Engineering, construction, and procurement giant Fluor continues to experience rough waters a month after announcing plans to sell its government services branch, which includes its U.S. Department of Energy contracts.
For its third quarter ended Sept. 30, Fluor reported a net loss from continuing operations of $782 million, or $5.57 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $69 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, a year ago.
Revenue stepped up slightly from $3.8 billion during the third quarter of 2018 to $3.9 billion in the latest quarter, according to a company press release. Fluor’s total revenue for the first nine months of 2019 was $10.6 billion, down from $11.2 billion during the same period of 2018.
Meanwhile, the operations of government contracting and the AMECO equipment rental business together posted positive numbers for the quarter. Fluor is listing these enterprises as “discontinued” for its financial reporting purposes.
The businesses now up for sale posted a quarterly net profit of $40 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, compared to $9 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, a year ago. That was due in part to $30 million favorable settlement of litigation related to a previously divested business.
Fluor expects the government contracting business to be divested within a year, probably by mid-2020. “We continue to act with urgency” in an effort to strengthen Fluor and reduce its risk, said CEO Carlos Hernandez at the outset of an early morning conference call on the earnings report.
New awards totaled $1.1 billion for the quarter, including a 14-month extension of the Savannah River Site management and operation contract for Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions.
“It is very early in the process,” but Fluor has “significant interest” in both government contracting and AMECO, Hernandez said.
