Fluor's 3rd-quarter Earnings Falls 11 Percent

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Engineering and construction firm Fluor Corp. said Monday its third-quarter earnings fell 11 percent on lower revenue at its oil and gas and power units, and forecast a weaker profit for next year.

The company earned $162 million, or 89 cents per share during the July to September period, compared with $182 million, or $1 per share, in the prior-year period,

Revenue slipped 4 percent to $5.42 billion from $5.67 billion a year earlier. Fluor's power segment and oil and gas unit fell 40 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Fluor's revenue in its oil and gas unit fell on declines in new awards and backlog for the unit, including the loss of a $1.2 billion gas processing project in Russia. The company's power segment also saw its revenue drop as a large coal-fired project in Texas came closer to completion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast a profit of 90 cents per share with revenue of $5.49 billion.

The company said it was awarded $2.88 billion in new projects in the third quarter compared with $8.81 billion in the period a year ago.