Aecon Group Inc
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Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2019-Q1

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Operator

Good morning. My name is Christina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Aecon Q1 2019 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Adam Borgatti, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, you may begin the conference.

A
Adam Borgatti

Thank you, Christina. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for participating in our first quarter 2019 results conference call. This is Adam Borgatti speaking. Presenting to you this morning are Jean-Louis Servranckx, President and CEO; and David Smales, Executive Vice President and CFO. Our earnings announcement was released yesterday evening, and we have posted a slide presentation on the Investing section of our website, which we will refer to during this call. Following our comments, we will be glad to take your questions from analysts.As noted on Slide 2 of the presentation, listeners are reminded that the information we are sharing with you today includes forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Although Aecon believes that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct.With that, I will now turn the call over to David.

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Thank you, Adam, and good morning, everyone. I'll touch briefly on Aecon's consolidated results and then review results by segment before turning the call over to Jean-Louis. Turning to Slide 3 of the presentation. Commencing in 2019, Aecon's Infrastructure and Industrial segments were combined into a Construction segment to align with Aecon's new operating management structure. This was driven primarily by the progress Aecon has made in recent years with respect to the One Aecon strategy, which has increasingly allowed for integrated project management and systems, allowing Aecon to capitalize on those markets providing the greatest opportunity at any point in time. Turning to Slide 4. Revenue for the 3 months ended March 31, 2019, of $650 million was $107 million or 20% higher compared to the same period in 2018 with increases in each segment. Revenue was 35% higher on a like-for-like basis, excluding the contract mining business sold in November 2018.Slide 5 outlines the adjustments to reflect the impact of the sale of the contract mining business.Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2019 of $11.9 million, a margin of 1.8%, increased compared to adjusted EBITDA of $3.7 million, a margin of 0.7% for the first quarter of 2018 and grew significantly versus adjusted EBITDA of negative $9.2 million, a negative margin of 1.9% on a like-for-like basis in the prior year. Likewise, the first quarter operating loss of $10.8 million and diluted loss per share of $0.16 all showed considerable improvement compared to the same period in the prior year on the back of higher volume and improved margins. Reported backlog as of March 31, 2019, of $6.7 billion compares to backlog of $4.6 billion a year earlier, representing an increase of 46%. Now turning to results by segment. As noted on Slide 6, Construction revenue of $638 million in the first quarter was $108 million or 20% higher than the same period last year. The increase was driven by higher revenue in civil infrastructure in both Eastern and Western Canada as well as from urban transportation systems and nuclear power infrastructure in Eastern Canada. These increases were partially offset by lower volume in utilities as well as conventional industrial operations following the sale of the contract mining business in November 2018.Adjusted EBITDA in the Construction segment of $7.3 million, a margin of 1.1%, was up by $1.5 million compared to $5.8 million, a margin of 1.1%, in the first quarter of 2018 despite the sale of the contract mining business, which contributed $12.9 million of EBITDA in the same period last year. The significant improvement in EBITDA from the balance of the Construction segment in the first quarter of 2019 was due to a combination of higher volume and improved gross margin. New contract awards of $561 million in the first quarter of 2019 were $336 million lower than the same period last year. Construction backlog at the end of the first quarter was $6.7 billion, which is $2.1 billion higher than at the same time in 2018. The largest period-over-period increase in backlog occurred in civil infrastructure and urban transportation systems driven primarily by large project awards during 2018, including the REM Montreal LRT, the Finch West LRT and the Gordie Howe International Bridge projects.Turning to Slide 7. Concessions revenue for the first 3 months of 2019 was $58 million, an increase of $27 million or 85% compared to the same period last year. This higher revenue was primarily a result of the Bermuda International Airport Redevelopment Project, including the impact of increased construction activity related to the new airport terminal.Adjusted EBITDA in the Concessions segment of $14.8 million, a margin of 25.5%, was up by $4.9 million compared to $9.9 million, a margin of 31.6% in the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to increased contribution from management and development fees for Canadian concessions secured during 2018.At this point, I'll turn the call over to Jean-Louis.

