Fluor Posts Second-Quarter Profit of $47.7 Million : Earnings: Stock value rises on better-than-expected results, which are attributed to a diversification strategy.

Fluor Corp.’s stock rose about 4% Thursday after the giant construction and engineering company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

The company posted a profit of $47.7 million, or 58 cents a share, for its second fiscal quarter, which ended April 30. That compared to earnings of $42 million, or 51 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Revenue was $2.1 billion, up 4% from $2 billion a year earlier.

For the six-month period, Fluor said its earnings rose to $91.7 million, or $1.11 a share, from $77.6 million, or 94 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Six-month revenue was $4.1 billion, up from $3.8 billion.

The company’s backlog of orders at the end of the quarter stood at $2.2 billion, down slightly from $2.3 billion a year earlier.

The stock, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, rose $2 a share Thursday to close at $53.75.

Les McCraw, chief executive, said in a statement that the Irvine-based company’s core construction unit, Fluor Daniel Corp., posted a profit increase of 20%. The results show that the company’s diversification strategy to expand its construction services and to reach beyond oil refinery construction is working, McCraw said.

The results were better than most Wall Street analysts had anticipated, said Herb Hart, a San Francisco analyst for S.G. Warburg Group, a London-based investment bank. As a result, several analysts raised their projections.

“They did better in the coal business, where prices were better than usual,” Hart said.

The company’s A.T. Massey unit mines and sells low-sulfur coal.

Separately, Fluor announced Thursday that Chief Financial Officer James O. Rollans, 51, was promoted to senior vice president and chief administrative officer, with responsibility for coordinating the company’s administrative functions, such as legal and human resources.

J. Michal Conaway, 45, vice president of finance, will succeed Rollans as chief financial officer.

Fluor Corp. Earnings

For its second fiscal quarter, which ended April 30, Fluor Corp. reported a profit of $47.7 million, or 58 cents a share, an increase from earnings of $42 million, or 51 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Figures in millions except per share data:

2nd qtr. 1993 2nd qtr. 1994 6 months 1993 6 months 1994 Revenue $2,006.1 $2,079.6 $3,813.0 $4,137.3 Net income 42.0 47.7 77.6 91.7 Per share 0.51 0.58 0.94 1.11

Note: Second-quarter, 1993, earnings include a $12.6-million reversal of income tax liabilities no longer required and an after-tax charge of $9.2 million to settle disputed pension fund obligations. Source: Fluor Corp.; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times