BATON ROUGE (AP) — The Shaw Group Inc., a major engineering, construction and environmental company, posted a fiscal first-quarter loss because of volatile foreign exchange rates that hit its nuclear segment, the company reported Thursday.
For the three months ending Nov. 30, Shaw lost $39.7 million, or 48 cents per share, on revenue of $1.9 billion, compared with a year-ago profit in the first quarter of $2.2 million, or 3 cents per share, on revenue of $1.71 billion.
The company took a non-cash loss of $161.2 million because of appreciation of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar. That loss amounted to $57.2 million in the year-ago first quarter.
Without the Westinghouse Electric nuclear segment, of which Shaw owns 20 percent, the company earned $62.8 million, or 75 cents per share, compared with the year-ago figure of $37.7 million, or 45 cents per share.
Japan’s Toshiba Corp. holds a majority interest Westinghouse Electric.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast per-share earnings of 66 cents on revenue of $1.91 billion for the latest quarter. Those forecasts typically do not include one-time items.
Shaw said its 11 percent revenue increase was driven by a contract for a power plant contract. The company’s backlog of pending orders rose to $14.8 billion from $14 billion a year ago, with about $6 billion expected to bring in revenue over the next 12 months, Shaw said.
