Tetra Tech posts higher fiscal 1st-quarter profit but lowers full-year outlook

Tetra Tech posts higher 1Q but cuts 2010 outlook

PASADENA, Calif. — Engineering consulting firm Tetra Tech Inc. on Wednesday posted a higher profit for its fiscal first quarter, the company also lowered its guidance for the full year, citing a downturn in the commercial construction market.

The company’s stock fell $2.57, or 10.3 percent, to $22.50 in after-hours trading. The stock earlier closed up 35 cents at $25.07.

For the three months ended Dec. 27, Tetra Tech earned $18.7 million, or 30 cents per share, up from a profit of $16.3 million, or 27 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue, net of subcontractor costs, rose 4 percent to $343.5 million from $330 million.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 29 cents per share on revenue of $339.7 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Tetra Tech forecast second-quarter earnings of 20 cents to 23 cents per share on sales of $310 million to $330 million.

Analysts forecast profit of 30 cents per share on sales of $354.7 million.

It lowered its 2010 earnings outlook to a range of $1.08 to $1.18 per share on revenue of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. In November, the company had forecast profit of $1.25 to $1.35 per share on revenue of $1.45 billion to $1.55 billion.

Analysts expect profit of $1.32 per share on revenue of $1.5 billion.

Shares of Tetra Tech have ranged from $20 to $32 over the past year.