BWX Technologies [BWXT] brought in $542 million in first-quarter 2020 revenue, 30% more than the $416 million generated during the first three months of 2019.
Net income for the period ended March 31 amounted to $75.5 million, $0.79 per diluted share, a significant year-over-year jump from $49 million, $0.51 per diluted share, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company said in a Tuesday press release.
“We had a remarkably strong first quarter 2020 with record revenues and earnings led by growth in our naval nuclear manufacturing business,” BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden said in the release.
Despite adverse impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on Nuclear Power Group customers, BWXT is sticking with its 2020 earnings guidance of $2.80 per share, Geveden said. The CEO added in a conference call that he did not anticipate an extensive impact on the company’s operations beyond the second quarter of 2020.
The Nuclear Services Group, which houses BWXT’s share of management contracts for Department of Energy nuclear weapons and nuclear cleanup sites, recorded revenue of $37 million. That rose from $29 million in the first quarter of 2019. The group’s quarterly operating income rose dramatically to $6.4 million in 2020 from $1.6 million in 2019, thanks to the increased volume in U.S. commercial nuclear service work.
BWXT’s Nuclear Operations Group brought in $424 million of revenue for the first quarter, a 39% increase from $305 million in the prior-year period. The group’s operating income was $90.4 million, 57% more than the $57.6 million a year ago, thanks in part to higher production volume of components for the Navy’s
Columbia-class submarine. The Nuclear Operations Group is BWXT’s flagship business unit and also handles production of nuclear fuel for the U.S. Navy. The company has a virtual monopoly on the business.
Revenue in the Nuclear Power Group, the company’s commercial arm, was $88 million, up slightly from $84 million a year earlier. The group’s operating income was $8.5 million, a 33% dip from $12.6 million following conclusion of a design and component manufacturing contract for a steam generator project in China.