Stable second quarter for Fluor

US contractor Fluor reported revenues of US$ 7.2 billion for the three months to the end of June, up from US$ 7.1 billion a year ago, on net earnings of US$ 161 million – stable year-on-year.

The company said strong growth in its oil & gas business had been offset by lower results in its industrial & infrastructure division.

Net oil & gas profit jumped +27% year-on-year to US$ 107 million on revenues of US$ 2.9 billion, up +24% compared to the second quarter of 2012.

In the industrial & infrastructure segment, net profit fell from US$ 131 million a year ago to US$ 129 million. Revenues stood at US$ 3.1 billion, down from US$ 3.6 billion in the three months to June, 2012.

Fluor said lower lower contributions from the mining and metals businesses had dragged industrial & infrastructure results down, despite growth in the industrial services and infrastructure lines.

Meanwhile, the company’s government division was hit by an unexpected charge of US$ 17 million after a court ruling on claims over work on the US embassy in Haiti. No further claims related to this project are pending, according to Fluor.

Chairman and CEO David Seaton said he was increasingly optimistic about the company’s prospects, particularly the strength of future opportunities in oil and gas.

“We continue to pursue and receive a number of important front-end engineering and design awards, which we expect will translate into significant awards over the next few years.”

The company trimmed its full-year earnings guidance to between US$ 3.85 and US$ 4.2 per share, compared to the previous range of US$ 3.85 to US$ 4.35. It said that while growth opportunities in oil & gas remained robust, the charge relating to the embassy claim and a slowdown in mining and metals had put pressure on the outlook.