CARDNO FORECASTS $36M FIRST-HALF PROFIT

BRISBANE infrastructure services consultancy Cardno (ASX:CDD) has gazed into its crystal ball and predicted a strong net profit after tax for the first half of the 2012 financial year.

The Fortitude Valley-headquartered firm expects a half-year net profit ending December 2011 of $34-36 million, representing a 13.6 per cent increase on the previous corresponding period ($31.7 million).

Cardno managing director Andrew Buckley (pictured) credits strong performance from US operations, positive contributions from recent acquisitions and improving domestic market conditions for the rise.

“Despite the doom and gloom about the European debt crisis we are seeing positive trends in our market that are still driving growth,” he says.

“Our US environmental consulting work for clients in energy, oil and gas sectors is yielding strong results after a strong boost from consulting work on the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. We also see strong growth in work on post-disaster reconstruction efforts in Queensland.”

Listed among Brisbane Business News Top Private Companies in 2010, Cardno has no regrets after the $11.7 million acquisition of geotechnical engineering firm Roadtest in June 2011. At the time the deal was expected to contribute around $8 million in revenue and $3.5 million in earnings before interest and tax for fiscal 2012.

“We acquired Roadtest to get more leverage in central Queensland’s coal and coal-seam gas markets. It is performing above the run-rate we paid for,” says Buckley.

“We are optimistic about our results going forward. Markets we picked are looking positive and strong.”

Final first-half results will be released on February 14.

Cardno shares slightly rose today to $5.72 per unit.