WSP Reports Solid Performance for the Second Quarter of 2014

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Aug. 6, 2014) - WSP Global Inc. (TSX:WSP) ("WSP" or the "Corporation") today announced its financial and operating results for the second quarter and first six months of the year ended June 28, 2014. The second quarter results cover the period from March 30, 2014 to June 28, 2014.

2014 SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Revenues and net revenues of $602.5 million and $513.1 million up 16.7% and 20.2%, respectively. Global organic growth of 5.3%; 2.0% organic growth on a constant currency basis, 3.3% favourable foreign exchange impact.
• EBITDA of $55.0 million, up $12.2 million or 28.5%. EBITDA margin at 10.7% of net revenues compared to 10.0%.
  
  
• Net earnings attributable to shareholders excluding amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes) at $28.8 million, or $0.47 per share up 37.8% and 17.5%, respectively.
  
  
• Diluted net earnings attributable to shareholders of $24.3 million, or $0.40 per share. Excluding non-operating expenses, diluted net earnings attributable to shareholders at $26.6 million, or $0.43 per share, up 49.4% and 26.5%, respectively.
  
  
• Backlog at $1,832.2 million representing approximately 9.1 months of revenues, up $109.1 million or 6.3% compared to Q1 2014.
  
  
• DSO stood at 82 days; an improvement of 6 days operationally and 7 days due to change in calculation methodology.
  
  
• Quarterly dividend declared of $0.375 per share, with a 49.6 % Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP") participation.
  
  
• Net debt to trailing twelve month EBITDA ratio at 1.13x.

2014 SECOND QUARTER OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• On April 10, 2014, the Corporation concluded the acquisition of Focus Group Holdings Inc. ("Focus"), a 1,800 employee engineering and geomatics firm based in Alberta, Canada.
  
  
• On April 7, 2014, the Corporation signed an agreement to acquire Technip TPS ("TPS"), a French subsidiary of Technip S.A., which specializes in building and infrastructure engineering. The acquisition closed on April 30, 2014. This acquisition added approximately 100 people to our operations.
  
  
• The Corporation acquired, on June 1, 2014, the WINWARD Group ("WINWARD"), an Australian-based engineering firm specializing in structural services. This acquisition added 50 people to our Australian operations.

"As demonstrated by strong performance in most our regions, we reached new record-highs for net revenues, we continued to experience positive momentum across the business in the second quarter of 2014," said Pierre Shoiry, President and Chief Executive Officer of WSP. "Looking ahead, we are optimistic about the future trajectory for the business, which should be positively driven by organic growth and potential acquisitions, which we are hopeful, will provide additional expansion opportunities in attractive market segments and geographies."

DIVIDEND

The Board of WSP declared a dividend of $0.375 per share. This dividend will be payable on or about October 15, 2014, to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 30, 2014.

FINANCIAL REPORT

This release includes, by reference, the 2014 second quarter financial reports, including the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements and the Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") of the Corporation.

For a copy of our full financial results for the second quarter of 2014, including the MD&A and the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements, please visit our website at www.wspgroup.com.

CONFERENCE CALL

WSP will hold a conference call at 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) on August 6, 2014, to discuss these results. The telephone numbers to access the conference call are 1-647-788-4922 or 1-877-223-4471 (toll-free).

A presentation of the 2014 second quarter highlights and results will be available on the same day at www.wspgroup.com in the Investors section, under Presentations & Events.

A replay of the call will be available until August 15, 2014. The telephone numbers to access the replay of the call are 1-416-621-4642 or 1-800-585-8367 (toll-free), access code 78379837. The replay of the conference call will also be available in the Investor section of the WSP website in the days following the call.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

	Q2				YTD
	2014		2013		2014		2013
(in millions of dollars, except number of shares and per share data)	For the period from March 30 to June 28		For the period from March 31 to June 29		For the period from January 1 to June 28		For the period from January 1 to June 29
Revenues	$602.5		$516.4		$1,113.6		$995.1
Less: Subconsultants and direct costs	$89.4		$89.7		$159.9		$161.6
Net revenues*	$513.1		$426.7		$953.7		$833.5
Personnel costs	$388.5		$320.5		$724.7		$627.1
Other operational costs(1)	$72.7		$65.4		$138.0		$129.9
Share of earnings of associates	($3.1	)	($2.0	)	($6.1	)	($4.7	)
EBITDA*	$55.0		$42.8		$97.1		$81.2
Non-operating expenses	$2.6		$0.8		$2.6		$2.1
Amortization of intangible assets	$9.5		$8.3		$18.1		$16.8
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	$7.4		$6.2		$13.8		$12.3
Financial expenses	$3.3		$4.2		$6.9		$6.8
Share of depreciation of associates	$0.8		$0.6		$1.4		$1.5
Earnings before income taxes	$31.4		$22.7		$54.3		$41.7
Income tax expenses	$7.0		$5.3		$12.3		$9.6
Share of tax of associates	$0.8		$0.4		$1.5		$1.0
Net earnings	$23.6		$17.0		$40.5		$31.1
Attributable to:
- Shareholders	$24.3		$17.2		$41.6		$31.7
- Non-controlling interests	($0.7	)	($0.2	)	($1.1	)	($0.6	)
Basic and diluted net earnings per share	$0.40		$0.33		$0.73		$0.62
Basic weighted average number of shares	61,403,192		51,666,146		57,092,188		51,513,457

*	Non-IFRS measures as described in the "Glossary" section.
(1)	The Other operational costs include operation exchange loss or gain and interest income.

