It was a down earnings period for Texas-based Fluor in the 4th quarter, which the government contractor largely attributed to delayed spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with winding down low-profit infrastructure projects.
For both the quarter and the year, the company winnowed its year-over-year losses as revenue fell, according to an earnings release issued Friday morning.
Fluor had a quarterly net loss from continuing operations of $115 million, or $0.82 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec.31, compared with a net loss of $294 million, or $2.10 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2019,
The yearly numbers for 2020 reflected the same pattern, showing a loss for 2020 but at a lesser level than 2019. The net loss from operations this year amounted to $294 million, or $2.09 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $1.5 billion, or $10.89 per diluted share in 2019.
Fluor’s revenue for the quarter was $3.7 billion down from $4.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019. Likewise, revenue for 2020 was $15.7 billion, compared to $17.3 billion in 2019.
Fluor’s Government segment, which supports its work for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, reported a profit of $88 million in the past year down from $200 million a year ago. The decrease in segment profit was attributed largely to the “favorable settlement” of two nuclear power plant projects in 2019, and reflects the adverse impact of COVID-19. Full year revenue for the segment was $2.9 billion down slightly from $3 billion a year ago.
Fluor announced last month that going forward, the government sector will be reported under the newly-christened Mission Solutions segment.
“While 2020 was a challenging year, I am encouraged by the resilience of our organization,” said Fluor CEO David Constable in the earnings release. “This year will be a bridging year as we anticipate COVID-19 impacts abating coupled with our focus shifting to implementation of the newly announced strategy.”
Fluor, like some other engineering, procurement and construction companies, said in the past couple of years it is becoming more selective about the projects it takes on and is moving away from low-margin endeavors like building new gas-fired power plants.
Fluor will “continue to support the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration with its nuclear security, environmental remediation, and energy projects and operations,” Constable said during a Friday morning earnings call with financial analysts.
The past couple of years have been tough for Fluor.
In November the company appointed Constable, a board member and one-time Fluor executive, as its new CEO, marking the second time in two years it has replaced its top boss.
The company also spent much time in 2020 addressing probes by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission about irregularities in some 2019 financial filings. Fluor established an internal team to review its own records. While it discovered some errors, none was connected with its DOE business, the company said in its latest earnings reports.
Fluor is a big player in the weapons complex, serving as lead partner in a number of joint venture contracts including the $15.8-billion operations contract for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that potentially runs through September 2022. Fluor is also a partner in the Amentum-led Central Plateau Clean Co. that was awarded a potential 10-year, $10-billion contract at the DOE Hanford Site which started in January.
