Kbr

WASHINGTON - Defense contractor KBR Inc., which is under criminal investigation in the electrocution deaths of at least two US soldiers in Iraq, has been awarded a $35 million contract by the Pentagon to build an electrical distribution center and other projects there. The announcement of the new KBR contract comes just months after the Pentagon, in strongly worded correspondence obtained by the Associated Press, rejected the company's explanation of serious mistakes in Iraq and its proposed improvements.

Engineering and construction company KBR Inc. said on Wednesday that its third-quarter net income nearly doubled because of big tax benefit, but operating earnings fell and revenue came in below analyst estimates. The company earned $185 million, or $1.22 per share, for the quarter that ended Sept. 30. That was up from $97 million, or 62 cents per share, during the same period last year. Revenue fell 2.8 percent to $2.39 billion, from $2.46 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting a profit of 68 cents per share on revenue of $2.45 billion.

WASHINGTON - Military contractor KBR Inc. was paid $83.4 million in bonuses for electrical work in Iraq - much of the money coming even after that work was declared to be shoddy, a senator said yesterday. Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said he learned of the bonuses from Pentagon documents. Dorgan chairs the Democrats' Policy Committee, which examined at a hearing the electrocution deaths of US troops in Iraq. At least three troops have been electrocuted while showering in Iraq, and others have been injured and killed in other electrical incidents.

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., up 73 cents at $8.57 The doughnut chain's second-quarter profit rose, thanks to a one-time gain on the sale of its Mexican business interests. KBR Inc., up $1.95 at $28.62 The engineering and construction company said that it is buying up to 10 million of its outstanding common shares. Nasdaq Research In Motion Ltd., up 96 cents at $29.18 A Sterne Agee analyst upgraded the Blackberry maker's shares to "Buy"...

WASHINGTON - The Army’s primary support contractor in Iraq is being warned by Pentagon auditors to cut its work force there or face nearly $200 million in penalties for keeping thousands too many on the payroll. The Houston-based KBR Inc., responsible for everything from mail and laundry to housing and meals, has increased employee levels while US troops steadily leave the country after more than six years of war, the audit says. As a result, the US government is paying far more in labor costs in Iraq than it should as military resources are shifted to Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - A massive contract to support US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan received a withering review yesterday, as a special panel investigating waste and fraud in wartime spending was told of numerous deficiencies in the arrangement that has paid KBR Inc. nearly $32 billion since 2001. Testifying before the bipartisan Wartime Contracting Commission, April Stephenson, head of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, said her agency has referred at least 16 reports since 2004 of suspected fraud or improper conduct stemming from the contract to government investigators.

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., up 73 cents at $8.57 The doughnut chain's second-quarter profit rose, thanks to a one-time gain on the sale of its Mexican business interests. KBR Inc., up $1.95 at $28.62 The engineering and construction company said that it is buying up to 10 million of its outstanding common shares. Nasdaq Research In Motion Ltd., up 96 cents at $29.18 A Sterne Agee analyst upgraded the...

HOUSTON -- Halliburton Co. said yesterday that it is restructuring its troubled engineering and construction subsidiary, KBR, and would consider selling or spinning it off should the division's stock performance fail to improve once asbestos litigation is resolved. Halliburton is in the process of settling 400,000 asbestos and 21,000 silica claims as part of a $4.2 billion plan. Halliburton inherited most of the claims five years ago when the conglomerate, then under the leadership of Dick Cheney, now vice president of the...

LAGOS, Nigeria — Halliburton says that Nigeria has withdrawn charges against Halliburton and executives, including former vice president Dick Cheney, after a $35 million settlement. Halliburton said in a statement yesterday that it had agreed to pay $35 million to the Nigerian government over “allegations of improper payments to government officials in Nigeria.’’ The oil services firm said that Nigeria had agreed to desist from taking further legal action against Halliburton, former subsidiary KBR and executives.

WASHINGTON -- Pentagon auditors questioned more than $108 million in costs claimed by Halliburton on its $875 million contract to provide fuel in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, according to records released yesterday. The Defense Contract Audit Agency also faulted Halliburton Co. subsidiary KBR for failing to provide the records necessary to evaluate spending on the contract. The data KBR gave the auditors didn't match the company's internal accounting records, the agency said in a report dated Oct. 8. The charges auditors questioned included a payment of $27.5 million to...

