Even with some bumps in results released in recent weeks, large public engineering and construction firms still offered investors and industry observers overall good news for year-end numbers and strong optimism for global market trends in 2013.
Write-offs on problem projects nicked earnings for Fluor Corp. and KBR; their reports, released in late February, prompted a 2% falloff for the group of E&C firms tracked by Credit Suisse. But senior analyst Jamie Cook was encouraged by evidence "that labor markets in the U.S. are tightening, driven by energy infrastructure spend, while the industry is also moving to more cost-plus."