Insituform’s fourth-quarter sales, profits down

A weak U.S. sewer rehabilitation market contributed to the slip in Insituform Technologies Inc.’s revenues for the fourth-quarter and 2007 overall, the company said.

Chesterfield-based Insituform, which repairs sewer and other underground piping systems without ground disruption, reported late Tuesday that its revenue for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 was about $130 million, down 4 percent from $135.4 million a year ago.

Its net income took a 3 percent dip to $10.1 million, or 37 cents a share, from $10.4 million, or 38 cents per share, in 2006. That decline would have been greater, but this month Insituform received a $4.5 million settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit filed in 1990. The company applied that gain to the fourth-quarter and 2007 earnings.

During the fourth quarter, Insituform shut down most of its tunneling division, and it said it expects to complete that process by the middle of the second quarter this year. Loss from the tunneling division, plus a decrease in year-over-year revenue, affected Insituform’s earnings for the year.

The company’s 2007 revenue was about $495.6 million down 6 percent from $527.4 million in 2006. Last year’s net income dropped 90 percent to $2.5 million, or 9 cents a share. In 2006 Insituform earned $24.7 million, or 90 cents a share.

“2007 was a difficult year for Insituform, and no one at this company is happy with the modest profit we reported,” chairman and interim chief executive Alfred L. Woods said in a statement. “These results are not indicative of the performance that is expected and do not reflect the potential of our company.”

To diversify its business, the company has been pursuing international projects. Insituform won contracts in Delhi, India; in Hong Kong; and in the United Kingdom.

Total contract backlog, the value of planned yet uncompleted work, was $260.3 million as of Dec. 31, compared to $224.6 million at the end of the third-quarter. Backlog was $214.5 million at the end of 2006.

Insituform also said Wednesday that it’s in the final stages of its search for a chief executive. After Thomas S. Rooney Jr. resigned from the position in August, Woods, the chairman, took over as the company looked for a replacement. David A. Martin, vice president and chief financial officer, said Insituform expects to make an annoucement near the end of this month.