Fluor Posts 2nd-Quarter Earnings of $55.4 Million, a 16% Jump : Results: Increase is attributed to new engineering and construction contracts, which were up 25% for the period.

Fluor Corp. reported Thursday that its second-quarter earnings increased 16% on the strength of new engineering and building contracts.

The Irvine-based engineering giant reported earnings of $55.4 million, or 66 cents a share, for the quarter ended April 30, compared to $47.7 million, or 58 cents a share, for the same period last year. Revenue was $2.2 billion, a 7% increase over $2.1 billion last year.

Operating profits increased 6% in Fluor’s core engineering division, Fluor Daniel. New engineering and construction contract awards were up 25% during the second quarter, to $2.7 billion, but the backlog of work was $14.4 billion, down from last year’s level at this time, the company said.

“Proposal activity was brisk during the quarter,” said Fluor Chairman Les McCraw. “Given the size and complexity of the current projects Fluor Daniel is pursuing, it is not uncommon to experience long lead times before projects are included in backlog.”

D. Cotton Swindell, an analyst for the brokerage Alex. Brown & Sons in Baltimore, said that Fluor’s earnings were in line with expectations.

“They have been hitting expectations for eight quarters,” he said, adding that the company still has a “backlog of significant projects.” He predicts 15% annual growth in earnings for Fluor, fueled by success in international developments like oil and gas facility building projects.

For the first six months of 1995, Fluor reported earnings of $105.6 million, or $1.27 a share, up 15% from $91.7 million, or $1.11 a share, for the same period in 1994. Revenue was $4.3 billion, up 4% from $4.1 billion for the first six months of last year. New awards totaled $5 billion for the period, a 10% increase over 1994.