Investors Meet; Fluor Stock Surges

As Fluor Corp. held its annual meeting Tuesday, its stock was topping a record high, breaking $50 several times during the day’s trading.

Shares closed at $51 on the New York Stock Exchange, up $1.37.

Wall Street’s vote of confidence came even as Fluor President and Chief Operating Officer Vincent L. Kontny was telling shareholders about the engineering, construction and mining company’s continued search for improvement.

“We’ve achieved our record performance during the most chaotic era of rapid change the world has ever faced,” Kontny said. But “no one can protect the status quo. Our clients are changing, our markets are changing, the financial dynamics of our businesses are changing, so we must change as well.”

Kontny’s comments follow a decade of reorganization for Irvine-based Fluor. A string of losses in the early and mid-1980s was transformed to record revenue of $7.9 billion in 1993, with earnings of $166.8 million. First-quarter profits were up 23% over the year before.

A motion from the floor to cap senior managers’ salaries was defeated by a majority, said Fluor spokeswoman Deborah Land.

Kontny spoke in the stead of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Les McCraw, who is recovering from prostate surgery.