10-K 1 d457934d10k.htm FORM 10-K Form 10-K
Table of Contents

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 10–K

(Mark One)

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012

OR

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from              to             

Commission File Number 001-34658

 

 

THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

DELAWARE   80-0558025

(State or Other Jurisdiction of

Incorporation or Organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

THE HARRIS BUILDING

13024 BALLANTYNE CORPORATE PLACE

SUITE 700

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

  28277
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)   (Zip Code)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (704) 625-4900

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

 

Name of each Exchange on which registered

Common Stock, $0.01 par value   New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

    Yes  þ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.     Yes  ¨    No  þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

    Yes   þ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

    Yes   þ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.   þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer   þ    Accelerated filer   ¨
Non-accelerated filer   ¨    Smaller reporting company   ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).     Yes  ¨    No  þ

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by nonaffiliates of the registrant on the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter (based on the closing sales price on the New York Stock Exchange on June 29, 2012) was approximately $2.9 billion.

The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding at January 31, 2013 was 114,344,972.

 

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement for the 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

INDEX—FORM 10-K

 

          PAGE  
   PART I   

Item 1.

   Business   
  

General

     1   
  

Business Segments

     1   
  

Acquisitions and Investments

     4   
  

Contracts

     5   
  

Backlog

     6   
  

Competition

     7   
  

Joint Ventures

     7   
  

Foreign Operations

     10   
  

Customers

     10   
  

Raw Materials and Suppliers

     11   
  

Employees

     11   
  

Patents and Licenses

     11   
  

Research and Development Activities

     11   
  

Hazard Risks and Insurance

     12   
  

Governmental Regulations and Environmental Matters

     14   
  

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

     15   
  

Available Information

     17   

Item 1A.

  

Risk Factors

     18   

Item 1B.

   Unresolved Staff Comments      34   

Item 2.

   Properties      34   

Item 3.

   Legal Proceedings      34   

Item 4.

   Mine Safety Disclosures      34   
PART II   

Item 5.

   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities      35   

Item 6.

   Selected Financial Data      38   

Item 7.

   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations      39   
  

General

     39   
  

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

     42   
  

Year Ended December 31, 2012 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2011

     46   
  

Year Ended December 31, 2011 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2010

     49   
  

Effects of Inflation and Changing Prices

     51   
  

Liquidity and Capital Resources

     52   

Item 7A.

   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk      55   

Item 8.

   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data   
  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     57   
  

Consolidated Balance Sheets – December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011

     58   
  

Consolidated and Combined Statements of Income for the Years Ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010

     60   

 

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Consolidated and Combined Statements of Comprehensive Income for the Years Ended December  31, 2012, 2011 and 2010

     61   
  

Consolidated and Combined Statement of Stockholders’ Equity for the Years Ended December  31, 2012, 2011 and 2010

     62   
  

Consolidated and Combined Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December  31, 2012, 2011 and 2010

     63   
  

Notes to Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements

     64   

Item 9.

   Changes In and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure      114   

Item 9A.

   Controls and Procedures   
  

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

     115   
  

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

     115   
  

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

     115   
  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     116   

Item 9B.

  

Other Information

     116   
PART III   

Item 10.

   Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance      117   

Item 11.

   Executive Compensation      117   

Item 12.

   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters      117   

Item 13.

   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence      117   

Item 14.

   Principal Accountant Fees and Services      117   
PART IV   

Item 15.

   Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules      118   

Signatures

     123   

 

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Statements we make in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those to which we refer under the headings “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in Items 1 and 1A of Part I of this report. In this annual report on Form 10-K, unless the context otherwise indicates, “we,” “us” and “our” mean The Babcock & Wilcox Company (“B&W”) and its consolidated subsidiaries.

PART I

 

Item 1. BUSINESS

General

B&W is a leading technology innovator in power generation systems, a specialty constructor of nuclear components and a premier service provider in its segments, with an operating history of more than 140 years. We provide a variety of products and services to customers in the power and other steam-using industries, including electric utilities and other power generators, industrial customers in various other industries, and the United States Government. While we provide a wide range of products and services, our business segments are heavily focused on major projects. At any given time, a relatively small number of projects can represent a significant part of our operations.

We are a successor to a business founded in 1867, which was acquired by McDermott International, Inc. (“MII”) in 1978. On December 7, 2009, MII announced its plans to spin-off the businesses that comprised its then power generation systems and government operations segments into a separate independent public company. To effect the spin-off, MII incorporated B&W in Delaware in March 2010 as a direct wholly owned subsidiary of MII and in June 2010 implemented a reorganization that combined all of the entities that made up those businesses under our company.

On July 2, 2010, MII’s Board of Directors approved the spin-off of B&W through the distribution of shares of B&W common stock to holders of MII common stock. The distribution of B&W common stock was made on July 30, 2010, and consisted of one share of B&W common stock for every two shares of MII common stock to holders of MII common stock as of 5:00 p.m. New York City time on the record date, July 9, 2010. Cash was paid in lieu of any fractional shares of B&W common stock. B&W became a separate publicly traded company, and MII did not retain any ownership interest in us. B&W’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol BWC.

Business Segments

We operate in four business segments: Power Generation, Nuclear Operations, Technical Services and Nuclear Energy. For financial information about our segments, see Note 17 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report.

Power Generation

Through this segment, we supply boilers fired with fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, or renewable fuels such as biomass, municipal solid waste and concentrated solar energy. In addition, we supply environmental equipment and components and related services to customers in different regions around the world. We design, engineer, manufacture, supply, construct and service large utility and industrial power generation systems, including boilers used to generate steam in electric power plants, pulp and paper making, chemical and process applications and other industrial uses.

This segment specializes in engineering, manufacturing, procurement, and erection of equipment used in the power generation industry and various other industries, and the provision of related services, including:

 

   

engineered-to-order services, products and systems for energy conversion worldwide and related auxiliary equipment, such as burners, pulverizers, soot blowers and ash handling systems;

 

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heavy-pressure equipment for energy conversion, such as boilers fueled by coal, oil, bitumen, natural gas, municipal solid waste, biomass and other fuels;

 

   

environmental control systems, including both wet and dry scrubbers for flue gas desulfurization, modules for selective catalytic reduction of the oxides of nitrogen, equipment to capture particulate matter, such as fabric filter baghouses and wet and dry electrostatic precipitators, and similar devices; and

 

   

power plant equipment and related heavy mechanical erection services.

We support primarily fossil operating plants with a wide variety of additional services, including the installation of new systems and replacement parts, engineering services, construction, inspection, maintenance and field technical services, such as condition assessments and inventory services. We offer a wide range of construction services through a wholly owned subsidiary including erection of utility and industrial boiler plants and installations of cogeneration facilities and pollution control equipment, such as selective catalytic reduction systems and flue gas desulfurization scrubbers.

We also provide power through cogeneration, refuse-fueled power plants and other independent power-producing facilities. In this market, we own and operate proprietary facilities, supply equipment and serve as contractors for engineer-procure-construct services and operations and maintenance.

Our Power Generation segment’s overall activity depends mainly on the capital expenditures of electric power generating companies and other steam-using industries. Several factors influence these expenditures, including:

 

   

prices for electricity, along with the cost of production and distribution;

 

   

prices for coal and natural gas and other sources used to produce electricity;

 

   

demand for electricity, paper and other end products of steam-generating facilities;

 

   

availability of other sources of electricity, paper or other end products;

 

   

requirements for environmental improvements;

 

   

impact of potential regional, state, national and/or global requirements to significantly limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future;

 

   

level of capacity utilization at operating power plants, paper mills and other steam-using facilities;

 

   

requirements for maintenance and upkeep at operating power plants and paper mills to comply with environmental regulations and combat the accumulated effects of wear and tear;

 

   

ability of electric generating companies and other steam users to raise capital; and

 

   

relative prices of fuels used in boilers, compared to prices for fuels used in gas turbines and other alternative forms of generation.

Our Power Generation segment’s products and services are capital intensive. As such, customer demand is heavily affected by the variations in our customers’ business cycles and by the overall economies of the countries in which they operate.

For further details regarding our Power Generation segment’s facilities, see Item 2, “Properties.”

Nuclear Operations

Through this segment, we engineer, design and manufacture precision naval nuclear components and reactors for the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”)/National Nuclear Security Administration’s (“NNSA”) Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.

Our Nuclear Operations segment specializes in the design and manufacture of close-tolerance and high-quality equipment for nuclear applications. In addition, we are a leading manufacturer of critical nuclear components, fuels and assemblies for government and limited commercial uses. We have supplied nuclear components for DOE programs since the 1950s, and we are the largest domestic supplier of research reactor fuel elements for colleges, universities and national laboratories. We also convert or downblend high-enriched uranium into low-enriched fuel for use in commercial reactors to generate electricity. In addition, we have over 100 years of experience in supplying components for defense applications.

 

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We work closely with the DOE-supported nuclear non-proliferation program. Currently, this program is assisting in the development of a high-density, low-enriched uranium fuel required for high-enriched uranium test reactor conversions. We have also been a leader in the receipt, storage, characterization, dissolution, recovery and purification of a variety of uranium-bearing materials. All phases of uranium downblending and uranium recovery are provided at our Lynchburg, Virginia and Erwin, Tennessee sites.

Our Nuclear Operations segment’s manufacturing operations are generally capital intensive. The demand for nuclear components by the U.S. Government determines a substantial portion of this segment’s backlog. We expect that orders for nuclear components will continue to be a significant part of backlog for the foreseeable future; however, such orders are subject to defense department budget constraints.

For further details regarding our Nuclear Operations segment’s facilities, see Item 2, “Properties.”

Technical Services

Through this segment, we provide various services to the U.S. Government, including uranium processing, environmental site restoration services and management and operating services for various U.S. Government-owned facilities. These services are provided to the DOE, including the NNSA, the Office of Nuclear Energy, the Office of Science, the Department of Defense and the Office of Environmental Management.

This segment’s principal operations include:

 

   

managing and operating nuclear production facilities;

 

   

managing and operating environmental management sites;

 

   

managing spent nuclear fuel and transuranic waste for the DOE; and

 

   

providing critical skills and resources for DOE sites.

We manage and operate complex, high-consequence nuclear and national security operations for the DOE and the NNSA, primarily through our joint ventures, as further discussed under the caption “Joint Ventures” below.

Our Technical Services segment’s overall activity primarily depends on authorized spending levels of the DOE, NNSA, the Office of Nuclear Energy, the Office of Science, the Department of Defense and the Office of Environmental Management.

Nuclear Energy

Through this segment, we supply commercial nuclear steam generators and components to nuclear utility customers. In addition, this segment offers a full spectrum of services for steam generators and balance of plant equipment, as well as nondestructive examination and tooling/repair solutions for other plant systems and components. Our Nuclear Energy segment fabricates pressure vessels, reactors, steam generators, heat exchangers and other auxiliary equipment. This segment also provides specialized engineering and maintenance services and power plant construction.

To further serve the nuclear power industry, through Generation mPower LLC, a joint venture with Bechtel Power, we are actively developing the B&W mPower™ reactor, a small modular reactor design with the flexibility to provide between 180 MW to greater than 1,000 MW of electrical power generation (in increments of 180 MW) and the capacity to operate for a four year operating cycle without refueling. As part of this initiative, the Nuclear Energy segment applied for, and has been selected to receive, funding from the DOE under its Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support Program (“Funding Program”), which provides financial assistance for small modular reactor designs demonstrating, among other things, the ability to support a commercial operating date for a small modular reactor plant by 2022. The Nuclear Energy segment plans to meet all of the requirements of the Funding Program, including the requirement to deploy this technology by 2022. We believe the B&W mPower™ reactor will reduce risks associated with deploying nuclear power and become a flexible, cost-effective solution for meeting increasing electricity needs.

 

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This segment specializes in performing full scope, prototype design work coupled with manufacturing integration. The design, engineering and other capabilities of this segment include:

 

   

steam separation equipment design and development;

 

   

thermal-hydraulic design of reactor plant components;

 

   

structural component design for precision manufacturing;

 

   

materials expertise in high-strength, low-alloy steels, and nickel-based materials;

 

   

material procurement of tubing, forgings and weld wire; and

 

   

metallographic and chemical analysis.

Our Nuclear Energy segment’s overall activity primarily depends on our continued successful efforts in developing our B&W mPower™ reactor technology and on the capital expenditures and maintenance spending of nuclear utilities.

Acquisitions and Investments

We continue to evaluate growth opportunities achievable through acquisition or consolidation, in addition to pursuing organic growth strategies.

Acquisitions

Anlagenbau und Fördertechnik Arthur Loibl GmbH. In November 2011, a subsidiary within our Power Generation segment acquired Anlagenbau und Fördertechnik Arthur Loibl GmbH (“Loibl”), a German-based manufacturer of material handling equipment for $24.2 million. Loibl expands the products, services and global reach of this segment’s Allen-Sherman-Hoff business, which is one of the world’s leading suppliers of ash handling solutions for the power generation and other industries.

GE Energy Businesses. In April 2010, we acquired the assets of the electrostatic precipitator aftermarket and emissions monitoring business units of GE Energy, a division of General Electric Company, for approximately $21.4 million. This acquisition includes GE Energy’s electrostatic precipitator replacement parts and mechanical components product lines, performance-enhancing hardware, controls and software, remote diagnostics equipment and emissions monitoring products and services. These products and services are used by a wide variety of power generation and industrial customers to monitor and control particulates and other emissions from power plants, factories and other facilities.

Gőtaverken Miljő AB. In January 2010, a subsidiary within our Power Generation segment, Babcock & Wilcox Volund A/S (“B&W Volund”), acquired the net assets of Gőtaverken Miljő AB, a flue gas cleaning and energy recovery company based in Gothenburg, Sweden. This business complements our B&W Volund subsidiary, a leading supplier of equipment and technologies designed to convert municipal solid waste and biomass into thermal energy.

Investments

USEC Investment. In May 2010, our subsidiary Babcock & Wilcox Investment Company (“BWICO”) entered into an agreement with Toshiba Corporation (“Toshiba”), which was subsequently assigned to one of its subsidiaries, and USEC Inc. (“USEC”) to make a strategic investment in USEC totaling $200 million payable over three phases. In September 2010, following the satisfaction of certain conditions, including the availability to USEC’s American Centrifuge program of at least $2 billion in uncommitted funds under the DOE’s loan guarantee program for front-end nuclear fuel facilities and the establishment of a joint venture between us and USEC for supply by the joint venture of centrifuges and related equipment for the American Centrifuge program, we made a $37.5 million investment in USEC as part of a definitive agreement for us to make a total $100 million strategic investment in USEC.

In connection with our investment, we received 37,500 shares of USEC Series B-1 12.75% Convertible Preferred Stock and Warrants to purchase 3,125,000 shares of USEC Class B Common Stock at an exercise price of $7.50 per share, which are exercisable between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016, and a seat on USEC’s board of directors.

See Note 2 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for additional information concerning our investment in USEC.

 

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Contracts

We execute our contracts through a variety of methods, including fixed-price, cost-plus, target price cost incentive, cost-reimbursable or some combination of these methods. Contracts are usually awarded through a competitive bid process. Factors that customers may consider include price, plant or equipment availability, technical capabilities of equipment and personnel, efficiency, safety record and reputation.

Fixed-price contracts are for a fixed amount to cover all costs and any profit element for a defined scope of work. Fixed-price contracts entail more risk to us because they require us to predetermine both the quantities of work to be performed and the costs associated with executing the work. For further specification see “Risk Factors – We are subject to risks associated with contractual pricing in our industries, including the risk that, if our actual costs exceed the costs we estimate on our fixed-price contracts, our profitability will decline, and we may suffer losses” in Item 1A of this report.

We have contracts that extend beyond one year. Most of our long-term contracts have provisions for progress payments. We attempt to cover anticipated increases in labor, material and service costs of our long-term contracts either through an estimate of such changes, which is reflected in the original price, or through risk-sharing mechanisms, such as escalation or price adjustments for items such as labor and commodity prices.

We generally recognize our contract revenues and related costs on a percentage-of-completion basis. Accordingly, we review contract price and cost estimates periodically as the work progresses and reflect adjustments in profit proportionate to the percentage of completion in the period when we revise those estimates. To the extent that these adjustments result in a reduction or an elimination of previously reported profits with respect to a project, we would recognize a charge against current earnings, which could be material. For the majority of parts orders and certain aftermarket services activities, we recognize revenues as goods are delivered and work is performed.

Our contracts with the U.S. Government are subject to annual funding determinations. In addition, contracts between the U.S. Government and its prime contractors usually contain standard provisions for termination at the convenience of the U.S. Government or the prime contractor. As a U.S. Government contractor, we are subject to federal regulations under which our right to receive future awards of new federal contracts would be unilaterally suspended or barred if we were convicted of a crime or indicted based on allegations of a violation of specific federal statutes. In addition, some of our contracts with the U.S. Government require us to provide advance notice in connection with any contemplated sale or shut down of the relevant facility. In each of those situations, the U.S. Government has an exclusive right to negotiate a mutually acceptable purchase of the facility. The contracts for the management and operation of U.S. Government facilities are awarded through a complex and protracted procurement process. These contracts are generally structured as five-year contracts with five-year renewal options, which are exercisable by the customer, or include provisions whereby the contract durations can be extended as a result of the achievement of certain performance metrics. These are cost-reimbursement contracts with a U.S. Government credit line with some corporate-funded working capital required. However, many new contracts currently in the bidding process and recently awarded have a different structure. While such contracts remain cost-reimbursement contracts, the contractor is required to supply working capital and be reimbursed by the U.S. Government through regular invoicing. These contracts include a fee primarily based on performance, which is evaluated annually.

Our arrangements with customers frequently require us to provide letters of credit, bid and performance bonds or guarantees to secure bids or performance under contracts. While these letters of credit, bonds and guarantees may involve significant dollar amounts, historically, there have been no material payments to our customers under these arrangements.

In the event of a contract deferral or cancellation, we generally would be entitled to recover costs incurred, settlement expenses and profit on work completed prior to deferral or termination. Significant or numerous cancellations could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

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Backlog

Backlog represents the dollar amount of revenue we expect to recognize in the future from contracts awarded and in progress. Not all of our expected revenue from a contract award is recorded in backlog for a variety of reasons, including that some projects are awarded and completed within the same fiscal quarter.

Backlog is not a measure defined by generally accepted accounting principles, and our methodology for determining backlog may not be comparable to the methodology used by other companies in determining their backlog amounts. Backlog may not be indicative of future operating results, and projects in our backlog may be cancelled, modified or otherwise altered by customers.

We generally include expected revenue of contracts in our backlog when we receive written confirmation from our customers.

Our backlog at December 31, 2012 and 2011 was as follows:

 

     December 31,     December 31,  
     2012     2011  
     (Dollars in millions)  

Power Generation

   $ 2,483         43   $ 1,947         37

Nuclear Operations

     2,984         52     2,995         56

Technical Services

     4         0     14         0

Nuclear Energy

     278         5     383         7
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Backlog

   $ 5,749         100   $ 5,339         100
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Of the December 31, 2012 backlog, we expect to recognize revenues as follows:

 

     2013      2014      Thereafter  
     (In approximate millions)  

Power Generation

   $ 1,200       $ 300       $ 983   

Nuclear Operations

     1,100         740         1,144   

Technical Services

     4         —           —     

Nuclear Energy

     180         40         58   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Backlog

   $ 2,484       $ 1,080       $ 2,185   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2012, our backlog with the U.S. Government, primarily attributable to our Nuclear Operations segment, was approximately $3.0 billion (of which $180.6 million has been awarded but not yet funded), or approximately 52% of our total consolidated backlog. We do not include the value of our unconsolidated joint venture contracts in backlog, which may be material. These unconsolidated joint ventures are included in our Power Generation, Technical Services and Nuclear Energy segments. See Note 3 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for financial information on our equity method investments.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, the U.S. Government awarded us new orders of approximately $1,153.1 million, $1,078.7 million of which pertains to our Nuclear Operations segment. Major new awards from the U.S. Government are typically received during the fourth quarter of each year, following congressional approval of the budget for the government’s next fiscal year, which starts October 1.

 

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Competition

The competitive environments in which each segment operates are described below.

Power Generation. With more than 140 years of experience, we provide advanced steam generating equipment, emissions control equipment and services. Having supplied worldwide capacity of more than 300,000 megawatts and some of the world’s largest and most efficient steam generating systems, we have a competitive advantage in our experience and technical capability to reliably convert a wide range of fuels to steam. Our strong, installed base in North America also yields competitive advantages in after-market services, although this segment of the market is highly competitive and price sensitive. Through this segment, we compete with a number of domestic and foreign-based companies specializing in steam generating systems technology, equipment and services, including Alstom S.A., Doosan Babcock, Babcock Power, Inc., Foster Wheeler AG., and Hitachi, Ltd.; a variety of engineering and construction companies with respect to the installation of steam-generating systems; a number of additional companies in the markets for environmental control equipment and related specialized industrial equipment and in the independent power-producing business; and other suppliers of replacement parts, repair and alteration services and other services required to retrofit and maintain existing steam systems. The primary bases of competition for this segment are price, technical capabilities, quality, timeliness of performance, breadth of products and services and willingness to accept project risks.

Nuclear Operations. We have specialized technical capabilities that have allowed us to be a valued supplier of nuclear components and fuel for the U.S. Government’s naval nuclear fleet since the 1950s. Because of the technical standards required to meet U.S. Government contracting requirements for nuclear components and the barriers to entry present in this type of environment, competition in this segment is limited. The primary bases of limited competition for this segment are price, high capital investment, technical capabilities and quality of products and services.

Technical Services. Through this segment, we are engaged in a highly competitive business through our management and operation of U.S. Government facilities. Many of our government contracts are bid as a joint venture with one or more companies, in which we may have a majority or a minority position. The performance of the prime or lead contractor can impact our reputation and our future competitive position with respect to that particular project and customer. Our primary competitors in the delivery of goods and services to the U.S. Government and the operation of U.S. Government facilities include Bechtel National, Inc., URS Corporation, CH2M Hill, Inc., Fluor Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., EnergySolutions, Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corporation. The primary bases of competition for this segment are price, performance, availability of key personnel and technical capabilities.

Nuclear Energy. Our Nuclear Energy segment supplies commercial nuclear steam generators and components. In addition, this segment is actively designing the modular and scalable B&W mPowerTM reactor. B&W has supplied the nuclear industry with more than 1,300 large, heavy components worldwide. With manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Canada, this segment is the only heavy nuclear component manufacturer in North America. Our Nuclear Energy segment fabricates pressure vessels, reactors, steam generators, heat exchangers and other auxiliary equipment. This segment also provides specialized engineering and maintenance services, including services for plant outages and power plant construction. Through this segment, we compete with a number of companies specializing in nuclear capabilities including AREVA Inc., The Shaw Group Inc. and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The primary bases of competition for this segment are price, technical capabilities, quality, timeliness of performance, breadth of products and services and willingness to accept project risks.

Joint Ventures

We participate in the ownership of a variety of entities with third parties, primarily through corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships, which we refer to as “joint ventures.” Our Power Generation segment enters into joint ventures primarily to enhance its manufacturing, design and global production operations. Through several joint venture arrangements, our Technical Services segment manages and operates nuclear facilities and associated plant infrastructure, manufactures components and assembles/dismantles nuclear devices, constructs large capital facilities, provides safeguards and security for inventory and assets, supports and conducts research and development for advanced energy technology and manages environmental programs for the DOE and the NNSA.

 

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We generally account for our investments in joint ventures under the equity method of accounting. Certain of our unconsolidated joint ventures are described below.

Power Generation

 

   

Ebensburg Power Company & Ebensburg Investors Limited Partnership. Through these entities, which were formed by subsidiaries within our Power Generation segment and ESI Energy, Inc. in 1992, we own an interest in and operate a combined solid waste and cogeneration facility located in Cambria County near Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. This facility uses bituminous waste coal for its primary fuel and sells generated electricity to a utility.

