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KBR Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2020 Financial Results; Provides 2021 Guidance

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KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) today announced its fourth quarter and fiscal 2020 financial results and provided 2021 guidance.

Stuart Bradie, President and CEO of KBR, said, “2020 was a year of significant achievement for KBR, as we successfully advanced our long-term vision. We accelerated growth into attractive markets with the Centauri acquisition, strategically focused our commercial portfolio toward clean, sustainable solutions, and significantly advanced our corporate ESG and sustainability strategy, committing to net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality in 2019. Throughout the year, our team of teams delivered outstanding safety and operational performance, generated healthy profit and superb cash flow, drove innovation with technology advances and expanded our footprint through new program wins. Our progress is underscored by the strong book-to-bill achieved by our Government and Sustainable Tech businesses that underpins the 2021 guidance we are announcing today. Looking ahead, I am confident KBR is well-positioned to continue driving growth and value for our stakeholders, and I would like to thank our 29,000 people for their perseverance, agility and teamwork through an unusual year.”

Summarized Fiscal 2020 and Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results 

Three Months Ended December 31,

Year Ended December 31,

Dollars in millions, except share data

2020

2019

2020

2019

Revenues

$

1,466

$

1,452

$

5,767

$

5,639

Operating income

$

45

$

88

$

57

$

362

Adjusted EBITDA1

$

135

$

117

$

478

$

471

Earnings (loss) per share:

  Diluted earnings (loss) per share

$

0.13

$

0.40

$

(0.51)

$

1.41

  Adjusted EPS1

$

0.51

$

0.46

$

1.73

$

1.69

Operating cash flows:

  GAAP operating cash flows

$

122

$

57

$

367

$

256

  Adjusted operating cash flow1

$

21

$

57

$

290

$

256

1 See additional information at the end of this release regarding non-GAAP financial measures.

In 2021, KBR updated the names of its businesses as follows:

  • Government Solutions includes the following four business units: Defense & Intel, formerly the Defense Systems Engineering and Centauri businesses; Science & Space, formerly called Space & Mission Solutions; Readiness & Sustainment, formerly called Logistics; and International.
  • Sustainable Technology Solutions, formerly called Technology Solutions, to better reflect our business portfolio of advanced technology and solutions that enable customers to achieve their important sustainability objectives.

Key Financial Highlights:

  • Revenue of $5.8 billion increased $128 million from the prior year, as follows:
    • New program wins, on-contract expansion and acquisitive growth, including approximately $100 million, or 12%, growth in Science & Space; approximately $175 million, or 23%, growth in Defense and Intel (7% organic); and approximately $50 million growth in sustaining programs in Readiness & Sustainment;
    • Energy Solutions revenue volume increased $187 million primarily attributable to the completion of projects in backlog;
    • These revenue increases were partially offset by approximately $150 million of revenue associated with Tyndall Air Force Base disaster recovery work performed in 2019 that did not recur in 2020, reduced volume in KBR’s Middle East contingency work of approximately $150 million, reduced volume in the heritage Technology business of approximately $70 million primarily attributable to a higher mix of proprietary equipment deliveries in 2019 that did not recur in 2020, and reduced activity in the international government business of approximately $25 million.
  • Selling, general and administrative expenses of $335 million declined $6 million compared to 2019, principally due to reductions associated with corporate cost control measures and travel restrictions related to COVID-19. These reductions were partially offset by increases in Government Solutions, including increased amortization attributable to our acquisition of Centauri, increased bid and proposal cost and favorable variances in 2019 that did not recur in 2020.
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $478 million increased 2% from the prior year principally due to revenue growth.
  • Interest expense of $83 million decreased $16 million compared to 2019 principally due to lower outstanding borrowings under KBR’s Senior Credit Facility during the majority of 2020 as well as lower weighted-average interest rates resulting from the favorable refinancing of KBR’s Senior Credit Facility in early 2020 and reduced market interest rates.
  • Restructuring and impairment charges totaled $313 million and were primarily non-cash, were associated with KBR’s exit from commoditized services in its Energy Solutions business, and were related to lease abandonment, goodwill and asset impairments, and overhead reductions.
  • Effective tax rate was 25%.

