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Jacobs Engineering Group Reports 1Q Profit Rise

The Associated Press

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Shares of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. fell Tuesday, a day after the engineering and construction company said its second-quarter profit rose 10 percent as it cut its 2009 earnings guidance below Wall Street expectations.

Net income of $109.3 million, or 88 cents per share, compared with $99.3 million, or 80 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue for the period ended March 31 was $2.98 billion, up 12 percent from $2.66 billion in the same quarter last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 88 cents per share on revenue of $3.1 billion.

Craig L. Martin, president and chief executive, said he was disappointed that the most recent results fell short of the previous quarter, when Jacobs Engineering Group reported earnings of $116.4 million, or 94 cents, per share.

"We have produced positive earnings growth on a quarter-over-quarter basis for the last 15 straight quarters, so we are disappointed to report earnings below that of last quarter," he said.

Jacob Engineering Group's public sector business remains strong while the heavy process business — extracting from oil sands — is "highly uncertain," Martin said.

Still, earnings "remain good and exceed year-ago earnings by 10 percent," he said.

Jacobs cut its 2009 guidance because of "the near-term complexities and uncertainties" in its markets, CFO John W. Prosser Jr. said.

The company reduced its earnings forecast to a range of $3.10 per share to $3.50 per share, down from the previously guided $3.55 per share to $3.90 per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings this year to be $3.59 per share.

Analyst Tahira Afzal of KeyBanc Capital Markets said in a note to investors Monday the stock could "open under pressure" as investors may look past the company's better than expected project bookings.

"While we viewed a downward revision in fiscal 2009 guidance as likely on energy markets pressure, we are slightly surprised by the extent of the cut," Afzal said.

Shares fell $3.69, or 8 percent, to $41.86 in morning trading.