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Thanks, David. Let's go to Slide 8. As David mentioned earlier, our backlog at the end of the first quarter was $6.7 billion. Backlog to be worked off in the next 12 months of $2.3 billion increased 50% over the one last year. And you can note approximately 2/3 of this backlog is for work-off beyond the next 12 months, providing us significant visibility and stability for Aecon's long-term outlook.Aecon's annual recurring revenue, which grew by 3% on a like-for-like basis over last year, was driven primarily by utilities work in telecommunications, gas and hydro distribution as well as operations at the Bermuda Airport. We do remain extremely focused on the strong execution of our backlog while ensuring we continue to build capacity and flexibility for further growth.If we go to Slide 9 and 10. Aecon's balance sheet, financial capacity and cash generation remain key advantages in our ability to grow and take advantage of the significant level of expected infrastructure investment in Canada in the coming years as well as to pursue select international projects.Now turning to our outlook on Slide 11. Aecon continues to see significant infrastructure investment commitments by all levels of government across Canada as well as by the private sector. This investment focuses primarily on civil infrastructure, urban transportation systems, nuclear power, utility and pipeline infrastructure, which perfectly aligns with Aecon's core strengths.Aecon's strong program of work underpinned by backlog as well as a robust pipeline of new opportunities supports an expectation of like-for-like revenue and EBITDA growth in 2019, offset to some extent by the sale of the contract mining business in November 2018.In our Construction segment, bidding activity is expected to be solid in 2019, although new awards are not likely to match the record level of new awards achieved in 2018. With strong backlog in hand, the focus has shifted to ensuring the strong execution and selectively adding backlog through a disciplined bidding approach that supports continued like-for-like margin improvement in the segment.In the Concessions segment, it continues to partner with Aecon's Construction segment to focus on the significant number of P3 opportunities in Canada and, on a selected basis, internationally. The overall outlook for 2019 remains solid as our current strong backlog, robust pipeline of future opportunities and ongoing concessions are expected to lead to another year of improved like-for-like results compared to 2018.Thank you, and we will now turn the call over to analysts for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Yuri Lynk from Canaccord Genuity.

Y
Yuri Lynk

I just wanted to make sure I understood the outlook section. It's got me a little confused. So it's calling for like-for-like revenue and EBITDA growth partially offset by the sale of the contract mining business. Not sure how to interpret that. Can you just clarify if that means you're expecting to exceed the $207 million in adjusted EBITDA generated last year?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

So without getting overly granular, Yuri, I think what we're saying is forget contract mining, we expect growth from the balance of the business in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA in 2019. Obviously, when you factor in the fact we had contract mining in 2018 and we don't in '19, that will offset some of that growth. But I'm not going to land on a specific number. But when we say partially offset, then I think you can read into that. Yes, we don't expect it to more than offset the impact of the exclusion of contract mining.

Y
Yuri Lynk

Okay. But the like-for-like, isn't that referring to comparing '19 with '18, excluding the contract mining from '18?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Correct. And we expect that to be up in terms of revenue and adjusted EBITDA.

Y
Yuri Lynk

Okay. And then just looking out to the balance of the year, I just would like some help on how to think about the third quarter. Obviously, it was a very tough comp last year, $89 million, and that's where the consensus is for this year. But I think that would have had $7 million of contract mining, and then you had a bunch of Line 3 work, which was pretty quick book and burn. So I just want to make sure I'm understanding that correctly. And just maybe flag any offsets that might make it not such a tough comp. But at this point, it looks like that will be difficult to achieve again in Q3.

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Well, I'll remind you that in that number you're calling for 2018 Q3 of $89 million, we had about $7 million of EBITDA from contract mining that won't be there. So you're talking on a year-over-year basis comparable number of $82 million. Q3 is always our strongest quarter. Don't expect that to be any different this year. There is some moderation in seasonality, but it's quite slight. You see that in our Q1 numbers, but we still expect Q3 to be the strongest quarter. And again, I'm not going to say where we're going to be relative to $82 million. But Q3 will represent a very strong quarter for us based on the profile of the work that we have going on this year and the level of revenue we expect from major projects.

Y
Yuri Lynk

No. No, absolutely. But I guess is it true that the Line 3 work, I think it was like $130 million, $140 million, that was basically booked and burned in Q3. I'm thinking about that correctly, right, as a headwind?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. That was in Q3. I mean but we all -- every year, we have projects ramping up, ramping down. As you can see from our commentary around revenue overall as well as backlog, we have more than enough work to offset what we were doing at Line 3 last year. So that was just one of many projects, so I wouldn't read too much into the fact that one project that we had in Q3 last year isn't in Q3 this year.If you look at our backlog breakdown and work-off in the next 12 months, that's up significantly from where it was this time a year ago. So yes, there's one project that won't be there, but there'll be many other new projects that will be there.

Operator

Your next question comes from Jacob Bout from CIBC.

J
Jacob Jonathan Bout

Wanted to start off with a question on the margins of the Construction group. From our math on an apples-to-apples basis, it was -- there's an uptick of almost 2.5%. Just talk about what was driving that. And is that an anomaly? Or is that kind of a normal course on a go-forward basis?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. I'll be predictable by saying that -- we say this every quarter, but no one quarter in isolation should drive your margin expectations for the following quarter. We talk about looking over kind of 12-month window. That particularly applies in Q1 just given the relative size of the numbers and the ability for 1 or 2 things to drive that margin up or down in a particular quarter when your volume is not as high as later in the year.So I think it's reflective of the fact that we have a strong backlog with good margin profile in that construction business. But when we talk about progression in margin on a kind of 12-month basis, we're talking about modest, gradual improvement over time. We're not talking about Q1 representing a step change that you should be assuming for the balance of the year.

J
Jacob Jonathan Bout

So on an apples-to-apples basis, comparing it year-on-year, what drove that uptick?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Well, higher revenue clearly is the biggest driver of that. When you've got a quarter that is typically fairly low in volume and a fairly large proportion of fixed costs, which over the year is offset by higher revenue later, if you have some higher revenue in Q1, then there's quite a lot of operating leverage there to that fixed cost base. Plus we said the new major projects have a better margin profile, and there's more of those in the mix in Q1. So it's a combination of things, but I would say operating leverage based on higher volume is a big component of that.

J
Jacob Jonathan Bout

A couple of projects that you missed out on, the Ottawa stage 2 and the Pattullo project. Maybe talk a bit about what's happened. And are things getting a little more competitive in the space?

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. I don't think it's getting more competitive. I would just say we just acquired Gordie Howe, which is an extremely important bridge. And the fact not to be on Pattullo is not of real relevance. I mean it's not a big deal for us.

Operator

Your next question comes from Derek Spronck from RBC.

D
Derek Spronck
Analyst

Just in terms of ramping up your project work, any changes in terms of equipment availability, labor availability? And how should we be thinking about working capital here for the next 3 quarters?

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. I'm extremely happy with the ramping up of our major projects. If we can take a few examples, for example, REM in Montréal, I'll remind you, it's a $5 billion job that has to be completed in March 2024. We had a very good preparation during the winter regarding utilities, regarding engineering and preparatory works. And we will have a very strong, I would say, spring and summer season on REM.Site C is in the same condition. I mean I'll remind you that Site C is a job with BC Hydro, 700,000 cubic meters of concrete. We finalized during the winter season 25,000, and now we are just ramping up extremely quickly. For example, last week, we brought 2,500 cubic meters only during 1 week with that. All those projects are going well at schedule and budget. In terms of equipment, not that much of a problem. Everything has been forecasted, and we are perfectly aligned with our forecast.

