Crawford reports Q1 results
Crawford & Company has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.
Consolidated Results First quarter 2010 consolidated revenues before reimbursements totaled $236.3 million compared to $236.1 million in the 2009 first quarter.
First quarter 2010 net income attributable to Crawford & Company was $3.1 million, unchanged compared to net income of $3.1 million generated in the 2009 first quarter.
First quarter 2010 basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.06 equaling the $0.06 reported in the prior-year quarter.
During the 2010 first quarter, the Company incurred lease termination costs of $2.0 million, after related income taxes. These costs reduced earnings per share by $0.04 for the 2010 first quarter. First quarter 2009 earnings per share included restructuring costs relating to certain of the company’s international operations of $1.2 million, after related income taxes, or $0.02 per share.
Revenues, net income attributable to Crawford & Company and earnings per share in the 2010 first quarter were impacted by a number of items, including decreased defined benefit pension expense, increased net corporate interest expense, the positive impact of foreign currency changes, and increased restructuring and other costs.
International Operations
First quarter 2010 revenues before reimbursements for the International Operations segment increased 15.2% to $104.5 million from $90.6 million for the same period in 2009. During the 2010 first quarter compared to the 2009 first quarter, the U.S. dollar weakened against most major foreign currencies, resulting in a positive exchange rate impact to revenues of $13.2 million. Excluding the beneficial impact of exchange rate changes, International Operations revenues would have been $91.3 million in the 2010 first quarter. International Operations operating expenses for the 2010 first quarter increased by $14.7 million in U.S. dollars, a 17.6% increase, and increased by 2.7% on a constant dollar basis, compared to the 2009 period. Operating earnings declined to $6.6 million in the 2010 first quarter, down 11.5% from last year’s first quarter operating earnings of $7.4 million, due primarily to weakness in our Canadian and continental Europe markets.
The related operating margin was 6.3% in the 2010 first quarter, compared to an 8.2% operating margin in the 2009 first quarter.
Legal Settlement Administration
Legal Settlement Administration revenues before reimbursements were $20.7 million in the 2010 first quarter, compared to $15.6 million in the 2009 quarter, reflecting the benefit of significant bankruptcy administration and securities class action cases.
Operating earnings totaled $3.3 million in the 2010 first quarter, or an operating margin of 15.9% of revenues, compared to $1.5 million, or 9.8% of revenues, in the prior-year period. The segment’s awarded project backlog totaled approximately $50.7 million at March 31, 2010 as compared to $39.0 million at March 31, 2009.
