Perini’s profits rise

Perini reported first quarter pre-tax profits of US$ 62.6 million, up +56% on the US$ 40 million for the same period last year. Sales of US$ 1.5 billion were up +21% on the US$ 1.2 billion reported for the first quarter of 2008.

Following the acquisitions of Tutor-Saliba and Keating Building Corporation, construction revenues for Perini Corporation climbed +21% to US$ 1.5 billion, up from US$ 1.2 billion 12 months earlier.

Order backlog in the first quarter fell US$ 851 million to US$ 5.8 billion, down -13%. A statement said the backlog reflected the normal completion of work for the period and a reduced level of new work acquired as a result of the challenging economic environment, which caused some customers to delay the start of new projects.

Perini is targeting a number of civil infrastructure projects which will be awarded this year. "The company is very well positioned to capture civil infrastructure projects in our core geographic markets," said Ronald Tutor, chairman and CEO.

"We expect to begin adding to our backlog in the second half of this year with a greater mix of higher margin civil projects.

"Our building business too continues to perform at a high level and is poised to acquire new work when the market opens up," said Mr Tutor, "while Management Services continues to deliver outstanding results with our work in Iraq and Guam."

In a statement Perini re-affirmed its guidance for 2009 revenues of between US$ 5.5 to US$ 6 billion.