Babcock & Wilcox Co. at one point was known largely as a maker of coal-fired boilers used in electric power plants.
The massive boilers remain in the B&W catalog, but the Charlotte, N.C.-based company is getting a lot of growth helping clean what comes out of the smokestacks at the coal power plants by building what are called scrubbers and particulate control devices.
That environmental-related work helped B&W’s Power Generation Group, centered in Barberton, show $461.5 million in revenue for the first quarter — an 11.4 percent increase from a year ago. The figures were included in the company’s first-quarter earnings that were released after the stock market closed Tuesday.
Revenue from environmental systems grew 72 percent from a year ago, said Anthony Colatrella, B&W’s chief financial officer, in a conference call Wednesday with industry analysts.
But profit margins are down in the kind of work Power Generation does, said E. James Ferland, president and chief executive officer.
“The new build environmental market in this cycle is very competitive,” he said. “And consequently, margins, as we anticipated, are lower for many projects.”
While bookings are strong, margins on Power Generation environmental work projects are expected to be flat through 2015, Ferland said.
B&W reported it earned $47.2 million, or 41 cents per share, on revenue of $805.4 million for the first quarter. Revenue was higher than the $765.9 million reported a year ago but net income and earnings were down.
B&W also has significant nuclear energy and power operations and is developing a small, modular nuclear reactor in what it calls its mPower segment.
The company reaffirmed its earnings outlook for the year of $2.25 to $2.45 a share and revenue of $3.4 billion to $3.5 billion. Shares fell 87 cents to $27.50. Shares are up 5.3 percent, including dividends, since Jan. 1 and are up 13 percent from a year ago.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.