Babcock & Wilcox Co.'s (BWC) first-quarter profit more than tripled as the power-plant technology company benefited from stronger results in both of its nuclear-technology segments.
Babcock & Wilcox has reported mixed results since it spun off from McDermott International Inc. (MDR) in 2010. The division that makes commercial nuclear-power equipment suffered heavy write downs due to a lost contract last year, making for an easier comparison in the latest quarter.
Strong demand for environmental control equipment and other services also helped business in the latest period.
The company last month named Jim Ferland as its new chief executive after Brandon C. Bethards chose to retire. Ferland previously led fellow nuclear-power provider Westinghouse Electric Co., a unit of Japan's Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO, TOSYY).
Babcock & Wilcox reported a profit of $46.7 million, or 39 cents a share, up from $13.5 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier. Charges tied to lost contracts reduced the year-ago profit by 17 cents a share. Revenue rose 11% to $765.9 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 38-cent per-share profit with $766 million of revenue.
Earnings in the company's nuclear operations business jumped 58% even as revenue edged down 0.1%. The technical services segment delivered 20% higher earnings despite a 12% revenue drop. The nuclear energy unit, which builds new equipment, posted a narrower loss, while revenue was up 33%.
Backlog, an indication of future sales, reached $6 billion, up from $4.91 billion a year ago.
Shares were recently off 1.4% at $24.20 after hours. The stock was off 21% over the past year through Wednesday's close.
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