LAGOS, Nigeria — Halliburton says that Nigeria has withdrawn charges against Halliburton and executives, including former vice president Dick Cheney, after a $35 million settlement. Halliburton said in a statement yesterday that it had agreed to pay $35 million to the Nigerian government over “allegations of improper payments to government officials in Nigeria.’’ The oil services firm said that Nigeria had agreed to desist from taking further legal action against Halliburton, former subsidiary KBR and executives.

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s anticorruption agency charged former Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday in connection with a bribery scheme involving Halliburton Co. while he served as the oil services company’s top executive. The charges stem from a case involving as much as $180 million in alleged bribes paid to Nigerian officials, said Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Halliburton and other companies allegedly paid the bribes to win a contract to build a $6 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta, he...

WASHINGTON - The Army’s primary support contractor in Iraq is being warned by Pentagon auditors to cut its work force there or face nearly $200 million in penalties for keeping thousands too many on the payroll. The Houston-based KBR Inc., responsible for everything from mail and laundry to housing and meals, has increased employee levels while US troops steadily leave the country after more than six years of war, the audit says. As a result, the US government is paying far more in labor costs in Iraq than it should as military resources are shifted to...

WASHINGTON - No criminal charges will be filed against military contractor KBR Inc. in connection with the electrocution of a Green Beret soldier who died while showering in his barracks in Iraq, the Defense Department said yesterday. Investigators said there was “insufficient evidence to prove or disprove’’ that anyone was criminally culpable in the January 2008 death of Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh. The uproar over his death triggered a review of 17 other electrocution deaths in Iraq and widespread inspections.

WASHINGTON - Military leaders and a major military contractor failed to protect a Green Beret who was electrocuted while showering in his barracks in Iraq, the US Defense Department’s inspector general determined. The death of Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, 24, in early 2008 triggered an investigation by the inspector general and a review of 17 other electrocution deaths in Iraq. Uproar over it also led to electrical inspections for about 90,000 US-maintained facilities in Iraq, which are continuing.

WASHINGTON - Military contractor KBR Inc. was paid $83.4 million in bonuses for electrical work in Iraq - much of the money coming even after that work was declared to be shoddy, a senator said yesterday. Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said he learned of the bonuses from Pentagon documents. Dorgan chairs the Democrats' Policy Committee, which examined at a hearing the electrocution deaths of US troops in Iraq. At least three troops have been electrocuted while showering in Iraq, and others have been injured and killed in other electrical incidents.

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s anticorruption agency charged former Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday in connection with a bribery scheme involving Halliburton Co. while he served as the oil services company’s top executive. The charges stem from a case involving as much as $180 million in alleged bribes paid to Nigerian officials, said Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Halliburton and other companies allegedly paid the bribes to win a contract to build a $6 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta, he said.

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers yesterday pressed officials from the Pentagon and KBR Inc. to explain what has delayed the proper protection of US forces in Iraq from deficient electrical work already being blamed for the deaths of at least 16 people. "There was no shortage of warnings about the electrical dangers in Iraq, just a shortage of will to do right by our troops," said Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

WASHINGTON - A massive contract to support US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan received a withering review yesterday, as a special panel investigating waste and fraud in wartime spending was told of numerous deficiencies in the arrangement that has paid KBR Inc. nearly $32 billion since 2001. Testifying before the bipartisan Wartime Contracting Commission, April Stephenson, head of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, said her agency has referred at least 16 reports since 2004 of suspected fraud or improper conduct stemming from the contract to government investigators.

WASHINGTON - Defense contractor KBR Inc., which is under criminal investigation in the electrocution deaths of at least two US soldiers in Iraq, has been awarded a $35 million contract by the Pentagon to build an electrical distribution center and other projects there. The announcement of the new KBR contract comes just months after the Pentagon, in strongly worded correspondence obtained by the Associated Press, rejected the company's explanation of serious mistakes in Iraq and its proposed improvements.