Hello everyone, and welcome to the KBR, Inc third quarter 2022 earnings conference call. My name is Charlie, and I'll be coordinating the call today. You'll have the opportunity to ask a question at the end of the presentation. If you'd like to register a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Please note that we'll be taking one question and one follow-up from each attendee. I will now hand over to your host, Jamie DuBray, to begin. Jamie, please go ahead.
Good morning, and welcome to KBR's third quarter 2022 earnings call. First, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Jamie DuBray, the new Vice President of Investor Relations for KBR, taking over from Allison, who's moved into a leadership role in our sustainable technology business. I'm excited to be here and for the opportunity to serve you. Joining me are Stuart Bradie, President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as Mark Sopp, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Stuart and Mark will provide highlights from the quarter and then open the call for your questions. Today's earnings presentation is available on the investor section of our website at kbr.com. This discussion includes forward-looking statements reflecting KBR's views about future events and their potential impact on performance as outlined on slide two.
These matters involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ significantly from these forward-looking statements, as discussed in our most recent Form 10-K, available on our website. This discussion also includes non-GAAP financial measures that the company believes to be useful metrics for investors. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the nearest GAAP measure is included at the end of our earnings presentation. I will now turn the call over to Stuart.
Thank you, Jamie, and welcome to the KBR team, and thank you all for joining us this morning and of course in your interest in KBR. Now, I would be remiss if I also didn't take the opportunity to thank Allison. She's done a terrific job for us over the last few years, as you will all have experienced and know, and she goes on to bigger and better things within KBR. Now on to slide four. You've seen this slide for several years now. The slide depIchthys our Zero Harm program, which has 10 pillars across the ESG and sustainability spectrum. Now these 10 pillars and the underlying behaviors that make up the program and make it very successful are really, really important to our people and are an integral part of our values and of course, our culture.
We have incredible people at KBR, and every year, the amazing work they do in this area is captured in our sustainability report. Which takes us nicely onto slide five. This year's report has recently been published and is available on our website. Some key highlights from this year's report are shown on the slide. Obviously, not the full report, but just some key highlights. I won't read them all out as they're pretty self-explanatory, but the key takeaway is that our commitment to strong ESG performance is unwavering. Our focus on looking after our people, the environment and communities where we live and work, inclusion and diversity, and being a socially responsible company with strong governance is evident. We will do all this while delivering shareholder value through the work that we do, which I think is a clear differentiator.
This leads me nicely onto slide six and the quarter highlights. Today's presentation I think will be relatively quick as Q3 was a clean quarter. Mark will give you details in a moment, but in short, our revenue growth ex-OAW was solid in double digits with aligned earnings growth. Execution was once again terrific, resulting in strong margin performance, and our free cash conversion was well above one. A really, really strong performance. Trailing 12 months book-to-bill was 1.3x for the whole group with once again, STS outpacing. We continued with our balanced capital deployment strategy. Over and above the quarterly dividend, we closed on the VIMA acquisition, which is in the U.K., enhancing our capabilities in digital transformation. We repurchased about $50 million of our shares in the quarter. That's about $125 million year to date.
As you may recall, we overperformed in Q1 and raised guidance. We also exceeded in Q2 and again in Q3, both in EPS and cash, and thus, we will be raising guidance again today in both. More on that later. Now onto slide seven. The market in STS has several tailwinds, important long-term themes that continue to be at the forefront globally. The energy trilemma of energy security, decarbonization, and high energy prices and affordability is a reality. The outlook is strong, especially with governments like the U.S. introducing legislation that incentivizes the development of more sustainable projects in areas like hydrogen, which I believe you're already aware we're wholeheartedly involved with companies like Woodside here in the U.S. already. The market conditions are reflected in the book-to-bill. I'll just recap. Book-to-bill in Q1 for STS was 1.3x.
In Q2 was 3.6x. Yes, 3.6x. In Q3, 1.4x, which gives just under 2x, 1.9x for the trailing twelve months. Amazing performance there, and I think it really demonstrates the strength of that market and our position within it. Energy security was very much the theme in our Q2 earnings presentation, and the activity and pipeline in this area continues to be very robust. However, this quarter we decided to highlight the decarbonization themes and how these are translating into growing demand and backlog for KBR. Blue ammonia in the U.S., plastics recycling in Korea, green ammonia with associated carbon neutrality in Norway, and a move into the technology realm in carbon capture. Our work under contract is solid for the year, and our EBITDA and earnings momentum into 2023 and beyond is very, very exciting.
Now on to slide eight. The GS outlook has not changed too much since last quarter. National security, defense modernization, cyber, and space superiority prioritization, all areas of focus for KBR. Emerging technologies and innovation are key in areas like cyber science, AI, directed energy, and again, KBR is very well positioned, as you're well aware. Budget requests in the U.S. and increased commitments in the U.K. are both positive, and with the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine continuing and additional funding committed to support that mission. All very strong thematics. Our pipeline remains very, very strong, albeit award timings are actually quite difficult to predict, particularly in the US. This is reflected in our overall book-to-bill, which is 1.5x in Q2 and 0.8x in Q3. You see quite lumpy in terms of timing of awards.
