Weak revenue, high dollar add to its risk

Article Excerpt

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $49 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 151.1 million; Market cap: $7.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; SI Rating: Average) earned $0.68 a share in the three months ended September 30, 2009. That’s up 13.3% from $0.60 a year earlier. Higher profits from certain engineering and construction projects were the main reason for the gain. However, revenue fell 15.6%, to $1.4 billion from $1.7 billion. That’s mainly because of a slowdown in big new construction projects because of the weak economy. As well, overseas markets account for about 40% of SNC’s revenue. That makes it more vulnerable to the rising Canadian dollar. SNC-Lavalin is a hold. hold…