 

   

Halley & Mellowes Pty. Ltd. Diamond Power International, Inc. (“DPII”), one of our wholly owned subsidiaries, owns an interest in this Australian company, which was formed in 1984. Halley & Mellowes Pty. Ltd. sells soot blowers, boiler cleaning equipment, valves and material handling equipment, primarily in Australian markets, all of which are complementary to DPII’s product lines.

 

   

Babcock & Wilcox Beijing Company, Ltd. We own equal interests in this entity with Beijing Jingcheng Machinery Electric Holding Company, Ltd. Babcock & Wilcox Beijing Company, Ltd. was formed in 1986 and is located in Beijing, China. Its main activities are the design, manufacture, production and sale of various power plant and industrial boilers. It operates the largest heavy drum shop in northern China. This entity expands our markets internationally and provides additional capacity to our Power Generation segment’s boiler business.

 

   

Thermax Babcock & Wilcox Energy Solutions Private Limited. In June 2010, one of our subsidiaries and Thermax Ltd., a boiler manufacturer based in India, formed a joint venture to build subcritical and highly efficient supercritical boilers and pulverizers for the Indian utility boiler market. We have licensed to the joint venture our technology for subcritical boilers 300 MW and larger, highly efficient supercritical boilers and coal pulverizers. The joint venture is constructing a new 3,000 MW pressure parts facility in India, which we expect to be ready for operations by
mid-2013.

Technical Services

 

   

Pantex Plant. Through Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Pantex, LLC, a limited liability company we formed with Honeywell International Inc. and Bechtel National, Inc., we manage and operate the Pantex Plant for the DOE. The Pantex Plant is located on a 16,000-acre NNSA site near Amarillo, Texas. Key operations at this facility include evaluating, retrofitting and repairing nuclear devices; dismantling and sanitizing nuclear devices; developing, testing and fabricating high-explosive components; and handling and storing plutonium pits. (See Y-12 National Security Complex discussion below for further information).

 

   

Y-12 National Security Complex. Through Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, LLC, a limited liability company we formed with Bechtel National, Inc. and in which we own a majority interest, we manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex for the DOE. Y-12 is located on an 811-acre NNSA site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Operations at the site focus on the production, refurbishment and dismantlement of nuclear devices, storage of nuclear material and the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. On January 8, 2013, we were notified that our joint venture, Nuclear Production Partners, LLC (“NP2”), was not selected to lead the NNSA’s combined Management and Operating (“M&O”) contract for the Y-12 National Security Complex and Pantex Plant. On January 18, 2013, NP2 filed a protest against NNSA’s award of the M&O contract.

 

   

Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Since 1993, this facility has been managed and operated by DM Petroleum Operations Company, an entity we co-owned with DynCorp International, International-Matex Tank and Terminals and Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve stores an emergency supply of crude oil at four sites in huge underground salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. We sold our interest in this entity during 2012.

 

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Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since 2006, Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a limited liability company formed in 2005 with the University of California, Bechtel National, Inc., URS Corporation and BWX Technologies, Inc. (“BWXT”), has managed and operated the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a premier national security research institution, delivering scientific and engineering solutions for the nation’s most crucial and complex problems. Located in New Mexico, the Los Alamos National Laboratory conducts ongoing research and development on the measures necessary for certifying the safety and reliability of nuclear devices without the use of nuclear testing for the U.S. Government.

 

   

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, a limited liability company formed in 2006 with the University of California, Bechtel National, Inc., URS Corporation and BWXT, manages and operates Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory located in Livermore, California. The laboratory serves as a national resource in science and engineering, focused on national security, energy, the environment and bioscience, with special responsibility for nuclear devices.

 

   

Savannah River Liquid Waste Disposition Program. In July 2009, Savannah River Remediation LLC, a limited liability company formed by URS Corporation, Bechtel National, Inc., CH2M Hill Constructors, Inc. and Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group, Inc. (“B&W TSG”) became the liquid waste contractor for the DOE’s Savannah River Site located in Aiken, South Carolina. The objective of this program is to achieve closure of the Savannah River Site liquid waste tanks in compliance with the Federal Facilities Agreement, utilizing the Defense Waste Processing Facility and Saltstone Facility.

 

   

Nevada National Security Site. National Security Technologies, LLC (“NSTec”), a limited liability company formed by Northrop Grumman Corporation, AECOM Technology Corporation, CH2M Hill and B&W TSG manages and operates the Nevada Test Site and its related facilities and laboratories for the DOE. Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, NSTec works on projects for other federal agencies such as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, NASA, the NRC and the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy. Missions include defense experimentation and stockpile stewardship, homeland security and defense applications and environmental management.

 

   

Decontamination & Decommissioning Services. Babcock & Wilcox Shaw Remediation, LLC is a limited liability company formed by B&W TSG and Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. to provide environmental remediation services for the Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in New York, the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in Pennsylvania and the Naval Reactor Facility in Idaho.

 

   

Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant D&D. Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC is a limited liability company formed by Fluor Federal Services, Inc. and B&W TSG, to provide nuclear operations, decontamination and decommissioning services at the Portsmouth plant in Ohio.

 

   

Uranium Conversion Operations. Babcock & Wilcox Conversion Services, LLC is a limited liability company formed by B&W TSG and URS Corporation to perform uranium conversion operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky and the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio.

 

   

Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (“AMWTP”). Idaho Treatment Group, LLC (“ITG”) is a limited liability company we formed with URS Energy & Construction and EnergySolutions Federal Services, Inc. ITG is responsible for management and operations at the DOE’s AMWTP located in Idaho Falls, Idaho. AMWTP’s purpose is to safely process and dispose of transuranic waste and mixed low-level waste at the Department’s Idaho Site Transuranic Storage Area while maintaining a fully operational facility.

 

   

West Valley Demonstration Project Phase I Decommissioning and Facility Disposition. CH2M Hill-B&W West Valley is a limited liability company formed by CH2MHILL Constructors, Inc., B&W TSG and Environmental Chemical Corporation. Services provided include project management and support services, site operations, maintenance, utilities, high-level waste canister relocation, facility disposition, waste tank farm management, NRC-licensed disposal area management, waste management and nuclear materials disposition and safeguards and security.

 

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Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Nuclear Waste Partnership, LLC is a limited liability company formed by B&W TSG, URS Corporation and Areva Federal Services, LLC as the major subcontractor. The purpose of the partnership is to manage and operate DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Nuclear Energy

 

   

BWB Maintenance Services. Through our subsidiary B&W Nuclear Maintenance Services, Inc., we formed a limited liability company, BWB Maintenance Services Company, LLC, in partnership with Bartlett Holdings Inc., to perform maintenance and project services for certain Progress Energy (subsequently acquired by Duke Energy) nuclear sites located in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

Foreign Operations

We have foreign operations in our Power Generation and Nuclear Energy segments. Our Canadian operations serve the North American electric utility, industrial power and global nuclear utility markets. Our operations in Denmark provide comprehensive services to companies in the waste-to-energy sector of the power generation market, primarily in eastern and western Europe. Our joint venture in China primarily serves the power generation needs of the Chinese domestic and other utility markets. The functional currency of these entities is not the U.S. Dollar, and as a result, we are subject to exchange rate fluctuations that impact our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Our combined Power Generation and Nuclear Energy segment revenues, net of intersegment revenues, and income derived from operations located outside of the United States, as well as the approximate percentages of our total consolidated and combined revenues and total consolidated and combined operating income, respectively, for each of the last three years were as follows (dollars in thousands):

 

                                                                           
     Revenues     Operating Income  
     Amount      Percent of
Consolidated
    Amount      Percent of
Consolidated
 

Year ended December 31, 2012

   $ 684,886         21   $ 98,699         28

Year ended December 31, 2011

   $ 641,612         22   $ 57,032         60

Year ended December 31, 2010

   $ 539,548         20   $ 62,587         26

Our revenues exclude revenues attributable to our joint ventures accounted for under the equity method of accounting, while our operating income includes results from joint ventures accounted for under the equity method.

For additional information on the geographic distribution of our revenues, see Note 17 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report.

Customers

We provide our products and services to a diverse customer base, including utilities and other power producers, businesses in various process industries, such as pulp and paper mills, petrochemical plants, oil refineries and steel mills and the U.S. Government. Our largest customers, as a percentage of our total consolidated and combined revenues, during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 were as follows:

 

Year Ended December 31, 2012:

  

U.S. Government

     34

Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County

     3

Year Ended December 31, 2011:

  

U.S. Government

     38

American Electric Power Company, Inc.

     6

 

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The U.S. Government is the primary customer of our Nuclear Operations and Technical Services segments. Revenues from the U.S. Government comprised 99% and 98% of segment revenues for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, in our Nuclear Operations segment. Revenues from the U.S. Government comprised 41% and 74% of segment revenues for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, in our Technical Services segment.

Our non-U.S. Government customers that account for a significant portion of revenues in one year may represent an immaterial portion of revenues in subsequent years.

Raw Materials and Suppliers

Our operations use raw materials, such as carbon and alloy steels in various forms and components and accessories for assembly, which are available from numerous sources. We generally purchase these raw materials and components as needed for individual contracts. Our Power Generation and Nuclear Energy segments do not depend on a single source of supply for any significant raw materials. Our Nuclear Operations segment relies on several single-source suppliers for materials used in its products. We believe these suppliers are viable, and we and the U.S. Government expend significant effort to monitor and maintain the supplier base for our Nuclear Operations segment.

Although shortages of some raw materials have existed from time to time, no serious shortage exists at the present time.

Employees

At December 31, 2012, we employed approximately 14,000 persons worldwide. Approximately 3,500 of our employees were members of labor unions at December 31, 2012. Many of our operations are subject to union contracts, which we customarily renew periodically. We consider our relationships with our employees to be satisfactory.

Patents and Licenses

We currently hold a large number of U.S. and foreign patents and have patent applications pending. We have acquired patents and technology licenses and granted technology licenses to others when we have considered it advantageous for us to do so. Although in the aggregate our patents and licenses are important to us, we do not regard any single patent or license or group of related patents or licenses as critical or essential to our business as a whole. In general, we depend on our technological capabilities and the application of know-how, rather than patents and licenses, in the conduct of our various businesses.

Research and Development Activities

Our principal research and development activities are conducted primarily in Barberton, Ohio and Lynchburg, Virginia, and at our various manufacturing plants and engineering and design offices. Our Barberton facility is a world-class institution for the advancement and development of energy conversion and combustion systems, environmental emissions control processes, materials selection and manufacturing technologies for the power generation industry. Our research and development activities are related to the development and improvement of new and existing products and equipment, as well as conceptual and engineering evaluation for translation into practical applications. We charge to research and development cost the costs of research and development unrelated to specific contracts as incurred. Substantially all of these costs are in our Power Generation and Nuclear Energy segments and include costs related to the development of our modular nuclear reactor business, B&W mPowerTM. Research and development activities (including in-kind research and development services described below) totaled $173.9 million, $163.0 million and $102.1 million in the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively, which include amounts paid for by our customers of $53.4 million, $56.6 million and $32.9 million, respectively. We expect to continue significant spending on research and development projects, as we continue development of the B&W mPowerTM reactor technology and other commercial nuclear development projects. Contractual arrangements for customer-sponsored research and development can vary on a case-by-case basis and include contracts, cooperative agreements and grants. In November 2012, our Nuclear Energy segment was selected as the winner of the DOE’s competitively bid Small Modular Reactor (“SMR”) Licensing Technical Support Program, and will receive funding that will support accelerated development of its B&W mPower™ SMR technology.

 

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During the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, we recognized $17.9 million and $16.6 million, respectively, of non-cash in-kind research and development costs (included above) related to services contributed by our minority partner to Generation mPower LLC (“GmP”), our majority-owned subsidiary formed in 2011 to oversee the program to develop the small modular nuclear power plant based on B&W mPowerTM technology.

Hazard Risks and Insurance

Our operations present risks of injury to or death of people, loss of or damage to property and damage to the environment. We have created loss control systems to assist us in the identification and treatment of the hazard risks presented by our operations, and we endeavor to make sure these systems are effective.

As loss control measures will not always be successful, we seek to establish various means of funding losses and liability related to incidents or occurrences. We primarily seek to do this through contractual protections, including waivers of consequential damages, indemnities, caps on liability, liquidated damage provisions, and access to the insurance of other parties. We also procure insurance, operate our own captive insurance company and/or establish funded or unfunded reserves. However, none of these methods will eliminate all risks.

Depending on competitive conditions, the nature of the work, industry custom and other factors, we may not be successful in obtaining adequate contractual protection from our customers and other parties against losses and liabilities arising out of or related to the performance of our work. The scope of the protection may be limited, may be subject to conditions and may not be supported by adequate insurance or other means of financing. In addition, we sometimes have difficulty enforcing our contractual rights with others following a material loss.

Similarly, insurance for certain potential losses or liabilities may not be available or may only be available at a cost or on terms we consider not to be economical. Insurers frequently react to market losses by ceasing to write or severely limiting coverage for certain exposures. Risks that we have frequently found difficult to cost-effectively insure against include, but are not limited to, business interruption, property losses from wind, flood and earthquake events, nuclear hazards, war and confiscation or seizure of property in some areas of the world, pollution liability, liabilities related to occupational health exposures (including asbestos), liability related to our executives participating in the management of certain outside entities, professional liability/errors and omissions coverage, the failure, misuse or unavailability of our information systems, the failure of security measures designed to protect our information systems from security breaches and liability related to risk of loss of our work in progress and customer-owned materials in our care, custody and control. In cases where we place insurance, we are subject to the credit worthiness of the relevant insurer(s), the available limits of the coverage, our retention under the relevant policy, exclusions in the policy and gaps in coverage.

Our operations in designing, engineering, manufacturing, constructing and servicing nuclear power equipment and components for our commercial nuclear utility customers, subject us to various risks, including, without limitation, damage to our customers’ property and third party claims for personal injury, environmental liability, death and property damage. To protect against liability for damage to a customer’s property, we endeavor to obtain waivers of liability and subrogation from the customer and its insurer and are usually named as an additional insured under the utility customer’s nuclear property policy. We also attempt to cap our overall liability in our contracts. To protect against liability from claims brought by third parties, we seek to be insured under the utility customer’s nuclear liability policies and have the benefit of the indemnity and limitation of any applicable liability provision of the Price-Anderson Act. The Price-Anderson Act limits the public liability of U.S. manufacturers and operators of licensed nuclear facilities and other parties who may be liable in respect of, and indemnifies them against, all claims in excess of a certain amount. This amount is determined by the sum of commercially available liability insurance plus certain retrospective premium assessments payable by operators of commercial nuclear reactors. For those sites where we provide environmental remediation services, we seek the same protection from our customers as we do for our other nuclear activities. The Price-Anderson Act, as amended, includes a sunset provision and requires renewal each time that it expires. Contracts that were entered into during a period of time that Price-Anderson was in full force and effect continue to receive the benefit of the Price-Anderson Act’s nuclear indemnity. The Price-Anderson Act is set to expire on December 31, 2025. We also provide nuclear fabrication and other services to the nuclear

 

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power industry in Canada. Canada’s Nuclear Liability Act generally conforms to international conventions and is conceptually similar to the Price-Anderson Act in the United States. Accordingly, indemnification protections and the possibility of exclusions under Canada’s Nuclear Liability Act are similar to those under the Price-Anderson Act in the United States.

Although we do not own or operate any nuclear reactors, we have some coverage under commercially available nuclear liability and property insurance for our facilities that are currently licensed to possess special nuclear materials. Substantially all of our Nuclear Operations segment contracts involving nuclear materials are covered by and subject to the nuclear indemnity provisions of either the Price-Anderson Act or Public Law 85-804 which, among other things, authorizes the DOE to indemnify certain contractors when such acts would facilitate national defense. However, to the extent the value of the nuclear materials in our care, custody or control exceeds the commercially available limits of our insurance, we potentially have underinsured risk of loss for such nuclear material.

Our Technical Services segment participates in the management and operation of various U.S. Government facilities. This participation is customarily accomplished through the participation in joint ventures with other contractors for any given facility. These activities involve, among other things, handling nuclear devices and their components from the aging stockpile of the U.S. Government. Insurable liabilities arising from these sites are rarely protected by our or our partners’ corporate insurance programs. Instead, we rely on government contractual agreements, insurance purchased specifically for a site and certain specialized self-insurance programs funded by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government has historically fulfilled its contractual agreement to reimburse its contractors for covered claims, and we expect it to continue this process during our participation in the administration of these facilities. However, in most of these situations in which the U.S. Government is contractually obligated to pay, the payment obligation is subject to the availability of authorized government funds. The reimbursement obligation of the U.S. Government is also conditional, and provisions of the relevant contract or applicable law may preclude reimbursement.

Our wholly owned captive insurance subsidiary provides workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, commercial general liability and automotive liability insurance to support our operations. We may also have business reasons in the future to have our insurance subsidiary accept other risks that we cannot or do not wish to transfer to outside insurance companies. These risks may be considerable in any given year or cumulatively. Our insurance subsidiary has not provided significant amounts of insurance to unrelated parties. Claims, as a result of our operations, could adversely impact the ability of our insurance subsidiary to respond to all claims presented.

Additionally, upon the February 22, 2006 effectiveness of the settlement relating to the Chapter 11 proceedings involving several of our subsidiaries, most of our subsidiaries contributed substantial insurance rights to the asbestos personal injury trust, including rights to (1) certain pre-1979 primary and excess insurance coverages and (2) certain of our 1979-1986 excess insurance coverage. These insurance rights provided coverage for, among other things, asbestos and other personal injury claims, subject to the terms and conditions of the policies. The contribution of these insurance rights was made in exchange for the agreement on the part of the representatives of the asbestos claimants, including the representative of future claimants, to the entry of a permanent injunction, pursuant to Section 524(g) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, to channel to the asbestos trust all asbestos-related claims against our subsidiaries and former subsidiaries arising out of, resulting from or attributable to their operations, and the implementation of related releases and indemnification provisions protecting those subsidiaries and their affiliates from future liability for such claims. Although we are not aware of any significant, unresolved claims against our subsidiaries and former subsidiaries that are not subject to the channeling injunction and that relate to the periods during which such excess insurance coverage related, with the contribution of these insurance rights to the asbestos personal injury trust, it is possible that we could have underinsured or uninsured exposure for non-derivative asbestos claims or other personal injury or other claims that would have been insured under these coverages had the insurance rights not been contributed to the asbestos personal injury trust.

 

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Governmental Regulations and Environmental Matters

General

Many aspects of our operations and properties are affected by political developments and are subject to both domestic and foreign governmental regulations, including those relating to:

 

   

constructing and equipping electric power and other industrial facilities;

 

   

possessing and processing special nuclear materials;

 

   

workplace health and safety;

 

   

currency conversions and repatriation;

 

   

taxation of foreign earnings and earnings of expatriate personnel; and

 

   

protecting the environment.

We are required by various governmental and quasi-governmental agencies to obtain certain permits, licenses and certificates with respect to our operations. The kinds of permits, licenses and certificates required in our operations depend upon a number of factors.

We cannot determine the extent to which new legislation, new regulations or changes in existing laws or regulations may affect our future operations.

Environmental

Our operations and properties are subject to a wide variety of increasingly complex and stringent foreign, federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, including those governing discharges into the air and water, the handling and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes, the remediation of soil and groundwater contaminated by hazardous substances and the health and safety of employees. Sanctions for noncompliance may include revocation of permits, corrective action orders, administrative or civil penalties and criminal prosecution. Some environmental laws provide for strict, joint and several liability for remediation of spills and other releases of hazardous substances, as well as damage to natural resources. In addition, companies may be subject to claims alleging personal injury or property damage as a result of alleged exposure to hazardous substances. Such laws and regulations may also expose us to liability for the conduct of or conditions caused by others or for our acts that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time such acts were performed.

These laws and regulations include the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (“CERCLA”), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and similar laws that provide for responses to, and liability for, releases of hazardous substances into the environment. These laws and regulations also include similar foreign, state or local counterparts to these federal laws, which regulate air emissions, water discharges, hazardous substances and waste and require public disclosure related to the use of various hazardous substances. Our operations are also governed by laws and regulations relating to workplace safety and worker health, including the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations promulgated thereunder.

We are currently in the process of investigating and remediating some of our current and former operating sites. Although we have recorded reserves in connection with certain of these matters, due to the uncertainties associated with environmental remediation, we cannot assure you that the actual costs resulting from these remediation matters will not exceed the recorded reserves.

Our compliance with U.S. federal, state and local environmental control and protection regulations resulted in pretax charges of approximately $15.3 million, $13.2 million and $13.0 million in the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively. In addition, compliance with existing environmental regulations necessitated capital expenditures of $3.2 million, $1.8 million and $0.5 million in the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. We expect to spend another $3.1 million on such capital expenditures over the next five years. We cannot predict all of the environmental requirements or circumstances that will exist in the future but anticipate that environmental control and protection standards will become increasingly stringent and costly. Based on our experience to date, we do not currently anticipate any material adverse effect on our business or consolidated financial condition as a result of future compliance with existing environmental laws and regulations. However,

 

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future events, such as changes in existing laws and regulations or their interpretation, more vigorous enforcement policies of regulatory agencies or stricter or different interpretations of existing laws and regulations, may require additional expenditures by us, which may be material. Accordingly, we can provide no assurance that we will not incur significant environmental compliance costs in the future.

We have been identified as a potentially responsible party at various cleanup sites under CERCLA. CERCLA and other environmental laws can impose liability for the entire cost of cleanup on any of the potentially responsible parties, regardless of fault or the lawfulness of the original conduct. Generally, however, where there are multiple responsible parties, a final allocation of costs is made based on the amount and type of wastes disposed of by each party and the number of financially viable parties, although this may not be the case with respect to any particular site. We have not been determined to be a major contributor of wastes to any of these sites. On the basis of our relative contribution of waste to each site, we expect our share of the ultimate liability for the various sites will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in any given year.

We perform significant amounts of work for the U.S. Government under both prime contracts and subcontracts and operate certain facilities that are licensed to possess and process special nuclear materials. As a result of these activities, we are subject to continuing reviews by governmental agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) and the NRC.

The NRC’s decommissioning regulations require our Nuclear Operations segment to provide financial assurance that it will be able to pay the expected cost of decommissioning each of its licensed facilities at the end of its service life. We provided financial assurance aggregating $43.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2012 with existing letters of credit for the ultimate decommissioning of these licensed facilities. These two facilities have provisions in their government contracts pursuant to which substantially all of our decommissioning costs and financial assurance obligations are covered by the DOE, including the costs to complete the decommissioning projects underway at the Erwin, Tennessee facility. These letters of credit are to cover decommissioning required pursuant to work not subject to this DOE obligation.

The demand for power generation services and products can be influenced by state and federal governmental legislation setting requirements for utilities related to operations, emissions and environmental impacts. The legislative process is unpredictable and includes a platform that continuously seeks to increase the restrictions on power producers. Potential legislation limiting emissions from power plants, including carbon dioxide, could affect our markets and the demand for our products and services in our Power Generation segment.

At December 31, 2012 and 2011, we had total environmental reserves, including provisions for the facilities discussed above, of $49.6 million and $47.3 million, respectively. Of our total environmental reserves at December 31, 2012 and 2011, $3.1 million and $3.2 million, respectively, were included in current liabilities. Inherent in the estimates of those reserves and recoveries are our expectations regarding the levels of contamination, decommissioning costs and recoverability from other parties, which may vary significantly as decommissioning activities progress. Accordingly, changes in estimates could result in material adjustments to our operating results, and the ultimate loss may differ materially from the amounts we have provided for in our consolidated and combined financial statements.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

We are including the following discussion to inform our existing and potential security holders generally of some of the risks and uncertainties that can affect our company and to take advantage of the “safe harbor” protection for forward-looking statements that applicable federal securities law affords.

From time to time, our management or persons acting on our behalf make forward-looking statements to inform existing and potential security holders about our company. These statements may include projections and estimates concerning the timing and success of specific projects and our future backlog, revenues, income and capital spending. Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “seek,” “goal,” “could,” “intend”, “may,” “should” or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. In addition, sometimes we will specifically describe a statement as being a forward-looking statement and refer to this cautionary statement.

