Fluor Shares Plummet on Poor Results

Disappointed investors dumped nearly 7 million shares of Fluor Corp. stock, driving the price down by $13 a share, after the Irvine-based company said problems connected with a pair of power plant projects diminished its fiscal-first-quarter profit. Fluor’s financial report raised questions about management’s grip on internal operations, some analysts said, and shattered a nearly universal belief that the international engineering and construction services company would continue chalking up a double-digit annual growth rate. The company said its profit for the three months ended Jan. 31 rose 8% to $62 million, or 73 cents a share, from the year-earlier $57.4 million, or 68 cents a share. However, analysts had estimated earnings of 77 cents a share for the quarter. Revenue for the quarter rose 43%, to $3.43 billion from $2.40 billion. Fluor’s stock had risen to a 52-week high of $75 a share on Tuesday, apparently on expectations that the company would meet analysts’ estimates. It plunged to $62 a share Wednesday, down more than 17% for the day, in heavy New York Stock Exchange trading. The company’s first-quarter results missed analysts’ expectations “by a country mile, and we aren’t getting a clear view that the second quarter will be much better,” said Tobias Levkovich, an analyst with Smith Barney Inc. in New York. The quarterly financial report led some analysts to suggest that Fluor has spread itself too thin in its quest for major international business. James Rollans, Fluor’s senior vice president, said the project management team at one of the power plant jobs has been replaced.