EXHIBIT 99.1

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2019 Results

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD) today reported results for the three months ended March 31, 2019.

Financial Overview

First quarter of 2019 compared with first quarter of 2018

• Net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2019, totaled $491.7 million compared with $492.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2019, was $38.7 million, or $0.47 diluted income per share (“EPS”), compared with net income of $14.0 million, or $0.18 diluted income per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Adjusted Net Income (Non-GAAP measure*) for the three months ended March 31, 2019, was $36.3 million, or $0.44 Adjusted EPS (Non-GAAP measure*), compared with $17.1 million, or $0.22 Adjusted EPS for three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Adjusted EBITDAP (Non-GAAP measure*) for the three months ended March 31, 2019, was $71.0 million compared with $47.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Segment performance before environmental remediation provision adjustments, retirement benefits, net, and unusual items (Non-GAAP measure*) was $65.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared with $37.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2019, totaled $(17.7) million compared with $(95.4) million of cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Free cash flow (Non-GAAP measure*) for the three months ended March 31, 2019, totaled $(19.2) million compared with $(99.5) million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Total backlog as of March 31, 2019, was $3.8 billion compared with $4.1 billion as of December 31, 2018.

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* The Company provides Non-GAAP measures as a supplement to financial results presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). A reconciliation of the Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is included at the end of the release.

“We had a strong start to 2019 with Adjusted EBITDAP up more than 50% to $71 million and margins of 14.4%, up 480 bps from the first quarter of 2018. Our continued focus on program execution and operational excellence is reflected in our improving margins,” said Eileen Drake, CEO and President of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. “Sales in the quarter were $492 million, flat with prior year despite the headwind from the expected sunset of the AJ60 solid rocket motor program.”

Operations Review

Aerospace and Defense Segment

Net sales in the three months ended March 31, 2019, were comparable with the prior year period. A decrease of $9.0 million in space programs net sales was primarily driven by the RS-68 program and the winding down of the AJ60 solid rocket motor. The decrease in space programs net sales was offset by an increase of $8.6 million in defense programs net sales primarily driven by the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (“PAC-3”) program partially offset by lower sales on the Standard Missile program.

The increase in segment margin before environmental remediation provision adjustments, retirement benefits, net and unusual items was primarily driven by performance issues during 2018 on the Commercial Crew Development program.

During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company had $13.4 million of favorable changes in contract estimates on operating results before income taxes compared with unfavorable changes of $(7.9) million during the three months ended March 31, 2018.

Real Estate Segment

Net sales and segment performance consist primarily of rental property operations.

Backlog

As of March 31, 2019, the Company’s total remaining performance obligations, also referred to as backlog, were $3.8 billion. The Company expects to recognize approximately 48%, or $1.8 billion, of the remaining performance obligations as sales over the next twelve months. A summary of the Company's backlog is as follows:

Total backlog includes both funded backlog (unfilled orders for which funding is authorized, appropriated and contractually obligated by the customer) and unfunded backlog (firm orders for which funding has not been appropriated). Indefinite delivery and quantity contracts and unexercised options are not reported in total backlog. Backlog is subject to funding delays or program restructurings/cancellations which are beyond the Company's control.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements in this release and in subsequent discussions with the Company’s management are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstances, which could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements. All statements contained herein and in subsequent discussions with the Company’s management that are not clearly historical in nature are forward-looking and the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “plan,” and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. A variety of factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expected and expressed in the Company’s forward-looking statements. Some important risk factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ from those expressed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

