Fluor Corp. Reports 9% Jump in Profits for Year : Earnings: Cost cutting, tax refund, sale of Bermuda firm cited as earnings reach $160.8 million.

Fluor Corp. said Monday that cost-cutting measures coupled with a $12-million tax refund and the sale of its stake in a Bermuda insurance company caused its fiscal year profit to rise 9% to $160.8 million despite a decline in sales.

The Irvine corporation said its profits would have increased even without those one-time gains because of its diverse range of engineering and construction contracts spread throughout different industries and various countries.

Fluor’s revenue dipped 9% to $6.7 billion.

During fiscal 1990, Fluor earned $146.9 million on $7.4 billion in revenue.

“We’re making more money off less,” said Deborah Land, a company spokeswoman.

Fluor’s stock closed Monday at $36.625 a share, up $1.375 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

For the fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, Fluor reported a $45.9-million profit, or 56 cents a share, compared to $40.7 million, or 50 cents share, in the corresponding period a year earlier. Revenue fell 15% from $1.97 billion to $1.7 billion.

Fluor’s backlog--signed contracts yet to be completed--increased 17% during the year to $11.2 billion. Those orders included $1 billion of refurbishing work on oil refineries in northern Saudi Arabia.

Land said contracts overseas grew 15% during the year. About 29% of the company’s backlog is in foreign markets, some of which aren’t suffering from an economic slowdown like the United States.

“The company is very well positioned, both geographically and across industries, for an economic recovery,” said Carey Callaghan), an analyst with Shearson Lehman Bros. in New York.

Fluor has implemented cost-saving measures, including an increased use of computer-aided design for its projects instead of individual draftsmen.

“The projects the company is working on are more profitable than they were,” Callaghan said.

Fluor’s biggest trouble spot was its Doe Run Co. subsidiary, a St. Louis-based lead producer that lost $3.7 million because of weak prices in mineral markets. A year earlier, Doe Run had earned Fluor about $36 million.

Fluor partially offset Doe Run’s performance through the tax refund and the sale of its interest in Bermuda insurer Centre Reinsurance Holdings Ltd. Fluor sold Centre for $10 million.

Fluor Corp.’s Performance

For the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, Fluor Corp. posted a 9% gain in net income from the year-earlier period, to $160.8 million from $146.9 million. Revenue declined 9%, to $6.7 billion from $7.4 billion.

Figures are in millions, except per-share data.

4th Qtr 4th Qtr 12 Months 12 Months 1991 1990 1991 1990 Revenue $1,669 $1,970.9 $6,741.7 $7,446.3 Net income (loss) 45.9 40.7 160.8 146.9 Per share (loss) 0.56 0.50 1.97 1.81

Source: Fluor Corp.