Shawn Carter
16 years ago
Foster Wheeler 4th-qtr net up; sees '09 challenges
By Robert Daniel
Last update: 7:10 a.m. EST Feb. 24, 2009
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Foster Wheeler AG, (FWLT:
foster wheeler ag com
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Last: 19.20-1.10-5.42%
4:34pm 02/23/2009
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FWLT 19.20, -1.10, -5.4%) the Zug, Switzerland, construction and engineering firm, reported that fourth-quarter net income rose 28% from a year earlier, with both periods hurt by asbestos-related items. Earnings reached $99.9 million, or 75 cents a share, from $78.1 million, or 54 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. Excluding the special items, adjusted earnings were $1.03 against 56 cents. Revenue rose 12% to $1.64 billion from $1.47 billion. For 2009, the company said the power business will come up short of its 2008 performance "due to significant weakness in most of the global markets we serve, North America in particular." In engineering and construction, "the outlook for 2009 is much more favorable than it is for our power business, but it is not without challenges," and the division's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will decline from 2008
Shawn Carter
16 years ago
The trend, dear Fools, is …
It's infrastructure, and over the past few months, we've seen the United States commit hundreds of billions of dollars to building it. That sum joins China's $586 billion, India's $4 billion, and Mexico's $44 billion. And that's mostly new spending since June, when Merrill Lynch announced that it was raising its emerging-markets infrastructure spending forecast from $1.25 trillion per year to $2.25 trillion!
That's a heckuva lot of money, and it's being spent not only because governments fear a prolonged economic downturn, but also because many of them look at their countries and see that they're plagued by decades of underinvestment in roads, ports, railroads, electrical grids, sewer and water lines, and many more. They simply cannot continue their rapid economic growth until they put better infrastructure in place. Get stuck in a traffic jam in Bombay or Jakarta, or look at the quality of life in western China, and you'll readily agree.
There are clear beneficiaries of this spending, including public companies that can help you benefit as well. Some of the names, such as Ameron (NYSE: AMN), Perini (NYSE: PCR), Cemex, Siemens (NYSE: SI), POSCO, and Caterpillar, are obvious. Others, such as General Steel (NYSE: GSI), KHD Humboldt Wedag (NYSE: KHD), Mueller Water (NYSE: MWA), and Matrix Service (Nasdaq: MTRX), are not.
Shawn Carter
16 years ago
Foster Wheeler Ltd. Earnings Conference Call (Q4 2008)
Scheduled to start Tue, Feb 24, 2009, 8:30 am Eastern
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from this page until Thu, Feb 25, 2010
About Foster Wheeler Ltd. (NasdaqGS:FWLT)
Foster Wheeler, Ltd. and its subsidiaries provide construction and engineering services to the oil and gas, oil refining, chemical/petrochemical, pharmaceutical, environmental, power generation, and power plant operation and maintenance sectors worldwide. It operates through two groups, Global Engineering and Construction Group (Global E&C Group), and Global Power Group. The Global E&C Group designs, engineers, and constructs onshore and offshore upstream oil and gas processing facilities; natural gas liquefaction facilities and receiving terminals; gas-to-liquids facilities; oil refining; and chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, and related infrastructure facilities. It also owns refinery residue upgrading technologies and a hydrogen production process used in oil refineries and petrochemical plants. In addition, this group also performs environmental remediation services, and engages in the development, engineering, construction, and ownership of power generation and waste-to-energy facilities in Europe. The Global Power Group designs, manufactures, and erects steam generating and auxiliary equipment for electric power generating stations and industrial facilities. It also provides a range of site services, including construction and erection services, maintenance engineering, and plant upgrading and life extension. In addition, this group provides research analysis and experimental work in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, combustion and fuel technology, materials engineering, and solids mechanics. Further, it owns and operates cogeneration, independent power production, and waste-to-energy facilities, as well as power generation facilities for the process and petrochemical industries. The company was founded in 1894 and is based in Clinton, New Jersey.