WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Fluor Corp. (FLR) reported net earnings for the third quarter of $69.5 million or $0.44 per share, compared to $173.0 million or $1.05 per share for the year-ago quarter.
In October, the company entered into a settlement agreement with counsel for a number of plaintiffs who had filed lawsuits against the company relating to the Doe Run lead business, which the company sold in 1994. As a result, the company updated its assessment of its loss contingency and has recorded an additional after-tax charge in the third quarter of about $114 million, or $0.71 per share from discontinued operations.
Net earnings from continuing operations for the latest quarter was $183.4 million or $1.15 per share.
Revenue for the third quarter fell to $5.44 billion from $6.68 billion a year ago, mainly due to continued reductions in the Industrial & Infrastructure segment's mining and metals business line.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.10 per share on revenue of $6.04 billion for the third quarter.
New awards for the quarter were $6.0 billion, including $4.5 billion in Oil & Gas, $700 million in Government, $460 million in Industrial & Infrastructure and $382 million in Power. Consolidated backlog at the end of the quarter rose to $42.3 billion, up 5% over last quarter and up 16% from $36.5 billion a year ago.
The company narrowed its 2014 guidance for EPS from continuing operations to a range of $4.10 to $4.30 per share from its previous guidance of $4.10 to $4.45 per share. Analyst currently expect the company to earn $4.20 per share for the full year 2014
For 2015, the company established its initial EPS guidance at a range of $4.50 to $5.00 per share, excluding any pension settlement-related charges which are not fully estimable at this time. Analyst currently expect the company to earn $4.98 per share for the full year 2015.
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