(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)
The Shaw Group, Inc. (
NYSE: SGR) offers engineering, technology, construction, fabrication, environmental, and industrial services to various companies worldwide. The company started out in the 1980s as an industrial pipe manufacturer and later grew into engineering and construction mammoth focusing on coal-fired and nuclear power plants. It employs 26,000 people worldwide. In 2008, it had $7 billion in revenues and boasted a backlog of $14.8 billion in business.
Shaw owns a 20% stake in Westinghouse, one of the two main builders of nuclear plants globally. The company has already won numerous nuclear contracts including a USD $4 billion deal with Progress Energy. With partner Westinghouse, Shaw has four AP1000 nuclear power plants on contract in China that are supposed to break ground this year.
Shaw Group Inc. is expected to report on Thursday and is expected to have flat revenues from a year ago. In the year-ago period, the company reported adjusted earnings of 70 cents a share on revenue of $1.82 billion. Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of 60 cents a share on revenue of $1.79 billion.
In the fiscal second-quarter the company earned $36.3 million, or 43 cents a share, compared to $4 million, or 5 cents a share, in the prior year period. On an adjusted basis, earnings totaled 22 cents a share for the quarter. Revenue climbed to $1.67 billion from $1.64 billion last year. Consensus estimates were for earnings of of 60 cents a share on revenue of $1.73 billion. The company had record bookings for the quarter the backlog stood at $19 billion. The company sees 2009 earnings of $2.10 to $2.30 a share excluding its Westinghouse segment, and revenue of $7.1 billion to $7.3 billion. Analysts currently expect 2009 earnings of $2.53 a share on revenue of $7.28 billion.
The Shaw Group was recently awarded a five-year cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort contract by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to supply operations support and research services for the Test and Evaluation facility and other National Risk Management Research Laboratory facilities. The company didn't disclose the value of the deal. Under the contract, the fifth successive one, Shaw would continue supporting EPA's research to evaluate drinking water and hazardous waste treatment technologies, protect the nation's aging water infrastructure, address global climate change/water security issues and study the environmental impacts of nanotechnology. The contract will be included in the company's fourth quarter fiscal year 2009 backlog of unfilled orders.
Additionally, Shaw Group signed contracts with the Iraqi government to provide feasibility studies and engineering and design work for two oil refineries near the cities of Maissan and Kirkuk.
