Yahoo Finance Fluor (FLR) Receives EPCM Contract for Skouries Project
Fluor Corporation FLR received an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services contract for the Skouries gold-copper mining project. The contract was initiated by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eldorado Gold Corp. —Hellas Gold Single Member S.A. This $845 million project is located in the Halkidiki Peninsula of Greece and Fluor will book its share in the fourth quarter 2022.
Fluor's Mining & Metal business will work on the infrastructure, non-process facilities, process area and tailings filtration part of the project. The construction will likely begin in 2023 and continue for 2.5-3 years, with the first production expected in second-half 2025.
Post completion, the project is expected to produce 140,000 ounces of gold and 67 million pounds of copper annually (on average) for the initial 20 years of mine life. Also, it will employ up to 800 local construction workers and create 1,400 long-term jobs for the same time frame.
Solid Contract Flow Aid FLR Business
Fluor has been providing EPCM services for more than a century. The company exited the third quarter of 2022 with a total backlog of $25.42 billion compared with $20.8 billion in the year-ago period, with 52% projects outside the United States and 42% lump sum projects. Total revenues in the third quarter of 2022 declined 3.14% from the year-ago period.
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FLR’s shares have plunged 40% versus the industry’s growth of 10.7% over the past year.
The company’s adjusted earnings declined 71.7% to $11 million from the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) declined to 7 cents from 23 cents in third-quarter 2021. Challenges associated with FLR’s three legacy infrastructure projects weighed heavily on the results.
Nonetheless, for the fourth quarter of 2022, it expects adjusted EPS in the range of 50-60 cents and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $125 to $150 million. The consensus estimate for fourth-quarter earnings implies 64.5% year-over-year growth. FLR has a long-term earnings growth rate of 25.1%.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Fluor currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Construction sector are Altair Engineering Inc. ALTR, CRH plc CRH and ChampionX Corporation CHX.
Altair: This Troy, Michigan-based company provides software and cloud solutions in simulation, high-performance computing, data analytics and artificial intelligence worldwide. Despite significant macroeconomic uncertainty, ALTR has been registering solid growth in billings on a constant-currency basis and witnessing strong demand across all geographies. The company’s focus on delivering services with outstanding technology developments and applications is expected to drive growth.
Altair’s earnings for 2023 are expected to witness 21.5% growth from the year-ago report.
CRH plc currently has a Zacks Rank #1. CRH has a long-term earnings growth rate of 2.9%. The shares have rallied 16.5% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRH’s 2023 sales and earnings indicates a rise of 3.6% and 18.4%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s estimated levels.
ChampionX carries a Zacks Rank #1. CHX has long-term earnings growth of 57.8%. The stock has risen 31.4% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CHX’s 2023 sales and EPS suggests growth of 7.94% and 46.34%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s expected levels.
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