PBSJ results show struggle

After ending June 2009 with more than $10.7 million in cash, The PBSJ Corp. had just $337,000 left on its balance sheet a year later — a 97% decrease, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows.

The company's latest earnings report, which comes shortly after an announced merger deal with WS Atkins plc, does show signs of recovery for one of Tampa's largest privately held companies. But profit margins today are nothing like what they were before the recession.

PBSJ earned $5.7 million in net income on $166 million in revenue in the three months that ended June 30, 2010. Those numbers are down 24% and 55% respectively compared to last year.

The contrast in profitability is even starker when nine-month periods are compared. For the nine months ended June 30, 2009, PBSJ earned $19.0 million in profits from $593 million in revenue. A year later: just $2.4 million earned on $518 million in revenue, a margin of less than 1%.

Headquartered in Tampa, PBSJ employs roughly 3,500 people. On Aug. 2, PBSJ announced that it had agreed to be acquired by WS Atkins for $280 million.