Aecom plans $500m share repurchase as profit drops

Aecom has announced it is buying back $500m of its shares as it posted a 19% drop in first quarter operating profit.

The US-based parent company of Davis Langdon said its board had authorised the share repurchase, which comes after $173m of share repurchases during the first quarter.

The share repurchasing drive should boost earnings per share for the firm’s shareholders by taking millions of its shares out of market circulation.

Aecom attributed the fall in operating profit to $62m from $77m the previous year to restructuring of its Australian business due to a slowdown in the country’s mining sector.

Revenue for the period remained at $2bn.