Recent Developments and New Business

  • FY 2020 book-to-bill for Government Solutions was 1.2x, excluding privately financed initiatives, and was 1.4x for Sustainable Technology Solutions.
  • Expanded footprint through new project/program wins, including a five year $539 million ceiling contract to provide high-end technical services for rapid prototyping and fielding of systems for the U.S. Air Force; over $900 million in IDIQ tasking through our IAC-MAC contract balanced nicely across the Army, Air Force and Navy; and an eight-year $974 million ceiling contract to provide sustaining services to support U.S. Air Force operations in Europe.
  • Delivered a 95% recompete win rate in the U.S. Government Solutions business that included a $400 million NASA award to provide intelligent systems research and a $300 million U.S. Geological Survey award to perform satellite systems engineering, software development, cybersecurity, data storage, program management, network engineering, satellite data acquisition, and scientific research and application development for remote sensing data.
  • Continued track record of innovation, bringing new technologies to market, including:
    • Entered into an agreement with Mura Technology to be the exclusive licensor of Cat-HTR™, an innovative, disruptive mixed plastics recycling technology that processes all types of plastic including many that are currently considered unrecyclable; and
    • Entered into an agreement with Johnson Matthey to license a groundbreaking ammonia-methanol co-production process that combines KBR and Johnson Matthey market-leading ammonia and methanol technologies to enable superior end-product flexibility for our clients.
  • Numerous engagements to consult, advise and deliver technology and professional services in the area of energy transition, hydrogen future and circular economy, including multiple engagements with various governments and companies to advise on climate change and transition to a hydrogen future; a five-year master services contract to provide engineering services for a client’s global carbon recycling technology projects; and a technology package, including license, basic engineering, proprietary equipment and catalyst, for a zero COemissions, commercial-scale ammonia facility.

Capital Deployment
KBR continues to employ a balanced approach to capital allocation, which includes investments that facilitate sustainable, long-term growth and prudent return of capital to shareholders. KBR’s financial strength positioned the company to complete the strategic acquisition of Centauri on October 1, 2020, repurchase approximately $50 million of its common stock in 2020, and increase its quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share, a 25% increase over 2019 levels.

FY 2021 Guidance
KBR expects its 2021 financial results to be as follows:

  • Consolidated Revenue: $5.8 billion to $6.2 billion
  • Adjusted EBITDA Margin: ~9%
  • Effective Tax Rate: 25% to 26%
  • Earnings per Share (EPS): $1.39 to $1.59
  • Adjusted EPS: $2.00 to $2.20
  • Operating Cash Flow (OCF): $250 million to $290 million
  • Adjusted OCF: $280 million to $320 million

Conference Call Details
The company will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal 2020 financial results on Monday, February 22, 2021 at 7:30 a.m. Central Time (8:30 a.m. Eastern Time). The conference call will be webcast simultaneously through the Investor Relations section of KBR’s website at investors.kbr.com. A replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the call on KBR’s website or by telephone at +1.719.457.0820, passcode: 3642827.

Artificial Intelligence

CUBE acquires global regulatory intelligence businesses from Thomson Reuters

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LONDON, May 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — CUBE, a global leader in Automated Regulatory Intelligence (ARI) and Regulatory Change Management (RCM), announces today its acquisition of the Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence and Oden products and businesses.

