KBR 2008 Outlook $1.30-$1.60 Per Share

KBR Inc., the military contractor and construction and engineering company, said Monday it expects to post earnings of $1.30 to $1.60 a share for 2008.

The current average estimate of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Financial is for earnings of $1.51 a share. That forecast typically excludes any potential one-time items.

The company, which spun off from Halliburton Co. in April, offered no other financial guidance.

KBR shares fell $1.26, or 3.2 percent, to close at $37.66 Monday. They've traded in a range of $19.66 to $45.24 in the last 52 weeks.

The company has been in the news in the past week over rape allegations from a former female worker in Iraq. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and other lawmakers have asked the Justice Department to give a full account of its investigation into the alleged 2005 assault.

KBR has said it couldn't comment on specifics of the case but that the safety and security of its employees were its top priority.

A Congressional hearing is scheduled Wednesday.

Last month, KBR said its third-quarter profit surged from a year ago in part from its military contracts in Iraq, but its energy and chemicals arm posted flat results.

At the time, Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Utt said he was upbeat about the company's prospects, particularly for engineering and industrial construction. He said KBR's strategy of placing greater emphasis on new business development was beginning to pay off, and he cited its $12 billion business backlog as evidence. That was up 25 percent from the second quarter.

However, Utt has acknowledged KBR is likely to perform less work in Iraq in coming quarters as troop levels decrease. As such, KBR is focusing on getting back to its roots, looking to land more industrial construction and other such projects.