Profit jumps 46% at Jacobs Engineering

Pasadena-based Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., the second-largest publicly traded U.S. engineering company, said Monday that fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 46% on oil and natural gas projects and that it might earn more this year than previously forecast.

Profit climbed to $109 million, or 87 cents a share, in the three months that ended June 30, from $74.8 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier. Sales gained 40% to $2.92 billion.

The company was expected to earn 82 cents a share, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales were forecast at $2.76 billion.

Jacobs said its annual earnings forecast was now $3.15 to $3.40 a share, up from $3 to $3.30 a share. Jacobs stock rose $2.12, or 2.6%, to $83.53.