D
Derek Spronck
Analyst

And how should we think about working capital, sorry?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. I was going to come back to that. So from a working capital perspective, obviously, over the course of the year, it's driven by our usual seasonality where we tend to use cash through Q2 and Q3 and then see an inflow in Q4 and typically in Q1 depending on what's going on in any typical quarter. As for normal profile, I don't see that being any different this year. I think overall for the year, I think working capital will be a modest net positive for cash, not dissimilar to 2018 in terms of profile of working capital for the full year on a seasonal basis.

D
Derek Spronck
Analyst

Okay. That's great. In terms of any projects that you're currently working on, are there any projects that you're losing sleep on? I thought there was a $60 million increase in unbilled revenue. I don't know if it's just regular seasonality or project timing related. Any color there would be helpful.

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

So in terms of unbilled, I mean, that's just a reflection of -- on these large major civil projects, there are significant milestone payments at various times. So as opposed to being paid kind of monthly or every 2 weeks, you basically get big milestone payments at certain points in time, which can lead to buildup in unbilled until you reach certain phases. But it's nothing other than the normal cycle of working capital.

D
Derek Spronck
Analyst

Okay. And any projects that you're currently working on that might be coming up to completion that you're worried about? Or are you fairly comfortable with the project profile of your existing projects right now?

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

So far, we don't expect any sort of problem. I mean we are extremely focused and disciplined regarding the execution of our backlog. I'm putting a lot of pressure on my team on the quality of the preparation of the works, on the quality of the engineering, on the integration of the engineering with the works, on the quality of the execution, on the schedule, traceability, on our project control. And I can just say that so far, all our projects are on track.

D
Derek Spronck
Analyst

Okay. Great. And just one more for myself and I'll pass it over. There was a pickup of a finance lease debt due to IFRS and only just a modest increase in EBITDA. I think you indicated $1.7 million in EBITDA add due to the IFRS change. That seems a little bit low relative to the amount of finance debt that was added because of the accounting change. Should we assume that the $1.7 million EBITDA add-back due to the accounting change is reflective of each quarter going forward? Or how should we think about that?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

No, that's the right way to think about it.

Operator

Your next question comes from Chris Murray from AltaCorp Capital.

C
Christopher Allan Murray

Just if you can, I was just kind of curious about some of the restatements in your segmented note. What I'm trying to understand a little bit better is the eliminations between Construction and Concessions. So is it fair to think now that what we're seeing in the other eliminations bucket is really the construction work being done primarily for the Bermuda Airport?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes.

C
Christopher Allan Murray

So that's what we're seeing? So we're now able to see a cleaner, more direct number in that. Okay. So the question I've got is in the quarter, you talked about $43 million in Construction revenue but another $2.5 million in revenue intersegment. Is that -- where is that other $2.5 million coming from?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

I'm not sure I know what number you're referring to there, Chris. But the vast majority of it, as I said, is revenue between Construction and Concession related to Bermuda. There's obviously a few other things going through on the Concession side where we have construction ongoing, but any delta is driven by Bermuda primarily.

C
Christopher Allan Murray

Okay. And then just so I'm making sure that I understand this correctly. The rest -- the majority of what we're seeing in the Concessions segment in reported is tied to Bermuda. And then the other projects you've got, things like Waterloo and Eglinton, they're all coming through the equity pickup, correct?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Correct. Although it's also reflected in the operating profit for Concessions. But when you look at consolidated P&L as opposed to segment breakout, yes, the Canadian Concessions are primarily on the income from equity-accounted projects.

C
Christopher Allan Murray

Yes. It's just -- I mean, David, I guess where I'm getting at is as the Concessions business becomes -- gets bigger, we're having to start to value the Concessions business separately from the Construction business. So I'm just trying to make sure I understand how you guys have changed that in the re-segmenting, so just where that one goes.Along those lines, just thinking about Bermuda, we still have, I guess, construction going through the middle of 2020. Any thoughts around additional P3s, some P3 opportunities that you guys are seeing right now and how we should think about how any of the growth in that equity pile or that equity method there or gain over the next few years is going to change independent of Bermuda?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Sorry, Chris, you mean the equity accounting investments as a likely...

