Waste Connections Inc. is leaving town on a high note.

The trash hauler and recycler, making its last annual report that will include earnings amassed from its Folsom headquarters, on Tuesday reported record revenue of $1.51 billion in 2011.

It was the fourth straight year that the company surpassed the $1 billion threshold. Its 2011 revenue was up 14.1 percent over 2010.

Waste Connections is in the process of finalizing its move to its new headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas, just outside Houston.

WCI reported an annual profit of $165.2 million, or $1.45 per share, compared with 2010 net income of $135.1 million, or $1.16 a share. Fourth-quarter net income was $38 million, or 34 cents per share, up from $36.1 million, or 31 cents per share, in the last quarter of 2010.

Better-than-expected pricing growth in the (fourth) quarter, increased special waste volumes and tight cost controls helped cushion the impact of a 30 percent decline in recycled fiber values during the first half of the fourth quarter, said Ron Mittelstaedt, chairman and CEO.

Mittelstaedt also noted that 2011 acquisitions #x96; WCI has a long history of acquiring companies in comparatively small markets, where it has exclusive rights to provide services #x96; resulted in about $200 million in added annual revenue.

We believe acquisition activity could remain strong over the next few years. #x85; Our focus on exclusive and secondary markets and our disciplined deployment of capital will continue to guide us in navigating through these potential opportunities.

The company projects another record revenue year in 2012, with a forecast of $1.61 billion.

WCI announced in December that it was moving to Texas.

Mittelstaedt had warned in August that he was growing increasingly frustrated with he considered Californias dysfunctional business/political environment.

The Folsom office of WCI employed about 120; Mittelstaedt has said that about 20 will remain in the area.

He previously estimated that the firm generates about $80 million to $100 million a year in direct salaries, payroll taxes, payments to vendors and outside contractors, and other local expenditures.

Founded in 1997, Waste Connections has more than 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in 29 states.

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