Jacobs Engineering hit by projects’ loss

JACOBS Engineering Group reported yesterday that Q4 profit dropped by about a third and earnings missed Wall Street expectations, as the construction services firm was hit by project cancellations.

Net earnings for the quarter ending October 2 were $79.3 million (€53m), or 63 cents per share, against $114.4m, or 92c per share, in the year-earlier quarter. The company has facilities in Cork and Dublin.

Revenue fell to $2.6bn from $3.2bn, the company said. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 68c and revenue of $2.64bn, said Reuters.

“We continue to see our markets driven by a difficult economic environment and low business confidence,” said chief executive Craig Martin.

Jacobs also announced it had a backlog of $15.2bn at October 2, compared with a total backlog of $16.7bn at September 26, 2008. Looking ahead chief financial officer John Prosser said Jacobs expected full-year 2010 earnings per share to be $2.00 to $2.60.