C
Christopher Allan Murray

Yes. So I was thinking about the Canadian Concessions...

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

To the extent we're thinking of Canadian Concessions where we're not in control with joint venture partners, then yes, that is likely. We continue to bid a pretty healthy pipeline of P3 opportunities. So if we secure more, then yes, they will likely be, based on the structure of those P3s, equity-accounting projects.

C
Christopher Allan Murray

Okay. But I guess what I'm also trying to understand too is I mean you recorded $3 million in equity pickup in the quarter. Is that a good run rate to be thinking that you're at right now or middle of the growth rate in that as you continue to progress through the construction maybe over the next year or 2?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. I think it's likely to be increasing based on our normal seasonality. So for example, in Q1, some of the work that we will be doing at the peak of the season on some of these projects will be increased. But it's not -- most of it comes from the Concession side where it's really management fees tied to construction in terms of timing of recognition of those. So there is some seasonality to it, but it's not huge. But Q1 would be on the low side for that contribution.

C
Christopher Allan Murray

Okay. All right. We'll try to figure it out as we go to -- back into the construction summer. Just going back to your comment on the outlook around like-for-like. The way you characterized those like-for-like growth, then you started -- I think further to Yuri's question started talking about sort of absolute dollars on a like-for-like basis. Just trying to -- maybe can you just go through this one more time because it's a little fuzzy on are you talking about like the growth rate '17 versus '18 -- into '18 to '19 ex mining? Or is it just the absolute numbers? The underlying construction business offsetting mining can end up kind of in the same place for '19 as it were in '18? Just -- it's just a little fuzzy.

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Okay. So I don't think we've ever talked about it being related to growth rates. We're talking about absolute dollars growth 2019 versus 2018 if you exclude contract mining, which contributed over $200 million of revenue in 2018. Obviously, that growth will be offset to some extent by the fact that $200 million-plus of revenue won't be there in 2019.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from Michael Tupholme from TD Securities.

M
Michael Tupholme
Research Analyst

I was wondering if you can comment on Aecon's outlook for future potential infrastructure work in Ontario, in particular, and possibly provide any thoughts on the recent Ontario provincial budget.

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. I would say simply it is a moment for Aecon when we just read, I mean, what the Ontario government has produced during the last 2 weeks just in terms of major projects. I mean Scarborough line, North Yonge extension, Eglinton West, Ontario line, I mean all those kinds of jobs are our specialties. I mean they are our pieces of cakes, and we are perfectly ready to catch them. So it's really good news.

M
Michael Tupholme
Research Analyst

And some of these projects, Jean-Louis, are obviously quite large in size and has considerable lead time until -- from the time that the projects would be awarded. But would you possibly envision any awards in the province of these kinds of projects during 2019?

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. I'll just remind you that our backlog is almost $7 billion. The job we have in our backlog, I mean, just take a few days. REM is there to be finalized in 2024 going out end of 2024, Finch 2023. It means that this is a long time from now. So we are not that much worried about the lead time on the new projects. I would say it's even good for us. And of course, on all those projects I've been talking about a few minutes ago, there will not be any award in 2019.Generally speaking, we had explained, I mean during the last months of 2019, most probably going to be a bidding year than an award year, and it's good for us. I mean it just gives us all the time to deploy our capacity on our new backlog and to have people working on the bidding there.I'd just give you an example, during the last few days, we just submitted 2 big PQ, 1 in Edmonton, Edmonton Valley Line and 1 in Vancouver at the Millennium Line. So we are not worried about the pace of the works coming.