• reductions, delays or changes in U.S. government spending;
• cancellation or material modification of one or more significant contracts;
• cost overruns on the Company’s contracts that require the Company to absorb excess costs;
• failure of the Company’s subcontractors or suppliers to perform their contractual obligations;
• failure to secure contracts;
• failure to comply with regulations applicable to contracts with the U.S. government;
• failure to comply with applicable laws, including laws relating to export controls and anti-corruption or bribery laws;
• the Company’s Competitive Improvement Program may not be successful in aligning the Company’s operations to current market conditions or in achieving the anticipated costs savings and other benefits within the expected timeframes;
• costs and time commitment related to potential and/or actual acquisition activities may exceed expectations;
• failure of the Company’s information technology infrastructure, including a successful cyber-attack, accident, unsuccessful outsourcing of certain information technology and cyber security functions, or security breach that could result in disruptions to the Company’s operations;
• product failures, schedule delays or other problems with existing or new products and systems;
• the release, unplanned ignition, explosion, or improper handling of dangerous materials used in the Company’s businesses;
• loss of key qualified suppliers of technologies, components, and materials;
• the funded status of the Company's defined benefit pension plan and the Company’s obligation to make cash contributions in excess of the amount that the Company can recover in its current period overhead rates;
• effects of changes in discount rates and actuarial estimates, actual returns on plan assets, and government regulations on defined benefit pension plans;
• the possibility that environmental and other government regulations that impact the Company become more stringent or subject the Company to material liability in excess of its established reserves;
• environmental claims related to the Company’s current and former businesses and operations including the inability to protect or enforce previously executed environmental agreements;
• reductions in the amount recoverable from environmental claims;
• significant risk exposures and potential liabilities that are inadequately covered by indemnity or insurance;
• inability to protect the Company’s patents and proprietary rights;
• business disruptions to the extent not covered by insurance;
• changes or clarifications to current tax law or procedural guidance could adversely impact the Company’s tax liabilities and effective tax rate;
• the substantial amount of debt that places significant demands on the Company’s cash resources and could limit the Company’s ability to borrow additional funds or expand its operations;
• the Company’s ability to comply with the financial and other covenants contained in the Company’s debt agreements;
• risks inherent to the real estate market;
• changes in economic and other conditions in the Sacramento, California metropolitan area real estate market or changes in interest rates affecting real estate values in that market;
• additional costs related to past or future divestitures;
• the loss of key employees and shortage of available skilled employees to achieve anticipated growth;
• a strike or other work stoppage or the Company’s inability to renew collective bargaining agreements on favorable terms;
• fluctuations in sales levels causing the Company’s quarterly operating results and cash flows to fluctuate;
• failure to maintain effective internal controls in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; and
• those risks detailed in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC.

About Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., headquartered in El Segundo, California, is an innovative technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems, with a real estate segment that includes activities related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the company’s excess real estate assets. More information can be obtained by visiting the Company’s websites at www.rocket.com or www.aerojetrocketdyne.com.

Contact information:
Investors: Kelly Anderson, investor relations 310.252.8155

(Tables to follow)

The Company evaluates its operating segments based on several factors, of which the primary financial measure is segment performance. Segment performance represents net sales less applicable costs, expenses and unusual items relating to the segment operations. Segment performance excludes corporate income and expenses, unusual items not related to the segment operations, interest expense, interest income, and income taxes. The Company believes that segment performance provides information useful to investors in understanding its underlying operational performance. Specifically, the Company believes the exclusion of the items listed above permits an evaluation and a comparison of results for ongoing business operations. It is on this basis that management internally assesses the financial performance of its segments.

Use of Unaudited Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to segment performance (discussed above), the Company provides the Non-GAAP financial measures of its performance called Adjusted EBITDAP, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted EPS. The Company uses these metrics to measure its operating and total Company performance. The Company believes that for management and investors to effectively compare core performance from period to period, the metrics should exclude items that are not indicative of, or are unrelated to, results from the ongoing business operations such as retirement benefits (pension and postretirement benefits), significant non-cash expenses, the impacts of financing decisions on earnings, and items incurred outside the ordinary, ongoing and customary course of business. Accordingly, the Company defines Adjusted EBITDAP as GAAP net income adjusted to exclude interest expense, interest income, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, retirement benefits net of amounts that are recoverable under the Company’s U.S. government contracts, and unusual items which the Company does not believe are reflective of such ordinary, ongoing and customary activities. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS exclude retirement benefits net of amounts that are recoverable under its U.S. government contracts and unusual items which the Company does not believe are reflective of such ordinary, ongoing and customary activities. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS do not represent, and should not be considered an alternative to, net income or diluted EPS as determined in accordance with GAAP.

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(1)   The income tax impact is calculated using the federal and state statutory rates in the corresponding period.

The Company also provides the Non-GAAP financial measure of Free Cash Flow. Free Cash Flow, a Non-GAAP financial measure, is defined as cash flow from operating activities less capital expenditures. Free Cash Flow should not be considered in isolation, as a measure of residual cash flow available for discretionary purposes, or as an alternative to cash flows from operations presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company uses Free Cash Flow, both in presenting its results to stakeholders and the investment community, and in the Company’s internal evaluation and management of the business. Management believes that this financial measure is useful because it provides supplemental information to assist investors in viewing the business using the same tools that management uses to evaluate progress in achieving the Company’s goals (including under the annual cash and long-term compensation incentive plans).

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(1)  Free Cash Flow, a Non-GAAP financial measure, is defined as cash flow from operating activities less capital expenditures.

Because the Company’s method for calculating these Non-GAAP measures may differ from other companies’ methods, the Non-GAAP measures presented above may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. These measures are not recognized in accordance with GAAP, and the Company does not intend for this information to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP measures.