McCraw Named New President of Fluor Corp.

In a widely anticipated move, Fluor Corp. named Leslie G. McCraw, 53, as president of the Irvine-based engineering and construction company.

McCraw previously held the post of president and chief executive of Fluor Daniel, the company’s principal subsidiary. He is credited by industry observers with implementing Fluor’s diversification away from oil and gas construction, and for rejuvenating Fluor’s ailing engineering business.

“Les and I will be working very closely together on overall corporate duties and strategic planning,” said Chairman David S. Tappan Jr.

McCraw assumes a post that has been vacant since July of last year, when the company’s former president, John Wright, stepped down to participate in an investor group that made an unsuccessful bid for Fluor’s St. Joe Gold subsidiary.

Fluor eventually sold St. Joe Gold to a firm associated with Australian industrialist Alan Bond for $500 million.

Indications are that McCraw will assume stewardship of the company when Tappan steps down, probably sometime early next year, industry analysts said.

“Fluor is going back to its roots in engineering, and McCraw is a logical next choice to be the next leader,” said Mark Altman, an analyst with Paine Webber in New York.

Tappan said McCraw’s primary mission over the next few years is to re-establish Fluor’s presence in international markets.

“During the period of our restructuring, our business has been primarily domestic,” Tappan said. “But traditionally, we have always done about 40% of our business overseas.”

Probable targets for the company’s overseas expansion efforts include Canada and Western Europe, he said.

Vincent L. Kontny, 50, has been named to take on McCraw’s duties as president of Fluor Daniel. He had previously served as a group president in charge of Fluor Daniel domestic operations.

Fluor reported earnings of $26.6 million in fiscal 1987, which ended Oct. 31. It was the company’s first profitable year since 1984.

As part of an extensive restructuring program, Fluor took a writedown of $410 million on its mineral holdings in 1985, resulting in a loss for the year of $633 million. It lost another $60.4 million in 1986.

In addition to selling St. Joe Gold, the company bailed out of the zinc mining business and dissolved a joint-venture coal operation with Shell in 1987.

Fluor also adjusted lower its shareholders’ equity by $438 million as of Oct. 31 to account for the reduced value of its lead, coal and real estate holdings.

Earlier this week, Fluor announced plans to join forces with Ohbayashi Corp., one of Japan’s largest construction firms, to bid on major construction projects in both the United States and Japan.

Under the cooperation agreement between the two firms, believed by industry analysts to be the first of its kind, Fluor hopes to gain a valuable foothold in the huge Japanese building market.