McDermott Reports 1Q Loss

Marine construction and engineering company McDermott International Inc. reported a first-quarter loss in line with earnings guidance issued by the company in February. McDermott posted a net loss of $4.4 million, or 7 cents a diluted share, compared with net income of $7.9 million, or 13 cents a diluted share, in last year's first quarter. Wall Street analysts had expected a loss of 6 to 10 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. The mean estimate was a loss of 8 cents. The company said earnings for the full year should be in the range of 50 to 55 cents a share, and should be between 5 and 10 cents a share for the second quarter. Projections for both those periods are in line with expectations on Wall Street. McDermott had said in February that it expected a loss for the first quarter because of low volumes of marine construction work. The company's Babcock & Wilcox unit, which is involved in asbestos liability litigation, is undergoing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and was deconsolidated in Feb. 2000. - (Reuters)