Revenue and net income fell for BWX Technologies [BWXT], Lynchburg, Va., during the first quarter of 2021, the naval reactor maker and nuclear services company reported after markets closed Monday.
BWXT ended the first three months of the year with revenue of $528 million, a nearly 3 percent dip from the $542 million taken in during the first quarter 2020, the company said in its earnings release.
Net income for the period was $69.7 million, 73 cents earnings per share (EPS), down from $75.4 (79 cents EPS) for the period ended March 31, 2020.
The dip was attributed to a combination of COVID-19 related absences early in the year along with lower long-lead material production, according to the release. Also, BWXT had a “robust” first quarter in 2020 before the pandemic firmly took hold, BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden said in a Tuesday morning conference call with financial analysts. There were times when BWXT’s largest plant in Virginia had 10 percent absenteeism, the CEO said.
Like the rest of the country, “we hope to get out of the woods on this [COVID],” soon, Geveden said.
The BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, which includes the company’s naval business, brought in $402 million during the quarter, down from $424 million in the first quarter of 2020. Its segment income was also down from $90 million to $74 million. The company’s operations segment did announce a big win last month in the form of $2.2 billion in additional business for making naval reactor parts and fuel.
BWXT’s Nuclear Services Group, which coordinates business involving Department of Energy nuclear sites, saw first quarter revenue drop to $25.4 million from $36.7 million in the year-ago quarter. Likewise, segment income fell to $5.7 million from $6.4 million.
The Nuclear Power Group, which deals with the civilian reactor business, provided some better results. Its revenue was $107 million in the latest quarter, up about $20 million from the $88 million in the first quarter of 2020. The segment income also rose to $10.3 million from $8.4 million, year over year.
“Solid first quarter results were complemented by the achievement of several important milestones including new wins in microreactor programs, new agreements and progress in medical isotopes, and completion and booking of the multi-year pricing agreement with Naval Reactors,” Geveden in the press release.
During the earnings call with Wall Street analysts, Geveden expressed confidence there will be bipartisan support in the federal budget for funding of the naval submarine program. The BWXT chief also said the company’s joint ventures are pursuing major DOE contractors for operation of the Pantex Plant in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. Likewise, it is part of a team seeking a cleanup contract at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, he added.
In addition, the CEO cited a recent contract extension for a Fluor [FLR]-BWXT team doing environmental work at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio.