Huntington Ingalls says attendance at shipyards is about 70% to 75%

Huntington Ingalls said today it expects reduced shipbuilding sales growth because attendance at both of its shipyards is down.

In a call with analysts today, Mike Petters, HII's chief executive, said the attendance rate has been 70% to 75% at both of its shipyards.

He said the "No. 1 driver" of lowered attendance is school closures.

"I continue to argue that we've got to find a way to get schools back to where parents are going to be comfortable" sending their children, Petters added.

Chris Kastner, HII's chief financial officer, said the lower attendance rates will likely affect program schedules.

Petters said the company has also contacted its suppliers to talk about how they're being affected, and the vast majority "are saying, at this point, no impact."

"I would say we put the word 'yet' at the back end of that," Petters said. "They say no impact -- we say no impact yet."

He said, however, it remains difficult "to evaluate what's going to be the impact around the corner."

Meanwhile, Huntington Ingalls said today sales during its most recent quarter totaled $2.3 billion, up almost 9% from the same three-month period a year earlier. The contractor's quarterly profit reached $172 million, up 46% from the prior year.

All three of the company's groups reported sales growth during the quarter. However, the technical solutions business reported a quarterly loss of $7 million, "primarily driven by lower performance on fleet support, oil and gas, and nuclear and environmental services."