ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM) stock rose 4.42% (As on Mar 9, 11:19:38 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted better than expected results for the first quarter of FY 22. The revenue growth was driven by Able, as well as by strong demand for the core janitorial and engineering services and a continued recovery in the Aviation industry. Disinfection-related work orders and EnhancedClean were higher than anticipated, but still significantly lower than last year as expected. Adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2022 was $64.4 million, down 6%, from the $68.3 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2021. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $123.0 million compared to $123.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2021. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 6.6% versus 8.6% last year, primarily reflecting the aforementioned change in service mix. The Company ended the quarter with total debt of $1,176.3 million, including $166.9 million in standby letters of credit, resulting in a total leverage ratio, as defined by the Company’s credit facility, of 2.1x. In total, the Company had available liquidity of approximately $796 million, inclusive of cash and cash equivalents of $46.6 million.

ABM in the first quarter of FY 22 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 94 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 79 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 29.7 percent to $1.94 billion in the first quarter of FY 22, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $1.84 billion. It comprised of 9.1% organic growth and 20.6% from the Able acquisition. Organic revenue growth was led by a 42% year-over-year gain in Aviation, driven by a strong holiday travel season, and by a 26% gain in Technical Solutions due to continued growth in the Company’s e-mobility business. Manufacturing & Distribution and Business & Industry both posted broad-based organic growth of 5%, with B&I’s total revenue growth of 49% also including a full quarter of Able revenue. Education organic revenue decreased 1%.

Additionally, during the first quarter, the Company repurchased 0.3 million shares of its common stock, under its standing authorization, at an average share price of $44.23, for a total cost of $13.3 million. The company has declared a cash dividend of $0.195 per common share payable on May 2, 2022 to shareholders of record on April 7, 2022.