ENGlobal Wins Modular Environmental Project

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - Mar 21, 2017) - ENGlobal, a leading provider of engineering and automation services, today announced that it was awarded an environmental project valued at over $1 million, with the potential to expand to a larger scope. Located in the Southeast U.S, this environmentally driven installation will provide cleaner air and enhanced plant operability, while significantly benefitting from ENGlobal's accelerated schedule.

This award highlights the Company's integrated approach for providing engineered modular solutions utilizing its heritage professional skills together with its more recently formed fabrication capability. Execution of this important project will involve multiple ENGlobal capabilities, including engineering, automation, procurement and fabrication, for the key elements of an industrial recycling facility.

"We believe that our vertically integrated approach to project delivery will continue to benefit our targeted markets," said William A. Coskey, P.E., CEO of ENGlobal. "We are delighted to be selected as a critical partner for this environmental project."

ENGlobal 4Q and FY 2016 Results

ENGlobal Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2016 Results

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - Mar 9, 2017) -  ENGlobal, a leading provider of engineering and automation services, today announced a net loss of $2.3 million and a diluted loss per share of $0.08 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.

2016 Fiscal Year results as compared to 2015 Fiscal Year results:

Revenue decreased to $59.2 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, or a 25.6% decrease, from $79.6 million for the fiscal year ended December 26, 2015. ENGlobal reported a net loss of $2.3 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, compared to net income of $10.5 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, for the prior year period. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, the Company incurred non-cash expenses for depreciation, amortization and stock compensation of $1.6 million as compared to $2.0 million for the comparable period in 2015.

In April 2015, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2.0 million of the Company's common stock from time to time, based on prevailing market conditions. Through February 28, 2017, ENGlobal has repurchased and retired 1,127,894 shares of common stock at a total cost of $1,407,106 under this program and the remaining amount authorized for repurchase under this program was $592,894.

Management's Assessment

Mark Hess, ENGlobal's Chief Financial Officer, said: "2016 was a challenging year for ENGlobal. With client spending on a decline, it was difficult to keep our work force utilized, which put downward pressure on our gross profit margins. During 2016, we trimmed our SG&A expenses over $1.8 million by streamlining our business processes, reducing our reliance on outside services and reducing our capital spending. This reduction was somewhat offset by the investments we made in people, equipment and facilities to support our modularized solutions initiative resulting in a net reduction in SG&A of $0.8 million from last year. While we realize our SG&A level is higher than it could be for a company our size, we have maintained our current overhead structure in anticipation of higher volumes."

Mr. Hess continued, "During 2016 we were able to bill and collect a significant portion of the retainage on the large project we are working on in Kazakhstan and Russia, which helped increase our cash position at the end of the year to $15.7 million. We expect to redeploy the majority of these funds in the execution of anticipated projects in the coming year."

William Coskey, P.E., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ENGlobal, said: "After several years of turning the business around and basically 'hunkering down' in a tough environment, I believe ENGlobal is now better positioned than at any time in its history. We're excited about the opportunity to engage in larger scopes of work which is now made possible as a result of our modular project delivery initiative. Throughout our Company, we've been making the necessary investments in key personnel and facilities in support of our business and our clients are responding positively. We're seeing more and larger opportunities as a result of our strengthened set of project capabilities. In summary, our team is excited about the strategy and I believe we have an excellent opportunity for renewed growth and improved results in the future."