The acquisition of these global businesses represents a major step forward in CUBE’s growth plans. It will deliver significant scale across many of the world’s leading and systemically important financial institutions. CUBE’s existing global customer base will be expanded to total approximately 1,000 customers in banking, insurance, asset and investment management, payments and adjacent regulated industries.
CUBE’s global employees will expand to 600, of which close to 250 are highly qualified regulatory subject matter experts, legal and compliance professionals.
Ben Richmond, founder and CEO of CUBE said: “Thomson Reuters is known to be the biggest and best in the industry for providing regulatory expert analysis and subject matter expertise, alongside world-leading journalism and news. The combination of CUBE’s purpose-built AI, with the years of content curated by Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence and Oden expert analysts, will accelerate innovation. Together, we will deliver regulatory transformation capabilities for our global customers that could only have been imagined before.”
Richmond continues: “This combination will provide tremendous scale and depth across CUBE’s regulatory content and technology. It is a significant step toward creating an industry-defining regulatory compliance and risk platform that will benefit all customers and elevate the industry as a whole.”
Through this acquisition, CUBE will provide an expanded and comprehensive selection of specialized regulatory intelligence and regulatory change services, committed to excellence, quality, and highly contextualised and meaningful regulatory content for customers. By combining cutting-edge technology and subject matter expertise at scale CUBE will set a new bar for the industry in regulatory automation and content.
Chris Maguire, General Manager, Risk and Fraud, Corporates, Thomson Reuters said: “It was clear to us that CUBE had established itself as a leading regulatory intelligence provider for global enterprise clients in the financial services and insurance sectors. We wanted to ensure our customers and employees could work with an organisation that would continue to innovate and significantly invest in solutions like Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence and Oden. We are working tirelessly to ensure a seamless and value-enhancing transition for customers and employees, and we are looking forward to working with the CUBE team during this transition.” 
Christopher Fielding, Hg, said: “We’re delighted to further extend our market reach, bringing in two high quality and complementary global businesses to the CUBE platform.”
Thomas Martin, Hg, added: “We see these acquisitions as enabling further innovation in the regulatory intelligence and change management sector, leading to strengthened demand for these quality solutions across the globe.”
The terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.
About CUBE
CUBE provides a highly comprehensive and robust source of classified, and meaningful AI-driven regulatory data to power its Automated Regulatory Intelligence (ARI) and Regulatory Change Management (RCM) solutions. CUBE’s purpose-built regulatory technology including its AI engine (RegBrain) and software platform (RegPlatform) tracks, analyses, and monitors laws, rules, and regulations in every country and in every published language to create an always up-to-date regulatory footprint that transforms visibility and compliance capability for customers across the globe.
With operations across Europe, North America, Canada, Asia, and Australia, CUBE serves a diverse and global base of customers and partners including the largest financial institutions in the world who leverage CUBE’s platform to streamline their complex regulatory intelligence and change management processes.
Following the strategic partnership with Hg in March 2024, CUBE announced the acquisition of US-based Reg-Room in May 2024.
About Hg
Hg supports the building of sector-leading enterprises that supply businesses with critical software applications or workflow services, delivering a more automated workplace for their customers.
This industry is characterised by digitisation trends that are in early stages of adoption and are set to transform the workplace for professionals over decades to come. Hg’s support combines deep end-market knowledge with world class operational resources, together providing compelling support to entrepreneurial leaders looking to scale their business – businesses that are well invested, enduring and serve their customers well.
With a vast European network and strong presence across North America, Hg’s 400 employees and around $70 billion in funds under management support a portfolio of around 50 businesses, worth over $140 billion aggregate enterprise value, with over 110,000 employees, consistently growing revenues at more than 20%.
About Regulatory Intelligence
Regulatory Intelligence is a proactive, connected, and comprehensive solution that tracks and analyses regulatory changes within ~2,000 regulatory bodies and rulebooks for more than 20 countries. It enables banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors to manage exposure to operational, regulatory, and compliance risk.
About Oden
Oden State Rules and Regulations (SR&R), Oden Policy Terminator/Sentry PT, and OdenTrack provide repositories and automated solutions for complying with state rules and regulations on the provisioning of Personal and Business Insurance in the US.

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Cayman Enterprise City Publishes Socio-Economic Impact Assessment by Economist and Leading Advisor on the Caribbean, Marla Dukharan

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The Impact of Cayman Enterprise City’s Socio-Economic Development Project Nears USD $1 Billion
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) has released a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment by Marla Dukharan. The report illustrates that CEC is increasing its impact by supporting higher earnings for Caymanians and is driving a shift towards a knowledge-based economy by focusing on high productivity sectors. The release by Dukharan reads, “Caymanian resourcefulness and private sector-led innovation have been the driving force behind the islands’ outstanding socio-economic success. Cayman Enterprise City underpins the next generation of Cayman innovation and dynamism.”

