that we do is it benefits a lot of communities in both sides of the aisle and we all know how critical this work is for our country. You know, we put it off for a long time and as we sit today, we do not, you know, we don’t expect any recent spending cuts from from those to materially impact our business.

In fact, we’re optimistic about the ideas coming from this administration about cutting down on some of the red tape to get these projects off the ground. If they’re able to come through with that, it’ll be beneficial to our business. And we’re in the middle innings of IIJ spending and we expect that to be a tailwind for our business for many years to come. And even at the state level, Texas and Florida just continue to have historic levels of spending. Overall, we just feel really good about the pipeline and opportunities out there and expect to win our fair share of them.

The other things that we heard last night were manufacturing and bringing some of that back and maybe some tax cuts on that end. But one thing that we do Christian that a lot of groups don’t do is we manufacture our own TBMs, we manufacture our own steel support, some gates, false work and if there were to be some cutbacks and tariffs, I think that’s an avenue that we have a real advantage on as well. So we feel optimistic about the future.

Christian Schwab, Analyst, Craig Hallum Capital Group: Fantastic. What was the question? Thanks guys.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it.

Rhee, Conference Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Brent Thielman from Davidson. Please go ahead.

Brent Thielman, Analyst, Davidson: Hey, guys. Yes, I guess a question just in terms of the direct or indirect impact to tariffs overall disruption to supply chain. I mean, we’re starting to see deal prices move a lot higher. Could be some upward pressure around other costs for things that you guys use in your day to day projects. Maybe you can just talk about your positioning on contracts in light of that.

Is there risk? Are you protected? It would be helpful to hear.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Yes. Thanks. Good morning. On tariffs, the good thing about a majority of our projects is we’re required to procure made in America materials already. So we’re already purchasing products in The U.

S. And we really have minimal cross border exposure. We try to lock in our material pricing for large purchase orders at the beginning of projects. But we’re monitoring the new developments here and taking it into consideration on new bids. Overall, we do not expect this to have a material impact on the business.

Of course, on some materials and parts for equipment, we’ve got a little bit of exposure out there. But again, don’t expect material impact on the business at this point.

Brent Thielman, Analyst, Davidson: Okay. And maybe just from a seasonal perspective, certainly heard some things from other companies. It’s been a bit of a rough start to the year. I don’t know if you guys could comment on that. I know there’s been some weather down in Texas among other places.

Is it more unusual than you’ve seen in prior years or things we need to consider there?

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Yeah. A couple of things. Obviously, we had a couple of storms kind of come through. We’ve had some unusual weather pattern, I guess, that has affected us a little bit. But, as far as seasonality, we expect an uptick in new work starts and really getting into some of the larger projects that I kind of touched on in the remarks like the Shands Bridge and the Kennedy Bridge there in New York to really start producing some material results later on in

Cody Galarta, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Southland: the year. And I would say, and good morning, Brent. I would say that we can continue to and expect to continue to be impacted by weather in various geographies in which we work. But I think if you look at the dispersion of projects that we have currently active, we don’t expect all areas of the country in North America that we work in to be hit at the same time. So So hopefully there’s minimal disruption across the industry for us and for all of our competitors with respect to weather.

But to the extent there likely will be, we believe we’ll certainly have continuing operations in other areas that are unaffected.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Brett, about the last thing that I expected going into this year was 11 inches of snow on the ground in Beaumont, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana. It was quite a scene on our two projects out there.

Brent Thielman, Analyst, Davidson: Sure. Always been fun for the kids. Appreciate it guys. Thank you.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Thanks Brett.

Rhee, Conference Operator: Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the call over to Frank Rander. Please continue.

Frank Renda, President and Chief Executive Officer, Southland: Thanks everyone for joining today and thanks for your interest in Southland and look forward to talking again next quarter. Have a great day.

Rhee, Conference Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, today’s conference call has concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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