Earnings fell at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the first quarter, which the government contractor attributed to charges on a defense contract and losses associated with the sale of an international subsidiary.
But in an analysts conference call following the morning earnings release, Fluor CEO David Constable was upbeat about prospects for the company’s work in the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex.
Fluor is a minority partner in the $45-billion liquid waste cleanup contract awarded last month to a BWX Technologies-led venture at the DOE’s Hanford Site in Washington state, Constable said. But the Fluor CEO also cautioned that a bid protest is still possible. “Protests seem to be the flavor of the day right now.”
Net losses for the first quarter ended March 31 were $107 million, or $0.82 a share, down from net earnings of $48 million of net earnings, or $ 0.28 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was $3.8 billion, up year-over-year from $3.1 billion.
Quarterly segment operating income for the Mission Solutions segment where Fluor directs its Department of Energy nuclear work, was $7 million, down from $58 million a year ago, due in part to government change orders at an Air Force base in Wyoming. Segment revenue was $649 million, up from $593 million in the year-ago period.
The $331 million in new awards during the first quarter included a 60-day extension for a Fluor-led remediation contractor at the DOE’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio, according to Fluor’s earnings presentation.
Meanwhile, Constable said, a final request for proposals for a standalone management contract for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant in Texas is expected in the third quarter. The Pantex deal could, if approved by senior DOE officials, run for as many as 20 years. Recent contracts at nuclear weapon sites have been, at the longest, half that.
Fluor is one of two integrated subcontractors in Triad National Security, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s management and operations contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