With an economic impact of USD $130 million in 2023, contributing just under USD $1 billion to the local economic activity in 12 years since inception, “CEC is helping the nation to diversify economically, in terms of sectors and jobs, ensuring locals have economic and employment opportunities that match the nation’s progress,” the report reads.
The CEC socio-economic development project is now home to 352 Special Economic Zones Companies (SEZCos), many of which are globally recognised institutions led by top executives and industry experts. “CEC member companies are providing high-value employment with salaries exceeding those typically found outside of the special economic zone,” said Charlie Kirkconnell, Chief Executive Officer at CEC. “The CEC community is fully invested in Cayman and the report illustrates that the CEC socio-economic development project is making a very significant impact on Cayman’s economy and community.”
“As CEC continues to grow, it continues to create significant employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for Caymanians and we encourage anyone that might be interested in finding out how they might get involved, whether as a member of the community and/or as a volunteer in our Enterprise Cayman non-profit organisation (NPO).”
77% of Caymanian-held jobs at CEC member companies, are in sectors with high social returns and increasing global demand. “By putting skills first and prioritizing learning, CEC is enabling new industries to take root,” the release by Dukharan reads.
CEC, through its Enterprise Cayman NPO, is a first-mover in private sector-facilitated education and training in the Caribbean, making it a leading force to boost youth participation in the economy. By offering training in specialised skills, Enterprise Cayman is helping to close the gap in higher education and earnings for Caymanians. “Through Enterprise Cayman we’ve set out to strategically support meaningful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for Caymanians, by providing internship and mentorship opportunities, by hosting skill-building and career focused training, and by providing invaluable networking and community engagement opportunities,” said Kirkconnell.
In 2023 individuals took advantage of 4,226 opportunities to participate in education, training, and career development events and, since launching entrepreneurial programming in 2021, Enterprise Cayman has worked with 41 new Cayman-born business ventures. “We’re helping to develop a local talent pool that meets the demand of Cayman’s growing digital innovation and technology sectors while, in parallel, offering exciting opportunities for individuals to launch new business ventures within an innovative business environment,” said Kirkconnell.  
With CEC’s new campus and state-of-the-art facilities, Signal House, the project “holds the promise of deep, continued economic impact,” the report concludes.
To access CEC’s economic impact assessments and Enterprise Cayman’s annual reports please visit https://www.enterprisecayman.ky/reports. For more information on how to get involved and for upcoming programmes and events visit www.enterprisecayman.ky. 
Website: www.caymanenterprisecity.com LinkedIn: @CaymanEnterpriseCityTwitter:  @CEC_CaymanInstagram: @CaymanEnterpriseCityFacebook: @CaymanEnterpriseCityYouTube: @ceccayman
About Cayman Enterprise City 
Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) is an award-winning development project which consists of three special economic zones (SEZs) focused on attracting knowledge-based and specialised-services businesses to set up a genuine physical presence in the Cayman Islands. The zones included within CEC are Cayman Tech City, Cayman Commodities & Derivatives Centre, and Cayman Maritime & Aviation City. With a dedicated Government Authority, licensing fee concessions and guaranteed fast-track processes, CEC enables international companies to quickly and efficiently establish a Cayman Islands office, which in turn enables them to generate active business income within a tax neutral environment.
About Enterprise Cayman 
Enterprise Cayman is a non-profit organisation (NPO) powered by Cayman Enterprise City in partnership with Cayman Islands’ special economic zone companies (SEZCos). The organisation, which applies the Theory of Change (TOC) methodology, provides Caymanians and residents with access to high-quality learning experiences and opportunities to develop and launch new business ventures, to pursue careers within the technology and innovation sectors, and to join a dynamic network of industry professionals. Let’s grow the next generation of Caymanian innovators and entrepreneurs with Enterprise Cayman!
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1317764/2860789/Cayman_Enterprise_City_Logo.jpg
FOR MORE INFORMATION:Contact: Kaitlyn Elphinstone  Email: [email protected]  

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Strava Unveils New Chapter of Accelerated Product Development at Brand’s Flagship Event

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The Company introduces increased product velocity, leveraging advancements in Artificial Intelligence, in service of its vision of a world connected through movement 
LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Strava, the leading digital community for active people with more than 125 million athletes, today showcased its latest initiatives and product developments at its annual event, Camp Strava. With the theme of Progress, Together company leaders announced how the platform will empower its global community to make progress in the way they explore, move, and connect on Strava.

