Third-Quarter Earnings Rise 25% at Fluor Corp.

Fluor Corp. said Thursday its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 25% as its construction business remained active and its coal operations increased production.

Fluor said profit rose 10% at Fluor Daniel, the company’s core engineering and construction business, because of a greater volume of work. Profits at A.T. Massey, the company’s low-sulfur coal unit, rose 28%.

Fluor’s net income for the third quarter ended July 31 rose to $60.2 million, or 72 cents a share, from $48.3 million, or 58 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 20% to $2.4 billion from $2 billion.

Nine-month net income climbed 18% to $165.8 million, or $1.99 a share, from $140 million, or $1.69 a share, a year ago. Revenues for the most recent nine-month period were $6.7 billion, up 10% from $6.1 billion a year ago.

The diversified Irvine company’s backlog of orders on July 31 stood at $14.5 billion, down 2% from $14.9 billion a year ago.