Conrad Industries Reports Earnings

Conrad Industries Inc. expects to report earnings per share for the quarter ending Sept. 30 of between $.01 and $.03 compared to earnings per share of $.10 for the quarter ending June 30. For the quarter ending Dec. 31, earnings per share are expected to be between $.05 and $.08. The company expects earnings per share of between $.28 and $.33 for the year ending Dec. 31. William H. Hidalgo, president and CEO, stated, "Our earnings for the third and forth quarters will be below the levels we had previously anticipated. Our repair and conversion segment continues to experience weak demand, and price pressures due to the energy market, and we have not experienced the increase and activity that we anticipated, nor do we see any significant increase until the first part of next year. Additionally, during the third quarter, we had one vessel construction project that did not perform as we previously anticipated due to unforeseen delays and a billings adjustment at the end of the job. This resulted in increased costs being recognized in the third quarter, thus reducing the gross profit for the quarter. Overall, the job was still profitable." Hidalgo added, "We continue to experience a high level of bid activity for vessel and barge construction, and we are seeing positive indicators in the energy markets that contribute to our remaining cautiously optimistic about the year 2000 in both the vessel construction segment and the repair and conversion segment." Conrad, founded in 1948, specializes in the construction, conversion and repair of marine vessels for commercial and government customers, and the fabrication of modular components of offshore drilling rigs and floating production, storage and off-loading vessels. The company operates three shipyards along the Gulf Coast, in Morgan City and Amelia, La., and Orange, Texas.