“Strava is gaining momentum to realize our vision of a world connected through movement,” said Michael Martin, chief executive officer of Strava. “We are focused on two fundamental shifts to accelerate how we deliver value to 125 million people globally– building for women and leveraging Artificial Intelligence – which will unlock new community-and-partner-powered experiences across the platform.”
A New Era of Product VelocityStrava, with new leaders at the helm, is ushering in its next era of product velocity. The company listened closely to feedback from its global community and announced three of the most requested features coming to the platform by the end of the year.
The first of these updates, AI-enabled Leaderboard Integrity, will harness machine learning to automatically flag irregular, improbable, or impossible activities recorded to the platform. Trained by millions of activities, this feature allows all users on Strava to play fair and have more fun.
Additionally, the company announced a new Family Plan Subscription, the sister of the company’s Student Plan. With Family Plan, it’s easier to make a fitness commitment with your community by sharing an annual subscription with up to three other people – friends, family, or fitness family. Launching in select countries this summer, with plans to roll out globally by the end of the year, Strava’s newest annual subscription option offers the best value for groups (up to four), with a discount off the regular subscription price for each member.
Strava also implemented an updated design system, an initiative that is integral in driving a heightened pace of product innovation at the company. Through this work, Strava announced the launch of one of the company’s most requested features, Dark mode. Dark mode will improve the in-app experience for all users, reducing eye strain and improving accessibility while they record activity or scroll through the feed. Athletes can expect a rollout later this summer with options to keep their mobile settings always dark, always light, or match their device settings.
Company leaders highlighted several other features and updates to current products like Flyover, with its next iteration offering an overlay with activity stats and off-platform sharing capabilities. The overlay is available today for Strava subscribers and an off-platform sharing option will be released later this year.
Build for Her, Build for ManyStudies show that women of all ages participate in sports at a far lower rate than men, and overall, despite wanting to be active, find less time to dedicate to an active lifestyle. As the company continues on its mission to motivate people to live their best active lives, building for women on the platform will ultimately serve everyone in the Strava community. Several new features and initiatives were announced as a part of this strategic focus, which includes:
Night Heatmaps: Night Heatmaps show only activities between sundown and sunrise – so athletes can get an idea of which roads, trails, and paths are well-trafficked after hours. Since Night Heatmaps filter for after-hours routes, it can be a helpful tool for female athletes training before sunrise and after sunset.Quick Edit: For active women, having control over what is shared with the Strava community that cheers them on – like what time a run is logged – is important. Quick Edit makes it easier to make the most common edits – like activity name, and privacy settings so you can hide your start time, your map, or other workout stats.Strive for More®: The company announced a new phase of its Strive for More® initiative, created in 2022 to promote and support women in movement and sport. Today, Strava unveiled an official partnership with media company TOGETHXR to encourage more women to watch – and play – women’s sports. As part of the partnership, Strava will also donate $100,000 to the Alex Morgan Foundation, started by co-founder of TOGETHXR, Alex Morgan, to support their mission to help girls and women find confident paths forward in sports and life.Athlete IntelligenceToday, Strava announced the start of an accelerated product roadmap, outlining how Strava will implement the latest technological enhancements in AI and machine learning, to transform the athlete experience.
One key advancement to the platform includes the company’s latest development, Athlete Intelligence. Strava is introducing its beta AI-powered feature which turns each subscriber’s training data into an easily digestible summary that contextualizes their accomplishments and fitness goals. Unlike other AI-powered training services, Strava connects with thousands of devices, wearables, and fitness apps, so an athlete’s insights can consider their entire fitness story across multiple sports and modalities.
The features shared at Camp Strava will be released on a rolling basis through the end of the year. To view the full list of product releases and further details, visit www.press.strava.com.
For more information on Strava, to create a free account, or to start a free subscription trial visit www.strava.com.
About Strava Strava is the leading digital community for active people with more than 125 million athletes, in more than 190 countries. The platform offers a holistic view of your active lifestyle, no matter where you live, which sport you love and/or what device you use. Everyone belongs on Strava when they are pursuing an active life. Join the community, find motivation and discover new experiences with a Strava subscription. 
Visit www.strava.com for more information and connect with Strava on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Media Contact: [email protected]
 
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