Conrad Completes New Drydock, Outlook Good In 2001

Conrad Industries, 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 currently operates three shipyards located along the Gulf Coast in Morgan City and Amelia, Louisiana and Orange, Texas.

William H. Hidalgo, president and CEO of Conrad said, “We are pleased with our profitability for the year 2000, particularly considering that a large portion of our vessel construction effort was spent building our new dry-dock which was a non-revenue generating project. The new dry-dock is being tested at this time and should be ready for its first project by February 25, 2001. The completion of our dry-dock is well-timed because we believe our repair business is in the upward cycle we have been anticipating. Our bidding effort is very intense and we are bidding many new projects.”

For the three months ended December 31, 2000, the company reported net income of $714,000 compared to a net loss of $93,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999. The company had net income of $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2000, compared to net income of $1.5 million for the year ended December 31, 1999.

Revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2000 were $11.1 million compared to $7.5 million for the three months ended December 31,1999. Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2000 were $38.5 million compared to $32.6 million for the year ended December 31,1999. The company’s backlog was $20.2 million at December 31, 2000 as compared to $20.6 million at December 31, 1999.

Gross profit was $2.4 million (21.9 percent of revenue) for the three months ended December 31, 2000 as compared to gross profit of $956,000 (12.8 percent of revenue) for the three months ended December 31, 1999. Gross profit was $9.3 million (24.3 percent of revenue) for the year ended December 31, 2000 as compared to gross profit of $6.9 million (21.3 percent of revenue) for the year ended December 31, 1999.

Hidalgo also said, “For 2001, our Board of Directors approved $2.8 million in capital expenditures for the maintenance, repair and upgrade of our existing facilities and approximately $4.0 million for the development of the 52 acres of property in Amelia as a repair and conversion facility. These capital expenditures will be funded by existing working capital, cash flow from operations and borrowings. These projects are currently underway and will contribute to increased efficiencies and capacity.’’