How MDU Resources performed in first-quarter 2018

MDU Resources reported its first quarter earning for 2018.

The company reported first-quarter earnings of $42.4 million, compared to $37.2 million in 2017.

“We are off to a strong start this year, and we anticipate the momentum will continue as we execute on a number of growth projects,” says David Goodin, president and CEO of MDU Resources.

The construction materials business experienced a normal seasonal loss in the first quarter, with a loss of $23.5 million this year compared to $19.9 million in the first quarter of 2017.

“Our construction materials business posted higher revenues for the quarter, experiencing milder weather in the Northwest,” Goodin says. 

New income tax rates reduced the tax benefit to the company’s winter-season loss. Absent the effect of federal tax reform, the construction materials business would have recorded a smaller loss in the first quarter of 2018 than it had in first quarter of 2017, MDU Resources says.

MDU Resources acquired Teevin & Fischer Quarry, a crushed stone and gravel supplier in northwest Oregon, and continues to evaluate additional acquisition opportunities, the company adds.

Additionally, the company’s construction materials backlog of work at March 31 of this year was $692 million, compared to $725 million in 2017.