Kirby gets earnings boost from recent acquisitions

The tank barge operator posted consolidated revenues jump of nearly 70 percent.    Houston-based tank barge operator Kirby Corp. experienced a sharp year-over-year increase in second-quarter net earnings and revenues as it benefited from recent acquisitions.
   Net earnings totaled $28.8 million for the quarter, up 10.9 percent year-over-year, while consolidated revenues reached $802.7 million, up 69.6 percent, according to Kirby’s latest financial statements.
   “During the quarter, we completed the integration of Higman Marine and the Targa pressure barges, and I’m happy to report that both had a positive contribution to second-quarter earnings,” Kirby President and CEO David Grzebinski said.
   Kirby signed an agreement in May to acquire Targa’s inland marine tank barge business, comprised of 16 pressure barges. In February, Kirby completed its acquisition of Higman Marine, an operator of tank barges and towboats, and its affiliated companies, resulting in Kirby gaining Higman’s fleet of 159 inland tank barges and 75 inland towboats.
   Kirby’s earnings per share for the quarter remained unchanged from last year’s second quarter at $0.48 per share. Excluding the $0.30 per share charge related to the retirement of Kirby’s executive chairman, Joseph Pyne, this past April, Kirby’s earnings per share for the quarter would have totaled $0.78.
   Kirby’s marine transportation segment recorded revenues of $378.2 million for the second quarter, rising 14.2 percent year-over-year.
   The distribution and services segment posted revenues of $424.5 million for the quarter, skyrocketing 198.8 percent year-over-year. Kirby said the segment benefited from the acquisition of equipment manufacturer Stewart & Stevenson in September 2017, increased demand in the oil and gas market, and improved market conditions in the commercial marine business.
   Kirby expects its capital spending for 2018 will range between $265 million and $290 million, which includes:
     • $65 million toward the purchase of a new 155,000-barrel coastal articulated tug barge originally under construction by a competitor;
     • $65 million in progress payments on new marine vessels, including six coastal tugboats and 15 inland towboats to be delivered over a period of three years;
     • Between $125 million and $145 million associated with capital upgrades and improvements to existing inland and coastal marine equipment, ballast water treatment systems for coastal vessels and facility improvements;
     • And the balance for rental fleet growth, new machinery and equipment, and facility improvements in the distribution and services segment.