 

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In addition, various statements in this annual report on Form 10-K, including those that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Those forward-looking statements appear in Item 1 – “Business” and Item 3 – “Legal Proceedings” in Part I of this report and in Item 7 – “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and in the notes to our consolidated and combined financial statements in Item 8 of Part II of this report and elsewhere in this report.

These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to, or statements that are subject to risks, contingencies or uncertainties that relate to:

 

   

our business strategy;

 

   

future levels of revenues (including our backlog to the extent it may be viewed as an indicator of future revenues), operating margins, income from operations, net income or earnings per share;

 

   

anticipated levels of demand for our products and services;

 

   

future levels of research and development, capital, environmental or maintenance expenditures;

 

   

our beliefs regarding the timing and effects on our businesses of certain environmental and tax legislation, rules or regulations;

 

   

the success or timing of completion of ongoing or anticipated capital or maintenance projects;

 

   

expectations regarding the acquisition or divestiture of assets and businesses;

 

   

our ability to obtain and maintain appropriate insurance and indemnities;

 

   

the potential effects of judicial or other proceedings, including tax audits, on our business or businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows;

 

   

the anticipated effects of actions of third parties such as competitors, or federal, foreign, state or local regulatory authorities, or plaintiffs in litigation;

 

   

effective date and expected impact of accounting pronouncements; and

 

   

our plans regarding the design, research and development, financing and deployment of the B&W mPowerTM reactor.

We have based our forward-looking statements on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industries and our company. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and you should not rely unduly on them, as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that we cannot predict. In addition, we have based many of these forward-looking statements on assumptions about future events that may prove to be inaccurate. While our management considers these assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, our actual results may differ materially from the future performance that we have expressed or forecast in our forward-looking statements. Differences between actual results and any future performance suggested in our forward-looking statements could result from a variety of factors, including the following:

 

   

general economic and business conditions and industry trends;

 

   

general developments in the industries in which we are involved;

 

   

decisions on spending by the U.S. Government and power generating companies;

 

   

the highly competitive nature of our businesses;

 

   

cancellations of and adjustments to backlog and the resulting impact from using backlog as an indicator of future earnings;

 

   

our ability to perform projects on time, in accordance with the schedules established by the applicable contracts with customers;

 

   

the ability of our suppliers to deliver raw materials in sufficient quantities and in a timely manner;

 

   

volatility and uncertainty of the credit markets;

 

   

our ability to comply with covenants in our credit agreements and other debt instruments and availability, terms and deployment of capital;

 

   

the impact of our unfunded pension liabilities on liquidity, and our ability to fund such liabilities in the future, including our ability to continue being reimbursed by the U.S. Government for a portion of our pension funding obligations, which is contingent on maintaining our government contracts;

 

   

the continued availability of qualified personnel;

 

   

the operating risks normally incident to our lines of business, including the potential impact of liquidated damages;

 

   

changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, government regulations;

 

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adverse outcomes from legal and regulatory proceedings;

 

   

impact of potential regional, national and/or global requirements to significantly limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future;

 

   

our ability to successfully manage research and development projects, including our efforts to develop the small modular nuclear power plant based on B&W mPowerTM technology;

 

   

impact of potential regulatory and industry response affecting the timing and cost of future nuclear development as a result of the March 11, 2011 earthquakes and tsunami on certain of Japan’s nuclear facilities;

 

   

changes in, and liabilities relating to, existing or future environmental regulatory matters;

 

   

rapid technological changes;

 

   

the consequences of significant changes in interest rates and currency exchange rates;

 

   

results of tax audits, including a determination by the IRS that the spin-off or certain transactions should be treated as a taxable transaction, and the realization of deferred tax assets;

 

   

our ability to manage our capital structure, including our access to capital, credit ratings, debt and ability to raise additional financing;

 

   

difficulties we may encounter in obtaining regulatory or other necessary approvals of any strategic transactions;

 

   

the risks associated with integrating businesses we acquire;

 

   

our ability to realize adequate returns and related dividends on our investments in unconsolidated affiliates;

 

   

our ability to maintain operational support for our information systems against service outages and data corruption, as well as protection against cyber-based network security breaches and theft of data;

 

   

social, political and economic situations in foreign countries where we do business;

 

   

the possibilities of war, other armed conflicts or terrorist attacks;

 

   

the effects of asserted and unasserted claims;

 

   

our ability to obtain and maintain surety bonds, letters of credit, bank guarantees and financing;

 

   

our ability to obtain and maintain builder’s risk, liability, property and other insurance in amounts and on terms we consider adequate and at rates that we consider economical;

 

   

our ability to successfully develop competitive new technologies and products;

 

   

the aggregated risks retained in our captive insurance subsidiary; and

 

   

the impact of the loss of insurance rights as part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy settlement concluded in 2006 involving several of our subsidiaries.

We believe the items we have outlined above are important factors that could cause estimates in our financial statements to differ materially from actual results and those expressed in a forward-looking statement made in this report or elsewhere by us or on our behalf. We have discussed many of these factors in more detail elsewhere in this report. These factors are not necessarily all the factors that could affect us. Unpredictable or unanticipated factors we have not discussed in this report could also have material adverse effects on actual results of matters that are the subject of our forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update our description of important factors each time a potential important factor arises, except as required by applicable securities laws and regulations. We advise our security holders that they should (1) be aware that factors not referred to above could affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and (2) use caution and common sense when considering our forward-looking statements.

Available Information

Our website address is www.babcock.com. We make available through the Investor Relations section of this website under “SEC Filings,” free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, statements of beneficial ownership of securities on Forms 3, 4 and 5 and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file those materials with, or furnish those materials to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. You may obtain information regarding the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. We have also posted on our website our: Corporate Governance Principles; Code of Business Conduct; Code of Ethics for our Chief Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers; Board of Directors Conflicts of Interest Policies and Procedures; Management, Board Members and Independent Director Contact Information; By-laws; and charters for the Audit & Finance, Governance, Compensation and Safety & Security Committees of our Board.

 

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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

Risk Factors Related to Our Business

We derive substantial revenues from electric power generating companies and other steam-using industries, with demand for our products and services depending on capital expenditures in these historically cyclical industries. Additionally, recent legislative and regulatory developments relating to clean air legislation are impacting plans for new coal-fired power plants within the United States.

The demand for power generation products and services depends primarily on the capital expenditures of electric power generating companies, paper companies and other steam-using industries and expenditures by original equipment manufacturers. These capital expenditures are influenced by such factors as:

 

   

prices for electricity, along with the cost of production and distribution;

 

   

prices for natural resources such as coal and natural gas;

 

   

demand for electricity, paper and other end products of steam-generating facilities;

 

   

availability of other sources of electricity, paper or other end products;

 

   

requirements of environmental legislation and regulation, including potential requirements applicable to carbon dioxide emissions;

 

   

impact of potential regional, state, national and/or global requirements to significantly limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future;

 

   

level of capacity utilization at operating power plants, paper mills and other steam-using facilities;

 

   

requirements for maintenance and upkeep at operating power plants and paper mills to combat the accumulated effects of wear and tear;

 

   

ability of electric generating companies and other steam users to raise capital; and

 

   

relative prices of fuels used in boilers, compared to prices for fuels used in gas turbines and other alternative forms of generation.

A material decline in capital expenditures by electric power generating companies, paper companies and other steam-using industries over a sustained period of time could materially and adversely affect the demand for our power generation products and services and, therefore, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. U.S. coal-fired power plants have been scrutinized by environmental groups and government regulators over the emissions of potentially harmful pollutants. The recent economic environment and uncertainty concerning new environmental legislation or replacement rules or regulations has caused many of our major customers, principally electric utilities, to delay making substantial capital expenditures for new plants, as well as upgrades to existing power plants.

We rely on U.S. Government contracts for a large percentage of our revenue, and some of those contracts are subject to continued appropriations by Congress and may be terminated or delayed if future funding is not made available. In addition, the U.S. Government may not renew or may seek to modify our existing contracts.

For the year ended December 31, 2012, we relied on U.S. Government contracts for approximately 34% of our revenue. Government contracts are subject to various uncertainties, restrictions and regulations, including oversight audits, which could result in withholding or delaying of payments to us, and termination or modification at the U.S. Government’s convenience. In addition, some of our large, multi-year contracts with the U.S. Government are subject to annual funding determinations and the continuing availability of Congressional appropriations. Although multi-year operations may be planned in connection with major procurements, Congress generally appropriates funds on a fiscal-year basis even though a program may continue for several years. Consequently, programs often are only partially funded initially, and additional funds are committed only as Congress makes further appropriations. In years when the U.S. Government does not complete its budget process before the end of its fiscal year on September 30, government operations typically are funded through a continuing resolution that authorizes agencies of the U.S. Government to continue to operate, but does not authorize new spending initiatives. Congress

 

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has passed a continuing resolution to fund U.S. Government operations through March 27, 2013. When the U.S. Government operates under a continuing resolution, delays can occur in the procurement of products and services. As a result, we are subject to ongoing uncertainties associated with U.S. Government budget restraints and other factors affecting government funding.

In August 2011, Congress enacted the Budget Control Act of 2011, which committed the U.S. Government to significantly reducing the federal deficit over ten years. The Budget Control Act established caps on discretionary spending through 2021. It also called for substantial automatic spending cuts split between defense and non-defense programs scheduled to start in March 2013 and continue over a nine-year period. In January 2013, Congress enacted the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which addressed a number of tax code provisions and certain spending issues, but left in place the automatic spending cuts (although delaying their implementation to March 1, 2013). While we believe our programs are well aligned with national defense and other strategic priorities, the outcome of efforts underway to prevent the automatic spending cuts is uncertain and certain proposed defense spending reductions, if enacted, could adversely impact programs in which we provide products or services. In addition, these cuts could adversely affect the viability of the suppliers and subcontractors under our programs.

The U.S. Government typically can terminate or modify any of its contracts with us either for its convenience or if we default by failing to perform under the terms of the applicable contract. A termination arising out of our default could expose us to liability and have an adverse effect on our ability to compete for future contracts and orders. If any of our contracts reflected in backlog are terminated by the U.S. Government, our backlog would be reduced by the expected value of the remaining work under such contracts. In addition, on those contracts for which we are teamed with others and are not the prime contractor, the U.S. Government could terminate a prime contract under which we are a subcontractor, irrespective of the quality of our products and services as a subcontractor. The reduction or termination of funding, or changes in the timing of funding, for a U.S. Government program in which we provide products or services would result in a reduction or loss of anticipated future revenues attributable to that program and could have a negative impact on our results of operations.

We also have several significant contracts with the U.S. Government that are subject to periodic renewal and rebidding through a competitive process. If the U.S. Government fails to renew these contracts, our results of operations and cash flows would be adversely affected. In January 2013, we were notified that our joint venture was not selected for the combined M&O contract for the Y-12 National Security Complex and Pantex Plant, although the selection is under protest.

As a result of these and other factors, the termination of one or more of our significant government contracts, our suspension from government contract work, the failure of the U.S. Government to renew our existing contracts or the disallowance of the payment of our contract costs could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Demand for our products and services is vulnerable to economic downturns and reductions in private sector and government spending.

Demand for our products and services has been, and we expect that demand will continue to be, subject to significant fluctuations due to a variety of factors beyond our control, including economic and industry conditions. We continued to experience uncertainty in 2012 from the global economic downturn in 2008-2009. Since 2008, concerns over inflation, energy costs, geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit and other market factors have contributed to increased volatility and diminished expectations for the global economy and expectations of slower global economic growth for the foreseeable future. Volatile oil and natural gas prices, low business and consumer confidence and high unemployment have remained despite economic improvements since 2009.

As a result, some of our customers have delayed, curtailed or cancelled proposed and existing projects and may continue to do so, which may decrease the overall demand for our products and services and adversely affect our results of operations.

In addition, our Nuclear Operations and Technical Services segments depend on U.S. Government funding, particularly funding levels at the DOE. Significant changes in the level of funding (for example, the annual budget of the DOE) or specifically mandated levels for individual programs that are important to our business could have an unfavorable impact on us. In addition, if Congress does not pass annual appropriations bills in a timely fashion,

 

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spending delays under our U.S. Government contracts may result. Any reduction in the level of U.S. Government funding, particularly at the DOE, may result in, among other things, a reduction in the number and scope of projects put out for bid by the U.S. Government or the curtailment of existing U.S. Government programs, either of which may result in a reduction in the number of contract award opportunities available to us, a reduction of activities at DOE sites and an increase in costs, including the costs of obtaining contract awards.

In addition, our customers may find it more difficult to raise capital in the future due to limitations on the availability of credit, increases in interest rates and other factors affecting the federal, municipal and corporate credit markets. Also, our customers may demand more favorable pricing terms and find it increasingly difficult to timely pay invoices for our services, which would impact our future cash flows and liquidity. Inflation or significant changes in interest rates could reduce the demand for our products and services. Any inability to timely collect our invoices may lead to an increase in our accounts receivables and potentially to increased write-offs of uncollectible invoices. If the economy weakens, or customer spending declines, then our backlog, revenues, net income and overall financial condition could deteriorate.

Our backlog is subject to unexpected adjustments and cancellations and may not be a reliable indicator of future revenues or earnings.

There can be no assurance that the revenues projected in our backlog will be realized or, if realized, will result in profits. Because of project cancellations or changes in project scope and schedule, we cannot predict with certainty when or if backlog will be performed. In addition, even where a project proceeds as scheduled, it is possible that contracted parties may default and fail to pay amounts owed to us or poor project performance could increase the cost associated with a project. Delays, suspensions, cancellations, payment defaults, scope changes and poor project execution could materially reduce or eliminate the revenues and profits that we actually realize from projects in backlog.

Reductions in our backlog due to cancellation or modification by a customer or for other reasons may adversely affect, potentially to a material extent, the revenues and earnings we actually receive from contracts included in our backlog. Many of the contracts in our backlog provide for cancellation fees in the event customers cancel projects. These cancellation fees usually provide for reimbursement of our out-of-pocket costs, revenues for work performed prior to cancellation and a varying percentage of the profits we would have realized had the contract been completed. However, we typically have no contractual right upon cancellation to the total revenues reflected in our backlog. Projects may remain in our backlog for extended periods of time. If we experience significant project terminations, suspensions or scope adjustments to contracts reflected in our backlog, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be adversely impacted.

We are subject to risks associated with contractual pricing in our industries, including the risk that, if our actual costs exceed the costs we estimate on our fixed-price contracts, our profitability will decline, and we may suffer losses.

We are engaged in highly competitive industries, and we have priced a number of our projects on a fixed-price basis. Our actual costs could exceed our projections. We attempt to cover the increased costs of anticipated changes in labor, material and service costs of long-term contracts, either through estimates of cost increases, which are reflected in the original contract price, or through price escalation clauses. Despite these attempts, however, the cost and gross profit we realize on a fixed-price contract could vary materially from the estimated amounts because of supplier, contractor and subcontractor performance, changes in job conditions, variations in labor and equipment productivity and increases in the cost of labor and raw materials, particularly steel, over the term of the contract. These variations and the risks generally inherent in our industries may result in actual revenues or costs being different from those we originally estimated and may result in reduced profitability or losses on projects. Some of these risks include:

 

   

difficulties encountered on our large-scale projects related to the procurement of materials or due to schedule disruptions, equipment performance failures, unforeseen site conditions or other factors that may result in additional costs to us, reductions in revenue, claims or disputes;

 

   

our inability to obtain compensation for additional work we perform or expenses we incur as a result of our customers providing deficient design or engineering information or equipment or materials;

 

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requirements to pay liquidated damages upon our failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of our contracts; and

 

   

difficulties in engaging third party subcontractors, equipment manufacturers or materials suppliers or failures by third party subcontractors, equipment manufacturers or materials suppliers to perform could result in project delays and cause us to incur additional costs.

Changes in our effective tax rate and tax positions may vary.

We are subject to income taxes in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions. A change in tax laws, treaties or regulations, or their interpretation, in any country in which we operate could result in a higher tax rate on our earnings, which could have a material impact on our earnings and cash flows from operations. In addition, significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We are regularly under audit by tax authorities. Although we believe that our tax estimates and tax positions are reasonable, they could be materially affected by many factors including the final outcome of tax audits and related litigation, the introduction of new tax accounting standards, legislation, regulations and related interpretations, our global mix of earnings, the realizability of deferred tax assets and changes in uncertain tax positions. A significant increase in our tax rate could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and liquidity.

Our business could be negatively impacted by security threats, including physical and cybersecurity threats, and other disruptions.

We face various security threats, including cyber threats, threats to the physical security of our facilities and infrastructure (including those that we manage and operate for our customers), and threats from terrorist acts, as well as the potential for business disruptions associated with these threats. Although we utilize a combination of tailored and industry standard security measures and technology to monitor and mitigate these threats, we cannot guarantee that these measures and technology will be sufficient to prevent security threats from materializing.

We have been, and will likely continue to be, subject to cyber-based attacks and other attempts to threaten our information technology systems, including attempts to gain unauthorized access to our proprietary or classified information and attacks from computer hackers, viruses, malicious code and other security problems. As a U.S. Government contractor, we may be prone to a greater number of those threats than companies in other industries. From time to time, we experience system interruptions and delays; however, prior cyber-based attacks directed at us have not had a material adverse impact on our results of operations. Due to the evolving nature of these security threats, however, the impact of any future incident cannot be predicted.

The costs related to cyber or other security threats or disruptions may not be fully insured or indemnified by other means. Occurrence of any of these events could adversely affect our internal operations, the services we provide to customers, the value of our investment in research and development efforts and other intellectual property, our future financial results, our reputation or our stock price.

In addition, from time to time we may replace and/or upgrade current financial, human resources and other information technology systems. These activities subject us to inherent costs and risks associated with replacing and updating these systems, including potential disruption of our internal control structure, substantial capital expenditures, demands on management time and other risks of delays or difficulties in transitioning to new systems or of integrating new systems into our current systems. Our systems implementations and upgrades may not result in productivity improvements at the levels anticipated, or at all. In addition, the implementation of new technology systems may cause disruptions in our business operations. Such disruption and any other information technology system disruptions, and our ability to mitigate those disruptions, if not anticipated and appropriately mitigated, could have a material adverse effect on us.

 

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We rely on intellectual property law and confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property. We also rely on intellectual property we license from third parties. Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights, or our inability to obtain or renew licenses to use intellectual property of third parties, could adversely affect our business.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect our proprietary information and other intellectual property. Our intellectual property could be stolen, challenged, invalidated, circumvented or rendered unenforceable. In addition, effective intellectual property protection may be limited or unavailable in some foreign countries where we operate.

Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights may result in the loss of valuable technologies or adversely affect our competitive business position. We rely significantly on proprietary technology, information, processes and know-how that are not subject to patent or copyright protection. We seek to protect this information through trade secret or confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, subcontractors or other parties, as well as through other security measures. These agreements and security measures may be inadequate to deter or prevent misappropriation of our confidential information. In the event of an infringement of our intellectual property rights, a breach of a confidentiality agreement or divulgence of proprietary information, we may not have adequate legal remedies to protect our intellectual property. Litigation to determine the scope of intellectual property rights, even if ultimately successful, could be costly and could divert management’s attention away from other aspects of our business. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently developed by competitors.

In some instances, we have augmented our technology base by licensing the proprietary intellectual property of third parties. In the future, we may not be able to obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms.

Our use of percentage-of-completion method of accounting could result in volatility in our results of operations.

We generally recognize revenues and profits under our long-term contracts on a percentage-of-completion basis. Accordingly, we review contract price and cost estimates periodically as the work progresses and reflect adjustments proportionate to the percentage of completion in income in the period when we revise those estimates. To the extent these adjustments result in a reduction or an elimination of previously reported profits with respect to a project, we would recognize a charge against current earnings, which could be material. Our current estimates of our contract costs and the profitability of our long-term projects, although reasonably reliable when made, could change as a result of the uncertainties associated with these types of contracts, and if adjustments to overall contract costs are significant, the reductions or reversals of previously recorded revenue and profits could be material in future periods.

Maintaining adequate bonding and letter of credit capacity is necessary for us to successfully bid on and win various contracts.

In line with industry practice, we are often required to post standby letters of credit and surety bonds to support contractual obligations to customers as well as other obligations. These letters of credit and bonds generally indemnify customers should we fail to perform our obligations under the applicable contracts. If a letter of credit or bond is required for a particular project and we are unable to obtain it due to insufficient liquidity or other reasons, we will not be able to pursue that project. We utilize bonding facilities, but, as is typically the case, the issuance of bonds under each of those facilities is at the surety’s sole discretion. In addition, we have capacity limits under our credit facility for letters of credit. Moreover, due to events that affect the insurance and bonding and credit markets generally, bonding and letters of credit may be more difficult to obtain in the future or may only be available at significant additional cost. There can be no assurance that letters of credit or bonds will continue to be available to us on reasonable terms. Our inability to obtain adequate letters of credit and bonding and, as a result, to bid on new work could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As of December 31, 2012, we had $217.3 million in letters of credit and bank guarantees, and $468.6 million in surety bonds outstanding.

 

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Volatility and uncertainty of the credit markets may negatively impact our ability to obtain financing.

We intend to finance our existing operations and initiatives with cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations, and potential borrowings, including under our revolving credit facility. Our ability to secure such borrowings will depend in part upon prevailing capital market conditions, as well as conditions in our business and our operating results; and those factors may affect our efforts to arrange financing on terms that are acceptable to us. The economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 and related financial industry turmoil resulted in a global tightening of credit markets and restricted access to capital. While we believe the credit markets have improved, uncertainty or deterioration in national or international economic conditions may adversely impact our ability to draw upon our revolving credit facility or obtain financing on favorable terms.

Our debt obligations and credit facility could restrict our operations.

The terms of our credit agreement impose various restrictions and covenants on us that could have adverse consequences, including:

 

   

limiting our ability to react to changing economic, regulatory and industry conditions;

 

   

limiting our ability to compete and our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry;

 

   

limiting our ability to invest in joint ventures or acquire other companies;

 

   

limiting our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders; and

 

   

limiting our ability to borrow additional funds.

Our business strategy includes acquisitions to support our growth. Acquisitions of other businesses can create certain risks and uncertainties.

We intend to pursue growth through the acquisition of businesses or assets that we believe will enable us to strengthen our existing businesses and expand into new industries and regions. We may be unable to continue this growth strategy if we cannot identify suitable businesses or assets, reach agreement on potential strategic acquisitions on acceptable terms or for other reasons. Moreover, business acquisitions involve certain risks, including:

 

   

difficulties relating to the assimilation of personnel, services and systems of an acquired business and the assimilation of marketing and other operational capabilities;

 

   

challenges resulting from unanticipated changes in customer relationships subsequent to acquisition;

 

   

additional financial and accounting challenges and complexities in areas such as tax planning, treasury management, financial reporting and internal controls;

 

   

assumption of liabilities of an acquired business, including liabilities that were unknown at the time the acquisition transaction was negotiated;

 

   

diversion of management’s attention from day-to-day operations;

 

   

failure to realize anticipated benefits, such as cost savings and revenue enhancements;

 

   

potentially substantial transaction costs associated with business combinations; and

 

   

potential impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets resulting from the overpayment for an acquisition.

Acquisitions may be funded by the issuance of additional equity or debt financing, which may not be available on attractive terms. Moreover, to the extent an acquisition transaction financed by non-equity consideration results in goodwill, it will reduce our tangible net worth, which might have an adverse effect on potential credit and bonding capacity.

Additionally, an acquisition may bring us into businesses we have not previously conducted and expose us to additional business risks that are different than those we have historically experienced.

 

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Our business strategy also includes development and commercialization of new technologies to support our growth, which requires significant investment and involves various risks and uncertainties.

