Profits up at Tutor Perini

Tutor Perini reported second quarter sales of US$ 1.3 billion down just -0.4% on the same period last year. Pre-tax profits for the quarter increased +37% to US$ 61 million, up from US$ 44 million twelve months ago.

A company statement said the increased profits reflected the improved contribution from the company's Civil and Management Services segments.

Backlog at 30 June was US$ 5.1 billion, down -23.8% on the US$ 6.7 billion reported on 31 December 2008. The decrease was attributable to the normal completion of work and a reduction in the levels of new contract awards according to the statement.

Ronald Tutor, chairman and CEO said, "The Company is pursuing a number of civil infrastructure projects in our core markets.

"We have positioned the business to acquire new work when the credit markets improve and our expectation is to begin rebuilding our backlog in the second half of this year with higher margin projects."