Argan maintained a substantial total balance of cash, cash equivalents and investments during the quarter. The total balances were $506.3 million and $412.4 million as of October 31 and January 31, 2024, respectively. Balance sheet net liquidity was $281.0 million at October 31, 2024 and $244.9 million at January 31, 2024; furthermore, the Company had no debt.
First Nine Months Results
Consolidated revenues for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 were $641.7 million, an increase of $232.9 million, or 57.0%, from consolidated revenues of $408.8 million reported for the comparable prior year period.
For the nine months ended October 31, 2024, consolidated gross profit increased to approximately $93.4 million, which represented a consolidated gross margin of 14.6%, compared to consolidated gross profit of $57.2 million, or consolidated gross margin of 14.0%, reported for the nine months ended October 31, 2023. The gross profit percentage increased between periods primarily due to the changing mix of projects and contract types. Additionally, during the nine-month periods ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, gross profit was negatively impacted by a loss recorded on the Kilroot Project, which reduced gross profit by approximately $2.6 million and $11.5 million, respectively.
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $5.4 million to $37.8 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, from $32.5 million in the comparable prior year period. However, as a percentage of revenues, these expenses declined to 5.9% from 7.9% between the periods.
Other income, net, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 was $17.0 million, which reflected income earned during the period on invested funds of approximately $14.0 million, as the weighted average balances of investments are meaningfully higher this year.
The Company recorded income tax expense of $18.5 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 primarily due to corresponding consolidated pre-tax book income of $72.6 million. For the comparable period last year, the effective tax rate was higher primarily due to the unrecognized tax loss benefit related to the Kilroot project.
For the nine months ended October 31, 2024, Argan achieved net income of $54.1 million, or $3.91 per diluted share, versus net income of $20.3 million, or $1.50 per diluted share, for last year’s comparable period. EBITDA for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 was $74.2 million compared to $33.8 million in the same period of last year.
Conference Call and Webcast
Argan will host a conference call and webcast for investors today, December 5, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Domestic stockholders and interested parties may participate in the conference call by dialing (888) 506-0062 and international participants should dial (973) 528-0011; all callers shall use access code: 925404.
The call and the accompanying slide deck will also be webcast at:
https://www.webcaster4.com/webcast/page/2961/51625
The conference call and slide deck may also be accessed via the Investor Center section of the Company’s website at https://arganinc.com/investor-center. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site.