The
"Clearly the fact that we have people at home — I don’t think it would be reasonable to assume that things are exactly the same as if everybody were working full steam in the office...but this is clearly mitigated by the fact that this is a very, very small piece of our business," L'Heureux said on a conference call with analysts Thursday.
"We’re not changing our outlook as a result of it."
The virus known as COVID-19, which has now spread from the Chinese manufacturing city of
WSP has been on a buying spree recently, acquiring eight engineering and consulting firms in 2019 and a ninth in January as part of its goal of rapid expansion over the next couple years.
The purchases in the second half of last year tilt green, and include Danish Orbicon A/S — a 500-employee environmental consulting firm — and
"We are really looking to grow, and frankly not just in the environmental sector," L'Heureux said. "We're looking to grow in all sorts of advisory services from project program management to water science."
Despite the acquisitions, WSP sports a "rock-solid balance sheet," said
Once a boutique firm called Genivar, the 61-year-old company has swelled to about 50,000 employees from 31,700 at the end of 2014. It aims to eclipse rival
On Thursday WSP forecasted net revenue of
WSP missed expectations as it capped 2019 with a weaker fourth quarter than in the previous year.
The engineering consultant said its net income attributable to shareholders was
Excluding one-time items, adjusted profits fell 4.2 per cent to
Net revenues grew 14.3 per cent to
WSP was expected to earn
Its full-year net income increased to
Revenues increased to
Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of
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Companies in this story: (TSX:WSP, TSX:SNC)
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