Fluor Settlement Boosts Earnings

Worldwide engineering and construction company Fluor Corp. said Tuesday that a settlement with a major service provider added $2.9 million, or 4 cents a share, to its fiscal first-quarter earnings.

The Aliso Viejo company earned $52.3 million, or 69 cents a share, for the first quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with $51.1 million, or 68 cents a share, earned in last year’s first three months. Quarterly revenue fell to $3 billion from $3.4 billion.

The company said its results were in line with its “outlook of modest earnings growth for the full year.” It also said it expects second-quarter earnings to be “slightly” weaker than the first-quarter profit.

Six analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial estimated the company would earn $2.83 per share in its current fiscal year.

The company said its main subsidiary, Fluor Daniel, which handles engineering, procurement and construction work, recorded an operating profit of $41 million compared with $40 million in the same period a year ago. Backlog for the business at the end of the first quarter was $6.5 billion compared with $9 billion a year ago.

Operating profit at Fluor Global Services increased to $28 million from a year ago, while revenue rose to $764 million from $664 million a year ago. First-quarter backlog rose to $2.7 billion from $2.1 billion a year ago.

A.T. Massey, the company’s low-sulfur coal business, recorded operating profit of $32 million in the first quarter, down from $39 million in the same period a year ago.

Fluor said the goal for its newest business, Fluor Signature Services, which began operations in the first quarter, is to break even in its first year. The business recorded an operating loss of $1 million in the first quarter.

The company said its effective tax rate for fiscal 2000 is expected to be in the range of 29% to 30%, down from 32.4% a year ago.