Our future growth will depend on our ability to continue to innovate by developing and commercializing new product and service offerings. Investments in new technologies involve varying degrees of uncertainties and risk. Commercial success depends on many factors, including the levels of innovation, the development costs and the availability of capital resources to fund those costs, the levels of competition from others developing similar or other competing technologies, our ability to obtain or maintain government permits or certifications, the effectiveness of production, distribution and marketing efforts, and the costs to customers to deploy and provide support for the new technologies. We may not achieve significant revenue from new product and service investments for a number of years, if at all. Moreover, new products and services may not be profitable, and, even if they are profitable, our operating margins from new products and services may not be as high as the margins we have experienced historically. In addition, new technologies may not be patentable and, as a result, we may face increased competition.

Among our opportunities involving new technologies, we are developing the B&W mPower™ reactor, a small modular reactor designed with the flexibility to provide between 180 MW to greater than 1,000 MW of electrical power generation (in increments of 180 MW), and the capability to operate for a four year cycle without refueling. The development, general and administrative and capital costs to develop and commercialize this technology will require a substantial amount of investment over a period of years, and the funding requirements may vary significantly from period to period. We intend to continue with our plan to seek third party funding, however, we can provide no assurance that such third party funding will be provided or that, if provided, it will be sufficient. Commercialization of this technology will require certification from the NRC. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in addressing all the technological challenges to developing and commercializing this technology or in obtaining the required NRC certification. Furthermore, while there currently are various small reactor competitors with limited capability, the potential exists for other competitors to emerge with competing technologies, in some cases with funding readily available, and we can provide no assurance that those competitors will not develop and commercialize similar or superior technologies sooner than we can or at a significant cost or price advantage.

Our operations are subject to operating risks, which could expose us to potentially significant professional liability, product liability, warranty and other claims. Our insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover all of our significant risks or our insurers may deny coverage of material losses we incur, which could adversely affect our profitability and overall financial condition.

We engineer, construct and perform services in large industrial facilities where accidents or system failures can have significant consequences. Risks inherent in our operations include:

 

   

accidents resulting in injury or the loss of life or property;

 

   

environmental or toxic tort claims, including delayed manifestation claims for personal injury or loss of life;

 

   

pollution or other environmental mishaps;

 

   

adverse weather conditions;

 

   

mechanical failures;

 

   

property losses;

 

   

business interruption due to political action in foreign countries or other reasons; and

 

   

labor stoppages.

Any accident or failure at a site where we have provided products or services could result in significant professional liability, product liability, warranty and other claims against us, regardless of whether our products or services caused the incident. We have been, and in the future we may be, named as defendants in lawsuits asserting large claims as a result of litigation arising from events such as those listed above.

We endeavor to identify and obtain in established markets insurance agreements to cover significant risks and liabilities. Insurance against some of the risks inherent in our operations is either unavailable or available only at rates or on terms that we consider uneconomical. Also, catastrophic events customarily result in decreased coverage limits, more limited coverage, additional exclusions in coverage, increased premium costs and increased deductibles

 

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and self-insured retentions. Risks that we have frequently found difficult to cost-effectively insure against include, but are not limited to, business interruption, property losses from wind, flood and earthquake events, nuclear hazards, war and confiscation or seizure of property in some areas of the world, pollution liability, liabilities related to occupational health exposures (including asbestos), professional liability/errors and omissions coverage, the failure, misuse or unavailability of our information systems, the failure of security measures designed to protect our information systems from security breaches, and liability related to risk of loss of our work in progress and customer-owned materials in our care, custody and control. Depending on competitive conditions and other factors, we endeavor to obtain contractual protection against certain uninsured risks from our customers. When obtained, such contractual indemnification protection may not be as broad as we desire or may not be supported by adequate insurance maintained by the customer. Such insurance or contractual indemnity protection may not be sufficient or effective under all circumstances or against all hazards to which we may be subject. A successful claim for which we are not insured or for which we are underinsured could have a material adverse effect on us. Additionally, disputes with insurance carriers over coverage may affect the timing of cash flows and, if litigation with the carrier becomes necessary, an outcome unfavorable to us may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are also involved in management and operating activities for the U.S. Government where we are the prime contractor, including the Y-12 National Security Complex and Pantex Plant facilities. These activities involved, among other things, handling nuclear devices and their components from the aging stockpile of the U.S. Government. Most insurable liabilities arising from these sites are not protected in our corporate insurance program. Instead, we rely on government contractual agreements, some insurance purchased specifically for the sites and certain specialized self-insurance programs funded by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government has historically fulfilled its contractual agreement to reimburse for insurable claims, and we expect it to continue this process during our administration of these two facilities. However, it should be noted that, in most situations, the U.S. Government is contractually obligated to pay subject to the availability of authorized government funds. The reimbursement obligation of the U.S. Government is also conditional, and provisions of the relevant contract or applicable law may preclude reimbursement.

We have a captive insurance company subsidiary that provides us with various insurance coverages. Claims, as a result of our operations, could adversely impact the ability of our captive insurance company subsidiary to respond to all claims presented.

Additionally, upon the February 22, 2006 effectiveness of the settlement relating to the Chapter 11 proceedings involving several of our subsidiaries, most of our subsidiaries contributed substantial insurance rights providing coverage for, among other things, asbestos and other personal injury claims, to an asbestos personal injury trust. With the contribution of these insurance rights to the asbestos personal injury trust, we may have underinsured or uninsured exposure for non-derivative asbestos claims or other personal injury or other claims that would have been insured under these coverages had the insurance rights not been contributed to the asbestos personal injury trust.

Our nuclear operations subject us to various environmental, regulatory, financial and other risks.

Our operations in designing, engineering, manufacturing, supplying, constructing and maintaining nuclear fuel and nuclear power equipment and components subject us to various risks, including:

 

   

potential liabilities relating to harmful effects on the environment and human health resulting from nuclear operations and the storage, handling and disposal of radioactive materials;

 

   

unplanned expenditures relating to maintenance, operation, security, upgrades and repairs required by the NRC and other government agencies;

 

   

limitations on the amounts and types of insurance commercially available to cover losses that might arise in connection with nuclear operations; and

 

   

potential liabilities arising out of a nuclear incident, whether or not it is within our control.

Our nuclear operations are subject to various safety-related requirements imposed by the U.S. Government, the DOE and the NRC. In the event of non-compliance, these agencies might increase regulatory oversight, impose fines or shut down our operations, depending upon the assessment of the severity of the situation. Revised security and safety requirements promulgated by these agencies could necessitate substantial capital and other expenditures.

 

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Limitations or modifications to indemnification regulations of the U.S. or foreign countries could adversely affect our business.

The Price-Anderson Act partially indemnifies the nuclear industry against liability arising from nuclear incidents in the United States, while ensuring compensation for the general public. The Price-Anderson Act comprehensively regulates the manufacture, use and storage of radioactive materials, while promoting the nuclear industry by offering broad indemnification to commercial nuclear power plant operators and DOE contractors. Because we provide nuclear fabrication and other services to the DOE relating to its nuclear devices, facilities and other programs and the nuclear power industry in the ongoing maintenance and modifications of its nuclear power plants, including the manufacture of equipment and other components for use in such nuclear power plants, we may be entitled to some of the indemnification protections under the Price-Anderson Act against liability arising from nuclear incidents in the United States. The indemnification authority under the Price-Anderson Act was extended through December 2025 by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. We also provide nuclear fabrication and other services to the nuclear power industry in Canada. Canada’s Nuclear Liability Act generally conforms to international conventions and is conceptually similar to the Price-Anderson Act in the United States. Accordingly, indemnification protections and the possibility of exclusions under Canada’s Nuclear Liability Act are similar to those under the Price-Anderson Act in the United States.

The Price-Anderson Act’s indemnification provisions may not apply to all liabilities that we might incur while performing services as a contractor for the DOE and the nuclear power industry. If an incident or evacuation is not covered under the Price-Anderson Act’s indemnification provisions, we could be held liable for damages, regardless of fault, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In connection with the international transportation of toxic, hazardous and radioactive materials, it is possible for a claim to be asserted which may not fall within the indemnification provided by the Price-Anderson Act. If such indemnification authority is not applicable in the future, our business could be adversely affected if the owners and operators of nuclear power plants fail to retain our services in the absence of commercially adequate insurance and indemnification.

Moreover, because we manufacture nuclear components for the U.S. Government’s defense program, we may be entitled to some of the indemnification protections afforded by Public Law 85-804 for certain of our nuclear operations risks. Public Law 85-804 authorizes certain agencies of the U.S. Government, such as the DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense, to indemnify their contractors against unusually hazardous or nuclear risks when such action would facilitate the national defense. However, because the indemnification protections afforded by Public Law 85-804 are granted on a discretionary basis, situations could arise where the U.S. Government elects not to offer such protections. In such situations, our business could be adversely affected by either our inability to obtain commercially adequate insurance or indemnification or our refusal to pursue such operations in the absence of such protections.

We are subject to government regulations that may adversely affect our future operations.

Many aspects of our operations and properties are affected by political developments and are subject to both domestic and foreign governmental regulations, including those relating to:

 

   

constructing and manufacturing power generation products and nuclear components;

 

   

currency conversions and repatriation;

 

   

clean air and other environmental protection legislation;

 

   

taxation of foreign earnings and earnings of expatriate personnel; and

 

   

use of local employees and suppliers.

In addition, a substantial portion of the demand for our products and services is from electric power generating companies and other steam-using customers. The demand for power generation products and services can be influenced by state and federal governmental legislation setting requirements for utilities related to operations, emissions and environmental impacts. The legislative process is unpredictable and includes a platform that continuously seeks to increase the restrictions on power producers. Potential legislation limiting emissions from power plants, including carbon dioxide, could affect our markets and the demand for our products and services related to power generation.

 

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We cannot determine the extent to which our future operations and earnings may be affected by new legislation, new regulations or changes in existing regulations.

New regulations related to “conflict minerals” may force us to incur additional expenses, may make our supply chain more complex and may result in damage to our reputation with customers.

On August 22, 2012, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”), the SEC adopted new requirements for companies that use certain minerals and metals, known as conflict minerals, in their products, whether or not these products are manufactured by third parties. We are currently evaluating whether these requirements apply to us. These requirements will require companies that are subject to the rules to conduct due diligence, and disclose and report whether or not such minerals originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries. The implementation of these new requirements could adversely affect the sourcing, availability and pricing of minerals used in the manufacture of certain components incorporated in our products. In addition, to the extent the rules apply to us, we will incur additional costs to comply with the disclosure requirements, including costs related to determining the source of any of the relevant minerals and metals used in our products. Since our supply chain is complex, we may not be able to sufficiently verify the origins for these minerals and metals used in our products through the diligence procedures that we implement, which may harm our reputation. In such event, we may also face difficulties in satisfying customers who require that all of the components of our products are certified as conflict mineral free.

Our businesses require us to obtain, and to comply with, national, state and local government permits and approvals.

Our businesses are required to obtain, and to comply with, national, state and local government permits and approvals. Any of these permits or approvals may be subject to denial, revocation or modification under various circumstances. Failure to obtain or comply with the conditions of permits or approvals may adversely affect our operations by temporarily suspending our activities or curtailing our work and may subject us to penalties and other sanctions. Although existing licenses are routinely renewed by various regulators, renewal could be denied or jeopardized by various factors, including:

 

   

failure to provide adequate financial assurance for decommissioning or closure;

 

   

failure to comply with environmental and safety laws and regulations or permit conditions;

 

   

local community, political or other opposition;

 

   

executive action; and

 

   

legislative action.

In addition, if new environmental legislation or regulations are enacted or implemented, or existing laws or regulations are amended or are interpreted or enforced differently, we may be required to obtain additional operating permits or approvals. Our inability to obtain, and to comply with, the permits and approvals required for our businesses could have a material adverse effect on us.

Our operations involve the handling, transportation and disposal of radioactive and hazardous materials, and environmental laws and regulations and civil liability for contamination of the environment or related personal injuries may result in increases in our operating costs and capital expenditures and decreases in our earnings and cash flows.

Our operations involve the handling, transportation and disposal of radioactive and hazardous materials, including nuclear devices and their components. Failure to properly handle these materials could pose a health risk to humans or wildlife and could cause personal injury and property damage (including environmental contamination). If an accident were to occur, its severity could be significantly affected by the volume of the materials and the speed of corrective action taken by emergency response personnel, as well as other factors beyond our control, such as weather and wind conditions. Actions taken in response to an accident could result in significant costs.

 

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Governmental requirements relating to the protection of the environment, including solid waste management, air quality, water quality, the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear manufacturing and processing facilities and cleanup of contaminated sites, have had a substantial impact on our operations. These requirements are complex and subject to frequent change. In some cases, they can impose liability for the entire cost of cleanup on any responsible party without regard to negligence or fault and impose liability on us for the conduct of others or conditions others have caused, or for our acts that complied with all applicable requirements when we performed them. Our compliance with amended, new or more stringent requirements, stricter interpretations of existing requirements or the future discovery of contamination may require us to make material expenditures or subject us to liabilities that we currently do not anticipate. Such expenditures and liabilities may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, some of our operations and the operations of predecessor owners of some of our properties have exposed us to civil claims by third parties for liability resulting from alleged contamination of the environment or personal injuries caused by releases of hazardous substances into the environment. See “Business—Governmental Regulations and Environmental Matters.”

In our contracts, we seek to protect ourselves from liability associated with accidents, but there can be no assurance that such contractual limitations on liability will be effective in all cases or that our or our customers’ insurance will cover all the liabilities we have assumed under those contracts. The costs of defending against a claim arising out of a nuclear incident or precautionary evacuation, and any damages awarded as a result of such a claim, could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We maintain insurance coverage as part of our overall risk management strategy and due to requirements to maintain specific coverage in our financing agreements and in many of our contracts. These policies do not protect us against all liabilities associated with accidents or for unrelated claims. In addition, comparable insurance may not continue to be available to us in the future at acceptable prices, or at all.

We conduct a portion of our operations through joint venture entities, over which we may have limited ability to influence.

We currently have equity interests in several significant joint ventures and may enter into additional joint venture arrangements in the future. We do not manage all of these entities. Even in those joint ventures that we manage, we are often required to consider the interests of our joint venture partners in connection with major decisions concerning the operations of the joint ventures. In any case, differences in views among the joint venture participants may result in delayed decisions or disputes. We also cannot control the actions of our joint venture participants. We sometimes have joint and several liabilities with our joint venture partners under the applicable contracts for joint venture projects and we cannot be certain that our partners will be able to satisfy any potential liability that could arise. These factors could potentially harm the business and operations of a joint venture and, in turn, our business and operations.

Operating through joint ventures in which we are minority holders results in us having limited control over many decisions made with respect to projects and internal controls relating to projects. These joint ventures may not be subject to the same requirements regarding internal controls and internal control over financial reporting that we follow. As a result, internal control problems may arise with respect to the joint ventures that could adversely affect our ability to respond to requests or contractual obligations to customers or to meet the internal control requirements to which we are otherwise subject.

In addition, our arrangements involving joint ventures may restrict us from gaining access to the cash flows or assets of these entities. In some cases, our joint ventures have governmentally imposed restrictions on their abilities to transfer funds to us.

If our co-venturers fail to perform their contractual obligations on a project or if we fail to coordinate effectively with our co-venturers, we could be exposed to legal liability, loss of reputation and reduced profit on the project.

We often perform projects jointly with third parties. For example, we enter into contracting consortia and other contractual arrangements to bid for and perform jointly on large projects. Success on these joint projects depends in part on whether our co-venturers fulfill their contractual obligations satisfactorily. If any one or more of these third parties fail to perform their contractual obligations satisfactorily, we may be required to make additional investments and provide added services in order to compensate for that failure. If we are unable to adequately address any such performance issues, then our customer may exercise its right to terminate a joint project, exposing us to legal liability, loss of reputation and reduced profit.

 

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Our collaborative arrangements also involve risks that participating parties may disagree on business decisions and strategies. These disagreements could result in delays, additional costs and risks of litigation. Our inability to successfully maintain existing collaborative relationships or enter into new collaborative arrangements could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Employee, agent or partner misconduct or our overall failure to comply with laws or regulations could weaken our ability to win contracts, lead to the suspension of our operations and result in reduced revenues and profits.

Misconduct, fraud, non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations, or other improper activities by one or more of our employees, agents or partners could have a significant negative impact on our business and reputation. Such misconduct could include the failure to comply with government procurement regulations, regulations regarding the protection of classified information, regulations regarding the pricing of labor and other costs in government contracts, regulations on lobbying or similar activities, regulations pertaining to the internal controls over financial reporting and various other applicable laws or regulations. For example, we regularly provide services that may be highly sensitive or that are related to critical national security matters; if a security breach were to occur, our ability to procure future government contracts could be severely limited. The precautions we take to prevent and detect these activities may not be effective, and we could face unknown risks or losses.

We are routinely audited and reviewed by the U.S. Government and its agencies. These agencies review our performance under our contracts, our cost structure and our compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards, as well as the adequacy of, and our compliance with, our internal control systems and policies. Systems that are subject to review include our purchasing systems, billing systems, property management and control systems, cost estimating systems, compensation systems and management information systems. Any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract will not be reimbursed or must be refunded if already reimbursed. If an audit or review uncovers improper or illegal activities, we could be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines, loss of security clearance and suspension or debarment from contracting with the U.S. Government. In addition, we could suffer serious reputational harm if allegations of impropriety were made against us.

We could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) generally prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials. Our training program and policies mandate compliance with the FCPA. We operate in some parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree, and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. If we are found to be liable for violations of the FCPA (either due to our own acts or our inadvertence, or due to the acts or inadvertence of others, including employees of our joint ventures), we could suffer from civil and criminal penalties or other sanctions.

We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors.

Some of our competitors or potential competitors have greater financial or other resources than we have. Our operations may be adversely affected if our current competitors or new market entrants introduce new products or services with better features, performance, prices or other characteristics than those of our products and services. Furthermore, we operate in industries where capital investment is critical. We may not be able to obtain as much purchasing and borrowing leverage and access to capital for investment as an independent public company, which may impair our ability to compete against competitors or potential competitors.

 

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The loss of the services of one or more of our key personnel, or our failure to attract, assimilate and retain trained personnel in the future, could disrupt our operations and result in loss of revenues.

Our success depends on the continued active participation of our executive officers and key operating personnel. The unexpected loss of the services of any one of these persons could adversely affect our operations.

Our operations require the services of employees having the technical training and experience necessary to obtain the proper operational results. As such, our operations depend, to a considerable extent, on the continuing availability of such personnel. If we should suffer any material loss of personnel to competitors or be unable to employ additional or replacement personnel with the requisite level of training and experience to adequately operate our business, our operations could be adversely affected. While we believe our wage rates are competitive and our relationships with our employees are satisfactory, a significant increase in the wages paid by other employers could result in a reduction in our workforce, increases in wage rates, or both. If either of these events occurred for a significant period of time, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely impacted.

We may be unable to realize expected benefits from our Global Competitiveness Initiative and our profitability may be hurt or our business otherwise might be adversely affected.

In order to operate more efficiently and control costs, in 2012 we launched B&W’s Global Competitiveness Initiative, which includes operational and functional efficiency improvements, organizational design changes and manufacturing optimization. These plans are intended to generate operating expense savings through direct and indirect overhead expense reductions as well as other savings. These types of cost reduction and restructuring activities are complex. If we do not successfully manage our current restructuring activities, or any other restructuring activities that we may undertake in the future, expected efficiencies and benefits might be delayed or not realized, and our operations and business could be disrupted. Risks associated with these actions and other workforce management issues include delays, additional unexpected costs, changes in restructuring plans that increase or decrease the number of employees affected, adverse effects on employee morale and the failure to meet operational targets due to the loss of employees, any of which may impair our ability to achieve anticipated cost reductions or may otherwise harm our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

Negotiations with labor unions and possible work stoppages and other labor problems could divert management attention and disrupt operations. In addition, new collective bargaining agreements or amendments to agreements could increase our labor costs and operating expenses.

A significant number of our employees are members of labor unions. If we are unable to negotiate acceptable new contracts with our unions in the future, we could experience strikes or other work stoppages by the affected employees. If any such strikes or other work stoppages were to occur, we could experience a significant disruption of operations. In addition, negotiations with unions could divert management attention. New union contracts could result in increased operating costs, as a result of higher wages or benefit expenses, for both union and nonunion employees. If nonunion employees were to unionize, we would experience higher ongoing labor costs.

Pension and medical expenses associated with our retirement benefit plans may fluctuate significantly depending on changes in actuarial assumptions, future market performance of plan assets, future trends in health care costs and legislative or other regulatory actions.

A substantial portion of our current and retired employee population is covered by pension and postretirement benefit plans, the costs and funding requirements of which depend on our various assumptions, including estimates of rates of return on benefit-related assets, discount rates for future payment obligations, rates of future cost growth and trends for future costs. Variances from these estimates could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, funding requirements for benefit obligations of our pension and postretirement benefit plans are subject to legislative and other government regulatory actions. As of December 31, 2012, our defined benefit pension and postretirement benefit plans were underfunded by approximately $731.2 million. For additional information regarding our pension plans and postretirement benefits, see Note 6 to the consolidated and combined financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 included in this report.

 

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Our internal controls over financial reporting may not be sufficient to achieve all stated goals and objectives.

Our internal controls and procedures were developed through a process in which our management applied its judgment in assessing the costs and benefits of such controls and procedures, which, by their nature, can provide only reasonable assurance regarding the control objectives. You should note that the design of any system of internal controls and procedures is based in part upon various assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and we cannot assure you that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions, regardless of how remote.

Our Nuclear Operations segment relies on several single-source suppliers, which could, under certain circumstances, adversely affect our revenues and operating results.

Our Nuclear Operations segment relies on several single-source suppliers for materials used in its products. If the supply of a single-sourced material is delayed or ceases, we may not be able to produce the related product in a timely manner or in sufficient quantities, if at all, which could adversely affect our revenues and operating results. In addition, a single-source supplier of a key component could potentially exert significant bargaining power over price, quality, warranty claims, or other terms relating to the single-sourced materials.

Our international operations are subject to political, economic and other uncertainties not generally encountered in our domestic operations.

We derive a substantial portion of our revenues and equity in income of investees from international operations. Our international operations are subject to political, economic and other uncertainties not generally encountered in our U.S. operations. These include:

 

   

risks of war, terrorism and civil unrest;

 

   

expropriation, confiscation or nationalization of our assets;

 

   

renegotiation or nullification of our existing contracts;

 

   

changing political conditions and changing laws and policies affecting trade and investment;

 

   

overlap of different tax structures; and

 

   

risk of changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Various foreign jurisdictions have laws limiting the right and ability of foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures to pay dividends and remit earnings to affiliated companies. Our international operations sometimes face the additional risks of fluctuating currency values, hard currency shortages and controls of foreign currency exchange.

Future natural disasters or other events beyond our control could adversely impact our business.

Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, tornados, or other events could adversely impact demand for or supply of our products. In addition, natural disasters could also cause disruption to our facilities, systems or projects, which could interrupt operational processes and performance on our contracts and adversely impact our ability to manufacture our products and provide services and support to our customers. We operate facilities in areas of the world that are exposed to natural disasters, such as, but not limited to, hurricanes, floods and tornados.

War, other armed conflicts or terrorist attacks could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorist attacks and unrest have caused and may continue to cause instability in the world’s financial and commercial markets and have significantly increased political and economic instability in some of the geographic areas in which we operate. Threats of war or other armed conflict may cause further disruption to financial and commercial markets. In addition, continued unrest could lead to acts of terrorism

 

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in the United States or elsewhere, and acts of terrorism could be directed against companies such as ours. Also, acts of terrorism and threats of armed conflicts in or around various areas in which we operate could limit or disrupt our markets and operations, including disruptions from evacuation of personnel, cancellation of contracts or the loss of personnel or assets. Armed conflicts, terrorism and their effects on us or our markets may significantly affect our business and results of operations in the future.

We are subject to continuing contingent liabilities of MII as a result of the spin-off.

