Fluor Corp. 2nd-Quarter Earnings Up 15%

IRVINE —  Fluor Corp. said fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 15%, slightly below analysts’ estimates because of high costs of marketing and preparing contract proposals.

The engineering and construction company said net income for the quarter ended April 30 rose to $63.7 million, or 75 cents a share, from $55.3 million, or 66 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. The earnings were a penny below the average 76-cent estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue was up 18% to $2.6 billion from $2.2 billion.

The company said its earnings were affected by “extensive marketing and proposal costs,” reflecting strong potential for new business. Its backlog of orders increased to $15.4 billion from $14.4 billion.

For the first six months, net income was $121.1 million, or $1.43 a share, 15% higher than the $105.6 million, or $1.27 a share, for the 1995 first half. Revenue rose 16% to $5 billion from $4.3 billion a year ago.