HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES MARKS ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BY RINGING THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., March 29, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) President and CEO Mike Petters will signal the end of the March 29 trading session—and HII's first year of operations—by ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

HII was established March 31, 2011, as an independent and publicly traded company. HII builds the most complex, cost-effective and capable warships that have ever sailed the seas, and over the last century has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder.

"It has been a very successful first year for HII," Petters said. "We accomplished many things for the very first time in establishing the new business while continuing to do what we do best: building ships. We had high-quality deliveries from both Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding—the destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110), the submarine USS California (SSN 781), the amphibious transport dock San Diego (LPD 22) and the Coast Guard cutter Stratton (WMSL 752). We also started construction on two ships, received new construction contracts on three others and reached the halfway point on structural work for the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). We're off to a strong start, and I credit our success to the 38,000 talented and dedicated employees at HII. I'd also like to thank our communities, customers and shareholders for their support in our inaugural year. We will continue our unwavering focus on building the greatest ships for our nation in the most efficient and affordable manner."

During its first year, HII had sales of $6.58 billion and maintains a contract backlog of $16.3 billion as of Dec. 31, 2011.

Photo/Video: Photos available via Associated Press/New York (212.621.1902), Reuters America (646.223.6285), Getty Images (646.613.4141) and Bloomberg Photo (212.617.3420). The Closing Bell (starting at 3:55 p.m.) feed is available via Ascent loop #4009. Media seeking footage via The Switch should contact NYSE Broadcast at 212.656.5483.