I think the trailing twelve months is a much better guide, which stands at one across all of GS. The international business continues to perform really, really well, and bookings at Frazer-Nash continue to be strongly aligned with U.K. priorities and budget increases. The U.S. continuing resolution is not expected to have a material impact to our performance, given our bedrock of business and differentiation with our international portfolio. Similar to STS, the focus is on execution and on positioning for 2023 and beyond, given the high level of work under contract for this year. We have highlighted some key wins from the quarter, which again reflect the market outlook comments and demonstrates, I believe, the enhanced capabilities and the agility required to be successful today. A new sizable win under IAC MAC to digitize and modernize analog systems with a modular open system architecture solution for vertical lift aircraft.
I'm particularly excited about this win as it was hotly competed under the IAC MAC structure, and KBR excelled on technical differentiation. Additional highlights this quarter include a cyber and digitalization win in the U.K. as prime. The new spacesuit win to return to the moon with Axiom. We are a key technology and capability team member. Selection of our Xandar JV as one of five who now have a hunting license across R&D of hardware, systems, and software to enable scientific and technical intelligence for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. Absolutely incredible programs, all exciting and very much aligned with the thematic of we do things that matter. This really, really resonates with our people at KBR. I will now hand over to Mark, who will take you through the numbers in more detail and of course, the guidance. Mark.
Great. Thank you, Stuart. Thanks also and welcome to Jamie. She's already off to a great start and a special thanks to Allison, as Stuart said, for a job really well done. I think you all know that. Really pleased with this transition. I'll pick up on slide 10 for the Q3 financial performance. As Stuart said, this was a clean quarter with performance tracking really well. Just stepping back, I think it's important to highlight that despite global instability, war in Europe, high inflation, foreign exchange headwinds and rising interest rates, KBR delivered outstanding results across all parts of the business. We have an incredibly resilient long-term portfolio enhanced by attractive contract vehicles, technologies and solutions that afford near, mid, and long-term growth opportunities underpinned by the important long-term thematics that Stuart mentioned just a moment ago. On to the numbers.
Revenues were up 11% over Q3 last year on an ex-OAW basis, reflecting organic growth in both segments and the new contribution from Frazer-Nash and VIMA, our recent acquisitions. Margins were really strong on excellent execution and favorable mix, and I'll cover more of that on the next slide. G&A and non-operating items were well in check, which is notable given the market conditions in foreign exchange and interest rates. Specifically, we overcame about $6 million in P&L headwind in the government segment from the strengthening of the dollar against British pounds and the Aussie dollar. It's also important to note that while our STS business benefits from a diversified global footprint, it generates roughly 85% of its revenue in U.S. dollars, significantly reducing FX volatility in that segment.
As for interest, we did uptick expense this quarter by $3 million, but this was contained by low debt levels, a low leverage ratio of 2.0. And with roughly 70% of our debt, that's 70% of our debt being at fixed rates. More on this in a moment as well. This all contributed to healthy adjusted EPS of $0.65, up 12% on an ex-OAW basis. Operating cash flow for Q3 was terrific at about $120 million, with year-to-date totaling $336 million, representing an op cash flow conversion of over 115%. Together with a favorable Ichthys settlement and asset sale proceeds earlier this year-to-date deployable free cash flow totals more than half a billion dollars, enabling M&A, debt reduction, and increased buybacks. Finally, I'd like to reemphasize comments we made last quarter.
With significant new joint venture activity, revenues are becoming less indicative of the economic progression of KBR. From a business portfolio and financial perspective, we are focused on profit growth, strong cash flow conversion, lowering our cost of capital, and achieving strong predictability. On to segment details on slide 11. Starting with STS, top-line growth was an excellent 16%, all organic, with even better earnings growth of over 60%, on heavy mix of licensed activity across the intellectual property portfolio and growing contributions from equity and earnings. EBITDA was 20% of revenues, well ahead of our target in the mid-teens. As the licensing mix can change quarter to quarter, I would reiterate our STS margin target remains mid-teens, with expected annual improvement of one to two percentage points per year.
However, as suggested in our last call, the market conditions are robust vis-à-vis our offerings and our IP, and we are tracking ahead of our $300 million targeted EBITDA by 2025. This diversified, low risk, unique global business is proving out its growth plan, is showing resiliency and adaptability, excellent profitability, and continues to consume no working capital. There are not many businesses out there that deliver these attributes. Government continues to be steady. While appropriations for government spending are strong in all of our markets, we are seeing some outlays drag, particularly in the U.S. Certainly, part of this is due to focus on supporting Ukraine, and we're very proud of our own efforts to assist the U.S. European Command on this mission under LOGCAP V. Margins were good at 10% for the government segment, reflecting upmarket offerings and ongoing strong program performance.
Foreign exchange did impact reported revenue and profit levels here in this segment, but did not impact margins. On to slide 12. As Stuart mentioned earlier, strong cash flow is driving capital deployment options, and we continue to believe a balanced approach in deployment is most prudent. We used over $70 million for the acquisition of VIMA, returned almost $70 million of cash to shareholders via buybacks and dividends, and our leverage ratio did not change from last quarter. While not shown here, we bumped up our interest rate swaps to protect against rising rates. Our fixed-to-float ratio is now circa 70% fixed, with much of that achieved through proactive and now quite valuable interest rate swap agreements. These agreements endure through 2027 and keep our fixed borrowings at a very attractive rate of under 3%.
I think that deserves a real shout-out to our treasury team once again. We increased stock repurchases to $50 million in Q3, and with that, our board approved an increase to our buyback authorization to $500 million, representing 7%-8% of our market cap. Finally, on to guidance slide 13. We're ahead of pace through Q3, with strong overall business visibility into Q4. We are narrowing our top-line range for revenue to $6.5 billion-$6.7 billion for the year. We're upping and narrowing our adjusted EPS guidance to $2.60-$2.65 and reducing the expected tax rate range by 1%, with R&D tax credits expected in the fourth quarter.
The increase in our EPS guide is a result of strong year-to-date operational performance, plus the expected R&D credits, which together more than offset headwinds from FX and interest. Lastly, we're increasing and narrowing the adjusted operating cash flow guidance to $375 million-$400 million, with margins being unchanged. Thank you. I'll turn it back to Stuart for closing remarks.
Thank you, Mark. Onto our final slide of today, slide 14. I think we can all see that KBR remains very well-positioned opposite our long-term thematics that really favor our solutions and our technologies. Our STS business has exciting near, medium, and long-term market tailwinds.
It has increasing backlog, margin and EBITDA, and its proportion of earnings, just over a third this quarter in overall KBR, continues to increase given performance and outpace growth. Our government business is very well positioned in attractive areas of increased focus and funding and a substantial long-term unpredictable backlog and clear differentiation with our international portfolio. End market momentum in areas of global importance, that's doing things that matter, is reflected in our strong pipeline. We have, and we will continue to demonstrate discipline and balance around capital deployment, strategically enhancing our portfolio and also recognizing value in our current trading price. Our 2025 targets remain intact regardless of world and market volatility, interest rate increases, and FX. Our strong balance sheet helps, as does the multi-year visibility of our backlog, a very clear differentiator for KBR.
Our execution has been exemplary, and for this, I would like to thank our amazing people. This, combined with our market outlook, has allowed us, once again, to increase our full year guidance. Thank you, and I'll now hand it back to the operator, who will open the call for questions.
Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, please press star followed by two. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure you are unmuted locally. Please note that we'll be taking one question and one follow-up from each attendee. As a reminder, press star followed by one now. Our first question comes from Bert Subin of Stifel. Bert, your line is now open. Please proceed.
Morning.
Morning, Bert.
Congrats on the quarter. I guess for my first question, your guidance implies earnings decline quarter-over-quarter in the fourth quarter, despite, Stuart, what I would say, you know, through your prepared remarks sound like pretty solid tailwinds at the year-end. Can you guys just walk us through what, you know, why that's the expectation?
I mean, it's, I mean, Bert, it's pretty standard. If you look back in our, I guess, our history, I mean, the Q4 due to it's really seasonality. You've got Thanksgiving, you've got Christmas, you've got all sorts of factors coming in. That's it. That's the main driver there. No, there's nothing sinister. There's nothing, you know, the bad about the business about it. As you rightly point out, the tailwinds are strong, but it's just seasonal.
Okay.
Of course, Q4 last year had a huge slug of OAW, Bert, right? You're, I assume, well aware of that. That is, of course, not here this year. That's a major delta year over year in the raw numbers.
Yeah. Mark, I guess I was talking on the quarter-over-quarter looking 3Q to 4Q. I didn't know if there was an FX headwind that's assumed in there as some of your hedges roll off or if that's just typical seasonality?
It's just seasonality. You know, I think the businesses outperformed considerably to head off, I guess, quite reasonably sized FX and interest rate headwinds. I think in our guidance is probably $15 million-$20 million for the full year. You know, we've managed the business performance has managed to overcome all those headwinds and outperform. It really has been an amazing performance.
Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks. Just as my follow-up, can you guys provide any update on HomeSafe? I know the expectation was for an October decision. Do you think that timeline is extending or should we hear something in the next few days? Just in the meantime, have you started working toward the potential transition despite the fact that there's still uncertainty there?
Yeah. I mean, there is an expectation. As you know, the stay runs out at the end of October, and the expectation is that we'll hear something hopefully this week. I can't guarantee the court process and the timing of that, but that's the expectation, Bert. I think the customer feels the same. We'll hopefully hear something in the next few days. When we do, you'll obviously get to know that quite quickly.
In terms of, you know, getting ready, I think we said before about, you know, the delay in this in terms of going through this protest period has really allowed us to do a lot of the backbone development work and set up, you know, the systems and get the resources in place to de-risk the transition. There still is a nine-month transition period once they award. So again, you know, it's not gonna be hugely material as we go into next year. It'll be obviously some at the end of that nine-month period in terms of the moves, but the peak is in the summer. So there will be, you know, a few hundred million, I guess. I don't know. We'll have to clarify that just on timing.
I mean, obviously the ramp-up comes as we go into 2024. This, you know, very much supports our long-term growth aspirations and, you know, it's a terrific win, assuming it all comes through positively in the next few days.
Stuart, just a clarification question on that. If we were to find out this week that a favorable decision came in, then you think it would be sort of the nine-month clock starts at that date?
I think that's right. I think they'll be keen just to sit down and kick off, you know, a week after or a few days after, whatever, and you know, start to plan that through. They're aware obviously that you know, we've been, I guess, working a bit toward that and you know, we've made advances on some of the key risk areas. I think very keen to understand that. I think absolutely it should be. That should be the right timing.
Perfect. Thank you. Our next question comes from Jamie Cook of Credit Suisse. Jamie, your line is open. Please proceed.
Hi. Good morning. Nice quarter and two questions. One, just following up on the HomeSafe award. And I guess it's an unfair question, Stuart, but more about 2023. You know, it looks like if we just run rate your second half earnings in 2022, you know, your base of earnings for 2023 is $2.60. HomeSafe doesn't kick in until later in the year. I guess we have a positive, you know, from Plaquemines kicking in more, but I'm just trying to calibrate that with where The Street is at, I think $3.04 or $3.05 for next year, if we're missing something there, because that seems like a pretty significant ramp. And then I guess my second question, you know, is on the M&A front.
I know last quarter you guys made a comment about being opportunistic, you know, with potentially larger, you know, deals, keeping dry powder. Just trying to understand if there's any new news on that front and sort of how the acquisition pipeline is looking. Thank you.
Okay. I'll do the second one, and Mark can do the first one. I think not much changed from last quarter, Jamie, on the M&A front. I mean, the activity. I mean, there's still quite a bit coming into view, if you like. I don't think the multiples have come down really any quicker as you would have expected. It does take a bit of time. The capital markets are still not terrific. I think for us, you know, we'll run into probably the end of the year with exactly the same philosophy as we described last quarter. I don't-
I mean, you never know, but I don't think that will change over the next few months. As we come into new year, I think we'll certainly be looking very carefully at them. Yeah. Really no change there.
Jamie, Mark here. While everything I'm about to say is subject to what the court says, and hopefully this week, the client has been very clear, that should we prevail and move forward, that we will not participate in the busy season of the moves in 2023, and we will really start moves toward the end of the year. With that, you know, that would not be much activity in 2023. It could be that the Street numbers that you referenced are assuming more. We think we should be cautious there because of what the client has said and the ramp-up involved there. We'll know more once we get the court decision and what the client then says after that, which could always change.
That's, I think all of that warrants that, you know, should we prevail, we'll start to see some activity in Q4 next year, but not sooner.
Okay. Just to follow up, you didn't answer on Plaquemines. I know like the margins in STS is starting to improve. I don't know how to think about the run rate or how much that helps 2023 or any commentary on just Plaquemines contribution.
Well, I mean, I don't think we're gonna talk specifically about one project and its contribution, Jamie. I think the STS performance, it's outpacing. I think you've seen that. I think obviously it's growing sequentially quarter on quarter. The book-to-bill would support that continued growth. We've said publicly that we expect it to double EBITDA to about $300 by 2025. We're way ahead of pace to do that. Obviously, we'll have more on that in terms of guide when we come out next year in Q4.
I mean, we're very upbeat about the positive momentum in that business and the performance that we're seeing and our ability to actually attract great talent into the business with the work that we're doing. You know, this whole sort of, you know, we spend quite a bit of time trying to explain the market, all the decarbonization and the focus on hydrogen and the future and things like that, the work that we're winning. You know, that's a real talent magnet as well. I think it all bears well going into 2023. You know, other than perhaps people have over-egged some of the HomeSafe assumptions, I think, you know, maybe they're under-egging the STS assumptions, I don't know.
Certainly I think, you know, we're feeling pretty strong about the business performance in that area.
Okay. Best of luck, and thank you, Allison, for your help and welcome, Jamie. Thanks. I'll get back to you.
Thanks, Jamie.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Tobey Sommer of Truist Securities. Tobey, your line is open. Please proceed.
Thank you. I was hoping you could speak to the growth outlook for your space portfolio across Civil, Defense and Intel, and maybe juxtapose that with the growth outlook for the federal unit as a whole?
I think the growth outlook in, I guess, commercial space, Tobey, is, you know, for us, that's still quite a modest part of our business. It's not really material. It is growing, but it's probably not gonna move the needle as we move into next year. I think in terms of military space, which is really up going into next year, I think there's a lot of excitement about our positioning there and the funding that's flowing into that arena. And certainly our NTG business is very well positioned to take advantage of that.
Certainly we're expecting pretty strong growth in that arena, double-digit into next year. In terms of what's happening in the Civil side, the NASA side, obviously the budgets are up. We know the timing of awards has been slow, as you're well aware. I think as we look into next year, we'll have some modest growth there, probably in the single digits is really our expectation. But of course, that can change on a dime if some of these awards come through on a timely basis.
I think again, that's an early indication, but we'll be able to give you more color, I suspect, when we talk about full year 2023 when we meet with year-end, the year-end earnings and in the end of Q1. Yeah, end of Q1, really next February or so next year. That's kind of where we sit, if that makes sense.
It does. From an overall size perspective, how big is it as a percent of either federal or the total company?
Oh, I mean, yeah, it's about $1 billion. Yeah.
