North American Construction Group Ltd. (NOA) is a leading provider of comprehensive heavy construction, mining, and equipment maintenance solutions, with operations spanning ...
North American Construction Group Ltd. (NYSE: NOA), branded as NACG, is a heavy construction and mining services provider with roots dating back to 1953. Based in Acheson, Alberta, the company operates across Canada, the United States, and Australia, supporting resource-development projects—particularly those tied to oil sands and other large industrial ...North American Construction Group Ltd. (NYSE: NOA), branded as NACG, is a heavy construction and mining services provider with roots dating back to 1953. Based in Acheson, Alberta, the company operates across Canada, the United States, and Australia, supporting resource-development projects—particularly those tied to oil sands and other large industrial worksites where large-scale earthmoving, site development, and ongoing equipment reliability are critical.
Business model and services: NACG’s operations are organized around heavy construction & mining and equipment maintenance services. In heavy construction & mining, the company supports projects across the lifecycle of a mine or industrial site—from early-stage work such as constructability reviews, budgetary estimations, and design-build project execution, through major construction and ongoing site support. Core mining activities described include contract mining, pit-site preparation (including pre-stripping/pit pioneering), and removal/stockpiling of overburden and muskeg. The company also performs significant infrastructure work such as site preparation, airstrip construction, site dewatering and perimeter ditching, installation of tailings and process pipelines, construction and densification of tailings dams, mechanically stabilized earth walls, haulage and access road building, and dyke construction. Reclamation services are also a key part of its value proposition.
In equipment maintenance services, NACG focuses on keeping heavy equipment operating efficiently for customers’ day-to-day production requirements. The offerings include fuel and lubrication, portable steaming, equipment inspections, parts supply, and extensive repair capabilities such as complete overhauls, equipment refurbishment, undercarriage rebuilding, and precision machining. The company also supports onsite work including maintenance assistance, haul truck brake testing, hose manufacturing, and welding/fabrication/repair and certification services—capabilities that directly reduce downtime and support continuity of production.
Scale and people: Public-company headcount estimates indicate a workforce in the range of roughly 1,001–5,000, with PitchBook referenced total employees around 1,551.
Cost and “BOM” considerations (how the work is typically managed): Projects like earthworks, overburden removal, and tailings infrastructure are equipment- and labor-intensive, requiring heavy fleets (NACG reported a substantial fleet of 632 heavy equipment units as of Dec. 31, 2021 in the provided description). Operational costs usually include major consumables (fuel, lubricants, replacement parts), maintenance labor and shop/onsite machining capacity, and materials for welding/fabrication and pipeline or dam-related construction. The company’s inclusion of maintenance services and onsite support aligns with controlling these cost drivers through tighter fleet utilization, faster turnaround repairs, and access to parts and component work.
Financial/market context: From the provided market snapshot, NOA has a market capitalization of approximately $380M and trades on the NYSE. Reported valuation multiples and margins from the dataset (e.g., EV/EBITDA and net margin figures) suggest a business where returns are influenced by project cycle timing, equipment utilization, and maintenance efficiency rather than purely software-like recurring margins.
Key leadership: Barry Wade Palmer is listed as President & CEO, with source text indicating he was named President & CEO in January 2026. The company emphasizes safety and operational excellence as a core leadership focus.
Customer intent and “wishes” (forward-looking themes implied by operations): Given the nature of heavy construction and mining contracting, customers typically seek reliability in delivery, strict safety performance, predictable uptime of fleets, and the ability to scale capacity for complex site development and reclamation. NACG’s combined construction/mining scope plus equipment maintenance capability is positioned to meet those needs by supporting both build and sustain phases of industrial projects.
Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the North American Construction Group Conference Call regarding the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. [Operator Instructions] the company wishes to confirm that today's comments contain forward-looking information and that actual results could differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or projection contained in that forward-looking information. Certain material factors or assumptions were applied in drawing conclusions or in making forecasts or projections that are reflected in the forward-looking information. Additional information about those material factors is contained in the company's most recent management's discussion and analysis, which is available on SEDAR and EDGAR as well as on the company's website at nacg.ca. I will now turn the conference call over to Jason Veenstra, CFO.
Jason Veenstra: Thanks, Jenny, and good morning, everyone. I'll start today's call with brief commentary on the financials, then pass the call to Barry for his operational and forward-looking comments, and we'll conclude as per usual with Q&A. Starting on Slide 4. We delivered $93 million of EBITDA in the first quarter, translating into year-over-year improvements in both adjusted earnings and margin performance. Combined revenue was up $86 million from last year, with IMC contributing $91 million of revenue in the quarter. Excluding IMC, Australia was up organically 15% in the quarter on commission growth assets and strong execution. Offsetting these increases was the year-over-year impact of the divestiture of the ultra-class haul trucks in Canada. The $456 million of total combined revenue finished off a strong first half foundation of over $875 million, supporting our 2026 combined revenue midpoint of $1.7 billion. Moving to Slide 5. Australia posted 13.6% gross profit margin and Canada delivered a combined adjusted margin of approximately 7% despite difficult seasonal conditions early in the quarter in both regions. These results reflected disciplined project execution, improved internal maintenance capability, lower repair costs and the implementation of continued fleet efficiency initiatives, and importantly, are trending in the right direction heading into the second half of 2026. Moving to Slide 6. Q2 EBITDA and EBIT were both up meaningfully from the prior year quarter on the acquisition of IMC and a more typical quarter from the Fargo joint ventures. Direct adjusted G&A was $15 million, or 3.8% of reported revenue, well below our 5% targeted threshold, demonstrating operating leverage on stronger revenue. Depreciation as a percent of combined revenue dropped to 13% from 16% last year as IMC's lower capital intensity resulted in the combined number being lower than our expected range midpoint of 15%. All told, adjusted EPS of $0.32 was generated by solid operational performance. Interest expense increased to $18.9 million from $14.1 million last year, reflecting the financing of our …