Foster Wheeler posts losses

Foster Wheeler AG posted a loss for its fourth quarter 2013 as the firm felt the impact of financial adjustments and charges for asbestos-related provisions and corporate restructure.

The contractor reported a loss from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2013 of US$ 37.2 million, compared with income from continuing operations of US$ 18.6 million, in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The adjusted income from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2013 was US$ 2.8 million, compared with US$ 41.3 million, in the year-ago quarter.

For the full-year 2013, income from continuing operations was US$ 96.9 million, compared with US$ 149.2 million for 2012. Excluding the asbestos provisions from both years, adjusted income from continuing operations for 2013 was US$ 127.1 million, compared with US$ 179.1 million in 2012.

The firm posted consolidated revenues of US$ 702 million, up slightly on 2012’s figure of US$ 646 million.

Foster Wheeler’s chief executive officer, Kent Masters, said: “We are encouraged by our backlog and booking data for the fourth quarter of 2013. Specifically, our Global Engineering and Construction Group reported a 26% increase in scope revenues as compared to the average quarter of 2012. The Global E&C Group also reported its second consecutive quarter of record-level scope backlog. In addition, scope new orders in our Global Power Group were 59% above the average quarter of 2012.”

Scope backlog for the E&C Group hit US$3.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2013, up from US$ 2.9 billion for 2012.

The Global Power Group achieved US$ 225,700 in new orders during the fourth quarter, up from US$ 125,300 for Q4, 2012.