Conrad Reports First Quarter 2002 Results

Conrad Industries, Inc. reported net income of $458,000 and earnings per diluted share of $0.06 for the three months ended March 31, 2002 compared to net income of $951,000 and earnings per diluted share of $0.13 for the three months ended March 31, 2001. Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2002 were $10.6 million compared to $11.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2001. The company's backlog was $11.3 million at March 31, 2002 as compared to $10.4 million at December 31, 2001 and $13.2 million at March 31, 2001. Gross profit was $2.1 million (19.8% of revenue) for the three months ended March 31, 2002 as compared to gross profit of $2.8 million (23.3% of revenue) for the three months ended March 31, 2001. Net cash used by operating activities was $2.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2002 primarily as the result of the timing of billings related to jobs in progress or recently completed at March 31, 2002 most of which were billed during April 2002.

Vessel construction segment revenue decreased 14.0% while gross profit increased 2.1% as compared to vessel construction revenue and gross profit in the 4th quarter of 2001. Vessel construction segment revenue and gross profit decreased 15.0% and 21.6%, respectively compared to the 1st quarter of 2001. The vessel construction segment had a 13.6% decrease in production hours from the 4th quarter of 2001 and a decrease of 27.8% from the 1st quarter of 2001. Higher vessel construction gross profit in the 1st quarter of 2002 as compared to the 4th quarter of 2001 was due to improved performance on jobs in progress or completed in the 1st quarter of 2002 as compared to the 4th quarter of 2001. Lower vessel construction gross profit between the 1st quarter of 2002 as compared to 2001 were attributable to the reduction in production hours due to the weakness in the economy in general and the offshore oil and gas industry in particular which resulted in decreased demand.

since March 31, 2002, the company has added $8.8 million of new contracts and has signed the $3.8 million previously announced North Carolina Ferry contract, which brings the total addition to backlog since March 31, 2002 to $12.8 million and the total current backlog to $22 million, excluding options for tug boats totaling $8 million. The new contracts include a 94-ft., z-drive tug for Harbor Fuel, a 170-ft. aluminum crew/supply vessel for Oceanic Marine, Inc. and a 175-ft. liftboat hull for Marine Industrial Fabricators. Conrad president and CEO Kenneth G. "Jerry" Myers, Jr. said, "We are excited about the contracts that we have signed since March 31, 2002. The tug will be constructed at our Orange Shipbuilding facility, which has a long history of building tug boats, while the liftboat hull will be constructed at our Conrad Shipyard facility in Morgan City, which specializes in liftboat construction. We are partnering with a long-time, quality builder of aluminum vessels on the 170-foot crew/supply vessel project."