BWX Technologies says it will move out of naval missile tube business, repurpose facility

BWX Technologies' chief executive confirmed today that the company is “not likely” to pursue future naval missile tube work and will repurpose parts of the Indiana facility being used to build missile tubes.

The company in 2018 identified faulty welding on missile tubes slated for the Navy's Columbia-class submarine and has been reworking them. In a call with analysts today, Rex Geveden said that repair effort is "going according to plan."

"We feel quite good about where that is," he added. "We'll be starting to ship completed missile tubes pretty shortly."

"In terms of future opportunities," Geveden continued, "I think it just doesn't have the margin profile that we want to see in the business, and so we're not likely to pursue that in the future."

He said the work has been done at a facility in Mount Vernon, IN, "which is the production site for some of our largest components for naval reactors."

"There's plenty of volume there," Geveden added. The company will "repurpose that entire facility for those large components that are coming through."

BWX Technologies said this week sales in its nuclear operations group, which includes its naval work, hit $410 million in the most recent quarter, up 14% from the same three-month period a year earlier.

The growth, it said, was driven by "by accelerated timing of long-lead material procurements and higher downblending and naval nuclear fuel volume."

The company also reported a 14% increase in its quarterly profit, which totaled $86 million.