The spreading global pandemic so far has had “minimal impact” on the operations of Science Applications International Corp. [SAIC] due to the company’s readiness plans as well as the nature of its government work, Nazzic Keene, SAIC’s CEO, said Thursday evening.
“Due to the nature of our business, we have seen minimal impact to our operations to date and have proactively developed readiness plans should disruptions increase,” Keene said during her scripted remarks discussing SAIC’s fourth quarter financial results that were released after the stock markets closed on Thursday. “We already maintain an infrastructure that accommodates remote work for a significant number of employees when needed, frequently allowing employees to support customer programs remotely.”
Moreover, Keene said that the needs of SAIC’s federal customers are “resilient” and they are “largely less economically sensitive” because a lot of the company’s work is “considered mission-critical. This frequently minimizes the impact of these types of disruptions.”
SAIC is the first defense company reporting quarterly results since the COVID-19 disease began spreading aggressively throughout parts of the U.S. earlier this month, disrupting whole sectors of the economy.
Keene said that over the years, events such as government shutdowns and weather-related disruptions have “honed our operational muscles.”
Some impacts to SAIC’s business from the coronavirus are expected ahead as events progress, but Keene expects “the impact to be very manageable.” This is due to long-term contracts for government services, “a flexible operating model and cost structure, and customers with stable funding levels,” she said.