The following table illustrates the composition of the Company's revenue and profitability for its operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2016 and December 26, 2015:

	Year Ended									Year Ended
(amounts in thousands)	December 31, 2016									December 26, 2015
Segment	Total Revenue			% of Total Revenue		Gross Profit Margin		Operating Profit Margin		Total Revenue			% of Total Revenue		Gross Profit Margin		Operating Profit Margin
Engineering & Construction	$	33,266		56.2%		12.1%		2.2%		$	49,277		61.9%		14.1%		8.6%
Automation		25,958		43.8%		23.5%		12.6%			30,328		38.1%		30.7%		22.5%
Consolidated	$	59,224		100.0%		17.1%		(5.5)%		$	79,605		100.0%		20.4%		2.6%

The following table illustrates the composition of the Company's revenue and profitability for its operations for the three months ended December 31, 2016 and December 26, 2015:

	Three Months Ended									Three Months Ended
(amounts in thousands)	December 31, 2016									December 26, 2015
Segment	Total Revenue			% of Total Revenue		Gross Profit Margin		Operating Profit Margin		Total Revenue			% of Total Revenue		Gross Profit Margin		Operating Profit Margin
Engineering & Construction	$	8,266		56.6%		13.7%		3.5%		$	11,103		64.4%		10.0%		4.4%
Automation		6,336		43.4%		24.8%		15.1%			6,137		35.6%		43.2%		33.4%
Consolidated		14,602		100.0%		18.5%		(3.0)%			17,240		100.0%		21.8%		2.9%

The following is a summary of the Company's income statement for the last four quarters which may be helpful in analyzing our ongoing business:

(amounts in thousands)		2016																Fiscal Year
		Q1				Q2				Q3				Q4				2016
Revenue		$	14,812			$	13,842			$	15,968			$	14,602			$	59,224
Gross Profit			1,673				1,853				3,881				2,705				10,112
	Gross Profit Margin		11.3	%			13.4	%			24.3	%			18.5	%			17.1	%
General & Administrative Expenses			3,390				3,313				3,511				3,136				13,350
Operating Income (Loss)			(1,717	)			(1,460	)			370				(431	)			(3,238	)
Net Income (Loss)			(749	)			(1,603	)			489				(479	)			(2,342	)

The following table presents certain balance sheet items as of December 31, 2016 and December 26, 2015:

(amounts in thousands)		As of December 31, 2016			As of December 26, 2015
Cash		$	15,687		$	7,806
Working capital			22,200			25,554
Credit facility balance			--			--

The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 is expected to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today reflecting these results.

ENGlobal Adds Modular Project Execution Capabilities

ENGlobal Adds Modular Project Execution Capabilities
 
HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - Mar 1, 2017) - ENGlobal, a leading provider of engineering and automation services, today announced its recently opened 31 acre mechanical fabrication facility located in Henderson, Texas. With this newly available resource, the Company has strengthened its vertical integration for the engineering and delivery of a wide array of modular process systems. Through this strategy, the Company intends to leverage its heritage engineering and project support capabilities in order to realize larger turnkey scopes of work on suitable projects.
ENGlobal will target projects for which significant value can accrue to clients through a modular, "shop built" delivery approach. Expected benefits include the cost effectiveness of shop fabrication versus field construction together with improved performance metrics in the areas of schedule, quality and safety.
The Company has identified the following market areas which will be initially targeted for modular delivery:

• Upstream well site and area production systems
• Midstream metering and truck loading systems
• Downstream processing modules
• Environmental processing units
• Burner management systems
• Remote instrument and control buildings
• Electric power distribution centers
• On-line process analytical systems
• Industrial HVAC systems

"The opening of our Henderson facility and our full-service modular delivery capabilities represent a great opportunity for ENGlobal. It's exciting to now leverage our complete skills and engage in much larger scopes of work," stated William A. Coskey, P.E., Chairman and CEO of ENGlobal. "While this strategy is expected to be a multi-year growth effort, we have already put fabrication work into Henderson and are seeing a large number of modular proposal opportunities originating from across our heritage operations."

ENGlobal Announces Process Analytical Award Valued at $7 million

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - Nov 29, 2016) - ENGlobal, a leading provider of engineering and automation services, today announced a new project award valued at approximately $7 million. ENGlobal's Automation business segment has been selected as the supplier of Analytical Process Control Equipment for a major chemical complex on the U.S. Gulf Coast. These control systems will provide information regarding critical feedback on product quality and information regarding safe operating conditions for the facility. Design of these systems has commenced, with project execution being scheduled over the next 18 months.