With completion of the spin-off, there are several significant areas where the liabilities of MII may become our obligations. For example, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) and the related rules and regulations, each corporation that was a member of our consolidated tax reporting group during any taxable period or portion of any taxable period ending on or before the effective time of the spin-off is jointly and severally liable for the federal income tax liability of our entire consolidated tax reporting group for that taxable period. We have entered into a tax sharing agreement with a subsidiary of MII that allocates the responsibility for prior period taxes of our consolidated tax reporting group between us and MII and its subsidiaries. However, if the subsidiary of MII were unable to pay, we could be required to pay the entire amount of such taxes. Other provisions of federal law establish similar liability for other matters, including laws governing tax-qualified pension plans as well as other contingent liabilities.

The spin-off could result in substantial tax liability.

MII has obtained a private letter ruling from the IRS substantially to the effect that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the spin-off qualified under Section 355 of the Code and certain transactions related to the spin-off qualified under Sections 355 and/or 368 of the Code. If the factual assumptions or representations made in the private letter ruling request are inaccurate or incomplete in any material respect, then we will not be able to rely on the ruling. Furthermore, the IRS will not rule on whether a distribution such as the spin-off satisfies certain requirements necessary to obtain tax-free treatment under Section 355 of the Code. Rather, the private letter ruling is based on representations by MII that those requirements have been satisfied, and any inaccuracy in those representations could invalidate the ruling.

Under the terms of the tax sharing agreement we entered into in connection with the spin-off, we are generally responsible for any taxes imposed on us or MII and its subsidiaries in the event that the spin-off and/or certain related preparatory transactions were to fail to qualify for tax-free treatment. However, if the spin-off and/or certain related preparatory transactions were to fail to qualify for tax-free treatment because of actions or failures to act by MII or its subsidiaries, a subsidiary of MII would be responsible for all such taxes. If we are liable for taxes under the tax sharing agreement, that liability could have a material adverse effect on us.

Potential indemnification liabilities to MII pursuant to the master separation agreement could materially adversely affect our company.

The master separation agreement with MII provides for, among other things, the principal corporate transactions required to effect the spin-off, certain conditions to the spin-off and provisions governing the relationship between our company and MII with respect to and resulting from the spin-off. Among other things, the master separation agreement provides for indemnification obligations designed to make our company financially responsible for substantially all liabilities that may exist relating to our business activities, whether incurred prior to or after the spin-off, as well as those obligations of MII assumed by us pursuant to the master separation agreement. If we are required to indemnify MII under the circumstances set forth in the master separation agreement, we may be subject to substantial liabilities.

In connection with our separation from MII, MII will indemnify us for certain liabilities. However, there can be no assurance that the indemnity will be sufficient to insure us against the full amount of such liabilities, or that MII’s ability to satisfy its indemnification obligation will not be impaired in the future.

 

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Pursuant to the master separation agreement, MII has agreed to indemnify us for certain liabilities. However, third parties could seek to hold us responsible for any of the liabilities that MII has agreed to retain, and there can be no assurance that the indemnity from MII will be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of such liabilities, or that MII will be able to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations. Moreover, even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from MII any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear these losses, which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity.

Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Common Stock

Provisions in our corporate documents and Delaware law could delay or prevent a change in control of our company, even if that change may be considered beneficial by some stockholders.

The existence of some provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company that a stockholder may consider favorable. These include provisions:

 

   

providing that our board of directors fixes the number of members of the board;

 

   

providing for the division of our board of directors into three classes with staggered terms;

 

   

limiting who may call special meetings of stockholders;

 

   

prohibiting stockholder action by written consent, thereby requiring stockholder action to be taken at a meeting of the stockholders;

 

   

establishing advance notice requirements for nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted on by stockholders at stockholder meetings;

 

   

establishing supermajority vote requirements for certain amendments to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws;

 

   

limiting the right of stockholders to remove directors;

 

   

authorizing a large number of shares of common stock that are not yet issued, which would allow our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, thereby protecting the continuity of our management, or which could be used to dilute the stock ownership of persons seeking to obtain control of us; and

 

   

authorizing the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock, which could be issued by our board of directors to increase the number of outstanding shares and thwart a takeover attempt.

In addition, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which may have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by our board of directors, including discouraging takeover attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for shares of our common stock.

We believe these provisions protect our stockholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirors to negotiate with our board of directors and by providing our board of directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal, and are not intended to make our company immune from takeovers. However, these provisions apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that our board of directors determines is not in the best interests of our company and our stockholders.

We may issue preferred stock that could dilute the voting power or reduce the value of our common stock.

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designation, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional and other special rights, including preferences over our common stock respecting dividends and distributions, as our board of directors generally may determine. The terms of one or more classes or series of preferred stock could dilute the voting power or reduce the value of our common stock. For example, we could grant holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or the right to veto specified transactions. Similarly, the repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences we could assign to holders of preferred stock could affect the residual value of the common stock.

 

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Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None

 

Item 2. PROPERTIES

The following table provides the segment name, location and general use of each of our principal properties at December 31, 2012 that we own or lease.

 

Business Segment and Location

  

Principal Use

   Owned/Leased
(Lease Expiration)

Power Generation

     

Barberton, Ohio

   Manufacturing facility / administrative office    Owned(1)

West Point, Mississippi

   Manufacturing facility    Owned(1)

Lancaster, Ohio

   Manufacturing facility    Owned(1)

Copley, Ohio

   Warehouse / service center    Owned(1)

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

   Manufacturing facility    Owned

Esbjerg, Denmark

   Manufacturing facility    Owned(1)

Dumbarton, Scotland

   Manufacturing facility    Owned

Straubing, Germany

   Manufacturing facility    Leased (2021)

Guadalupe, NL, Mexico

   Manufacturing facility    Leased (2024)

Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada

   Manufacturing facility    Owned

Jingshan, Hubei, China

   Manufacturing facility    Leased (2013)

Nuclear Operations

     

Lynchburg, Virginia

   Manufacturing facility(3)    Owned

Barberton, Ohio

   Manufacturing facility    Owned

Euclid, Ohio

   Manufacturing facility    Owned / Leased(2)

Mount Vernon, Indiana

   Manufacturing facility    Owned

Erwin, Tennessee

   Manufacturing facility    Owned

Technical Services

     

Lynchburg, Virginia

   Administrative office    Leased (2013)

Nuclear Energy

     

Charlotte, North Carolina

   Administrative office    Leased (2019)

Lynchburg, Virginia

   Engineering office    Leased (2013)

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

   Manufacturing facility    Owned

Corporate

     

Charlotte, North Carolina

   Administrative office    Leased (2018)

 

(1) These properties are encumbered by liens under existing credit facilities.
(2) We acquired the Euclid facilities through a bond/lease transaction facilitated by the Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority (the “Port”), whereby we acquired a ground parcel and the Port issued bonds, the proceeds of which were used to acquire, improve and equip the facilities, including the acquisition of the larger facility and a 40-year prepaid ground lease for the smaller facility. We are leasing the facilities from the Port with an expiration date of 2014 but subject to certain extension options.
(3) The Lynchburg, Virginia facility is our Nuclear Operations segment’s primary manufacturing plant and is the nation’s largest commercial high-enriched uranium processing facility. The site is the recipient of the highest rating given by the NRC for license performance. The performance review determines the safe and secure conduct of operations of the facility. The site is also the largest commercial International Atomic Energy Agency-certified facility in the U.S.

We also own or lease a number of sales, administrative and field construction offices, warehouses and equipment maintenance centers strategically located throughout the world. We consider each of our significant properties to be suitable and adequate for its intended use.

For further details regarding our properties, see Item 1, “Business.”

 

Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

The information set forth under the heading “Investigations and Litigation” in Note 10 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report is incorporated by reference into this Item 3.

 

Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

We own an interest in and manage and operate Ebensburg Power Company, an independent power company that produces alternative electrical energy. Through one of our subsidiaries, Revloc Reclamation Service, Inc.,

 

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Ebensburg Power Company operates multiple coal refuse sites in Western Pennsylvania (collectively, the “Revloc Sites”). At the Revloc Sites, Ebensburg Power Company utilizes coal refuse from abandoned surface mine lands to produce energy. Beyond converting the coal refuse to energy, Ebensburg Power Company is also taking steps to reclaim the former surface mine lands to make the land and streams more attractive for wildlife and human uses.

The Revloc Sites are subject to regulation by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. Information concerning mine safety violations or other regulatory matters required by Section 1503(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and this Item is included in exhibit 95 to this annual report on Form 10-K.

PART II

 

Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BWC.

High and low common stock prices by quarter in the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 were as follows:

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2012

 

                                       
     SALES PRICE  

QUARTER ENDED

   HIGH      LOW  

March 31, 2012

   $ 27.93       $ 23.30   

June 30, 2012

   $ 26.24       $ 22.86   

September 30, 2012

   $ 27.00       $ 23.86   

December 31, 2012

   $ 26.87       $ 22.72   
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2011  
     SALES PRICE  

QUARTER ENDED

   HIGH      LOW  

March 31, 2011

   $ 36.02       $ 25.60   

June 30, 2011

   $ 34.09       $ 26.23   

September 30, 2011

   $ 27.99       $ 18.05   

December 31, 2011

   $ 24.99       $ 18.91   

On November 5, 2012, our board of directors approved an annual cash dividend, payable quarterly, of $0.32 per share. On the same date, our board of directors declared a dividend of $0.08 per share payable on December 17, 2012 to shareholders of record on November 19, 2012. Cash dividends paid in the fourth quarter of 2012 totaled $9.5 million. Our ability to pay dividends may be limited by certain restrictions in our credit agreement. Our Board of Directors will continue to evaluate our cash dividend policy from time to time. On February 8, 2013, our board of directors declared a dividend of $0.08 per share payable on March 12, 2013 to shareholders of record on February 19, 2013.

As of January 31, 2013, there were approximately 2,480 record holders of our common stock.

 

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The following table provides information on our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2012:

Equity Compensation Plan Information

 

Plan Category

   Number of securities
to be issued upon
exercise of
outstanding options
and rights
     Weighted-average
exercise price

of outstanding
options and rights
     Number of
securities
remaining
available for
future issuance
 

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders

     1,431,676       $ 25.65         5,389,515   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

On November 7, 2012, we announced that our board of directors also authorized us to repurchase an indeterminate number of shares of our common stock at an aggregate value of up to $250 million. We may repurchase shares from time to time during a two-year period in the open market. The following table provides information on our purchases of equity securities during the quarter ended December 31, 2012. Any shares purchased that were not part of a publicly announced plan or program are related to repurchases of common stock pursuant to the provisions of employee benefit plans that permit the repurchase of shares to satisfy statutory tax withholding obligations.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

Period

   Total number
of shares
purchased
     Average price
paid
per share
     Total number of
shares purchased as
part of publicly
announced plans or
programs
     Approximate dollar
value of shares that
may yet be
purchased under the

plans or programs
(in millions)
 

November 1, 2012 – November 30, 2012

     1,606,982       $ 24.03         1,606,100       $ 211.4   

December 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012

     2,302,584       $ 25.27         2,302,584       $ 153.2   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

     3,909,566       $ 24.76         3,908,684      
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

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The following graph provides a comparison of our two-year and five-month cumulative total shareholder return through December 2012 to the return of the S&P 500 and our custom peer group. The following graph shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or “filed” with the SEC or be subject to Regulation 14A or 14C (other than as provided in Item 201 of Regulation S-K) or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that B&W specifically incorporates it by reference into such filing.

 

LOGO

 

(1) Assumes initial investment of $100 on July 31, 2010.

The peer group used for the two-year and five-month comparison is comprised of the following companies:

 

   

AECOM Technology Corporation

 

   

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company

 

   

Curtiss-Wright Corporation

 

   

Emcor Group, Inc.

 

   

Fluor Corporation

 

   

Foster Wheeler AG

 

   

Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.

 

   

KBR, Inc.

 

   

MasTec, Inc.

 

   

Quanta Services, Inc.

 

   

Shaw Group, Inc.

 

   

Tetra Tech, Inc.

 

   

URS Corporation

 

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Item 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

     For the Years Ended  
     2012      2011      2010      2009      2008  
     (In thousands, except for per share amounts)  

Revenues

   $ 3,291,359       $ 2,952,040       $ 2,688,811       $ 2,854,632       $ 3,398,574   

Income (Loss) before Provision for Income Taxes

   $ 319,418       $ 94,498       $ 220,208       $ 272,154       $ (53,257

Net Income Attributable to The Babcock & Wilcox Company

   $ 227,695       $ 78,319       $ 139,939       $ 171,522       $ 16,415   

Basic Earnings per Common Share(1):

              

Net Income Attributable to The Babcock & Wilcox Company

   $ 1.92       $ 0.67       $ 1.20       $ 1.48       $ 0.14   

Diluted Earnings per Common Share(1):

              

Net Income Attributable to The Babcock & Wilcox Company

   $ 1.91       $ 0.66       $ 1.19       $ 1.46       $ 0.14   

Cash Dividends Per Common Share

   $ 0.08         —           —           —           —     

Total Assets

   $ 2,840,355       $ 2,789,111       $ 2,500,510       $ 2,603,859       $ 2,506,841   

Current Maturities of Long-Term Debt

   $ 4,062       $ 4,653       $ 4,790       $ 6,432       $ 9,021   

Long-Term Debt

   $ 430       $ 633       $ 855       $ 4,222       $ 6,109   

 

(1) On July 30, 2010, 116,225,732 shares of our common stock were distributed to MII shareholders to complete our spin-off from MII. For comparative purposes, and to provide a more meaningful calculation of weighted average shares, we have assumed this amount to be outstanding as of the beginning of each period presented prior to our spin-off in our calculation of basic weighted average shares. In addition, for our dilutive weighted average share calculations, we have assumed the dilutive securities outstanding at July 30, 2010 were also outstanding at each of the periods presented prior to our spin-off.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, we elected to change our accounting method for recognizing actuarial gains and losses for our pension and other postretirement benefit plans. Under our new accounting method, we will immediately recognize actuarial gains and losses into earnings in the fourth quarter each year as a component of net periodic benefit cost. This change has been reported through retrospective application of the new accounting method to all periods presented. See Note 6 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for information on our pension and postretirement benefit plans and Note 20 for disclosures relating to the effect of this change in our accounting method. Also in 2012 we entered into an agreement with the customer of a Nuclear Energy project to settle contract claims resulting in recognition of revenues totaling approximately $18.4 million. In addition, we recorded an impairment totaling $27.0 million associated with our investment in USEC.

In the year ended December 31, 2011, we recorded additional costs totaling approximately $61.8 million ($50.7 million in our Nuclear Energy segment and $11.1 in our Nuclear Operations segment) to complete certain projects attributable to changes in estimate due to productivity and scheduling issues. In addition, we recognized a gain totaling approximately $10.9 million attributable to a settlement with the sellers of Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (“NFS”) related to conditions in existence at the acquisition date.

Our historical combined financial information prior to July 2010 reflects our performance as a subsidiary of MII and may not provide a useful indicator of future performance.

 

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Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Statements we make in the following discussion, which express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, could differ materially from those we express in the following discussion as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks and uncertainties we have referred to under the headings “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in Items 1 and 1A of Part I of this report.

GENERAL

In general, we operate in capital-intensive industries and rely on large contracts for a substantial amount of our revenues. We are currently exploring growth strategies across our segments through acquisitions to expand and complement our existing businesses. As we pursue these opportunities, we expect they would be funded by cash on hand, external financing, including debt, equity or some combination thereof.

We operate in four business segments: Power Generation, Nuclear Operations, Technical Services and Nuclear Energy. We were a wholly owned subsidiary of MII until July 30, 2010, when MII distributed 100% of our outstanding common stock to the MII shareholders. On and prior to July 30, 2010, our financial position, operating results and cash flows consisted of The Babcock & Wilcox Operations of MII, which represented a combined reporting entity comprised of the assets and liabilities involved in managing and operating the Power Generation Systems and Government Operations segments of MII in addition to two captive insurance companies which have been combined and contributed to B&W in conjunction with the spin-off of B&W by MII.

On July 2, 2010, MII’s Board of Directors approved the spin-off of B&W through the distribution of shares of B&W common stock to holders of MII common stock. The distribution of B&W common stock was made on July 30, 2010, and consisted of one share of B&W common stock for every two shares of MII common stock to holders of MII common stock as of 5:00 p.m. New York City time on the record date, July 9, 2010. Cash was paid in lieu of any fractional shares of our common stock. As a result of the spin-off, we became a separate publicly traded company, and MII did not retain any ownership interest in us.

Outlook

Power Generation

We expect the backlog of our Power Generation segment of approximately $2.5 billion at December 31, 2012 to produce revenues of approximately $1.2 billion in 2013, not including any change orders or new contracts that may be awarded during the year. Through this segment, we are actively bidding on and, in some cases, beginning preliminary work on projects that we expect will be awarded to us in 2013 subject to successful contract negotiations. These projects are not currently reflected in backlog.

Our Power Generation segment’s overall activity depends mainly on the capital expenditures of electric power generating companies and other steam-using industries. This segment’s products and services are capital intensive and also dependent on expenditures by original equipment manufacturers. As such, customer demand is heavily affected by the variations in customers’ business cycles, costs of fuel and by the overall economies of the countries in which they operate.

The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued proposed final environmental regulations concerning Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (“MATS”) and rules concerning implementation of the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”) in 2011. On December 30, 2011 the Federal Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (the “Court”) stayed the CSAPR rules and reinstated EPA regulations from 2005. Oral arguments were held in April 2012. In August 2012, the Court ruled CSAPR, which set stricter limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in 28 states, violated the Clean Air Act. The ruling leaves CSAPR’s predecessor, the Clean Air Interstate Rule, in place. In October 2012, the EPA appealed the Court’s decision. We believe it could take years for any regulatory response to develop in response to the Court’s ruling.

 

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Uncertainty concerning environmental final rules and regulations could impact our Power Generation segment. For example, instead of adding environmental equipment, some of our customers may decide to close down their least efficient coal-fired boilers. Future decisions to retire boilers would impact our business in a variety of ways, including the servicing and retrofitting of operating power plants. The need to replace retired generating capacity with cleaner technologies would also create business opportunities for us. To generate energy while minimizing the emission of greenhouse gasses, we are actively researching and developing a range of products, including:

 

   

non-carbon technologies, such as nuclear power plants and solar receivers for concentrating solar power plants;

 

   

low-carbon technologies that enable clean use of fossil fuels, such as oxy-fuel combustion and regenerable solvent absorption technologies to scrub carbon dioxide from exhaust gases; and

 

   

carbon-neutral technologies, such as biomass-fueled boilers and gasifiers, which use a renewable resource where the growing biomass re-absorbs the carbon dioxide emitted during energy production.

Changes and the uncertainties described above regarding the regulatory landscape, low natural gas prices and continued uncertainty in the economy have dampened somewhat the expected rate of growth of our environmental business within this segment. Utilities continue to operate coal-fired plants that require the environmental equipment and services that our Power Generation segment provides. However, we now expect that the timeframe over which such projects will be spread will be longer than our original timeframe of three to four years. We now expect the current environmental cycle to expand to a potentially six- or seven-year period, during which we anticipate a more competitive landscape in the near to medium term.

Nuclear Operations

We expect the backlog of our Nuclear Operations segment of approximately $3.0 billion at December 31, 2012 to produce revenues of approximately $1.1 billion in 2013, not including any change orders or new contracts that may be awarded during the year.

The revenues of our Nuclear Operations segment are largely a function of defense spending by the U.S. Government. As a supplier of major nuclear components for certain U.S. Government programs, we are a significant participant in the defense industry. In August 2011, Congress enacted the Budget Control Act of 2011, which committed the U.S. Government to significantly reducing the federal deficit over ten years. The Budget Control Act will likely constrain discretionary spending by the federal government for a number of years as it capped discretionary spending through 2021. It also established a Joint Committee of Congress to identify an additional $1.2 to $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions by November 23, 2011. The Joint Committee was unable to meet this deadline, triggering a provision, referred to as “sequestration”, that calls for substantial automatic spending cuts split between defense and non-defense programs scheduled to start in March 2013 and continue over a nine-year period. Federal government spending reductions, including through sequestration, could adversely impact U.S. Government programs for which we provide products or services. There is currently no official planning guidance regarding how sequestration would be implemented, if it were to go into effect. As members of Congress and the Administration continue to discuss various options to prevent or defer sequestration, we cannot predict whether any such efforts will succeed. Additionally, while we believe many of our programs are well aligned with national defense and other strategic priorities, and we supply high-end equipment for submarines and aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy, the outcome of efforts underway regarding sequestration is uncertain and it is possible that spending cuts may be applied to U.S. Government programs across the board, regardless of how programs align with those priorities. There are many variables in how the Budget Control Act could be implemented that will determine its specific impact; however, reductions in federal government spending and sequestration, as currently provided for under the Budget Control Act, could have a material adverse impact on the operating results and cash flows of our Nuclear Operations and Technical Services segments.

Technical Services

A significant portion of this segment’s operations are conducted through joint ventures which typically earn fees and we account for them following the equity method of accounting. See Note 3 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for financial information on our equity method investments. As a result, this segment reports minimal backlog and revenues.

 

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With our specialized capabilities of full life-cycle management of special nuclear materials, facilities and technologies, our Technical Services segment is well-positioned to continue to participate in the continuing cleanup, operation and management of the nuclear sites and weapons complexes maintained by the DOE.

Contracts for two projects under B&W led management teams, Y-12 and Pantex, ended in 2010 but were extended while the National Nuclear Security Administration (“NNSA”) conducted a contract re-compete process. In addition, the NNSA determined it would be advantageous to combine the management of Y-12 and Pantex into a single management contract. Proposals were submitted to the NNSA in March of 2012. In late July 2012, the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee experienced a security breach. Nuclear operations at the site were temporarily ceased for approximately two weeks in early August 2012. All operations have now resumed. The Y-12 security force had been managed by another DOE prime contractor at the time of the incident. The security contract was assigned to our joint venture by the NNSA following the security breach. The contractor responsible for managing the security force at the time of the security breach was terminated and our joint venture took direct responsibility for security at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Following the security breach, a number of immediate changes and security enhancements were instituted, including the removal and replacement of key B&W leadership personnel, restoration of critical security system elements to service and refining and recalibrating of alarm system components to enhance reliability. The security breach adversely affected the fees earned in 2012 by our joint venture that manages and operates the site. After the security breach, the NNSA revised the request for proposal to include the security work scope into the new management contract. Bidders, including the B&W led joint venture, revised proposals in September of 2012. On January 8, 2013, we were notified that our joint venture was not selected to lead the NNSA’s combined Management and Operating (“M&O”) contract for the Y-12 National Security Complex and Pantex Plant. On January 18, 2013, our joint venture, NP2, filed a protest against NNSA’s award of the M&O contract. We will continue to manage both facilities during the protest period. Once the protest has been resolved we will manage both facilities through the transition process, which is expected to take approximately four months once the transition is initiated.

This segment produced $59.7 million of operating income in 2012, a 15% decrease from 2011. We expect operating income attributable to this segment to be lower in 2013 based on the new ownership fee structure for the combined Y-12/Pantex contract, or the eventual loss of the contract resulting from an unsuccessful protest.

Nuclear Energy

We expect the backlog of our Nuclear Energy segment of approximately $278 million at December 31, 2012 to produce revenues of approximately $180 million in 2013, not including any change orders or new contracts that may be awarded during the year.

During 2012, this segment entered into an agreement with Energy Northwest to settle contract claims related to a project for the removal and replacement of the main plant condenser and related parts at Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station, resulting in the recognition of revenues totaling approximately $18.4 million.

We expect to continue our development of the B&W mPower™ reactor. The development, general and administrative and capital costs to develop and commercialize this technology will require a substantial amount of investment over a period of years, and the funding requirements may vary significantly from period to period. We intend to continue with our plan to seek third party funding and/or participation to pursue the development and commercialization of this technology, including potential funding from the DOE in the form of grants subject to successful negotiations concerning terms and conditions. We expect our spending on development of the B&W mPower™ reactor to be consistent in 2013 compared to 2012 levels, excluding any additional third party funding or grants.

