Wednesday, engineering and technical service provider URS Corp. (URS), reported a sharp increase in its second-quarter profit, helped by an after-tax gain from the sale of its equity interest in a German mining and power business, even as revenues declined from last year. In a update to its forecast, the company lifted its earnings outlook for fiscal 2009.
The San Francisco, California-based company reported net income for the second quarter of $95.1 million or $1.16 per share, compared to $59.4 million or $0.70 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Comprehensive income attributable to URS rose to $123.94 million from $67.14 million in the same quarter last year.
Results for the second quarter include net after-tax gains of $35.5 million or $0.43 per share from URS' previously announced sale of its equity interest in MIBRAG mbH, a German mining and power business.
Excluding the net gain, net income for the second quarter was $59.6 million or $0.73 per share.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.66 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically excludes special items.
Revenues for the quarter declined to $2.30 billion from $2.53 billion in the prior-year quarter. Thirteen analysts had a revenue consensus of $2.41 billion for the quarter.
In the immediately preceding quarter, the company reported a first-quarter net income of $75.47 million or $0.92 per share, up from $49.37 million or $0.59 per share in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenues for the quarter increased 11.6% to $2.52 billion from $2.26 billion in the comparable period last year.
Segment wise, the URS division reported second quarter revenues of $812.1 million, down from $887.6 million in the prior year quarter. Operating income for the division increased to $70.2 million from $67.0 million in the second quarter of 2008.
The EG&G division reported revenues of $652.7 million, compared to $576.2 million in the comparable quarter last year. The division's operating income grew to $38.1 million from $32.7 million for the corresponding period in 2008.
For the second quarter of 2009, the Washington Division reported revenues of $850.7 million and operating income of $38.3 million compared to revenues of $1.08 billion and operating income of $55.2 million for the same period last year.
Cost of revenues eased to $2.17 billion from $2.40 billion in the same quarter of last year.
Operating income for the second-quarter of fiscal 2009 was $126.07 million, down from $134.46 million in the corresponding period of fiscal 2008. The company recorded other income of $55.50 million, net, while there were no such income in the prior-year quarter.
The company's backlog was $18.1 billion at the end of the quarter, compared to $17.2 billion as of January 2, 2009, the last day of the company's 2008 fiscal year. The company ended the quarter with a book of business of $30.8 billion, compared with $29.1 billion at the end of fiscal 2008.
Among the other in the industry, AECOM Technology Corp. (ACM), posted a higher profit for the third quarter, helped by 16% increase in revenues. Net income available for common stockholders was $51.01 million, or $0.46 per share and revenue for the quarter totaled $1.531 billion.
Another competitor, Houston, Texas-based KBR, Inc. (KBR) reported a rise in second-quarter profit, reflecting an increase in revenues, primarily from Upstream and Services businesses. The company's net income for the quarter increased to $83 million from $64 million in the previous year. Total revenues for the quarter increased 17% to $3.1 billion from the previous year.
For the six-month period, the company's net income increased to $170.61 million or $2.08 per share from $108.80 million or $1.29 per share in the same period last year.
Revenues for the first-half of fiscal 2009 grew to $4.82 billion from $4.79 billion in the similar period last year.
Looking ahead to the full year 2009, the company revised its guidance and now expects revenues to be in the range of $9.4 billion - $9.8 billion with earnings in the range of $3.20 - $3.35 per share. The company previously expected revenue in the range of $9.5 billion - $10.0 billion with earnings $2.80 - $2.95 per share.
Analysts currently anticipate the company to earn $3.01 per share on revenue of $9.86 billion for the quarter. URS closed Wednesday's regular trading at $50.59, up $1.31 or 2.66%, on a volume of 1.00 million shares on the NYSE. In after-hours, the stock lost $1.35 or 2.67%, trading at $49.24.
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