BWX Technologies President and CEO Rex Geveden said Wednesday the company’s Nuclear Services Group, which includes its business with the U.S. Energy Department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, is experiencing “a resurgence.”
Much of that is due new cleanup business at DOE’s shuttered Cold War nuclear-weapon sites, but a large — if not unexpected — order for more nuclear naval propulsion parts also contributed, Geveden said this week on a quarterly earnings call with investor analysts.
Besides being the sole provider of nuclear naval propulsion fuel and parts to the National Nuclear Security Administration, (NNSA) BWXT is also part of the teams managing the agency’s Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories.
Before the call, the company announced the NNSA’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program had, during the fourth quarter, picked up contract options worth $492 million for naval nuclear propulsion parts. BWXT’s Nuclear Operations Group is the only maker of naval nuclear reactors for U.S. submarines and aircraft carriers. A BWXT business within the Nuclear Operations Group provides uranium downblending for the NNSA.
BWXT Reports Revenue Growth for Quarter, Yea
BWXT said Tuesday it earned $430 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2017, a 6.5 percent increase over the $404 million it took in during the same period in 2016.
BWXT said its revenue for the full year was $1.69 billion for 2017, an 8.8 percent improvement over $1.55 billion in 2016.
The company reported a net quarterly loss of $16 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to net income of $34 million, or $0.34 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2016. BWXT said its results took a $55 million hit largely because of tax reform.
Earnings per share for the full year came in at $1.47, compared to $1.76 in 2016. BWXT expects its company-wide earnings per share for 2018 will be between $2.45 and $2.55.
The Nuclear Services Group’s operating income was $5.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, up significantly from $1.3 million in the prior-year period. Full-year segment generally accepted accounting principles operating income for the group was $23.1 million, an 89.9 percent increase from $12.1 million in 2016.
Nuclear Services Group revenue for the quarter was $37 million, compared to $33 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. Annual revenue was $137 million in 2017, moderately up from $128 million in 2016.