There's the science and space.
Yeah.
Business unit. We, of course, do quite a bit of civil space in defense and intelligence. Together, it's a pretty big chunk of the Fed business or GS overall. As I said, you know, the growth prospects there, civil space in particular, and NTG/Centauri's, you know, contribution there is only increasing, really exciting.
Sure.
The NASA space, of course, is a little clunkier with how the procurements come out. We've done well with the team there. Got some recompetes ahead of us. We're very confident of those.
Yeah. I think if you combine all three areas plus the little bit maybe we do outside the U.S. is probably $1.3 billion-$1.5 billion in that zip code, Tobey.
Thank you. You've talked about how revenue growth, because of the emergence and importance of joint ventures, isn't quite as important a metric going forward to measure your success. I was wondering if you could share with us any changes in incentive compensation, either that have been made or that you contemplate in order to drive the behaviors of this new kind of business mix.
I mean, in terms of our short-term incentives, they're all driven by, you know, profitability and cash and sustainability. You know, so they are completely aligned to driving earnings and driving associated cash flow.
That's been the case for some time.
Yeah. I mean, we said when we redefined KBR that, you know, the focus would be on, you know, quality of earnings and delivering cash as a consequence, which is a true measure, I think, of profitability. We've been very focused on that. Tobey, it's just that as Mark. That hasn't changed for several years. I think really the comment on performance coming through the EBITDA line is just because of the way you account for joint ventures. It doesn't really change the way that we look at winning work or compensating our people. We've always been driving to bottom line growth.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Tobey. Our next question comes from Steven Fisher of UBS. Steven, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Great. Thanks. Good morning. So the 8% organic growth, I'm trying to contextualize that. So how did that compare to your expectations going into the quarter? And what organic growth assumption do you have embedded in your Q4 guidance? And I guess the bigger picture here is how relevant is that organic growth concept gonna be for 2023, given what you've just been talking about in terms of the change in equity income and focus on EBITDA? Is there going to be an organic EBITDA growth metric we should be thinking about for next year?
I think we have given as part of our long range guide, Steve, the growth in that area of overall, I think of 6%-9% at the world company level.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. That's without HomeSafe, obviously. We've already given that guide. Now we'll have to look at that obviously in the context of you know where the acceleration a bit of STS and, I mean, we're doing an Investor Day obviously in at the end of Q1. You know, we'll be dusting some of these things off to reflect current market conditions, but ultimately right now the number is, as you know, that 6%-9% CAGR across that EBITDA EPS line. You know, I think over through to 2025, very tidy. I think everything's in line.
What have you embedded in Q4? Something similar?
Yeah. I mean, I think we've said that seasonality, you know, Q4 is, it comes off a little bit because of what we discussed earlier in the call.
Okay. Just more focusing on the government segment. You know, you talked about some of the outlays dragging in the U.S. My understanding is that, you know, they've maybe overall picked up a little bit. So I'm curious if that's going to start flowing into the government segment at some point. As you think about 2023, how good a sense do you have on whether all four of your segments within government should be growing organically next year? What are some of the kind of determining factors there?
Yeah. I mean, I think what we tried to demonstrate this quarter and looking back on our book-to-bill in the previous quarter, Steve, is exactly that. There's a bit of lumpiness and things like that that's come through. I think overall we're very pleased with the quality of the pipeline. The expectation is that that would start to flow through over the course of the next, you know, couple quarters. In terms of the outlook across the various segments, I think we've been very clear that GSI continues to perform really well. Has strong backlog, terrific margins and is going great guns. No real issues there at all. Hopefully people recognize that as a clear sort of difference with KBR.
In terms of the others, I think I've already touched on space. I've also touched on the, I guess, the intelligence side of space through military space as well and our growth there. I think we're seeing in our systems engineering business, which does things like IAC MAC and these recurring quick to procure type contract vehicles. It's good. That's going really strongly and we've actually reported that quarter on quarter for many quarters. I think that momentum continues in those arenas and the themes around defense modernization and some of the digital solutions we're looking at is absolutely clear. We highlighted that again in some of the awards we picked to showcase this quarter.
It really brings us to really the readiness and sustainment business. Of course, our expectation is that the mission in particular EUCOM will be more enduring, certainly into next year. That's the visibility we have today. Obviously with the addition of HomeSafe, I think that segment will change quite considerably. We're feeling pretty good about each of those segments and the pace of growth on readiness and sustainment will really be driven, I think, by HomeSafe. We'll obviously hopefully know more about that later this week, and we'll be able to come to market quite soon and explain that a bit more fully for me.
Terrific. Thank you, Stuart. Welcome, Jamie.
Thank you. As a reminder, if you wish to submit a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from Andy Kaplowitz of Citigroup. Andy, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, everyone.
Morning.
Stuart, maybe you can give us a little more color into what you're seeing in the U.K. Obviously, you recently increased your exposure there. Last year, Frazer-Nash and this year VIMA. How are those acquisitions doing? And do you expect to see any impact from a slowing U.K. on your businesses?