William A. Coskey, P.E., CEO of ENGlobal stated, "This important award illustrates a general uptick in activity we've recently experienced in our business. As one data point, the Company's overall backlog has increased approximately 20% thus far in the fourth quarter of 2016, with all ENGlobal business units experiencing backlog growth during this period. We're encouraged by this recent trend, and the size and breadth of the proposal opportunities we're currently seeing."

ENGlobal Reports Third Quarter 2016 Results

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - Nov 3, 2016) - ENGlobal, a leading provider of engineering and automation services, today announced results for the third quarter ended September 24, 2016.

ENGlobal reported net income of $0.5 million for the third quarter of 2016 which was an increase of $0.2 million as compared to the net income reported for the prior year period. The net income per diluted share was $0.02 for the third quarter just ended and $0.01 for the third quarter of 2015. Revenue decreased $2.2 million to $16.0 million from $18.2 million, or a 12% decrease, for the three months ended September 24, 2016, as compared to the three months ended September 26, 2015.

ENGlobal reported a net loss of $1.9 million for the nine months ended September 24, 2016, a decrease of $3.8 million compared to net income of $1.9 million reported for the prior year period. The net loss per diluted share was $0.07 for the nine months ended September 24, 2016 compared to net income per diluted share of $0.07 for the nine months ended September 26, 2015. Revenue decreased $17.7 million to $44.6 million from $62.4 million, or a 29% decrease, for the nine months ended September 24, 2016, as compared to the nine months ended September 26, 2015.

In April 2015, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2.0 million of the Company's common stock from time to time, based on prevailing market conditions. Through September 24, 2016, ENGlobal has repurchased and retired approximately 950,911 shares of common stock at a cost of $1.2 million under this program. As of September 24, 2016, the remaining amount authorized for repurchase under this program was $0.8 million.

Management's Assessment

Mark Hess, ENGlobal's Chief Financial Officer stated: "Although our recent backlog has been relatively stable, we have experienced a large upturn in project awards thus far in the fourth quarter. Similarly, we are seeing a significant increase in our proposal pipeline; however, projects are continuing to be awarded more slowly than in the past. ENGlobal has been striving to reduce both direct and variable expenses while our end markets have been in a downturn. These efforts, combined with an increase in project work, have allowed the Company to achieve profitability in the third quarter."

Mr. Hess continued: "Our balance sheet remains very strong. Cash increased by $1.4 million during the quarter to $16.1 million at the end of September, primarily as a result of the collection of retention receivables, and we continue to have no borrowings under our working capital facility. In total, we have $22.3 million in net working capital which we believe is sufficient for us to weather the current market cycle and for future expansion."

William A. Coskey, P.E., Chairman and CEO of ENGlobal added: "The Company continues to be opportunistic in making investments during this time in order to position our business for improving conditions. We continue to add highly experienced personnel in key positions; an effort which is just now producing results based on our significant upturn in both proposal activity and bookings."

Mr. Coskey continued: "In addition, we have increased our project execution capabilities as a result of opening our 31 acre fabrication facility in Henderson, Texas. In the near term, this latest investment should allow us to perform more project scope by fabricating certain mechanical components. We also expect this new service to have many cross selling opportunities with our existing engineering, automation and integration businesses. However, the important long term strategy will be to facilitate ENGlobal as a provider of highly engineered and modularized process systems. We expect to provide our clients with a great amount of value that can be achieved through standardized and modular construction, and single point of project execution. "

The following is a summary of the income statement for the three months and nine months ended September 24, 2016 and September 26, 2015 can be found in the tables here:

What Can You Do To Help America?

Greetings everyone,

It has been hard to escape the recent events and the news broadcasts surrounding them. By now many of you have noticed that the mainstream news hasn’t been filling you in on all the facts. There are some exceptions if you watch the news a great deal; digging past the agendas you can find some startling facts. After so much time it becomes clear the true story doesn’t fit the media's agenda.

For example, take all the past media coverage surrounding the liberal idea of spreading war refugee immigrants throughout Europe and the US. Why don’t you hear much about it now? The answer is that those enabling leaders were wrong; because the refugee distribution has ended up to be a cultural disaster for all of those countries. With civil unrest, crimes including massive rape increases plague these nations. All this disaster while footing the bills for people who do not want to integrate into those counties but rather to assimilate these host countries into their Muslim culture. All of the countries receiving refugees did was salt their population with infiltrators who will undermine their governments and destabilize their culture. It would be quite different if the refugees wished to integrate, becoming part of their hosts’ cultures. But they don’t.

We have seen our US culture erode over the last several years; people are divided, racism is surging and our economic recovery is poor. Without a doubt this is due to poor leadership. Moreover, that economic pain we are all feeling is capitalism dying.

So who do we have to pick from in this next election - Trump and Clinton? Clinton is easier to summarize because we have seen her in several roles over the last two decades. Her results have not been impressive. Trump is not as well-known with most of his dealings private and away from public scrutiny.

Trump is a rather coarse individual with rough edges who has been showing some improvement. He is successful in business. What both Democrats and nonsupporting Republicans have failed to recognize is that their actions for many years are what made him the popular candidate. People in both parties are tired of poor representation and politicians that serve primarily to enrich themselves.. Trump represents a departure from the sameness we have grown to disdain.

Even more bothersome are Republicans that do not acknowledge Trump's popularity. It is one thing not to like Trump or not to support him. It is a wholly different situation when these Republicans seek to undermine the majority's choice. Not respecting the will of the people is a fundamental flaw that will have long-term effects. These Republicans better learn quickly or they will lose the trust of their party members.

I decided to go see Trump at a speech in Florida. The experience was so much better in person without the “filtering” by the media. He was quite warming and aspired to “Make America Great Again”. He spoke on many topics I feel are of greatest importance. If you have read an earlier article I wrote covering the FBI Summit regarding IP Loss, the subject concerned safeguarding our economy. This is our #1 issue and the US economy continues to weaken. All other issues unrelated are side issues. Our country can have the most or best of anything – the largest Army, Navy, Air Force or nuclear weapons, but none of that matters if your economy goes – you are simply done!

Trump is dedicated to solving several key issues:

•    Economic strength – bring manufacturing and jobs back to America
•    Favorable Trade Deals – “We don’t win anymore”
•    Combat Currency Manipulation (China) -  Prevent the undermining of our products for export
•    Illegal Immigration – A well-known topic but many fail to understand just how much this costs us by undermining our economy and direct funding
•    Trade Deficit – This will fall in line with success in the above points and by reducing a bloated government.

Trump’s accomplishments include becoming a billionaire, surviving bankruptcy and starting a couple hundred businesses with only 4 bankruptcies, which is a pretty small percentage. Since he doesn’t run all those businesses himself he obviously knows how to pick people to run organizations.

I wanted to go see Hillary Clinton speak in my town but it cost $500 to attend and $1000 to have your picture taken with her. I declined. From her beginning effort as First Lady she failed at Healthcare Reform, remember? With her departure from the White House the first thing I remember was her stealing historical and priceless artifacts from the White House and then being forced to return them. As Senator she didn’t do much. Of the many bills she sponsored only three became law: the Kate Mullany National Historic Site Act, renaming a Post Office and renaming a highway – yeah, that’s it.

As Secretary of State – well, we have followed this more closely since then. Benghazi was a disaster. Her 11-hour hearing proved she lied about the nature of Ambassador Chris Stevens’ cause of death and she lied to the American public even though she knew it was a terrorist attack. It was all right there in the testimony her supporters refuse to read or learn.

The private email server issue - let's bypass the opinions and go directly to a comparison of Hillary's own statements with FBI Director James Comey.

From NBC News:



More on what the AP found out about Hillary Clinton's inconsistencies can be found here.

