Irving engineering, procurement and construction Fluor plans to sell off $1 billion in assets as the company refocuses on energy sector projects.
During a Tuesday morning investors call, Fluor CEO Carlos Hernandez said the company is selling off its government services and construction equipment rental dvisions as well as surplus real estate and non-core investments.
To counter recent losses, Hernandez said the company expects to generate $1 billion of cash from the sales as it refocuses on energy, mining and chemicals projects.
The company has designed and built several refineries and petrochemical plants for Dow, LyondellBasell, Marathon Petroleum, Total and Sasol in the Houston area and Louisiana.
Fluor is the parent company of energy service company Stork, which it acquired in 2016 and which has a base in Aberdeen.
Fluor said Stork continued to implement its restructuring plan and was expected to emerge as a stronger and more profitable business in early 2020.
“The strategic direction we are pursuing as a result of this process builds upon Fluor’s premier competitive position in our core markets in which we expect to deliver sustainable growth, strong cash flow and attractive returns to investors,” Hernandez said in a statement.
The decision comes following two quarters in row of losses that put the company more than $613 million in the red. The majority of those losses came from the second quarter where Fluor reported a $554.8 million loss on $4.1 billion of revenue.
At the time, Hernandez attributed the half-billion loss to a review of clients, subcontractors, suppliers and project teams that resulted in increased scrutiny on new prospects.
Founded in 1912, Fluor is a Fortune 500 company that has more than 53,000 employees around the world.
The company posted a $224.8 million profit on $19.2 billion of revenue in 2018.
This article first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. For more from the Houston Chronicle click here.