Like we announced last quarter, I think good questions, and that really we've added some executive weight to our team by bringing in Paul Kahn, a very seasoned, you know, executive in that arena. We're driving integration of particularly VIMA and Harmonic Ltd into Frazer-Nash. You know, that will be a very strong brand for us in the U.K. It's very well recognized. I think, you know, the level of funding that the U.K. government are committing, as are the Australian government in truth, into defense is increasing. Of course, we've got the complexity in the U.K. of Brexit as well, and obviously we've got war on our doorstep in Ukraine.
It's a very interesting time in the U.K., and we've got a bit of a revolving door at number ten Downing Street as well, and hopefully that is solved at least for the next little while. I think a little bit stability with the political scene. I think the commitment around defense is clear from the conservative government. As a consequence, those businesses are going really well. Our work in defense digital is going extremely well. We're digitalizing the Navy at the moment, and we expect that to move into other arms of the military because we're at the forefront of the digital transformation programmatic skill set.
Then secondly, I think just the work in government in general is flowing into Frazer-Nash at quite a clip. I'm very pleased to announce that they are actually growing. I mean, in that type of business, I mean, one of the acid tests is just people growth, and their people growth numbers are up significantly, so well in the double digits. So I think that those businesses are going terrifically well, and I think we've very much aligned with our values. So the cultural alignment is really strong. They really feel that they do things that matter also. And yeah, I think absolutely. I couldn't be more pleased, Andy. This is true. Great people.
Thanks for that, Stuart. Maybe kind of a similar question around STS in the sense that obviously, you know, slowing global economy, you've had very strong book-to-bill there. I think you said 1.9x this year. You know, you do have still, you know, some energy exposure. I don't know if I'd call it legacy anymore, but, you know, so it's a much different business than it used to be. Could you still see or is your expectation still this very positive book-to-bill in STS as you go into 2023, even if the global economy continues to slow?
Yeah, I think so. I think as I said, we've got this energy trilemma and I can't see that changing in terms of the drivers in that those markets. I mean, energy security is right at the top of the list for obvious reasons. You know, there's people have been talking about blackouts in certain parts of Europe and things like that. It's pretty scary stuff. The diversification of supply is right at the top of the agenda. You've got the whole climate change agenda, and you've got the fact that the segment has been underinvested in for a couple of years. The supply-demand piece, and obviously with the reductions coming out of Russia, et cetera, are obvious.
I think you've got. If you think about the next piece of that is that you've got, I guess, oil companies and national oil companies and chemical companies that have got, you know, quite a lot of resource and financial capacity given recent pricing. They've got commitments around a hydrogen economy into the future and decarbonizing the way that they produce energy. You've got all these factors at play that are hugely aligned with our technology and their high-end solutions and our technical capability. I really think it's. I cannot see that slowing down, and I think we're very well positioned. Certainly our book-to-bill would reflect that.
That's really just the, I would say the proof of the pudding in the eating about how many bookings you have, regardless of how people talk about the outlook. I think that is reflected in our performance, and I think it's reflected in our bookings.
Appreciate it, Stuart. Welcome, Jamie.
Thank you, Andy. Our next question comes from Michael Dudas of Vertical Research Partners. Michael, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good morning, gentlemen. Jamie, Allison.
Morning.
Mike, Michael.
First, Mark or Stuart, can you remind us of any recompetes that are left for this fiscal year and as you're looking out to 2023?
None for this year. I think we're all behind us. Into next year, I think we've got one of our big NASA ones, IMOC is. But that will actually, by the time that procurement process is run, it will be into 2024. I think our recompete next year are quite low.
Yeah. You know, we have some activity to get out the door in terms of proposals and all of that, but the actual risk really falls into the following year. There's really quite a bit of book-to-bill cover for 2023 already, and it'll, you know, continue to grow until we start the year. We'll have a guide in 2023 that really is well backstopped by our work under contract.
Thank you. Following up, Mark, you know, you talked through the call, you guys have talked about M&A pipeline a bit, you know, doesn't look like anything happened near-term, and you've done a great job on hedging some of the debt with some pretty attractive rates during the current environment. As we look towards free cash allocation next few quarters is, I know there's this balance, but do you anticipate continuing to allocate capital to share repurchases?
Yes. Stuart mentioned earlier that we think the price represents a very good value on the buy side right now, and we demonstrated that with $50 million of buybacks in the quarter. That's an uptick from historical levels, and you saw the increase in the authorization as well. Our board is very supportive of this as well. We'll look at our dividend as we always do at the beginning of the year, and we'll talk about that in February. We, of course, have a strategy to pay an attractive dividend, so we'll pay good attention to that.
Then I would just, going back to the last call, say that in light of the interest rate environment, and there's more cards to be dealt with there, and despite the success we've had in hedging our exposure there, we'd still, all things being equal, prefer to be cautious with capital at this time and see that shake out, and that would really portend to the M&A area. We've always been very selective. We'll be very, very selective in this market given the valuation comments Stuart made earlier as well as the unknown interest rate direction.
Awesome.
Makes sense, Mark. Thanks, gentlemen.
Thanks, Mike.
Our next question comes from Sean Eastman of KeyBanc Capital Markets. Sean, your line is open. Please proceed.
Hi, team. Thanks for taking my questions. Allison definitely deserves a shout-out here. Thanks so much for all the help and time over the past number of years. I wanted to come back to the GS revenue discussion. I just wanna try to flesh out what the big swing factors are around where the revenue run rate goes from here over the next, say, 12-18 months. It seems to me like perhaps the NASA piece of the business is one of the bigger swings. Correct me if I'm wrong there. Maybe just update us on what's in the near-term pipeline there, what we should be tracking, and just yeah, how to think about the swings around the revenue run rate and the bookings momentum in GS over the next couple quarters.
D on't know how to do it without Mark.
Hey, Sean. First I'd say, you know, NASA/ Civil Space is, while the procurements are pretty chunky, you know, a pretty steady state business. I expect to see modest growth there, not a lot of volatility.
Yep.
In what we see there. That's if you look at the past, that's been pretty consistent with our trending. D&I, which has more IDIQ vehicles, is the beneficiary when there's a lag in outlays, and they got money appropriated that you need to spend, and we're starting to see more green sheets there, you know, toward the end of September and October. Feeling pretty good about pace of spend in that area, particularly vis-à-vis things happening in the world military-wise and the need for, you know, capability. That team really is able to deliver there in those space and in systems integration and so forth. I think that one has opportunity in that light. Readiness and sustainment has always been subject to world conditions.
As Stuart said earlier, we see pretty stable situation in EUCOM as a result of what's happening there. I think a great story is GSI because they have gone through a transition to upmarket their offerings to consulting and advisory. Stuart said, you know, Frazer-Nash, VIMA, Harmonic went really well integrating as a team, and that's all, you know, substantially better margins than past history as well as, you know, the overall GS profile. The quality of where we're seeing growth, particularly D&I and GSI, relative to margins is very helpful in the world we're in here. Excited to have the contract positions and the momentum and the ability to add people, as Stuart said earlier, on the international front, which has been a big success in recent months.
Okay. Thanks for that, Mark. One of the elements around STS that I don't think I heard an update on this quarter is Mura. You know, I think Dow was out earlier this month accelerating their sustainability goals. The agreement with Mura is part of that. Just any color on how to think about how that opportunity set filters in to the STS segment over the next couple of years would be great.
Yeah. I mean, honestly, it's a terrific piece of business, Sean. You know, we announced the GS Caltex deal and just recently, yeah, last week. You know, that's another plastic recycling in Korea and, you know, the momentum around this is terrific. I think Dow have now exercised their option to take equity in Mura itself. They now own 6% of Mura, I think, something around that number, as well as obviously their commitment to offtake. I think ultimately, it's not just KBR. You've got some pretty serious players putting a lot of calories, as we say, into making this a success.
I mean, I think it's gonna be really, really positive to KBR's story as we move into next year. I think if you just think where we are in the cycle, you know, we are selling licenses today, and the level of uptick in revenue and return to KBR as we go into more engineering and actually execution around modularization and proprietary equipment, and then actually supporting the ongoing work, there probably through TLIS, the Technology-Led Industrial Solutions business. Hey, I must say, I know that you guys think about TLIS quite strongly, given its enduring nature of the sort of contracts it wins. TLIS on its own this quarter had a book-to-bill well in excess of two. So really, really strong.
We don't normally call that out, but it's the enduring part of that business, and obviously it's going great guns as well. I think Mura is a huge part of us. I think as these developments mature into execution, you'll certainly see the revenue uptick and the return uptick to KBR. Yeah, more to come, but very exciting, Sean.
Okay. Thanks, Stuart. I'll turn it over there.
Thank you, Sean. Our next question comes from Jerry Revich of Goldman Sachs. Jerry, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi, good morning, everyone.
Hi, Jerry.
I wonder if you can expand the discussion on heritage tech. You know, as I look at slide seven, you folks have had really a number of orders, green ammonia, carbon capture technology. As we look at for the legacy heritage tech business today, can you talk about what proportion of the bookings coming in are for green technology, you know, like plastic recycling and these other areas? Because it feels like they're a disproportionate portion of the bookings that we've seen over the past year.
Yeah. There's certainly more emphasis on the green technology portfolio, that's for sure. I think over time, you know, we talk about ammonia, but it's really around hydrogen, and I think everyone understands that. You know, we're also, we've not really talked too much about this, but we're actually doing standalone hydrogen developments in the U.S., for this size. So, and certainly the new IRA bill makes those developments far more profitable in terms of rates of return for the owners. I suspect more of them to come. I think you're gonna see an increasing amount of of sales that are green from that portfolio as we move forward, Jerry. Ultimately, there's still an energy security challenge.
There's still investments in what I call more traditional solutions. You know, Olefins business is doing very well, and our petrochemical licensing is also doing well. They all come with the green aspects in terms of, you know, decarbonization and efficiency and lower energy use, et cetera. The theme, it all holds. Ultimately we're seeing our portfolio selling very well rather than just one or two technologies. It's across a range, which I think actually is terrific because, you know, you can never predict timing of these awards. The more irons you have in the fire, probably the more predictable the growth is. That's what we're seeing. But I do agree with you.
I do think that as we progress over time, certainly the hydrogen aligned technologies are gonna be in the circular economy. Aligned technologies are gonna be very much at the top of the pack.