It goes without saying that anyone who has put the security of the United States at risk through this level of carelessness is unqualified to be President.

An unlit side note of Clinton's failure to keep important information secure is that in her last batch of released emails, it was discovered she had Ambassador Chris Stevens' schedule in an email on her personal server, thus exposing that information to unknowns and potentially hostile forces.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/03/01/hillary-emails-betrayed-whereabouts-of-murdered-ambassador-chris-stevens/

This is the same personal server that a recently extradited Romanian hacker said he easily hacked into. This hacker was in a US jail waiting to be interviewed but turned up dead (in jail) just hours after Comey made his FBI announcement.

http://christiantimesnewspaper.com/breaking-romanian-hacker-with-access-to-clinton-emails-found-dead-in-jail-cell/

South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy asked FBI Director James Comey some very direct questions proving many false statements by Hillary Clinton. The testimony may be found here.

How much more regular and inherent lying without remorse have to be demonstrated before it is considered pathological?

Enough? Well what can you do about it? You have to vote. You have to go out and solicit every vote you can, especially from young people who have less experience and enable older individuals who would find it difficult to get to the polls. We have to turn out in numbers because the future of America is at stake.

Good luck to everyone and America.

Ransomware Data Threats Increases in 2015

In the earlier article, “The Quiet Threat to Industry and America” we learned just how severe Intellectual Property (IP) loss is worldwide and within the US. We know how devastating it is to our economy as well as how quickly it can undermine businesses and industry. No one can replace your hard earned sweat equity, research, proprietary and intellectual property. A corporation can be wiped out with effective hacks and data theft. Smart businesses and industry are changing from a reactionary model to proactive measures to ensure their future.

A new problem is growing all over the world – it is called Ransomware. The implications are quite startling. Basically, your computers and servers are infected with a sophisticated malware that encrypts the entire contents of your hard drives – all your data is locked. You or your business is denied use of your data until a ransom is paid – typically in Bitcoin internet currency. Ransom demands range from hundreds to tens of thousands. The ransom is bad enough but the real damages occur from disruption or paralysis of business.

The statistics for ransomware varies; however, it is all bad news showing dramatic increases in 2015 in hundreds of percent. AVAST security software, as an example, detected that over six weeks that their users encountered ransomware infected sites 18 million times. Rather than provide a multitude of statistics and references just search the term “Ransomware Statistics” and see for yourself.

These crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the FBI. They warned about ransomware early last year. If you are hacked, cyberattacked or experienced computer or hard drive theft the FBI is there to investigate. The ransomware class includes Cryptolocker, Cryptowall, Teslacrypt, CTB-Locker, Torrentlocker and Reveton with new similar versions being reported every day.

Ransomware can even reprogram the firmware in your hard drives (SSDs and HDDs). Once the drive is reprogrammed, the firmware can reload associated malware each time infected systems boot and the malware persists even if the drives are reformatted or the operating system is reinstalled. Once infected, security software can't detect the associated malware which is stored in a hidden area of the drive. This version makes ransomware almost impossible to detect and cure. 

Changing Times

In the past federal agencies including the FBI have long urged people not to pay ransom to the criminals, as there is no guarantee that they will even receive an unlock key. The situation has now changed with the higher strength of ransomware. Just how strong are these tools? The FBI attended the 2015 Cyber Security Summit in Boston last October. Assistant Special Agent Joseph Bonavolonta, who oversees the FBI's Boston office, advised the companies infected with ransomware to better pay up the ransom!
 
"The ransomware is that good," said Bonavolonta. "To be honest, we often advise people just to pay the ransom."

Many IT and corporate professionals took offense or were startled by the remarks. However, examine the bigger picture. Paying is no guarantee but criminals have been showing some honesty in unlocking data after the ransom is paid. They know if they don’t give you the unlock key that word gets around and corporations will stop paying and their ploy will no longer make them money.

