Houston-based LNG engineer KBR swung into a profit of $275 million during the fourth quarter of 2017 after reporting a net loss of $87 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
Net income for 2017 includes a net tax benefit of $241 million, which reflects a reduction in the company’s tax valuation allowance of $223 million as well as net benefits from new tax reform legislation, KBR said in a statement.
Excluding the tax benefits, the net income was at $34 million, the company reported.
For the full year, net income attributable to KBR was $434 million compared to net loss of $61 million in 2016
Consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017 was $937 million compared to $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016.
For the full year, the company’s revenue increased by $75 million compared to the year before, reaching $4.1 billion.
The revenue increases were driven by the full-year impact of acquisitions and growth within the Government Services segment, partially offset by completion or substantial completion on several projects in the Engineering and Construction segment.
The Engineering and Construction results were affected by the dilution on the Ichthys LNG joint venture.
KBR reminded in its report that is has been selected to carry out pre-notice to proceed (Pre-NTP) services for the Woodfibre liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The selection of KBR for Pre-NTP services follows the completion of a competitive front-end engineering design process for the Woodfibre LNG project.
Woodfibre LNG expects to commence the EPC phase of the project in 2018.