ABM's In and Out

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE:ABM) reports record profits. They claim that this quarter had one less day than the comparable quarter for last year and because of fixed price contracts they made a windfall of $2.4 million. If the windfall had not existed then the reverse would also be correct they actually would have earned considerably less profit and experienced a decrease in profitability. In the same breath they also explain that the board spent $2.4 million in professional fees for an independent investigation into last years accounting problems at a subsidiary. No comment on the results or when the results might be available. By the way cash position has been cut in half which is never a happy event. This is a maintenance company reporting fully 30% of total assets are represented by goodwill and intangibles. Hmmm