A costly court loss ate into Fluor Corp.’s profit in the second quarter, the Aliso Viejo-based company said on Monday.
Fluor said a $65 million jury award related to a hotel project in the Caribbean turned a profit into a $16.4 million loss in the period. The engineering services provider reported a $45 million profit a year ago.
Shares of Fluor fell more than 7% in after-hours trading following the earnings release.
“The jury verdict on the hotel project was wholly unexpected, and as we do not believe it was supported by the facts or by applicable law, we are pursuing all possible avenues of reconsideration or appeal,” said Chief Executive Alan Boeckmann.
Fluor said its revenue climbed 32% to $2.9 billion during the second quarter. The company’s backlog rose 21% to $15.7 billion.
The company reported growth across most of its units. The fastest gain came from its oil and gas unit, which saw revenue climb 64% to $1.2 billion.
The weakest segment was Fluor’s power unit, which recorded an 8% decline in revenue to $119 million. The company said the decline was because it had wrapped up some former work and now is working on some projects that are in the early stages.
Fluor lowered its earnings guidance for 2005 by about $65 million,essentially because of the jury award.