When you look at the bookings that you've had just for heritage tech, you know, within the past year, just qualitatively it feels like you've been running north of 1.5x book-to-bill in that sub-segment. Can you talk about whether we see a big ramp up in project execution and revenue burn over the course of 2023? Or what is the duration on these awards?
Oh, I mean, I think as you know, the awards in that arena are actually quite fast-paced. Typically there's a lot that rides on Q4 obviously, as people try to realign budgets and spend money on things. Q4 is usually quite an active period for that part of the business. You know, we look at STS as an overall business rather than just heritage tech or energy security or whatever. It's like it's an overall offering that delivers, I think, huge value to customers across that value chain. That's the way we look at it. That's the way we talk to the market about it.
We talk about the overall growth in margins and the book-to-bill across that business. You know that we are seeing more and more activity in the green arena, no doubt about it. We're very well positioned, and we actually realigned the whole of our historical business opposite that market, you know, a couple of years ago, and I think that's paying dividends today.
Super. Lastly, Stuart, on that note, in terms of long-term targets, I think you're at 19% margins for the sustainable tech segment. You're at 20% this quarter. How sustainable is that 20% near term? You called out a number of items. I'm wondering if you just expand on what's the run rate as we stand today?
Yeah, I think.
If you strip out any lumpy items in the quarter.
I think the run rate is a bit above pace. I think last year, when you took out some of the one-offs and things, you know, we were running at, you know, lower teens, sort of 13%, 14% last year. We said we'd grow the margin 1%-2% per annum. I think we're at the upper teens in terms of when you look at it blended over the year. I think that, as Mark said, the 20% that we delivered this quarter is due to a healthy licensing mix. But when you actually put that across the whole year, we're ahead of pace, but we won't be at 20%, that's for sure.
I think we'll be in the higher, you know, the upper teens, you know, that level. Again, that's a hugely positive statement. I mean, we've got to put it in context. You know, it's a terrific performance.
Yeah. We talked about hitting that in the next three or four years, when we initiated these targets, and we're there now. We've seen acceleration from great mix, great markets, other projects kicking in as well. We're ahead of the game, as we said all along, and that's why we made the comments on the $300 million EBITDA being achievable on a faster pace as well.
Yeah.
Yep. Super. Thanks.
Thank you, Jerry. Our next question comes from Gautam Khanna of Cowen. Gautam, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hi, this is Spencer Breitzke on for Gautam. Thanks for taking the question. Could you provide any sort of commentary or quantification around European Command sales in 2022 and maybe 2023? Thank you.
Yeah. I mean, I think we're probably around about $65 million-$75 million a quarter. I mean, it ebbs and flows a little bit, but it's pretty constant around that, and we expect that to continue into next year.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Jean Ramirez of D.A. Davidson. Jean, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hi, this is Jean Ramirez for Brent Thielman at D.A. Davidson. Good morning.
Hi, Jean.
Jean.
Yeah. I wanna start if you give some color on whether we should anticipate a continued ramp up in activity related to LOGCAP in Europe in the second half, or is that plateauing?
I think I mean, I guess we just covered that. I think it's stable at the moment between $65 million and $75 million. You know, I think that's probably the visibility we can give you at this juncture as we move into next year. In some quarters that does uptick depending on, I guess, mission demands, etc. That's probably a good way to think about it and model it at the moment. Hopefully, as we get into the end of the year and we understand what's happening in terms of you know, commitments and things into next year, we'll be able to update that number in our February earnings.
Thank you. Could you provide more color on the Government Solutions? Are you able to comment on work under contract for 2023?
Not yet. I mean, I think we are in a unique position, Jean, in that we do have a substantial amount of work under contract, not just for 2023, but through 2025 and beyond. We've been very clear about that. Assuming that we keep our win as we compete, which are not high numbers, I mean, at a nominal rate, then you know, we've probably got 60%, 70%, Allison, 70% of our work under contract today to achieve our overall 2025 targets. You know, obviously that goes up the closer we get to 2025 as we win new work. We've not set the guidance for 2023 yet, so it's difficult to tell you work under contract levels.
You know, we'll be going in with you know, obviously quite a substantial amount of work under contract, given what I've just said in terms of the long-term bedrock of business, but also the book-to-bill and STS really helps as well. I think we'll be going in and giving guidance in February with a strong underlying work under contract metric. I don't know what the number is yet.
No problem. Great. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. At this time, we have no further questions. I'll hand back over to Stuart Bradie for any closing remarks.
Thank you very much, Charlie. Again, thank you very much for taking the time and your interest in and carrying on for all your questions. I would like to just reiterate. I saw some of the early reports coming out that, you know, our increasing guidance was attributable only to tax, and that couldn't be further from the truth. You know, we tried to lay out in this call that we've had, you know, $15 million-$20 million of headwind with FX and interest, and we've outpaced from an operational performance perspective to offset that and more. So, you know, in these volatile times, I think the resiliency of our business is being shown through in the reflection of the numbers.
It's not just a finger in the air, we're actually delivering it. I think the markets we're in are robust. I think the performance of our people is exemplary, and I couldn't be prouder of them. They're just absolutely terrific. Thank you again for your time, and we look forward to follow-up calls and talking to you all soon. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.