M
Michael Tupholme
Research Analyst

Okay. That's helpful. Separate question, the last several quarters, you've talked in your outlook about some improvements in commodity prices, in particular oil, but not yet to levels that would incite clients to move necessarily forward with projects. Just wondering, we have seen oil rally pretty strongly through the first part of the year here albeit off of low levels at the end of last year. But wondering if you can just update us on what you're hearing from some of your clients in the energy sector in particular but also possibly the commodity sector more broadly.

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. We mainly see it in our industrial operating sector. It is true that the oil prices have been on the upside for over the last months. Even we can see in our potential industrial clients that they are gaining more traction on new plants for derivative of oil, which is good for us.

M
Michael Tupholme
Research Analyst

Okay. Perfect. And then just anything else outside of oil specifically in terms of other resource areas such as mining?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

I would say nothing substantial at this point, Mike. I think we talked a number of times in the past about upticks in engineering activity and then things slow down again. And I would say at this stage, there's nothing concrete that suggests that's going to be a significant opportunity in the near term. I think we'll have to see how prices hold up over a longer period and whether that stimulates people actually making investment decisions. But at this stage, nothing concrete.

M
Michael Tupholme
Research Analyst

Okay. And then just lastly, Dave, it looked like the tax rate in the first quarter was a little bit higher than I expected. Can you just talk about what you would expect the effective tax rate for the year to look like?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. I don't expect it on a full year basis to be significantly different to 2018. I mean it depends a little bit. The things that drive it are kind of mix of earnings and where they come from, which provinces, Bermuda or et cetera. But overall, over the course of the year, I don't expect any big shift in the tax rate.

Operator

Your next question comes from Frederic Bastien from Raymond James.

F
Frederic Bastien
MD & Equity Research Analyst

I was wondering if you could talk about how Bermuda is actually going both in terms of the construction and the operation of the existing airport, traffic-wise and things like that.

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. I will first answer on the construction side. It's going quite well. We are all targeting the substantial completion for mid-2020. I don't see any problem with this project on the construction side.

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. And from an operations perspective, going well, continues to go well. In terms of passenger numbers, they continue to be strong and are growing. And we expect continued performance from that operation.

F
Frederic Bastien
MD & Equity Research Analyst

Is the traffic at the airport experiencing better than what you underwrote your contract at?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. I mean if you -- I mean there's obviously a financial model that drives the financing and everything else, and that is built on pretty conservative forecasts. And early days into a 30-year concession, obviously. But yes, so far, so good in terms of passenger growth today is exceeding what was built into that financial model. I don't think that's particularly unusual. These finance models are usually pretty conservative, so we went into it expecting that, and it's delivered along those lines so far.

F
Frederic Bastien
MD & Equity Research Analyst

Okay. And then obviously over the past several years, you've been investing in some P3 concessions internationally. Are there any other ones that you're looking at right now, potentially looking at investing in contributing to the construction?

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

No. At the moment, no on a short-term basis. But of course, I mean trying to find another project like the Bermuda one is extremely important for us. So we are -- we have put some business development forces from the last month on the go, and we are ready to expand internationally on everything that we do well at home.

Operator

Our next question comes from Maxim Sytchev from National Bank Financial.

M
Maxim Sytchev
Managing Director and AEC

David, just -- not trying to belabor the guidance thing. But correct me if I'm wrong, but in 2018, you also had a number of unusuals that were part of the EBITDA. So what clean EBITDA sort of like-for-like that you are using for 2018 that you are building your expectations off for 2019?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. I think in 2018, Max, on the contract mining adjustment, you basically have in the first quarter of last year $2 million of onetime costs related to wrap-up of the sale process and some severance. But outside of that, I don't think there's anything else in Q2, 3 or 4. So it's a very minor impact year-over-year.

M
Maxim Sytchev
Managing Director and AEC

Okay. So we're talking about like $190 million-ish clean EBITDA for 2018, correct?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

You mean excluding contract mining?

M
Maxim Sytchev
Managing Director and AEC

Correct.

