Fluor’s Earnings Decline 7.5%

Fluor Corp., the Aliso Viejo-based engineering and construction firm, said Wednesday that its profit fell 7.5% for the fourth quarter, despite a 16% increase in revenue.

Fluor reported net income of $47.5 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with $51.4 million, or 63 cents, a year earlier. That beat the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts by a penny.

Revenue was $2.7 billion, up from $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2003.

Company officials said the revenue growth followed a surge in the company’s order backlog, which stood at $14.8 billion at year’s end, up 39% from the end of 2003.

The company maintained its earlier forecast for 2005 earnings of $2.30 to $2.60 a share.

Fluor released its earnings after the markets closed. Its shares gained 3% after hours, having risen $1.64 to $53.98 in regular New York Stock Exchange trading.

Lila Churney, vice president for investor relations, attributed the drop in profit to Fluor’s power projects division, which posted a $3.2-million operating loss in the quarter, compared with a $17.5-million profit a year earlier.

Results were better in the company’s oil and gas segment, which reported an operating profit of $47.3 million for the quarter, a 31% increase over the same period of 2003. Fourth-quarter revenue for the division was boosted by the inking of a $690-million contract by ICA Fluor, a joint venture with the Mexican firm Empresas ICA. Half of the contract’s value goes to Fluor.

Fluor’s government segment posted a 27% jump in fourth-quarter operating profit to $20 million on the strength of environmental projects for the Department of Energy and new reconstruction projects in Iraq.

For all of 2004, Fluor posted net income of $186.3 million, or $2.25 a share, up from $157.5 million, or $1.95, in 2003. Revenue for the year rose 7% to $9.4 billion.