MDA Q3 net earnings cut in half to $21.5M; revenue up at $506.6M

VANCOUVER – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX:MDA) is reporting a big decrease in third-quarter net profit even as revenues improved sharply to $506.6 million.

MDA, which provides space-based communications and information technology for both the government and the private sectors, says net earnings in the three month ended Sept. 30 were $21.5 million or 60 cents per share, down from $46.5 million or $1.29 per share in the same year-earlier period.

Among items adversely affecting net earnings were amortization expense on acquisition-related intangible assets of $8 million, enterprise improvement costs of $15.6 million and litigation costs of $2.5 million among others, the company said in its management discussion and analysis.

Ex-items, adjusted net earnings were $50.7 million or $1.41 per share for the third quarter, compared with $46.6 million or $1.29 per share for the same period of 2013.

The company says the improvement in revenue from $463.3 million in the 2013 period reflected higher activity levels and the favourable impact of foreign currency translation arising from a stronger U.S. dollar relative to the Canadian dollar.