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Yes. I mean that would -- no, it would be a little lower than that, Max. You see, we recorded $206 million of EBITDA last year, $207 million. And contract mining was around $30 million of that.

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

$21 million.

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

So $180 million, $185-ish million.

M
Maxim Sytchev
Managing Director and AEC

Okay. So again, what you're suggesting that, excluding the change -- sorry, excluding the mining, then that means that you're not going to be able to match the absolute number that you generated in 2018 with the mining?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

You look at what we've said, the like-for-like growth will be partially offset by the impact of no longer having contract mining, which indicates we expect to fully offset the like-for-like growth.

M
Maxim Sytchev
Managing Director and AEC

Okay. So a positive delta. Okay. And then in terms of Q1, I know you didn't call it out at all, but was there any negative weather impact at all in Q1?

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

I mean nothing abnormal, I would say. I mean Q1 is winter, and so we have climate impact, of course. I'll just remind you that, for example, on Eglinton, we are still on the civil works but will not be the case in 2020. We will be inside, I mean inside the ground with [indiscernible]. But there is nothing abnormal in Q1 in terms of climate.

M
Maxim Sytchev
Managing Director and AEC

Okay. That's helpful. And actually, Jean-Louis, and I guess a question to you and to David as well. I mean given the share price volatility that we've seen over the last, let's call it, month for I would say no specific reason, any incremental thoughts on having a share buyback program as a backstop to deal with that type of volatility? Any thoughts there?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

So we've talked about in previous quarters the fact that we look at that on a fairly regular basis. At this stage, there is no plan to announce a normal course issuer bid. But we'll continue to monitor where things go from here and keep that at the forefront of our minds in terms of a potential opportunity depending on how things unfold. But no announcement on that.

M
Maxim Sytchev
Managing Director and AEC

All right. But I mean that's still something that obviously you consider?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

Sure.

Operator

Your next question comes from Derek Spronck from RBC.

D
Derek Spronck
Analyst

Just a quick follow-up on -- in the fourth quarter in your outlook, you indicated adjusted EBITDA margin improvement, and that commentary wasn't included in this quarter's outlook. Any change there?

D
David Smales
Executive VP & CFO

No change to our outlook for 2019.

Operator

And your last question comes from Benoit Poirier from Desjardins Capital.

B
Benoit Poirier

To come back on Bermuda, I was wondering if you could provide some color about the -- where you are or the timing around maximizing the value for these assets. I understand that you're finishing construction. The traffic is also very good. But I was wondering where do you think there could be a potential opportunity to potentially divest partially or fully the asset and recycle that money into other concession opportunities.

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. As we have already said, all options are open. I mean we own 100% of the Bermuda project. We still have to finalize the works and then to transfer from the old airport to the new airport, what will be done mid-2020. And at this moment, we will consider what are our options and what could be the best one. We have not taken decision at the moment about an eventual divestiture, partial divestiture or none at all.

B
Benoit Poirier

Okay. Okay. That's very good color. And obviously, when we look at the Canadian opportunities, it's still very, very robust, so you have a big backlog that will be delivered over the next few years. You've been talking that eventually you would look at the U.S. strategy. I understand it's not a rush, but any update on the plan or how long do you still have to try to take a look at the potential entry into the U.S. market finally?

J
Jean-Louis Servranckx

Okay. As you can see in the pipeline for Canada, I mean there is still a lot of projects on the table. And I would say, every quarter, new projects are arising. It means that we have no rush. I mean we look at U.S. as a potential opportunity for our Q2 growth, but we have no rush. I mean, of course, we are working on it, but we have not set up neither a date or a size. I mean we just want to be sure to be able to save the best opportunity what is going to be ready in front of us.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I turn the call back over to the presenters.

A
Adam Borgatti

Very good. Thanks, Christina, and thank you all for joining our call today. Have a great rest of the day. And as always, if you have any questions, feel free to follow up. Thanks.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.