In November 2012, our Nuclear Energy segment was selected as the winner of the DOE’s competitively bid Small Modular Reactor (“SMR”) Licensing Technical Support Program, and will receive funding that will support accelerated development of its B&W mPower™ SMR technology.

 

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CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

Our financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Preparing financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. These estimates and assumptions are affected by management’s application of accounting policies. We believe the following are our most critical accounting policies that we apply in the preparation of our financial statements. These policies require our most difficult, subjective and complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates of matters that are inherently uncertain.

Contracts and Revenue Recognition. We determine the appropriate accounting method for each of our long-term contracts before work on the project begins. We generally recognize contract revenues and related costs on a percentage-of-completion method for individual contracts or combinations of contracts under the guidelines of FASB Topic Revenue Recognition. The use of this method is based on our experience and history of being able to prepare reasonably dependable estimates of the cost to complete our projects. Under this method, we recognize estimated contract revenue and resulting income based on costs incurred to date as a percentage of total estimated costs. Certain costs may be excluded from the cost-to-cost method of measuring progress, such as significant costs for materials and major third-party subcontractors, if it appears that such exclusion would result in a more meaningful measurement of actual contract progress and resulting periodic allocation of income. Total estimated costs, and resulting contract income, are affected by changes in the expected cost of materials and labor, productivity, scheduling and other factors. Additionally, external factors such as weather, customer requirements and other factors outside of our control may affect the progress and estimated cost of a project’s completion and, therefore, the timing of revenue and income recognition. We routinely review estimates related to our contracts, and revisions to profitability are reflected in the quarterly and annual earnings we report. In the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, we recognized net favorable changes in estimate related to long-term contracts accounted for on the percentage-of-completion basis that increased operating income by approximately $93.1 million, $33.1 million and $112.7 million respectively. The 2012 amount includes approximately $16.9 million of contract losses, net of claims, based on our estimate of costs to complete a project in our Power Generation segment. The 2011 amount includes approximately $61.8 million ($50.7 million in our Nuclear Energy segment and $11.1 in our Nuclear Operations segment) to complete certain projects attributable to unfavorable changes in estimate due to productivity and scheduling issues. The projects in 2011 are now complete.

For contracts as to which we are unable to estimate the final profitability except to assure that no loss will ultimately be incurred, we recognize equal amounts of revenue and cost until the final results can be estimated more precisely. For these deferred profit recognition contracts, we recognize revenue and cost equally and only recognize gross margin when probable and reasonably estimable, which we generally determine to be when the contract is approximately 70% complete. We treat long-term construction contracts that contain such a level of risk and uncertainty that estimation of the final outcome is impractical except to assure that no loss will be incurred as deferred profit recognition contracts.

Fixed-price contracts are required to be accounted for under the completed-contract method if we are unable to reasonably forecast cost to complete at start-up. For example, if we have no experience in performing the type of work on a particular project and were unable to develop reasonably dependable estimates of total costs to complete, we would follow the completed-contract method of accounting for such projects. Generally, our management’s policy is not to enter into fixed-price contracts without an accurate estimate of cost to complete. However, it is possible that in the time between contract execution and the start of work on a project, we could lose confidence in our ability to forecast cost to complete based on intervening events, including, but not limited to, experience on similar projects, civil unrest, strikes and volatility in our expected costs. In such a situation, we would use the completed-contract method of accounting for that project. We did not enter into any contracts that we have accounted for under the completed-contract method during 2012, 2011 or 2010.

For the majority of parts orders and aftermarket services activities, we recognize revenues as goods are delivered and work is performed.

For all contracts, if a current estimate of total contract cost indicates a loss on a contract, the projected loss is recognized in full when determined.

 

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Although we continually strive to improve our ability to estimate our contract costs and profitability, adjustments to overall contract costs due to unforeseen events could be significant in future periods. We recognize claims for extra work or for changes in scope of work in contract revenues, to the extent of costs incurred, when we believe collection is probable and can be reasonably estimated. We recognize income from contract change orders or claims when formally agreed with the customer. We regularly assess the collectibility of contract revenues and receivables from customers.

Some of our contracts contain provisions that require us to pay liquidated damages if we are responsible for the failure to meet specified contractual milestone dates and the applicable customer asserts a claim under these provisions. These contracts define the conditions and timing under which our customers may make claims against us for liquidated damages. In the majority of cases in which we have had potential exposure for liquidated damages, such damages ultimately were determined not to be caused by our actions or were not otherwise asserted by our customers. Accordingly, we do not accrue liabilities for liquidated damages unless probable and estimable. As of December 31, 2012, we had not accrued for approximately $6.0 million of potential liquidated damages that are not currently due under the particular contract but which we believe could be asserted based upon our current expectations of the time to complete a certain project in our Power Generation segment. We do not believe any of these potential liquidated damages are probable of being assessed due primarily to their relationship to unforeseen worksite conditions that we believe are the responsibility of our customer. We are in active discussions with our customer on the issues giving rise to delays in this project, and we believe we will be successful in obtaining schedule extensions that should resolve the potential for liquidated damages liability. However, we may not achieve relief on some or all of the issues.

Property, Plant and Equipment. We carry our property, plant and equipment at depreciated cost, reduced by provisions to recognize economic impairment when we determine impairment has occurred. Property, plant and equipment amounts are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset, or asset group, may not be recoverable. An impairment loss would be recognized when the carrying amount of an asset exceeds the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. The amount of the impairment loss to be recorded is calculated by the excess of the assets carrying value over its fair value. Fair value is generally determined using a discounted cash flow analysis. Our estimates of cash flow may differ from actual cash flow due to, among other things, technological changes, economic conditions or changes in operating performance. Any changes in such factors may negatively affect our business segments and result in future asset impairments.

We depreciate our property, plant and equipment using the straight-line method, over estimated economic useful lives of eight to 40 years for buildings and two to 28 years for machinery and equipment. We expense the costs of maintenance, repairs and renewals, which do not materially prolong the useful life of an asset, as we incur them.

Investments in Unconsolidated Affiliates. We use the equity method of accounting for affiliates in which our investment ownership ranges from 20% to 50%, unless significant economic or governance considerations indicate that we are unable to exert significant influence, in which case the cost method is used. The equity method is also used for affiliates in which our investment ownership is greater than 50% but we do not have a controlling interest. Currently, all of our material investments in affiliates that are not included in our consolidated results are recorded using the equity method. Affiliates in which our investment ownership is less than 20% and where we are unable to exert significant influence are carried at cost.

Self-Insurance. We have a wholly owned insurance subsidiary that provides employer’s liability, general and automotive liability and workers’ compensation insurance and, from time to time, builder’s risk insurance within certain limits to our companies. We may also have business reasons in the future to have our insurance subsidiary accept other risks that we cannot or do not wish to transfer to outside insurance companies. When estimating our self-insurance liabilities, we consider a number of factors, including historical claims experience and trend lines, projected growth patterns, inflation and exposure forecasts. The assumptions we make with respect to each of these factors represent our judgment as to the most probable cumulative impact of each factor on our future obligations. Our calculation of self-insurance liabilities requires us to apply judgment to estimate the ultimate cost to settle reported claims and claims incurred but not yet reported as of the balance sheet date. We engage the services of an actuarial firm to assist us in the calculation of our liabilities for self-insurance. While the actual outcome of insured claims could differ significantly from estimated amounts, these loss estimates and accruals recorded in our financial statements for claims have historically been reasonable in light of the actual amount of claims paid. Provisions for

 

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exposure to self-insurance claims and the related payments of claims have historically not had a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows, and we do not expect these provisions to have a material impact on our self-insurance programs in the future.

Pension Plans and Postretirement Benefits. We estimate income or expense related to our pension and postretirement benefit plans based on actuarial assumptions, including assumptions regarding discount rates and expected returns on plan assets. We determine our discount rate based on a review of published financial data and discussions with our actuary regarding rates of return on high-quality, fixed-income investments currently available and expected to be available during the period to maturity of our pension obligations. Based on historical data and discussions with our actuary, we determine our expected return on plan assets based on the expected long-term rate of return on our plan assets and the market-related value of our plan assets. Our pension plan assets can include assets that are difficult to value. Changes in these assumptions can result in significant changes in our estimated pension income or expense and our consolidated financial condition. We revise our assumptions on an annual basis based upon changes in current interest rates, return on plan assets and the underlying demographics of our workforce. These assumptions are reasonably likely to change in future periods and may have a material impact on future earnings.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, we elected to change our accounting method for recognizing actuarial gains and losses for our pension and other postretirement benefit plans. Historically, these gains and losses were recognized as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income on our consolidated balance sheets and we amortized these actuarial gains and losses into earnings over the average remaining service period of our Canadian plans to the extent such gains and losses exceeded a corridor and for our domestic plans we used an amortization method over the average remaining service period without the use of a corridor. Under our new accounting method, we will immediately recognize actuarial gains and losses into earnings in the fourth quarter each year as a component of net periodic benefit cost. This change in accounting will have no impact on the funding of our pension and other postretirement benefit plans or the Company’s cash flow. This change has been reported through retrospective application of the new accounting method to all periods presented. See Note 6 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for information on our pension and postretirement benefit plans and Note 20 for disclosures relating to the effect of this change in our accounting method.

Loss Contingencies. We estimate liabilities for loss contingencies when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable. We provide disclosure when there is a reasonable possibility that the ultimate loss will exceed the recorded provision or if such probable loss is not reasonably estimable. We are currently involved in some significant litigation, as discussed in Note 10 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report. We have accrued our estimates of the probable losses associated with these matters. However, our losses are typically resolved over long periods of time and are often difficult to estimate due to the possibility of multiple actions by third parties. Therefore, it is possible that future earnings could be affected by changes in our estimates related to these matters.

Goodwill. In accordance with FASB Topic Intangibles – Goodwill and Other, we perform periodic testing of goodwill for impairment. We utilize a two-step impairment test to identify potential goodwill impairment and measure the amount of a goodwill impairment loss. The first step of the test compares the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount, including goodwill. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the second step of the goodwill impairment test is performed to measure the amount of the impairment loss, if any. The second step compares the implied fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. Each year, we evaluate goodwill at each reporting unit to assess recoverability and impairments, if any, are recognized in earnings. An impairment loss would be recognized in an amount equal to the excess of the carrying amount of the goodwill over the implied fair value of the goodwill. We determined that both the income and market valuation approaches provide inputs into the estimate of the fair value of our reporting units, which would be considered by market participants. Under the income valuation approach, we employ a discounted cash flow model to estimate the fair value of each reporting unit. This model requires the use of significant estimates and assumptions regarding future revenues, costs, margins, capital expenditures, changes in working capital, terminal year growth rate and cost of capital. Our cash flow models are based on our forecasted results for the applicable reporting units. Actual results could differ from our projections. Under the market valuation approach, we employ the guideline publicly traded company method, which indicates the fair value of the equity of each reporting unit by comparing it to publicly traded companies in similar lines of business. After identifying and selecting guideline companies, we analyze their business and financial profiles for relative similarity. Factors such as size, growth, risk and profitability are analyzed and compared to each of our reporting units. We have completed our annual review of goodwill for each of our reporting units for the year ended December 31, 2012, which indicated that we had no impairment of goodwill. The fair value of our reporting units was substantially in excess of carrying value.

 

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Asset Retirement Obligations and Environmental Clean-up Costs. We accrue for future decommissioning of our nuclear facilities that will permit the release of these facilities to unrestricted use at the end of each facility’s life, which is a requirement of our licenses from the NRC. In accordance with the FASB Topic Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations, we record the fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation in the period in which it is incurred. In estimating fair value, we use present value of cash flows expected to be incurred in settling our obligations. To the extent possible, we perform a marketplace assessment of the cost and timing of performing the retirement activities. We apply a credit-adjusted risk-free interest rate to our expected cash flows in our determination of fair value. When we initially record such a liability, we capitalize a cost by increasing the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset. Over time, the liability is accreted to its present value each period, and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the useful life of the related asset. Upon settlement of a liability, we will settle the obligation for its recorded amount or incur a gain or loss. This topic applies to environmental liabilities associated with assets that we currently operate and are obligated to remove from service. For environmental liabilities associated with assets that we no longer operate, we have accrued amounts based on the estimated costs of clean-up activities, net of the anticipated effect of any applicable cost-sharing arrangements. We adjust the estimated costs as further information develops or circumstances change. An exception to this accounting treatment relates to the work we perform for two facilities for which the U.S. Government is obligated to pay substantially all the decommissioning costs.

Income Taxes. Income tax expense for federal, foreign, state and local income taxes are calculated on pre-tax income based on current tax law and include the cumulative effect of any changes in tax rates from those used previously in determining deferred tax assets and liabilities. We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the amount that is more likely than not to be realized. We assess deferred taxes and the adequacy of the valuation allowance on a quarterly basis. In the ordinary course of business there is inherent uncertainty in quantifying our income tax positions. We assess our income tax positions and record tax benefits for all years subject to examination based upon management’s evaluation of the facts, circumstances, and information available at the reporting date. For those tax positions where it is more-likely-than-not that a tax benefit will be sustained, we have recorded the largest amount of tax benefit with a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with a taxing authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. For those income tax positions where it is not more-likely-than-not that a tax benefit will be sustained, no tax benefit has been recognized in the financial statements. We record interest and penalties (net of any applicable tax benefit) related to income taxes as a component of provision for income taxes on our Statements of Income.

Warranty. We account for warranty costs to satisfy contractual warranty requirements as an accrued estimated expense included in cost of operations on our consolidated and combined statements of income recognized in conjunction with the associated revenue on the related contracts. In addition, we make specific provisions or reductions where we expect the actual warranty costs to significantly differ from the accrued estimates. Factors that impact our estimate of warranty costs include prior history of warranty claims and our estimates of future costs of materials and labor. Our future warranty provisions may vary from what we have experienced in the past.

Stock-Based Compensation. We account for stock-based compensation in accordance with FASB Topic Compensation – Stock Compensation. Under the fair value recognition provisions of this statement, the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award. Stock-based compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service periods of the awards, which is generally equivalent to the vesting term. We use a Black-Scholes model to determine the fair value of certain share-based awards, such as stock options and stock appreciation rights. The determination of the fair value of a share-based payment award using an option-pricing model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, such as the expected life of the award and stock price volatility. For liability-classified awards, such as cash-settled restricted stock units and performance units, fair values are determined at grant date using the closing price of our common stock and are remeasured at the end of each reporting period through the date of settlement.

Business Combinations. We account for acquisitions in accordance with FASB Topic Business Combinations. This topic broadens the fair value measurements and recognition of assets acquired, liabilities assumed and interests transferred as a result of business combinations. It also provides disclosure requirements to assist users of the financial statements in evaluating the nature and financial effects of business combinations.

 

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For further discussion of recently adopted accounting standards, see Note 1 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report.

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2012 COMPARED TO YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2011

The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Consolidated revenues increased 11.5%, or $339.3 million, to $3.29 billion in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $2.95 billion in 2011. Our Power Generation segment revenues increased $244.5 million, or 15.9%, primarily attributable to increased revenue in our new build environmental equipment and new build steam generation systems businesses, partially offset by decreases in our aftermarket services business. Our Nuclear Operations segment experienced a $54.8 million, or 5.3%, increase in revenues, primarily attributable to increased activity in the manufacturing of nuclear components for U.S. Government programs and increased volume in our naval nuclear fuel and downblending activities. Our Technical Services segment revenues decreased $11.8 million, or 9.9%. In addition, our Nuclear Energy segment revenues increased $4.6 million, or 1.4%.

Consolidated operating income increased $250.9 million to $346.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 from $95.7 million in 2011. Operating income includes actuarial gains and losses related to our pension and postretirement plans, which were fourth quarter non-cash losses totaling $31.9 million and $215.4 million in 2012 and 2011, respectively. We experienced increased operating income in our Nuclear Operations segment associated with the revenue growth discussed above totaling $31.9 million. Operating income for our Nuclear Energy segment increased $54.0 million, primarily attributable to project costs to complete the condenser replacement project at Columbia Generating Station recognized during 2011 that did not reoccur in 2012. These increases were partially offset by decreased operating income in our Technical Services segment totaling $10.2 million, primarily due to reduced award fees earned in 2012 and increased corporate expenses which totaled $7.6 million. Operating income in our Power Generation segment was relatively unchanged in 2012. See Note 20 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for additional information concerning the change in accounting method for our pension and post-retirement plans.

Power Generation

Revenues increased 15.9%, or $244.5 million, to $1,786.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $1,541.5 million in 2011, primarily attributable to a $210.7 million increase in our new build environmental equipment business and a $94.4 million increase in our new build steam generation systems business. In our new build environmental equipment business, the increase in revenues was principally driven by ongoing engineering, procurement and construction activities on projects as a result of new environmental rules and regulations. In our new build steam generation systems business, the main driver for this increase in revenues was a significant increase in activity on waste-to-energy and biomass boiler projects. These increases were partially offset by lower revenues of $53.1 million in our aftermarket services business primarily due to lower construction activities on boiler retrofit service projects and boiler replacement parts sales to existing power plants largely as a result of reduced demand from coal fired power plants due to lower natural gas prices. The aftermarket services business did however experience an increase in aftermarket environmental parts, services and construction activities as customers invested to keep their existing environmental equipment in compliance with new environmental rules and regulations.

Operating income was relatively unchanged at $183.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $184.0 million in 2011. The increases in revenues discussed above were partially offset by more competitive profit margins from the early market cycle of environmental projects along with a lower level of project improvements on project closeouts than experienced in the prior year period. We also experienced a decrease in equity in income of investees totaling $8.4 million, primarily attributable to lower production and project activities at our joint venture in China. In addition, we incurred increased research and development expenses totaling $1.6 million for the period in 2012 as compared to the same period in the prior year. Further, we experienced impairment charges totaling $3.2 million in 2012 and gains on asset disposals totaling $3.5 million in 2011.

 

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Nuclear Operations

Revenues increased 5.3%, or $54.8 million, to $1,098.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $1,043.2 million in the corresponding period of 2011, primarily attributable to increased activity in the manufacturing of nuclear components for U.S. Government programs totaling $36.2 million and increased volume in our naval nuclear fuel and downblending activities totaling $18.6 million as compared to the corresponding period of 2011.

Operating income increased $31.9 million to $226.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $194.4 million in the corresponding period in 2011, primarily due to improved contract performance for the manufacturing of nuclear components for U.S. Government programs totaling $23.4 million. Our naval nuclear fuel and downblending operating income also increased $8.5 million compared to 2011. Included in operating income for 2011 is a $10.9 million gain resulting from a favorable settlement with the previous owner of NFS. Contract performance associated with naval nuclear fuel and downblending activities improved $19.4 million compared to 2011.

Technical Services

Revenues decreased 9.9%, or $11.8 million, to $107.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $119.7 million for the corresponding period of 2011. These decreases are primarily attributable to a decrease in our specialty manufacturing work scope associated with the American Centrifuge program totaling $8.9 million and a decrease in our international contract support services associated with the Fukushima event totaling $3.5 million, partially offset by an increase in environmental remediation services.

Operating income decreased $10.2 million to $59.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $69.9 million in the corresponding period of 2011. This decrease is principally due to decreased award fees earned on our NNSA management contracts totaling $7.9 million, primarily attributable to our Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Los Alamos, New Mexico sites. We also experienced a decrease in operating income totaling $3.8 million associated with the decreased revenues from the American Centrifuge program discussed above and increased selling, general and administrative expenses totaling $3.3 million associated with higher bid and proposal activity. These amounts were offset by increased environmental remediation services income totaling $1.4 million and lower research and development expenses totaling $1.2 million.

Nuclear Energy

Revenues increased 1.4%, or $4.6 million, to $326.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $321.4 million in the corresponding period of 2011, primarily attributable to increased activity in our nuclear services and nuclear equipment businesses of $18.5 million principally due to timing of customer outage projects and execution of our long-term equipment manufacturing contracts. This revenue increase was partially offset by lower revenue in our nuclear projects business due to the completion of a major project in the prior year. For the year ended December 31, 2012, revenues in our nuclear projects business also included $18.4 million from the May 2012 claims settlement agreement reached with Energy Northwest related to a condenser replacement project at the Columbia Generating Station in 2011.

Operating income increased $54.0 million to a loss of $62.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to a loss of $116.9 million in the corresponding period of 2011, primarily due to $50.7 million of project costs to complete the condenser replacement project at Columbia Generating Station recognized during the year ended December 31, 2011 and $18.1 million income (net of related expenses) recognized in the year ended December 31, 2012 associated with the May 2012 settlement discussed above. In addition, operating income in our nuclear services and nuclear equipment businesses increased by $3.6 million associated with the increased revenue discussed above. These increases were partially offset by $12.1 million of increased research and development costs related to the continued development of the B&W mPower™ reactor, including a $1.4 million increase in non-cash in-kind research and development services contributed by GmP’s minority partner. In addition, we experienced increases in selling, general and administrative expenses totaling $4.7 million related to the continued expansion of our presence in the commercial nuclear energy industry.

 

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Corporate

Unallocated corporate expenses increased $7.6 million to $28.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2012, as compared to $20.4 million in 2011, mainly due to higher information technology costs, outside consultant costs and a decrease in operating results in our captive insurance company in 2012 compared to 2011.

Other Income Statement Items

Other income (expense)—net decreased $26.9 million to a loss of $24.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2012, as compared to income of $2.0 million for the corresponding period in 2011, primarily due to the impairment of our USEC investment totaling $27.0 million which we recognized in the three months ended September 30, 2012.

Net Loss (Income) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

Net Loss (Income) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest increased $2.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to 2011, primarily attributable to noncontrolling interest recognition of losses incurred in connection with development efforts associated with GmP.

Provision for Income Taxes

For the year ended December 31, 2012, our provision for income taxes increased $78.0 million to $101.9 million, while income before provision for income taxes increased $224.9 million to $319.4 million. Our effective tax rate was approximately 31.9% for 2012, as compared to 25.3% for 2011. The increase in our effective tax rate is primarily attributable to a significant shift in jurisdictional mix of pre-tax earnings in 2012 as compared to 2011, and the temporary expiration in 2012 of the U.S. research & development tax credit, offset in part by a reduction of reserves for uncertain tax positions.

Income before provision for income taxes, provision for income taxes and effective tax rates for our U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions were as shown below:

 

    

Income

before Provision for

Income Taxes

    

Provision for

Income Taxes

     Effective
Tax Rate
 
     2012      2011      2012      2011      2012     2011  
     (In thousands)      (In thousands)        

United States

   $ 222,840       $ 39,417       $ 78,868       $ 17,172         35.4     43.6

Non-United States

     96,578         55,081         22,993         6,708         23.8     12.2
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   $ 319,418       $ 94,498       $ 101,861       $ 23,880         31.9     25.3
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

We are subject to U.S. federal income tax at a statutory rate of 35% on our U.S. operations plus the applicable state income taxes on our profitable U.S. subsidiaries. Our non-U.S. earnings are subject to tax at various tax rates and under various tax regimes, including deemed profits tax regimes.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law on January 2, 2013. Some provisions of this law provide for retroactive changes to the 2012 tax year which we did not consider in determining our effective tax rate for 2012. The impact of these retroactive changes will be recorded in the first quarter of 2013.

See Note 4 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for further information on income taxes.

 

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YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2011 COMPARED TO YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2010

The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Consolidated revenues increased 9.8%, or $263.2 million, to $2.95 billion in the year ended December 31, 2011, compared to $2.69 billion in the year ended December 31, 2010. Our Power Generation segment revenues increased 8.2% in the year ended December 31, 2011, as compared to 2010, primarily attributable to increased revenues in our aftermarket services and new build steam generation systems business, partially offset by lower revenues in our new build environmental equipment business. Our Nuclear Operations segment experienced a 4.7% increase in revenues primarily attributable to increased activity at our NFS subsidiary and increased activity in the manufacturing of nuclear components for certain U.S. Government programs. In addition, our Technical Services segment’s revenues increased 32.8%, primarily attributable to increased work scope on one of our environmental remediation services contracts. Revenues in our Nuclear Energy segment increased 63.7%, primarily attributable to increased activity in our nuclear equipment, nuclear projects and nuclear services businesses.

