CDI wins 'fat' contract; profit rises

A poultry company's bid to convert fat into fuel gave CDI Corp. executives something to crow about yesterday as the Philadelphia-based engineering-staffing firm announced successful results for 2007.

CDI said it had received a contract to provide front-end engineering and design to Dynamic Fuels L.L.C., which is building a $150 million synthetic-fuels plant in Geismar, La., to convert used grease, animal fat and vegetable oil from Tyson Foods Inc. into jet and diesel fuel.

It was a good-news day for CDI, which reported increased revenue and earnings for 2007. Revenue from continuing operations increased about 7 percent, to $1.19 billion from $1.11 billion.

Earnings from continuing operations rose about 53 percent, to $31.8 million, or $1.68 a share, from $20.8 million, or $1.16 a share.

"Our long-term strategy to focus on delivering global engineering- and professional-staffing services to firms in refining, oil and gas, alternative energy, aerospace, defense, life sciences, and infrastructure marketplaces is producing solid profit momentum," president and chief executive officer Roger Ballou said in a statement.

The fat-to-fuel business is exactly what Ballou means. Dynamic Fuels is a 50-50 joint venture between Syntroleum Corp. and Tyson Foods to design, construct and operate facilities using Tyson's waste products.

Although CDI spokesman Vincent Webb declined to comment on the specifics of the contract, he said front-end engineering and design contracts typically run 1 percent to 2 percent of the entire project. If that formula were followed in this case, the poultry project would fatten CDI's coffers between $1.5 million and $3 million.

CDI's engineering-solutions division is its largest, bringing in more than half of the company's revenue.

Of CDI's three other divisions, two - Management Recruiters International and AndersElite - showed solid increases in 2007. CDI IT Solutions' revenue declined, as did earnings in that division.

Fourth-quarter revenue and net earnings were also up on a year-to-year basis. The results include $400,000 in costs related to the sale of CDI's temporary-staffing division, Todays Staffing.

The company, which is primarily owned by the family of founder and chairman Walter Garrison, authorized the repurchase of up to $50 million worth of the company's 20.3 million shares outstanding.

Ballou predicted 2008 revenue growth of 3 percent to 6 percent, and 1 percent to 3 percent in the first quarter.

CDI shares fell 22 cents yesterday to close at $23.23 in New York Stock Exchange trading.