Texas-based Fluor, a major contractor at Department of Energy nuclear weapon sites, lost $171 million, or $1.22 per share, for its first quarter that ended March 31, according to results released Thursday.
Since late 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have been investigating problems with Fluor quarterly data filed during 2019, which prevented the company filing reports for 2020 until the issues are fixed.
Fluor took a step in clearing up its problems last month when it issued financial results for 2019, which revealed a net loss from continuing operations of $1.7 billion, or $11.97 per diluted share, compared with earnings from continuing operations of $9 million, or $0.07 per share, for 2018. In addition to the government probes, Fluor also formed its own internal audit committee to scrutinize its numbers.
Fluor’s revenue for the first quarter was about $4.12 billion which was almost equal to the $4.13 billion generated during the first three months in 2019. The company benefited from a $100-million tax benefit from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Look for Fluor to report second quarter results in about four weeks and third quarter numbers four weeks after that, according to the company press release. The company will hold its next earnings call with Wall Street analysts following the release of its third quarter results.
Fluor’s Government segment, which quarterbacks work for the DoE’s Office of Environmental Management and the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), reported a profit of $31 million in the first quarter of 2020. That is down from $38 million in the first quarter of 2019. Results include $9 million for change in project positions due to COVID-19 schedule delays.
Fluor is the lead partner in joint ventures holding billions of dollars’ worth of business in the DoE nuclear complex. The largest of the bunch is the $14.8-billion contract held by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions for management and operation of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That site includes both cleanup of Cold War weapons production facilities, and ongoing tritium gas harvesting for the present nuclear arsenal.
Fluor is also an integrated subcontractor for Triad National Security, which manages the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico: the world’s first nuclear-weapons lab.
The company is also rumored to be exploring a teaming arrangement with Amentum to bid on the potentially 10-year, $28-billion NNSA contract to manage the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security Complex. The final request for proposals for that deal, a follow on to the agency’s contract with Consolidated Nuclear Security, is expected some time before the end of calendar year 2020.
