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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reporcted): MARCH 12, 1998
HALTER MARINE GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
DELAWARE 1-12159 75-2656828
(State or other jurisdiction (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer
of incorporation) Identification No.)
13085 INDUSTRIAL SEAWAY ROAD,
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI 39503
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 601/896-0029
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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
PRESS RELEASE REGARDING EXPECTED FOURTH QUARTER EARNINGS
On March 12, 1998 the Company issued a press release (the "Press
Release") regarding its expected earnings for the fourth quarter of its current
fiscal year. For additional information, reference is made to the Press
Release, a copy of which is attached as an exhibit hereto.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS.
(c) Exhibits
Exhibit 99.1 - Press Release of Registrant dated March 12, 1998.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
HALTER MARINE GROUP, INC.
Date: March 13, 1998 By: /s/ Keith L. Voigts
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Keith L. Voigts
Senior Vice President
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EXHIBIT 99.1
PRESS RELEASE
For release: March 12, 1998
Contact: Rick S. Rees, Executive Vice-President and CFO
Keith Voigts, Senior Vice-President
HALTER REVISES EARNINGS ESTIMATE
GULFPORT, Miss...Halter Marine Group, Inc. (AMEX:HLX) Gulfport, Miss. announced
today that it expects its fourth quarter earnings to be significantly below what
analysts are expecting because of increased production costs in its marine
vessel product line. Earnings for the quarter are expected to be about break
even.
John Dane III, chairman, president and chief executive officer said, "Our
record backlog has increased demands on engineering support and production,
resulting in some inefficiencies. Costs on certain new projects rose beyond
original estimates, in part, because of the recent addition of many new, less
experienced shipbuilders. In addition, unprecedented inclement weather caused
production delays and a subsequent increase in the amount of planned overtime."
Dane continued, "We have had an unusually high number of newly designed vessels
developed by our engineering group during the last year which strained our
internal capacity and caused delays in the production of engineering drawings,
resulting in out of sequence work performed at sub-optimal efficiencies. We
have now developed a broad range of industry and regulatory accepted designs
that we will be able to use to fill future order."
He emphasized that the increased production costs are limited to certain
new vessels under construction, and the majority of its new vessel construction,
and its rig, engineered products, and repair businesses are performing as
expected.
The company also said that management remains focused on insuring long term
production efficiencies across all of the company's product lines. Its
continued investment in facilities, talented people and process improvements are
positioning the company for long term profitability.
Certain statements (other than statements of historical fact) contained in
this announcement are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
are generally accompanied by words such as "anticipate", "believe," "estimate"
or "expect" or similar statements. Although the Company believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no
assurance can be given that such expectations will prove correct. Factors that
could cause the Company's results to differ materially from the results
discussed in such forward-looking statements include risks such as dependence on
U.S. Navy contracts, intense competition and contractual, labor, regulatory and
other risks in the shipbuilidng industry and risks relating to the market for
offshore support vessels and offshore double hull tank barges. All forward-
looking statements in this announcement are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph.
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Halter Marine Group, Inc. includes 21 shipyards in Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Florida. The company specializes in the design, construction,
conversion and repair of a wide variety of vessels, mobile offshore rigs, and
engineered products for energy, commercial, government/military and pleasure
boat markets. Shipyards of Halter Marine Group have built more than 2,000
vessels in the past 40 years.
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