Fluor Corp

Engineering and construction company Fluor Corp. said it had been awarded three projects by the U.S. government worth $154 million to restore power in Iraq. The Aliso Viejo-based company said the task orders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were granted as part of a contract, with a maximum value of $500 million for the first year, awarded last month to support U.S. military operations in hot spots from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Making his first foray into Orange County, Los Angeles real estate tycoon Robert Maguire said Tuesday that his company was purchasing the former Fluor Corp. headquarters campus in Irvine for $260 million. Maguire is buying the complex, now known as Park Place, from an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, which purchased the 15-acre property at Jamboree Road and the San Diego Freeway in 2002 for about $200 million. The 1.

Fluor Corp., the largest publicly traded engineering and construction company in the U.S., on Wednesday said fourth-quarter profit rose about 15% as it won new orders from the U.S. government. Net income rose to $51.5 million, or 63 cents a share, from profit from continuing operations of $44.7 million, or 56 cents, a year earlier, the Aliso Viejo-based firm said. Sales fell to $2.36 billion from $2.47 billion.

Hurt by a slowdown in new power plant construction, Orange County's Fluor Corp. said its work backlog has shrunk and its third-quarter sales fell more than 13% compared with the same period last year. The engineering and construction firm, based in Aliso Viejo, said its net income totaled $44.1 million, or 55 cents a share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, a 41% increase from the year-ago period. That year, a $14.

Fluor Corp. said it won a $102-million order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help repair Iraq's electricity network. The project includes fixing or replacing power generation and transmission systems, the Aliso Viejo company said. Shares of Fluor rose $1.45 to $39.50 on the NYSE.

Fluor Corp. said it won contracts from the State Department valued at $116 million to build U.S. embassies in the capitals of Jamaica and Kazakhstan. The contract value for the embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, is $53 million. The building will be completed in late 2005. The project in Astana, Kazakhstan, is worth $63 million and will be completed in early 2006, the Aliso Viejo-based company said. Shares of Fluor fell 55 cents to $38.05 on the New York Stock Exchange.

A former senior internal auditor at Fluor Corp. has accused the Aliso Viejo-based company of firing him in retaliation for objecting to what he called "improper and illegal" accounting methods that overstated 2001 net income by at least $16 million. Milton States, a four-year employee who was fired in September 2002, made the allegations in a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court on Sept. 5 against the company and two of his former supervisors.

Fluor Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. engineering and construction services company, said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit rose nearly 5% from a year earlier, despite a 67% drop-off in its business that designs and constructs power plants. For the quarter ended June 30, the Aliso Viejo-based firm posted earnings of $45 million, or 56 cents a share, compared with $43 million, or 54 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

Fluor Corp. and Duke Energy Corp. said Wednesday that they would dissolve a power-plant construction venture to reduce expenses amid slumping demand for new generators. Aliso Viejo-based Fluor, the largest publicly traded U.S. engineering company, requested the shutdown of Duke/Fluor Daniel, the companies said in a statement. Fluor, which will continue to pursue generator contracts on its own, will eliminate unnecessary costs by disbanding the venture, Chief Executive Alan Boeckmann said.