Consolidated operating income decreased $153.2 million from $248.9 million in 2010 to $95.7 million in 2011. Operating income includes actuarial losses related to our pension and postretirement plans, which were fourth quarter non-cash losses totaling $215.4 million and $91.5 million in 2011 and 2010, respectively. Our Nuclear Energy segment experienced an increase in its operating loss totaling $90.5 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2010, attributable to increased research and development expenses and increased costs to complete a nuclear project contract. Operating income in our Nuclear Operations segment increased $25.8 million in 2011 compared to 2010, and by $22.8 million in our Technical Services segment. In addition, our Power Generation segment experienced an increase in operating income totaling $14.9 million in 2011 while our Unallocated Corporate expenses were higher in 2011 compared to 2010 by $2.4 million.

Power Generation

Revenues increased 8.2%, or $116.9 million, to $1,541.5 million in the year ended December 31, 2011, compared to $1,424.6 million in 2010, primarily attributable to a $30.4 million increase in our new build steam generation systems business, and a $129.1 million increase in our aftermarket services business. In our new build steam generation systems business, the main driver for this increase in revenues was a significant increase in activity on waste to energy and biomass boiler projects partially offset by decreased activity on utility and industrial boiler projects. In our aftermarket services business, the main drivers for this increase in revenues was an increase in North American construction activity on retrofit service projects, boiler replacement parts, environmental parts and upgrades at various fossil fuel power plants in order to maintain reliability and environmental compliance. These increases were partially offset by decreases in revenues of $41.7 million in our new build environmental equipment business, primarily due to completion of major projects in the corresponding period of 2010, partially offset by increased engineering and design work on recent new orders.

Operating income increased $14.9 million to $184.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to $169.1 million in the corresponding period of 2010. This increase is attributable to the net increase in revenues discussed above from our new build steam generation systems business and aftermarket services business partially offset by our lower operating income in our new build environmental equipment business. We also experienced a decrease in our selling, general and administrative expenses totaling approximately $4.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to the corresponding period of 2010, primarily due to various cost savings programs that began in 2010, partially offset by higher expenses in support of increased bidding activity on environmental and other new business opportunities. In addition, we experienced a decrease in research and development expenses of $4.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to the corresponding period of 2010. We also experienced higher levels of operating income in 2010 attributable to the completion and closeout of several projects. Our equity in income of investees decreased $5.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 primarily as a result of higher margins in 2010 attributable to reductions in cost on material purchases experienced in our joint venture in China, and increased spending incurred in 2011 with the start up of our joint venture in India.

 

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Nuclear Operations

Revenues increased 4.7%, or $47.2 million, to $1,043.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to $996.0 million in the corresponding period of 2010, primarily attributable to increased activity at NFS totaling $38.6 million and increased activity in the manufacturing of nuclear components for certain U.S. Government programs totaling $8.6 million. A substantial portion of our NFS operation was temporarily shut down during a large portion of the first six months of 2010 due to safety and compliance issues.

Operating income increased $25.8 million to $194.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 from $168.6 million in the corresponding period of 2010. Our manufacturing operations contributed $177.0 million to operating income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011 resulting in a $5.9 million increase compared to the corresponding period of 2010. In addition, NFS generated operating income of $17.4 million in the twelve months ended December 31, 2011 compared to an operating loss of $2.5 million in 2010. Included in NFS’ operating income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011 is a $10.9 million gain resulting from a settlement with the previous owner of NFS, and $11.1 million in cost increases on certain downblending contracts due to productivity and processing issues. In addition, in 2010 NFS recorded an $8.7 million gain as a result of a change in estimate of an environmental reserve.

Technical Services

Revenues increased 32.8%, or $29.6 million, to $119.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to $90.1 million in the corresponding period of 2010. This increase is primarily attributable to increased work scope on one of our environmental remediation services contracts totaling $10.5 million, new awards for decontamination and decommissioning totaling $4.2 million, support services to Fukushima contracts totaling $2.3 million, and transition and task order support from new awards totaling $9.4 million.

Operating income increased $22.8 million to $69.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to $47.1 million in the corresponding period of 2010. This improved performance is primarily attributable to an increase in equity income from investees totaling $9.6 million due to higher fees at our government sites of $1.8 million and three new contract awards totaling $7.8 million. In addition, we experienced increases in operating income attributable to production schedules in specialty manufacturing activities totaling $3.0 million, increased scope on one of our environmental remediation services contracts totaling $2.5 million, and increased fees at a government site in Nevada of $2.2 million. Additionally, we experienced lower research and development expenses of $2.9 million.

Nuclear Energy

Revenues increased 63.7%, or $125.1 million, to $321.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to $196.3 million in the corresponding period of 2010, primarily attributable to increased activity in our nuclear equipment, nuclear projects and nuclear services businesses.

Operating income decreased $90.5 million to a loss of $116.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to a loss of $26.4 million in the corresponding period of 2010. We experienced $43.5 million of increased research and development costs related to the continued development of the B&W mPowerTM reactor, including $16.6 million of non-cash in-kind research and development services contributed by GmP’s minority partner. We also experienced an increase in our selling, general and administrative expenses totaling $16.1 million as we continue to expand our Nuclear Energy segment and increase our presence in the nuclear energy industry. In addition, we recorded increased project costs to complete a nuclear project contract totaling approximately $50.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2011 attributable to productivity, scheduling, scoping and execution issues. This project is now complete. There are no offsetting claims or equitable adjustments included in these loss provisions. These costs were partially offset by improved margins in our nuclear equipment and nuclear services businesses.

Corporate

Unallocated corporate expenses increased by $2.4 million from $18.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2010 to $20.4 million in 2011, due to higher pension expense, partially offset by lower information technology expenses, reduced legal and other professional service expenses, and improved operating results in our captive insurance company.

 

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Other Income Statement Items

Interest expense decreased $8.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to 2010, primarily due to a decrease in interest expense attributable to intercompany borrowings in 2010 between B&W and MII that were in existence prior to the spin-off.

Other income (expense) – net increased $18.9 million to income of $2.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to expense of $16.9 million in 2010, primarily due to foreign currency exchange losses incurred in 2010, and increased dividend income on our USEC investment in 2011 compared to 2010.

Net Loss (Income) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

Net Loss (Income) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest increased $8.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to 2010 primarily attributable to noncontrolling interest recognition of losses incurred in connection with development efforts associated with GmP.

Provision for Income Taxes

For the year ended December 31, 2011, our provision for income taxes decreased $56.1 million to $23.9 million, while income before provision for income taxes decreased $125.7 million to $94.5 million. Our effective tax rate was approximately 25.3% for 2011, as compared to 36.3% for 2010. The decrease in our effective tax rate is primarily attributable to a significant shift in the jurisdictional mix of our pre-tax earnings, and settlements with certain tax authorities, offset in part by nondeductible in-kind research and development expenses and increases in our valuation allowance attributable to state income taxes.

Income before provision for income taxes, provision for income taxes and effective tax rates for our U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions were as shown below:

 

    

Income

before Provision for

Income Taxes

    

Provision for

Income Taxes

     Effective Tax Rate  
     2011      2010      2011      2010      2011     2010  
     (In thousands)      (In thousands)        

United States

   $ 39,417       $ 174,242       $ 17,172       $ 70,372         43.6     40.4

Non-United States

     55,081         45,966         6,708         9,633         12.2     21.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   $ 94,498       $ 220,208       $ 23,880       $ 80,005         25.3     36.3
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

We are subject to U.S. federal income tax at a statutory rate of 35% on our U.S. operations plus the applicable state income taxes on our profitable U.S. subsidiaries. Our non-U.S. earnings are subject to tax at various tax rates and under various tax regimes, including deemed profits tax regimes.

See Note 4 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report for further information on income taxes.

EFFECTS OF INFLATION AND CHANGING PRICES

Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, using historical U.S. dollar accounting (“historical cost”). Statements based on historical cost, however, do not adequately reflect the cumulative effect of increasing costs and changes in the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar, especially during times of significant and continued inflation.

 

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In order to minimize the negative impact of inflation on our operations, we attempt to cover the increased cost of anticipated changes in labor, material and service costs, either through an estimate of those changes, which we reflect in the original price, or through price escalation clauses in our contracts. However, there can be no assurance we will be able to cover all changes in cost using this strategy.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Our overall liquidity position, which we generally define as our unrestricted cash and investments plus amounts available for borrowings under our credit facility, remained strong in 2012. Our liquidity position at December 31, 2012 increased by approximately $42.2 million to $1,018.5 million from $976.3 million at December 31, 2011, mainly due to factors discussed below, and the changes in our cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities. We experienced net cash generated from operations in each of the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010. Typically, the fourth quarter has been the period of highest cash flows from operating activities, primarily attributable to payments received from the U.S. Government on accounts receivable retainages, cash dividends received from our joint ventures and strong working capital performance.

Credit Facility

On June 8, 2012, B&W entered into an Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of lenders and letter of credit issuers, and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, which amends and restates our previous Credit Agreement dated May 3, 2010. The Credit Agreement provides for revolving credit borrowings and issuances of letters of credit in an aggregate outstanding amount of up to $700 million, and is scheduled to mature June 8, 2017. The proceeds of the Credit Agreement are available for working capital needs and other general corporate purposes. The Credit Agreement includes procedures for additional financial institutions to become lenders, or for any existing lender to increase its commitment thereunder, subject to an aggregate maximum of $1.0 billion for all revolving loan and letter of credit commitments.

The Credit Agreement is guaranteed by substantially all of B&W’s wholly owned domestic subsidiaries. Obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by first-priority liens on certain assets owned by B&W and the guarantors (other than subsidiaries comprising our Nuclear Operations and Technical Services segments). If the corporate family rating of B&W and its subsidiaries from Moody’s is Baa3 or better (with a stable outlook or better), the corporate rating of B&W and its subsidiaries from S&P is BBB- or better (with a stable outlook or better), and other conditions are met, the liens securing obligations under the Credit Agreement will be released, subject to reinstatement upon the terms set forth in the Credit Agreement.

The Credit Agreement requires only interest payments on a periodic basis until maturity. We may prepay all loans under the Credit Agreement at any time without premium or penalty (other than customary LIBOR breakage costs), subject to certain notice requirements.

The Credit Agreement contains financial covenants relating to leverage and interest coverage and includes covenants that restrict, among other things, the level of debt incurrence, liens, investments, acquisitions, asset dispositions, dividends, prepayments of subordinated debt and mergers. At December 31, 2012, we were in compliance with all of the covenants set forth in the Credit Agreement. A comparison of the key financial covenants and current compliance at December 31, 2012 is as follows:

 

     Required    Actual
   Less than   

Maximum leverage ratio

   2.75 to 1.0    0.06 to 1.0
   Greater
than
  

Minimum interest coverage ratio

   4.0 to 1.0    78.13 to 1.0

 

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Loans outstanding under the Credit Agreement bear interest at our option at either the Eurocurrency rate plus a margin ranging from 1.25% to 2.25% per year or the base rate (the highest of the Federal Funds rate plus 0.50%, the one month Eurocurrency rate plus 1.0%, or the administrative agent’s prime rate) plus a margin ranging from 0.25% to 1.25% per year. The applicable margin for revolving loans varies depending on the credit ratings of the Credit Agreement. Under the Credit Agreement, we are charged a commitment fee on the unused portions of the Credit Agreement and that fee varies between 0.225% and 0.350% per year depending on the credit ratings of the Credit Agreement. Additionally, we are charged a letter of credit fee of between 1.25% and 2.25% per year with respect to the amount of each financial letter of credit issued under the Credit Agreement and a letter of credit fee of between 0.80% and 1.25% per year with respect to the amount of each performance letter of credit issued under the Credit Agreement, in each case depending on the credit ratings of the Credit Agreement. We also pay customary fronting fees and other fees and expenses in connection with the issuance of letters of credit under the Credit Agreement. In connection with entering into the Credit Agreement, we paid upfront fees to the lenders thereunder, and arrangement and other fees to the arrangers and agents of the Credit Agreement. At December 31, 2012, there were no borrowings outstanding and letters of credit issued under the Credit Agreement totaled $157.9 million, resulting in $542.1 million available for borrowings or to meet letter of credit requirements. The applicable interest rate at December 31, 2012 under this facility was 3.75% per year for revolving loans.

Based on the current credit ratings of the Credit Agreement, the applicable margin for Eurocurrency loans is 1.50%, the applicable margin for base rate loans is 0.50%, the letter of credit fee for financial letters of credit is 1.50%, the letter of credit fee for performance letters of credit is 0.875%, and the commitment fee for unused portions of the Credit Agreement is 0.25%. The Credit Agreement does not have a floor for the base rate or the Eurocurrency rate.

The Credit Agreement generally includes customary events of default for a secured credit facility. If any default occurs under the Credit Agreement, or if we are unable to make any of the representations and warranties in the Credit Agreement, we will be unable to borrow funds or have letters of credit issued under the Credit Agreement.

Other Arrangements

Certain foreign subsidiaries within our Power Generation segment have credit arrangements with various commercial banks and other financial institutions for the issuance of bank guarantees in association with contracting activity. The aggregate value of all such bank guarantees as of December 31, 2012 was $59.4 million.

We have posted surety bonds to support contractual obligations to customers relating to certain projects. We utilize bonding facilities to support such obligations, but the issuance of bonds under those facilities is typically at the surety’s discretion. Although there can be no assurance that we will maintain our surety bonding capacity, we believe our current capacity is more than adequate to support our existing project requirements for the next twelve months. In addition, these bonds generally indemnify customers should we fail to perform our obligations under the applicable contracts. We, and certain of our subsidiaries, have jointly executed general agreements of indemnity in favor of surety underwriters relating to surety bonds those underwriters issue in support of some of our contracting activity. As of December 31, 2012, bonds issued and outstanding under these arrangements in support of contracts totaled approximately $468.6 million.

OTHER

Foreign Operations

Included in our total unrestricted cash and cash equivalents is approximately $172.8 million or 45% related to foreign operations and subsidiaries. In general, these resources are not available to fund our U.S. operations unless the funds are repatriated to the United States, which would expose us to taxes we presently have not accrued in our results of operations. We presently have no plans to repatriate these funds to the U.S. as the liquidity generated by our U.S. operations is sufficient to meet the cash requirements of our U.S. operations.

Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Investments

In the aggregate, our cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents and investments decreased by approximately $10.8 million to $540.3 million at December 31, 2012 from $551.1 million at December 31, 2011, primarily due to the items discussed below.

 

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Our working capital increased by approximately $109.5 million to $441.8 million at December 31, 2012 from $332.3 million at December 31, 2011, attributable to a reduction in total current liabilities in 2012 related to accrued employee benefits, primarily due to lower anticipated fundings to our pension plans in 2013 compared to 2012 attributable to MAP-21 legislation, which reduces required contributions for single-employer pension plans.

Our net cash provided by operating activities was approximately $184.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 compared to $173.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2011. This difference was primarily attributable to changes in net contracts in progress and advance billings.

Our net cash used in investing activities decreased by approximately $42.9 million to approximately $111.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 from approximately $154.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2011. This decrease in net cash used in investing activities was primarily attributable to a decrease in restricted cash in the current year compared to an increase in the prior year.

Our net cash used in financing activities increased by approximately $115.5 million to cash used in financing activities of $108.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2012 from $7.5 million provided by financing activities in the year ended December 31, 2011. This increase in net cash used in financing activities was primarily attributable to the repurchase of common shares and the payment of dividends in 2012.

At December 31, 2012, we had restricted cash and cash equivalents totaling $63.9 million, $8.0 million of which was held in restricted foreign cash accounts, $2.9 million of which was held for future decommissioning of facilities (which is included in other assets on our consolidated balance sheets), $51.9 million of which was held to meet reinsurance reserve requirements of our captive insurer (in lieu of long-term investments), and $1.1 million of which was held in money market funds maintained by our captive insurer.

At December 31, 2012, we had short-term and long-term investments with a fair value of $92.9 million. Our investment portfolio consists primarily of investments in government obligations and other highly liquid money market instruments.

Our investments are classified as available-for-sale and are carried at fair value with unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, reported as a component of other comprehensive income. Our net unrealized gain/loss on investments is currently in an unrealized gain position totaling approximately $0.6 million at December 31, 2012. At December 31, 2011, we had unrealized gains on our investments totaling approximately $0.2 million. Based on our analysis of these investments, we believe that none of our available-for-sale securities were permanently impaired as of December 31, 2012.

Based on our liquidity position, we believe we have sufficient cash and letter of credit and borrowing capacity to fund our operating requirements for at least the next twelve months.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

Our cash requirements as of December 31, 2012 under current contractual obligations were as follows:

 

                                                                                                   
     Total     

Less than 1

Year

    

1-3

Years

    

3-5

Years

    

After

5 Years

 
     (In thousands)  

Long-term debt principal (a)

   $ 4,492       $ 4,062       $ 430       $ —          $ —      

Lease payments

   $ 43,935       $ 10,313       $ 19,919       $ 8,968       $ 4,735   

We expect cash requirements totaling approximately $75.3 million for contributions to our pension plans in 2013, which includes approximately $57.1 million for our Power Generation segment and $18.2 million for Corporate. In addition, we anticipate cash requirements totaling approximately $13.3 million for contributions to our other postretirement benefit plans in 2013, which includes approximately $2.1 million to our funded postretirement benefit arrangements in our Nuclear Operations segment.

 

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(a) Interest payments on these borrowings as of December 31, 2012 are not significant.

Our contingent commitments under letters of credit, bank guarantees and surety bonds currently outstanding expire as follows:

 

Total    

Less than

1 Year

   

1-3

Years

   

3-5

Years

    Thereafter  

(In thousands)

 
$ 685,986      $ 295,484      $ 46,054      $ 326,599      $ 17,849   

 

Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Our exposure to market risk from changes in interest rates relates primarily to our cash equivalents and our investment portfolio, which primarily consists of investments in U.S. Government obligations and highly liquid money market instruments denominated in U.S. dollars. We are averse to principal loss and seek to ensure the safety and preservation of our invested funds by limiting default risk, market risk and reinvestment risk. All our investments in debt securities are classified as available-for-sale.

We have exposure to changes in interest rates on the Credit Agreement (see Item 7 – “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources”). At December 31, 2012, we had no outstanding borrowings under this facility. We have no material future earnings or cash flow exposures from changes in interest rates on our other long-term debt obligations.

We have operations in many foreign locations, and, as a result, our financial results could be significantly affected by factors such as changes in foreign currency exchange rates or weak economic conditions in those foreign markets. In order to manage the risks associated with foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, we attempt to hedge those risks with foreign currency derivative instruments. Historically, we have hedged those risks with foreign currency forward contracts. We do not enter into speculative derivative positions.

Interest Rate Sensitivity

The following tables provide information about our financial instruments that are sensitive to changes in interest rates. The tables present principal cash flows and related weighted-average interest rates by expected maturity dates.

 

     Principal Amount by Expected Maturity  
     (In thousands)  
At December 31, 2012:                                                Fair Value at  
     Years Ending December 31,            December 31,  
     2013     2014     2015     2016     2017      Thereafter     Total      2012  

Investments

   $ 88,750        —          —          —          —         $ 3,511      $ 92,261       $ 92,859   

Average Interest Rate

     0.29     —          —          —          —           0.36     

Long-term Debt

   $ 4,062      $ 215      $ 215        —          —           —        $ 4,492       $ 4,529   

Average Interest Rate

     6.28     0.46     0.46     —          —           —          
At December 31, 2011:                                                Fair Value at  
     Years Ending December 31,            December 31,  
     2012     2013     2014     2015     2016      Thereafter     Total      2011  

Investments

   $ 69,422        —          —          —          —         $ 2,957      $ 72,379       $ 72,580   

Average Interest Rate

     0.24     —          —          —          —           0.37     

Long-term Debt

   $ 4,653      $ 205      $ 210      $ 218        —           —        $ 5,286       $ 5,350   

Average Interest Rate

     6.99     1.97     1.97     1.97     —           —          

 

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Exchange Rate Sensitivity

The following table provides information about our foreign currency exchange (“FX”) forward contracts outstanding at December 31, 2012 and presents such information in U.S. dollar equivalents. The table presents notional amounts and related weighted-average FX rates by expected (contractual) maturity dates and constitutes a forward-looking statement. These notional amounts generally are used to calculate the contractual payments to be exchanged under the contract. The average contractual FX rates are expressed using market convention, which is dependent on the currencies being bought and sold under the forward contract.

Forward Contracts to Purchase Foreign Currencies in U.S. Dollars (in thousands)

 

Foreign Currency    Year Ending
December 31, 2013
    Fair Value at
December 31, 2012
    Average Contractual
Exchange Rate
 

British Pound Sterling

   $ 707      $ 11        1.5832   

British Pound Sterling (selling Euros)

   $ 855      $ (14     0.8094   

Canadian Dollars

   $ 42,724      $ 1,527        1.0383   

Canadian Dollars (selling Japanese Yen)

   $ 6,542      $ 580        78.7183   

Danish Krone

   $ 13,771      $ 28        5.6342   

Danish Krone (selling Swedish Krona)

   $ 16,374      $ (1,479     1.2636   

Euros

   $ 1,661      $ 52        1.2852   

Euros (selling Canadian Dollars)

   $ 195      $ 4        1.2956   

Euros (selling Swedish Krona)

   $ 284      $ (18     9.1843   

Japanese Yen (selling Canadian Dollars)

   $ 14,636      $ (1,335     78.2112   

Swedish Krona (selling Danish Krona)

   $ 2,368      $ 34        1.1712   

Swedish Krona (selling Euros)

   $ 213      $ 14        9.2215   

U.S. Dollars (selling Canadian Dollars)

   $ 447      $ (7     1.0113   
Foreign Currency    Year Ending
December 31, 2014
    Fair Value at
December 31, 2012
    Average Contractual
Exchange Rate
 

British Pound Sterling

   $ 6,230      $ 191        1.5583   

Canadian Dollars

   $ 62,777      $ 3,759        1.0725   

U.S. Dollars (selling Canadian Dollars)

   $ 467      $ (12     1.0337   

 

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

 

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of The Babcock & Wilcox Company:

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of The Babcock & Wilcox Company and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the related consolidated and combined statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2012. These consolidated and combined financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated and combined financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, such consolidated and combined financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of The Babcock & Wilcox Company and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2012, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated and combined financial statements, on December 31, 2012, the Company has elected to change its method of recognizing actuarial gains and losses for pension and other postretirement benefit plans.

As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated and combined financial statements, on and prior to July 30, 2010, the combined financial statements were prepared from the separate records maintained by the Company and may not necessarily be indicative of the conditions that would have existed or the results of operations of the Company had it been operated as an independent entity.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, based on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 27, 2013 expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

/S/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP

 

Charlotte, North Carolina

February 27, 2013

 

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THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

 

     December 31,  
     2012      2011  
     (In thousands)  
ASSETS      

Current Assets:

     

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 383,547       $ 415,209   

Restricted cash and cash equivalents

     60,961         61,190   

Investments

     88,769         68,805   

Accounts receivable – trade, net

     364,960         305,832   

Accounts receivable – other

     61,682         77,505   

Contracts in progress

     316,518         315,286   

Inventories

     124,218         107,298   

Deferred income taxes

     78,573         102,022   

Other current assets

     41,858         33,929   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Current Assets

     1,521,086         1,487,076   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Property, Plant and Equipment

     1,099,040         1,017,422   

Less accumulated depreciation

     652,019         595,131   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net Property, Plant and Equipment

     447,021         422,291   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Investments

     4,090         3,775   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Goodwill

     280,780         276,180   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Deferred Income Taxes

     227,215         241,739   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Investments in Unconsolidated Affiliates

     186,354         163,568   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Other Assets

     173,809         194,482   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

TOTAL

   $ 2,840,355       $ 2,789,111   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to consolidated and combined financial statements.