The FBI issued a notice in June, which identified CryptoWall as the most common form of ransomware affecting individuals and businesses in the US. The Bureau said it had received 992 complaints related to CryptoWall between April 2014 and June 2015 with losses totaling $18 million.

Even police departments are not immune – Massachusetts' Swansea Police Department was hit several years ago and paid the ransom to become functional. In Maine, the Lincoln County sheriff's office also paid the ransom. Once more, the encrypted files were critical, but since backups or other means of recovery were not available - payment was the only option. The same situation happened at the Tewksbury Police Department in Massachusetts.

Bonavolonta also cautioned that the Bureau may not be able to pry encrypted data from the clutches of the ransomware authors, who use ultra-secure encryption algorithms to lock up ransomed data.

“The easiest thing may be to just pay the ransom”, Bonavolonta, who said that efforts by the Bureau and others to defeat the encryption used by the malware did not bear fruit. “The amount of money made by these criminals is enormous and that’s because the overwhelming majority of institutions just pay the ransom.”

The success of the ransomware ends up benefiting victims: because so many people pay, the malware authors are less inclined to wring excess profit out of any single victim, keeping ransoms low. And most ransomware scammers are good to their word, Bonavolonta said. “You do get your access back.”

The FBI still wants to hear about ransomware infections, even from firms that pay the criminals off. “Do we want you to call the FBI? Yes,” said Bonavolonta. The FBI has been collecting information on ransomware scams and wants to be able to keep abreast of how the scams are evolving.

What can you do to prevent ransomware from affecting you or your corporation?

There are many ways to prevent ransomware and data loss but it takes a proactive attitude and measures to prevent these infections. On the hardware side invest in good modern computers that feature “hotswap” data hard drives. Hotswapping allows the user to start and shut down a hard drive without turning off the computer. This allows the user to keep data isolated and invisible to the internet, hackers and viruses or malware.

Vault Computer is one company that builds in this feature. Vault Computers can be equipped with cloned drives that can replace an infected drives in just minutes; without high IT expense or downtime that loses work productivity. Offline data storage within the same computer can restore backed up data in minutes utilizing fast transfer speeds. The ability to hotswap and keep data isolated from problems or unwelcome exposure is the same method US Government security agencies use. Bad guys cannot infect or steal what they cannot see.

Vault Computer also uses hardware encryption to protect your data from theft and access by unauthorized personnel. The first and most obvious difference with an Vault Encrypted Computer is that there is no “foot in the door” with the new hardware encryption. The computer will not boot up without the proper key inserted. This means no user hack tools are possible - there is no back door. You can now control who uses the computer and who sees the data on it.

Moreover, if the computer is stolen or the encrypted hard drive is removed it will not reveal any data. No forensic techniques can be applied and your data is secure from unwanted investigation. The data is invisible, irretrievable, unbreakable and secure from unauthorized access – period.

Prevention and Smart Computer Use is Key to Avoid Ransomware

Other measures an individual or corporations may take to prevent ransomware or computer infections are worthwhile. Here are some examples:

•    Always use Antivirus software and a firewall. Keep the antivirus updated.
•    Install a Malware remover. Malwarebytes is popular.
•    Use a popup blocker.
•    Maintain frequent Backups. Keep Backups offline and invisible to the Internet.
•    Be careful with emails and attachments. Call and verify attachments that are strange or unexpected.
•    Corporate education programs – awareness training. Statistics indicate education training is very worthwhile.
•    Enable automatic OS updates, or download OS updates regularly, to keep
operating systems patched against known vulnerabilities.
•    Install patches from other software manufacturers as soon as they are
distributed.
•    Only download software—especially free software—from sites you know and trust (malware can also come in downloadable games, file-sharing programs, and customized toolbars).
•    Have strong passwords, and don’t use the same passwords for everything.
•    Encrypt important data and hard drives.

Don’t wait until you lose data because it may be simply too late. Data theft and data ransom are on the rise. Don’t let these cripple your business. Good practices with proactive thinking and defenses are the key to protecting your valuable data and Intellectual Property.