SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. swung to a profit last quarter, riding its engineering services and nuclear divisions to net earnings growth of nearly 15 per cent year over year.

The two segments enjoyed 18 per cent and six per cent revenue growth, respectively, in the quarter ended March 31. Engineering services boosted its backlog 25 per cent to a record $4.8 billion, while the nuclear segment's backlog jumped 23 per cent to $986 million.

Chief executive Ian Edwards said the company is hoping to seize on its recent successes with further growth via mergers and acquisitions, particularly south of the border — but not immediately.

"Ultimately, we will get to an M&A program. It will be a sensible, step-by-step M&A program in the U.S. where we build on the business that we already have," he told analysts on a conference call Tuesday, noting the Montreal-based company has 4,200 workers in the United States.

"We want a lot more than that to be equal to our peers.”

Edwards has said he sees potential in the massive funding injection from the U.S. government via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

However, the company's challenges with so-called lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) projects continue to drain on its finances, albeit lightly. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes saw a loss of $9.2 million in SNC's first quarter.

Under Edwards' stewardship since June 2019, SNC-Lavalin has shifted its focus to engineering and consulting services and away from lump-sum projects — fixed-price contracts under which companies must pay for any cost overruns themselves. It also sold off the last of its flagging oil and gas businesses in August 2021.

The three major fixed-price contracts that have borne the bulk of the company's adjusted losses in its LSTK segment in recent quarters include Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit system, Ottawa's Trillium Line and the greater Montreal area's REM light-rail network extension.

In the quarter ended March 31, SNC net income attributable to shareholders was $28.4 million or 16 cents per diluted share. The result was up from a profit of $24.8 million or 14 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue totalled $2.02 billion, up from $1.89 billion in the first three months of 2022.

The increase came as the company's revenue from professional services and project management rose to $2.01 billion compared with $1.87 billion a year earlier. Revenue from its capital business totalled $16.3 million, down from $16.4 million.

On an adjusted basis, the company said its profit from professional services and project management amounted to 32 cents per diluted share, up from an adjusted profit of 22 cents per diluted share in the first quarter of 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2023.