Orion Marine Group Updates Investors

Heavy civil marine contractor, US-based Orion Marine Group gives update on its outlook & end markets

Orion Marine Group, Inc. provides a broad range of marine construction and specialty services on, over and under the water along the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Seaboard, the West Coast, Canada, and the Caribbean Basin and acts as a single source turn-key solution for its customers' marine contracting needs.

Excerpts from the update are as follows:

Market Outlook
While the Company is pleased with the recovery of backlog from the lows reached in 2011 and with recent legislative activity in Washington, dredge utilization remains below historical norms as Corps lettings continue to be choppy. As a result, margin improvement is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Federal Update
The Company has still not seen a material increase in lettings from the Army Corps of Engineers since the beginning of 2012. The lack of Corps lettings continues to effect the utilization of the Company's dredging assets.

State Update
While the Company would have preferred to see a longer term program, it was pleased to see a two year, $105 billion Transportation Bill passed in the final days of the second quarter.

Local Update
Local port authorities continue to pursue expansion and development of their port facilities in preparation for the larger ships that will transit through the Panama Canal beginning in 2014 - 2015. Additionally, several ports across the country have received a share of the most recent round of TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Grants from the federal government to help fund improvements to their facilities.

Port authorities along the Gulf and East Coasts also continued to see solid volumes of both break bulk and containerized cargos through the first half of 2012, indicating that these facilities will continue to need to invest in the maintenance and expansion of their existing facilities.   

Private Customer Update      
Continued capital expenditures by many of the Company's private customers have helped to bolster a relatively strong market for both larger private jobs and maintenance call out work. The Company continues to see high levels of bid activity in the private sector and is optimistic about this sector's direction.