Jacobs Engineering Profit and Revenue Fall

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. on Tuesday reported its top and bottom lines slid in the final quarter of the year but said sweeping restructuring and cost cuts should lift profitability in 2017.

Chief Executive Steve Demetriou said the company faced "significant market challenges throughout" the fiscal year while realigning into four lines of business and working through a restructuring and cost reduction initiative.

"Although certain global markets continue to face economic headwinds, we are now pivoting to sales growth and believe" the company will be more profitable in fiscal 2017, he said.

"In 2017, while we anticipate continuing market challenges in certain of our businesses, we expect to benefit from our restructuring savings while simultaneously investing in our growth strategy," he said. The company guided for adjusted earnings in the range of $3 to $3.30 a share, bracketing analyst estimates for $3.23 a share.

Engineering and construction companies have come into focus as their stocks have risen recently, boosted by President-elect Donald Trump's focus on boosting spending on domestic infrastructure, though uncertainty lingers over the incoming administration's specific funding plans and priorities.

For the September quarter, Jacobs Engineering reported a profit of $29.6 million, down from $29.9 million, a year earlier. Per-share earnings were flat at 24 cents on a lower share count. The most recent quarter included about $63 million, or 53 cents a share, in after-tax charges related to restructuring, the divestiture of its French subsidiary and a related write-down on an equity investment.

Excluding items such as restructuring, earnings fell to 77 cents from 80 cents. Revenue dropped 15% to $2.64 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 77 cents on $2.78 billion in revenue.

Shares, inactive premarket, have risen 38% so far this year.

The company said its total backlog at the end of the year was $18.8 billion, including a technical professional services component of $12 billion. Total professional services backlog is up $321 million from a year ago.

Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2016 08:25 ET (13:25 GMT)

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