 

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THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

 

     December 31,  
     2012     2011  
     (In thousands)  
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY     

Current Liabilities:

    

Notes payable and current maturities of long-term debt

   $ 4,062      $ 4,653   

Accounts payable

     264,798        237,494   

Accrued employee benefits

     186,495        303,803   

Accrued liabilities – other

     57,991        71,079   

Advance billings on contracts

     472,287        438,753   

Accrued warranty expense

     83,682        97,209   

Income taxes payable

     9,973        1,816   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Current Liabilities

     1,079,288        1,154,807   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Long-Term Debt

     430        633   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Accumulated Postretirement Benefit Obligation

     71,208        80,663   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Environmental Liabilities

     46,497        44,069   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pension Liability

     579,165        586,045   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Other Liabilities

     60,851        87,921   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Commitments and Contingencies (Note 10)

    

Stockholders’ Equity:

    

Common stock, par value $0.01 per share, authorized 325,000,000 shares; issued 119,608,026 and 118,458,911 shares at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively

     1,196        1,185   

Preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, authorized 75,000,000 shares; no shares issued

     —          —     

Capital in excess of par value

     713,257        676,952   

Retained earnings

     349,063        130,890   

Treasury stock at cost, 4,372,143 and 351,876 shares at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively

     (109,809     (10,059

Accumulated other comprehensive income

     32,728        26,826   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Stockholders’ Equity – The Babcock & Wilcox Company

     986,435        825,794   

Noncontrolling interest

     16,481        9,179   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Stockholders’ Equity

     1,002,916        834,973   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

TOTAL

   $ 2,840,355      $ 2,789,111   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to consolidated and combined financial statements.

 

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THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED AND COMBINED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

 

     Year Ended December 31,  
     2012     2011     2010  
     (In thousands, except per share amounts)  

Revenues

   $ 3,291,359      $ 2,952,040      $ 2,688,811   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Costs and Expenses:

      

Cost of operations

     2,461,205        2,384,154        2,032,347   

Research and development costs

     120,562        106,396        69,167   

Losses (gains) on asset disposals and impairments – net

     1,419        (3,087     38   

Selling, general and administrative expenses

     428,293        447,561        412,486   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

     3,011,479        2,935,024        2,514,038   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Equity in Income of Investees

     66,709        78,655        74,082   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating Income

     346,589        95,671        248,855   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Other Income (Expense):

      

Interest income

     1,491        1,342        1,187   

Interest expense

     (3,735     (4,543     (12,938

Other income (expense) – net

     (24,927     2,028        (16,896
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Other Expense

     (27,171     (1,173     (28,647
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Income before Provision for Income Taxes

     319,418        94,498        220,208   

Provision for Income Taxes

     101,861        23,880        80,005   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net Income

   $ 217,557      $ 70,618      $ 140,203   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net Loss (Income) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     10,138        7,701        (264
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net Income Attributable to The Babcock & Wilcox Company

   $ 227,695      $ 78,319      $ 139,939   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Earnings per Common Share:

      

Basic:

      

Net Income Attributable to The Babcock & Wilcox Company

   $ 1.92      $ 0.67      $ 1.20   

Diluted:

      

Net Income Attributable to The Babcock & Wilcox Company

   $ 1.91      $ 0.66      $ 1.19   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Shares used in the computation of earnings per share (Note 19):

      

Basic

     118,418,930        117,560,594        116,260,425   

Diluted

     119,021,324        118,404,597        117,626,065   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to consolidated and combined financial statements.

 

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THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED AND COMBINED STATEMENTS OF

COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

 

     Year Ended December 31,  
     2012     2011     2010  
     (In thousands)  

Net Income

   $ 217,557      $ 70,618      $ 140,203   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Other Comprehensive Income (Loss):

      

Foreign currency translation adjustments:

      

Foreign currency translation adjustments

     4,284        747        7,561   

Unrealized gains (losses) on derivative financial instruments:

      

Unrealized gains (losses) on derivative financial instruments

     1,409        (877     6,407   

Reclassification adjustment for gains (losses) included in net income

     (2,023     1,655        1,290   

Unrecognized losses on benefit obligations:

      

Unrecognized losses arising during the period

     (434     (1,205     (551

Amortization of losses included in net income

     2,281        2,487        2,386   

Unrealized gains (losses) on investments:

      

Unrealized gains (losses) arising during the period

     431        (74     523   

Reclassification adjustment for net (losses) gains included in net income

     (35     5        122   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Other Comprehensive Income

     5,913        2,738        17,738   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Comprehensive Income

     223,470        73,356        157,941   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Comprehensive Loss (Income) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     10,127        7,670        (243
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income Attributable to The Babcock & Wilcox Company

   $ 233,597      $ 81,026      $ 157,698   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to consolidated and combined financial statements.

 

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THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED AND COMBINED STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

     Common Stock      Capital In
Excess of
    Retained     Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
    Treasury     Parent     Non-
Controlling
    Total
Stockholders’
 
     Shares      Par Value      Par Value     Earnings     Income (Loss)     Stock     Equity     Interest     Equity  
     (In thousands, except share amounts)  

Balance December 31, 2009

     —         $ —         $ —        $ —        $ 8,216      $ —        $ 111,987      $ 503      $ 120,706   

Net income

     —           —           —          52,571        —          —          87,368        264        140,203   

Amortization of benefit plan costs

     —           —           —          —          2,386        —          —          —          2,386   

Unrealized loss on benefit obligations

     —           —           —          —          (551     —          —          —          (551

Unrealized gain on investments

     —           —           —          —          645        —          —          —          645   

Translation adjustments

     —           —           —          —          7,582        —          —          (21     7,561   

Unrealized gain on derivatives

     —           —           —          —          7,697        —          —          —          7,697   

Transfer of pension to Parent

     —           —           —          —          1,544        —          —          —          1,544   

Dividend paid

     —           —           —          —          —          —          (100,000     —          (100,000

Net transactions with Parent

     —           —           —          —          (3,400     —          523,566        —          520,166   

Reclassification of Parent equity to capital in excess of par value

     —           —           622,921        —          —          —          (622,921     —          —     

Issuance of common stock at spin-off

     116,225,732         1,162         (1,162     —          —          —          —          —          —     

Exercise of stock options

     86,004         1         3,427        —          —          —          —          —          3,428   

Contributions to thrift plan

     218,699         2         5,171        —          —          —          —          —          5,173   

Shares placed in treasury

     —           —           —          —          —          (2,397     —          —          (2,397

Stock-based compensation charges

     433,229         5         7,039        —          —          —          —          —          7,044   

Distributions to noncontrolling interests

     —           —           —          —          —          —          —          (80     (80
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance December 31, 2010

     116,963,664       $ 1,170       $ 637,396      $ 52,571      $ 24,119      $ (2,397   $ —        $ 666      $ 713,525   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net income

     —           —           —          78,319        —          —          —          (7,701     70,618   

Amortization of benefit plan costs

     —           —           —          —          2,487        —          —          —          2,487   

Unrealized loss on benefit obligations

     —           —           —          —          (1,205     —          —          —          (1,205

Unrealized loss on investments

     —           —           —          —          (69     —          —          —          (69

Translation adjustments

     —           —           —          —          716        —          —          31        747   

Unrealized gain on derivatives

     —           —           —          —          778        —          —          —          778   

Exercise of stock options

     379,706         4         8,542        —          —          —          —          —          8,546   

Contributions to thrift plan

     510,510         5         13,093        —          —          —          —          —          13,098   

Shares placed in treasury

     —           —           —          —          —          (7,662     —          —          (7,662

Stock-based compensation charges

     605,031         6         17,921        —          —          —          —          —          17,927   

Contribution of in-kind services

     —           —           —          —          —          —          —          16,584        16,584   

Distributions to noncontrolling interests

     —           —           —          —          —          —          —          (401     (401
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance December 31, 2011

     118,458,911       $ 1,185       $ 676,952      $ 130,890      $ 26,826      $ (10,059   $ —        $ 9,179      $ 834,973   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net income

     —           —           —          227,695        —          —          —          (10,138     217,557   

Dividends declared ($.08 per share)

     —           —           —          (9,522     —          —          —          —          (9,522

Amortization of benefit plan costs

     —           —           —          —          2,281        —          —          —          2,281   

Unrealized loss on benefit obligations

     —           —           —          —          (434     —          —          —          (434

Unrealized gain on investments

     —           —           —          —          396        —          —          —          396   

Translation adjustments

     —           —           —          —          4,273        —          —          11        4,284   

Unrealized loss on derivatives

     —           —           —          —          (614     —          —          —          (614

Exercise of stock options

     261,784         3         4,511        —          —          —          —          —          4,514   

Contributions to thrift plan

     549,121         5         13,788        —          —          —          —          —          13,793   

Shares placed in treasury

     —           —           —          —          —          (99,750     —          —          (99,750

Stock-based compensation charges

     338,210         3         18,006        —          —          —          —          —          18,009   

Contribution of in-kind services

     —           —           —          —          —          —          —          17,942        17,942   

Distributions to noncontrolling interests

     —           —           —          —          —          —          —          (513     (513
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance December 31, 2012

     119,608,026       $ 1,196       $ 713,257      $ 349,063      $ 32,728      $ (109,809   $ —        $ 16,481      $ 1,002,916   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to consolidated and combined financial statements.

 

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THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

CONSOLIDATED AND COMBINED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

 

     Year Ended December 31,  
     2012     2011     2010  
     (In thousands)  

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:

      

Net Income

   $ 217,557      $ 70,618      $ 140,203   

Non-cash items included in net income:

      

Depreciation and amortization

     69,697        73,003        71,633   

Income of investees, net of dividends

     (15,115     (20,854     (20,449

Losses (gains) on asset disposals and impairments – net

     1,419        (3,087     38   

Impairment of USEC investment

     27,000        —          —     

In-kind research and development costs

     17,942        16,584        —     

Provision for (benefit from) deferred taxes

     43,038        (19,200     31,168   

Recognition of losses and prior service cost for pension and postretirement plans

     35,480        219,508        95,547   

Stock-based compensation expense

     18,009        17,927        16,308   

Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation

     (1,571     (4,083     (5,276

Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisitions:

      

Accounts receivable

     (52,034     (26,887     101,260   

Accounts payable

     30,391        48,246        19,882   

Net contracts in progress and advance billings

     32,527        (28,746     (153,933

Income taxes

     5,522        31,961        9,239   

Accrued and other current liabilities

     (30,553     (23,106     (9,761

Pension liability and accrued postretirement and employee benefits

     (168,004     (144,802     (85,371

Other

     (46,378     (33,491     (18,082
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES

     184,927        173,591        192,406   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:

      

Decrease (increase) in restricted cash and cash equivalents

     229        (48,923     3,038   

Purchases of property, plant and equipment

     (86,635     (63,874     (63,649

Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired

     (318     (11,907     (29,962

Purchases of available-for-sale securities

     (268,929     (145,198     (135,135

Sales and maturities of available-for-sale securities

     247,649        147,288        134,276   

Proceeds from asset disposals

     580        6,468        753   

Proceeds from sale of an unconsolidated affiliate

     2,091        —          —     

Investments, net of return of capital, in equity and cost method investees

     (6,064     (38,176     (42,912

Decrease in note receivable from affiliate

     —          —          43,277   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES

     (111,397     (154,322     (90,314
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:

      

Payment of short-term borrowings and long-term debt

     (4,643     (1,782     (29,914

Payment of debt issuance costs

     (4,902     (82     (9,994

Increase in short-term borrowing

     3,815        1,254        25,000   

Repurchase of common shares

     (96,774     —          —     

Dividends paid to common shareholders

     (9,485     —          —     

Dividend paid to McDermott International, Inc.

     —          —          (100,000

Capital contribution from McDermott International, Inc.

     —          —          12,501   

Distribution to McDermott International, Inc.

     —          —          (43,334

(Decrease) Increase in notes payable to affiliates

     —          —          (43,386

Exercise of stock options

     2,926        4,463        211   

Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation

     1,571        4,083        5,276   

Other

     (514     (401     (93
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET CASH (USED IN) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES

     (108,006     7,535        (183,733
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

EFFECTS OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH

     2,814        (2,737     3,315   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

NET (DECREASE) INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

     (31,662     24,067        (78,326
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT BEGINNING OF PERIOD

     415,209        391,142        469,468   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF PERIOD

   $ 383,547      $ 415,209      $ 391,142   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:

      

Cash paid during the period for:

      

Interest (net of amount capitalized)

   $ 3,842      $ 4,525      $ 3,746   

Income taxes (net of refunds)

   $ 83,062      $ 33,505      $ 27,227   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to consolidated and combined financial statements.

 

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THE BABCOCK & WILCOX COMPANY

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED AND COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

DECEMBER 31, 2012

NOTE 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

We have presented the consolidated and combined financial statements of The Babcock & Wilcox Company (“B&W”) in U.S. Dollars in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). On and prior to July 30, 2010, our financial position, operating results and cash flows consisted of The Babcock & Wilcox Operations of McDermott International, Inc., (“BWO”), which represented a combined reporting entity comprised of the assets and liabilities involved in managing and operating what was previously the Power Generation Systems and Government Operations segments of McDermott International, Inc., a Panamanian corporation (“MII”). In addition, two captive insurance companies were combined and contributed to B&W in conjunction with the spin-off of B&W by MII. On our consolidated and combined statements of income and cash flows, the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 include the combined results of operations for seven months of BWO and five months of the consolidated results of B&W.

B&W was a wholly owned subsidiary of MII until July 30, 2010 when MII distributed 100% of our outstanding common stock to the MII shareholders. On July 2, 2010, MII’s Board of Directors approved the spin-off of B&W through the distribution of shares of B&W common stock to holders of MII common stock. The distribution of B&W common stock was made on July 30, 2010, and consisted of one share of B&W common stock for every two shares of MII common stock to holders of MII common stock as of 5:00 p.m. New York City time on the record date, July 9, 2010. Cash was paid in lieu of any fractional shares of B&W common stock. B&W became a separate publicly traded company, and MII did not retain any ownership interest in B&W. A registration statement on Form 10 describing the spin-off was filed by B&W with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was declared effective on July 8, 2010 (as amended through the time of such effectiveness).

We use the equity method to account for investments in entities that we do not control, but over which we have the ability to exercise significant influence. We generally refer to these entities as “joint ventures.” We have eliminated all intercompany transactions and accounts.

Certain corporate and general and administrative expenses incurred before the spin-off, including those related to executive management, investor relations, tax, accounting, legal and treasury services, and certain employee benefits, have been allocated based on a level of effort calculation. Our management believes such allocations are reasonable. However, the associated expenses reflected in the accompanying consolidated and combined statements of income may not be indicative of the actual expenses that would have been incurred had the combined businesses been operating as an independent public company for all periods presented. Since the spin-off from MII, B&W has been performing these functions using internal resources or services provided by third parties, certain of which were provided by MII during a transitional period pursuant to a transition services agreement. We have terminated most of the services under the transition services agreement.

Unless the context otherwise indicates, “we,” “us” and “our” mean B&W and its consolidated and combined subsidiaries.

Pension Accounting Change

In the fourth quarter of 2012, we elected to change our accounting method for recognizing actuarial gains and losses for our pension and other postretirement benefit plans. Historically, these gains and losses were recognized as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income on our consolidated balance sheets and we amortized these actuarial gains and losses into earnings over the average remaining service period for our Canadian plans to the extent such gains and losses exceeded a corridor and for our domestic plans we used an amortization method over the average remaining service period without the use of a corridor. Under our new accounting method, we will immediately recognize actuarial gains and losses into earnings in the fourth quarter each year as a component of net periodic benefit cost. This new accounting method results in actuarial gains and losses being recognized faster than our previous amortization method. We believe the new accounting method is preferable as this accelerated method recognizes the effects of plan investment performance, interest rate movements and changes in other actuarial assumptions as a component of earnings in the period they occur. This change has been reported through

 

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retrospective application of the new accounting method to all periods presented. See Note 6 for a further discussion of our pension and postretirement benefits and Note 20 for disclosures relating to the effect of this change in our accounting method.

Business Segments

We operate in four business segments: Power Generation, Nuclear Operations, Technical Services and Nuclear Energy. For financial information about our segments, see Note 17 to our consolidated and combined financial statements included in this report.

Our segments are further described as follows:

 

   

Our Power Generation segment supplies boilers fired with fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, or renewable fuels such as biomass and municipal solid waste. In addition, we supply environmental equipment and components and related services to customers in different regions around the world. This segment owns or leases manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, China and Scotland. We design, engineer, manufacture, supply, construct and service large utility and industrial power generation systems, including boilers used to generate steam in electric power plants, pulp and paper making, chemical and process applications and other industrial uses. We also provide the same compliment of services for our renewable portfolio of boiler technology, which includes biomass fired, waste-to-energy and concentrated solar energy for steam generating solutions. In addition, this segment is a technological leader in providing cost-effective and efficient air pollution control solutions and material handling systems. We have successfully developed advanced technologies to control nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, fine particulate, mercury, acid gases and other hazardous air emissions. In addition, our Power Generation segment offers a variety of construction services for the entire balance of plant, from large steam generation or environmental equipment projects, to cogeneration and combined cycle installations. This segment also offers a full suite of aftermarket services. Our Power Generation segment’s full-scope boiler, environmental and auxiliary equipment retrofits, upgrades and services improve plant performance and efficiency and extend the life of vital steam generating assets.

 

   

Our Nuclear Operations segment manufactures naval nuclear reactors for the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”)/National Nuclear Security Administration’s (“NNSA”) Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, which in turn supplies them to the U.S. Navy for use in submarines and aircraft carriers. Through this segment, we own and operate manufacturing facilities located in Lynchburg, Virginia; Mount Vernon, Indiana; Euclid, Ohio; Barberton, Ohio; and Erwin, Tennessee. The Barberton, Ohio and Mount Vernon, Indiana locations specialize in the design and manufacture of heavy components. These two locations are N-Stamp accredited by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (“ASME”), making them two of only a few North American suppliers of large, heavy-walled nuclear components and vessels. The Euclid, Ohio facility, which is also ASME N-Stamp certified, fabricates electro-mechanical equipment for the U.S. Government, and performs design, manufacturing, inspection, assembly and testing activities. The Lynchburg, Virginia operations fabricate fuel-bearing precision components that range in weight from a few grams to hundreds of tons. In-house capabilities also include wet chemistry uranium processing, advanced heat treatment to optimize component material properties and a controlled, clean-room environment with the capacity to assemble railcar-size components. Fuel for the naval nuclear reactors is provided by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (“NFS”), one of our wholly owned subsidiaries. Located in Erwin, Tennessee, NFS also converts cold war-era government stockpiles of highly enriched uranium into material suitable for further processing into commercial nuclear reactor fuel.

 

   

Our Technical Services segment provides various services to the U.S. Government, including uranium processing, environmental site restoration services and management and operating services for various U.S. Government-owned facilities. These services are provided to the DOE, including the NNSA, the Office of Nuclear Energy, the Office of Science, the Department of Defense and the Office of Environmental Management, and through this segment we deliver products and management solutions to nuclear operations and high-consequence manufacturing facilities. A significant portion of this segment’s operations are conducted through joint ventures.

 

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Our Nuclear Energy segment supplies commercial nuclear steam generators and components to nuclear utility customers. In addition, this segment is actively designing the modular and scalable B&W mPowerTM reactor. B&W has supplied the nuclear industry with more than 1,300 large, heavy components worldwide. With manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Canada, this segment is the only heavy nuclear component, N-Stamp certified manufacturer in North America. Our Nuclear Energy segment fabricates pressure vessels, reactors, steam generators, heat exchangers and other auxiliary equipment. This segment also provides specialized engineering services that include structural component design, 3-D thermal-hydraulic engineering analysis, weld and robotic process development and metallurgy and materials engineering. Our Nuclear Energy segment also provides power plant construction and management and maintenance services. In addition, this segment offers services for nuclear steam generators and balance of plant equipment, as well as nondestructive examination and tooling/repair solutions for other plant systems and components.

The consolidated results of operations, financial position and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2013.

Use of Estimates

We use estimates and assumptions to prepare our financial statements in conformity with GAAP. Some of our more significant estimates include our estimate of costs to complete long-term construction contracts and estimates we make in selecting assumptions related to the valuations of our pension and postretirement plans, including the selection of our discount rates and expected rates of return on our pension plan assets. These estimates and assumptions affect the amounts we report in our financial statements and accompanying notes. Our actual results could differ from these estimates. Variances could result in a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations in future periods.

Earnings Per Share

We have computed earnings per common share on the basis of the weighted average number of common shares, and, where dilutive, common share equivalents, outstanding during the indicated periods. On July 30, 2010, 116,225,732 shares of our common stock were distributed to MII shareholders to complete our spin-off from MII. For comparative purposes, and to provide a more meaningful calculation of weighted average shares, we have assumed this amount to be outstanding as of the beginning of each period presented prior to our spin-off in our calculation of basic weighted average shares. In addition, for our dilutive weighted average share calculations, we have assumed the dilutive securities outstanding at July 30, 2010 were also outstanding at each of the periods presented prior to our spin-off.

Investments

Our investments, primarily U.S. Government obligations and other highly liquid money market instruments, are classified as available-for-sale and are carried at fair value, with the unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income. We classify investments available for current operations in the consolidated balance sheets as current assets, while we classify investments held for long-term purposes as noncurrent assets. We adjust the amortized cost of debt securities for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity. That amortization is included in interest income. We include realized gains and losses on our investments in other income (expense) – net. The cost of securities sold is based on the specific identification method. We include interest on securities in interest income.

Foreign Currency Translation

We translate assets and liabilities of our foreign operations into U.S. dollars at current exchange rates, and we translate income statement items at average exchange rates for the periods presented. We record adjustments resulting from the translation of foreign currency financial statements as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income. We report foreign currency transaction gains and losses in income. We have included in other income (expense)—net transaction losses of $0.6 million, $1.9 million and $6.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

 

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Contracts and Revenue Recognition

We generally recognize contract revenues and related costs on a percentage-of-completion method for individual contracts or combinations of contracts based on work performed, man hours, or a cost-to-cost method, as applicable to the product or activity involved. We recognize estimated contract revenue and resulting income based on the measurement of the extent of progress completion as a percentage of the total project. Certain costs may be excluded from the cost-to-cost method of measuring progress, such as significant costs for materials and major third party subcontractors, if it appears that such exclusion would result in a more meaningful measurement of actual contract progress and resulting periodic allocation of income. We include revenues and related costs so recorded, plus accumulated contract costs that exceed amounts invoiced to customers under the terms of the contracts, in contracts in progress. We include in advance billings on contracts billings that exceed accumulated contract costs and revenues and costs recognized under the percentage-of-completion method. Most long-term contracts contain provisions for progress payments. Our unbilled receivables do not contain an allowance for credit losses as we expect to invoice customers and collect all amounts for unbilled revenues. We review contract price and cost estimates periodically as the work progresses and reflect adjustments proportionate to the percentage-of-completion in income in the period when those estimates are revised. For all contracts, if a current estimate of total contract cost indicates a loss on a contract, the projected loss is recognized in full when determined.

For contracts as to which we are unable to estimate the final profitability except to assure that no loss will ultimately be incurred, we recognize equal amounts of revenue and cost until the final results can be estimated more precisely. For these deferred profit recognition contracts, we recognize revenue and cost equally and only recognize gross margin when probable and reasonably estimable, which we generally determine to be when the contract is approximately 70% complete. We treat long-term construction contracts that contain such a level of risk and uncertainty that estimation of the final outcome is impractical, except to assure that no loss will be incurred, as deferred profit recognition contracts.

Our policy is to account for fixed-price contracts under the completed-contract method if we believe that we are unable to reasonably forecast cost to complete at start-up. Under the completed-contract method, income is recognized only when a contract is completed or substantially complete.

For the majority of parts orders and certain aftermarket services activities, we recognize revenues as goods are delivered and work is performed.

Variations from estimated contract performance could result in material adjustments to operating results for any fiscal quarter or year. We include claims for extra work or changes in scope of work to the extent of costs incurred in contract revenues when we believe collection is probable.

In the year ended December 31, 2012, we recorded a contract loss tot