Forward-Looking Information
From time to time, Fluor® Corporation makes certain comments and disclosures in reports and statements, including this annual report on Form 10-K, or statements are made by its officers or directors, that, while based on reasonable assumptions, may be forward-looking in nature. Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, a "safe harbor" may be provided to us for certain of these forward-looking statements. We wish to caution readers that forward-looking statements, including disclosures which use words such as the company "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates" and similar statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from expectations.
Any forward-looking statements that we may make are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those anticipated by us. Any forward-looking statements are subject to the risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations, financial condition, cost reductions, acquisitions, dispositions, financing transactions, operations, expansion, consolidation and other events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. The most significant of these risks, uncertainties and other factors are described in this Form 10-K, including in Item 1A. — "Risk Factors." Except as otherwise required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Due to known and unknown risks, the company's actual results may differ materially from its expectations or projections. While most risks affect only future cost or revenue anticipated by the company, some risks may relate to accruals that have already been reflected in earnings. The company's failure to receive payments of accrued amounts or incurrence of liabilities in excess of amounts previously recognized could result in a charge against future earnings. As a result, the reader is cautioned to recognize and consider the inherently uncertain nature of forward-looking statements and not to place undue reliance on them.
Except as the context otherwise requires, the terms "Fluor" or the "Registrant" as used herein are references to Fluor Corporation and its predecessors and references to the "company," "we," "us," or "our" as used herein shall include Fluor Corporation, its consolidated subsidiaries and divisions.
PART I
Item 1. Business
Fluor Corporation was incorporated in Delaware on September 11, 2000 prior to a reverse spin-off transaction that separated us from our coal business which now operates as Massey Energy Company. However, through various of our predecessors, we have been in business for almost 100 years. Our principal executive offices are located at 6700 Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, Texas 75039, telephone number (469) 398-7000.
Our common stock currently trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FLR".
Fluor Corporation is a holding company that owns the stock of a number of subsidiaries. Acting through these subsidiaries, we are one of the largest professional services firms, providing engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance as well as project management services on a global basis. We serve a diverse set of industries worldwide including oil and gas, chemicals and petrochemicals, transportation, mining and metals, power, life sciences and manufacturing. We are also a primary service provider to the U.S. federal government. We perform operations and maintenance activities for major industrial clients and, in some cases, operate and maintain their equipment fleet.
Our business is aligned into five principal operating segments. The five segments are Oil & Gas, Industrial & Infrastructure, Government, Global Services and Power. Fluor Constructors International, Inc., which is organized and operates separately from the rest of our business, provides unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada, both independently
and as a subcontractor on projects in each of our segments. Financial information on our segments, as defined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, is set forth on page F-39 of this annual report on Form 10-K under the caption "Operating Information by Segment," which is incorporated herein by reference.
Competitive Strengths
As an integrated world class provider of engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance and project management services, we believe that our business model allows us the opportunity to bring to our clients compelling business offerings that combine excellence in execution, safety, cost containment and experience. In that regard, we believe that our business strategies, which are based on certain of our core competencies, provide us with some significant competitive advantages:
Excellence in Execution Given our proven track record of project completion and client satisfaction, we believe that our ability to design, engineer, construct and manage complex projects often in geographically challenging locations gives us a distinct competitive advantage. We strive to complete our projects on schedule while meeting or exceeding all client specifications. In an increasingly competitive environment, we are also continually emphasizing cost controls so that our clients achieve not only their performance requirements but also their budgetary needs.
Financial Strength We believe that we are among the most financially sound companies in our sector. We strive to maintain a solid financial condition, placing an emphasis on having a strong balance sheet and an investment grade credit rating. Our financial strength provides us a valuable competitive advantage in terms of access to surety bonding capacity and letters of credit which are critical to our business. Our strong balance sheet also allows us to fund our strategic initiatives, pay dividends, pursue opportunities for growth and better manage unanticipated cash flow variations.
Safety One of our core values and a fundamental business strategy is our constant pursuit of safety. Both for us and our clients, the maintenance of a safe workplace is a key business driver. In the areas in which we provide our services, we have delivered and continue to deliver excellent safety performance, with our safety record being significantly better than the national industry average. In our estimation, a safe job site decreases risks on a project site, assures a proper environment for our employees and enhances their morale, reduces project cost and exposure and generally improves client relations. We believe that our safety record is one of our most distinguishing features.
Global Execution Platform As the largest U.S.-based, publicly-traded engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance company, we have a global footprint with employees in 66 countries. Our global presence allows us to build local relationships that permit us to capitalize better on opportunities near these locations. It also provides comfort to our larger internationally-based clients that we know and understand the markets where they may elect to use our services and allows us to mobilize quickly to those locations where projects arise.
Market Diversity The company serves multiple markets across a broad spectrum of industries. We feel that our market diversity is a key strength of our company that helps to mitigate the impact of the cyclicality in the markets we serve. Just as important, our concentrated attention on market diversification allows us to achieve more consistent growth and deliver solid returns. We believe that our continued strategy of maintaining a good mixture within our entire business portfolio permits us to both focus on our more stable business markets and to capitalize on developing our cyclical markets when the timing is appropriate. This strategy also allows us to better weather any downturns in a specific market by emphasizing markets that are strong.
Long-Term Client Relationships While we aggressively work towards pursuing and serving new clients, we also believe that the long-term relationships we have built with our major clients, often after decades of work with many of them, allow us to better understand and be more responsive to their requirements. These types of relationships also facilitate a better understanding of many of the risks that we might face with a project or a client, thereby allowing us to better anticipate risks, solve
problems and manage our risk. We have worked towards an alliance-like relationship with many of these clients and, in doing so, we better understand their business needs.
Risk Management We believe that our ability to assess, understand and gauge project risk, especially in difficult locations or circumstances or in a lump-sum contracting environment, gives us the ability to selectively enter into markets or accept projects where we feel we can best perform. We have an experienced management team, particularly in risk management and project execution, which helps us to better anticipate and understand potential risks and, therefore, how to manage them. Our risk management capabilities allow us to better control costs and ensure timely performance, which in turn leads to clients who are satisfied with the delivered product.
General Operations
Our services fall into five broad categories: engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance and project management. We offer these services independently as well as on a fully integrated basis. Our services can range from basic consulting activities, often at the early stages of a project, to complete, total-responsibility, design-build contracts.