MONTREAL – WSP Global CEO Alexandre L’Heureux says he’s “feeling extremely good” about the engineering giant’s prospects in the United States despite the Trump administration’s professed aversion to spending on big projects hatched in recent years.
Speaking to analysts on a conference call Thursday, L’Heureux said infrastructure remains a bipartisan concern in a polarized America.
“I feel that there is bilateral support on both sides of the aisle by the Democrats and Republicans around infrastructure. So if there is one positive aspect of what’s happening right now, I feel that there’s some commitment to infrastructure,” L’Heureux said.
“That, I believe, will continue to be strong in 2025,” he said, even though “it’s changing week by week.”
U.S. President Donald Trump last month ordered a freeze on infrastructure spending approved under the Biden administration, which had allocated billions of dollars to states and cities for everything from highway expansions to water system upgrades. WSP relies on infrastructure projects for a large chunk of its North American revenue.
L’Heureux, who has led a streak of acquisitions over the past few years, qualified that uncertainty can breed hesitation around deals in general.
“With this new administration, I think the investment community was hopeful for more deregulation and therefore fostering more of an environment for mergers and acquisitions,” he said.
“The flip side of this is that when you are creating an unstable environment, people tend to take a pause … The first half (of 2025) will probably be a bit more quiet. And I’m not talking about WSP, I’m talking about the world, the world of M&A.”
Transactions will likely pick up again “in the coming years — and we intend WSP to actively participate in that,” he said.
“As a company, we feel extremely strong and feeling extremely good around the markets in which we operate at the moment, both in the U.S. and in Canada.”
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, WSP said Wednesday it boosted net earnings 28 per cent year-over-year to $166.9 million. It increased fourth-quarter revenue 25 per cent to $4.66 billion.
The Montreal-based company also beat analysts’ expectations for the 10th quarter in a row, clinching adjusted net earnings of $2.34 per share versus projections of $2.27 per share, according to financial markets firm LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:WSP)
