Texas-based Fluor will discuss its quarterly financial performance Thursday for the first time since announcing its plans last month to divest its government contracting business.
It’s also the engineering and construction company’s first quarterly review since another Energy Department contractor, AECOM, said earlier this month it has agreed to sell its government contracting branch to an investment group for about $2.4 billion.
The AECOM announcement heightened speculation that Wall Street investors, rather another corporation already in government contracting, might also be likely buyers for the Fluor business that includes 28,000 employees and more than 40 projects. The Dallas area company is either a lead partner, or significant player in DOE work at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and elsewhere.
On Aug. 1, Fluor revealed a loss of $555 million or $3.96 per diluted share for its second quarter ended June 30, which marked a nosedive from net earnings of $115 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, one year earlier. Company revenue for the quarter ended June 30 declined 16% from $4.9 billion a year ago to $4.1 billion.
Then on Sept. 24 Fluor announced it is selling its government services wing because it’s a valuable property that can be divested in the short-term to improve the company’s ailing balance sheet. Fluor CEO Carlos Hernandez expects the company to complete a sale sometime in 2020.
The financial conference call, which will be webcast, is set for 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday. Fluor will release its actual earnings figures earlier that morning before the market opens.