NON-IFRS MESURES

The Corporation uses non-IFRS measures that are considered by companies as indicators of financial performance measures which are not recognized under IFRS and may differ from similar computations as reported by other similar entities and, accordingly, may not be comparable. We believe these measures provide useful supplemental information that may assist investors in assessing an investment in the Corporation's shares.

Non-IFRS measures used by the Corporation are net revenues; EBITDA; EBITDA margin; adjusted EBITDA; adjusted EBITDA margin; net earnings (loss) excluding amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes); net earnings (loss) excluding amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes) per share; backlog; funds from operations; funds from operations per share; free cash flow; free cash flow per share, DSO and net debt to EBITDA.

Net revenues

Net revenues are defined as revenues less direct costs for subconsultants and other direct expenses that are recoverable directly from the clients. Net revenues are not an IFRS measure and do not have a standardized definition within IFRS. Therefore, net revenues may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Investors are advised that net revenues should not be construed as an alternative to revenues for the period (as determined in accordance with IFRS) as an indicator of the Corporation's performance.

EBITDA

EBITDA is defined as earnings before non-operating expenses identified by Management, financial expenses, income tax expenses, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is not an IFRS measure and does not have a standardized definition within IFRS. Investors are cautioned that EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net earnings for the period (as determined in accordance with IFRS) as an indicator of the Corporation's performance, or an alternative to cash flows from operating, financing and investing activities as a measure of the liquidity and cash flows. The Corporation's method of calculating EBITDA may differ from the methods used by other issuers and, accordingly, the Corporation's EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers.

EBITDA margin

EBITDA margin is defined as EBITDA expressed as a percentage of net revenues. EBITDA margin is not an IFRS measure.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA excluding global corporate costs. Global corporate costs are expenses and salaries related to centralized functions, such as global Finance, Human Resources and Technology teams, which are not allocated to operating segments. This measure is not an IFRS measure. It provides Management with comparability from one region to the other.

Adjusted EBITDA margin

Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as adjusted EBITDA expressed as a percentage of net revenues. Adjusted EBITDA margin is not an IFRS measure.

Net earnings (loss) excluding amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes) and net earnings (loss) excluding amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes) per share

Net earnings (loss) excluding amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes) is not an IFRS measure. It provides a comparative measure of Corporation performance in a context of significant business combinations. This measure is defined as net earnings (loss) attributable to shareholders excluding the amortization expense of backlogs, customer relationships and non-competition agreements accounted for in business combinations and the income tax effects related to this amortization.

Net earnings (loss) excluding amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions (net of income taxes) per share is calculated using the basic weighted average number of shares.

Backlog

Backlog is not an IFRS measure. It represents future revenues stemming from existing signed contracts to be completed. The Corporation's method of calculating backlog may differ from the methods used by other issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers.

Funds from operations and funds from operations per share

Funds from operations is not an IFRS measure. It provides Management and investors with a proxy for the amount of cash generated from (used in) operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital items.

Funds from operations per share is calculated using the basic weighted average number of shares.

Free cash flow and free cash flow per share

Free cash flow is not an IFRS measure. It provides a consistent and comparable measurement of free cash flow generated from operations and is used as an indicator of financial strength and performance. Free cash flow is defined as cash flows from operating activities as reported in accordance with IFRS, less maintenance capital expenditures.

Free cash flow per share is calculated using the basic weighted average number of shares.

Days Sales Outstanding ("DSO")

DSO is not an IFRS measure. It represents the average number of days to convert our trade receivables and costs and anticipated profits in excess of billings into cash, net of sales taxes. The Corporation's method of calculating DSO may differ from the methods used by other issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers.

Net Debt to EBITDA

Net Debt to EBITDA is not an IFRS measure. It is a measure of our level of financial leverage net of our cash and cash equivalents and is calculated on our trailing twelve month EBITDA.

ABOUT WSP

WSP is one of the world's leading professional services firms, working with governments, businesses, architects and planners and providing integrated solutions across many disciplines. The firm provides services to transform the built environment and restore the natural environment, and its expertise ranges from environmental remediation to urban planning, from engineering iconic buildings to designing sustainable transport networks, and from developing the energy sources of the future to enabling new ways of extracting essential resources. It has approximately 17,500 employees, mainly engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors, other design professionals, as well as various environmental experts, based in more than 300 offices, across 30 countries, on 5 continents. www.wspgroup.com

Forward-looking statements

Certain information regarding WSP contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although WSP believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may be based on assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. WSP's forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The complete version of the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements as well as a description of the relevant assumptions and risk factors likely to affect WSP's actual or projected results are included in the Management Discussion and Analysis for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and WSP does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless expressly required by applicable securities laws.