Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH) on Wednesday provided no
updated financial guidance to investors as the defense contractor
digests the ramifications of a former employee's disclosure of
secret documents about U.S. government surveillance programs.
Executives presenting at an investor conference in Chicago made
no direct reference to Edward Snowden, the employee fired this week
after admitting over the weekend that he leaked documents to the
media while working for the company under contract at the National
Security Agency.
Sam Strickland, Booz Allen's chief financial and administrative
officer, said only that the company had been "in the news more than
we would like," as he described its work in the area of predictive
intelligence on the webcast presentation.
Booz Allen's stock price has continued to slide since Mr.
Snowden's identity and employment was revealed at the weekend. The
stock was recently down 2.3% at $16.74.
The company generated 78% of its revenue from defense and
intelligence contracts in its fiscal year to March 31, with
military intelligence included in a defense portion that accounted
for 55% of sales.
Mr. Strickland detailed the challenges faced by the industry
from budget cuts and the sequestration process, though made no
mention of revising its latest financial guidance in the wake of
the Snowden affair.
A company spokesman said it generally only provides guidance on
quarterly earnings' calls.
"The expectation is that if we provide guidance in a quarterly
earnings release, it stands until we refer to it again in the next
quarter, unless there is a highly visible announcement otherwise,"
the spokesman said in an email.
The latest guidance from May 22 is for revenue to have a "low
single-digit decline" in fiscal 2014 from the $5.76 billion
generated in its 2013 financial year.
Booz Allen is the 11th largest U.S. defense contractor by
revenue, according to the annual survey by Defense News.
The company had said in a brief statement Tuesday that it fired
Mr. Snowden for violating its code of ethics and firm policy.
"News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked
classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action
represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values
of our firm," Booz Allen said in the statement.
Standard & Poor's on Wednesday said the Snowden affair does
not "immediately affect the "BB" corporate credit rating on the
company."
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires