Engineering and construction firm Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) is the first of the world’s three largest publicly traded construction firm to report earnings. Competitors Fluor Corp. (FLR) and McDermott International, Inc. (MDR) are scheduled to report next week.

Foster Wheeler earnings showed diluted EPS of $0.56 for the first quarter of 2010, a penny better than analysts expected and a penny worse than last year’s earnings. FWLT can’t get much flatter than that. Foster Wheeler earnings showed revenues didn’t fare as well, down from $1.26 billion a year ago to $945.6 million this year. Analysts had been expecting $1.17 billion from FWLT stock.

The whole story for the company was revenues, which fell as a result of low bookings beginning in the middle of 2008 at the beginning of the financial crisis. The company is still booking new orders in its Engineering and Construction group at lower than the group’s quarterly average rate of $494 million in 2009. New orders booked in the first quarter of 2010 totaled $418 million. Margins have improved from the 2009 quarterly average of 22% to the first quarter average of just over 24%.

The company’s Power group booked new orders in the quarter valued at $460 million, more than 3X the 2009 quarterly average of $150 million. Operating revenues in the group were down though on the very week bookings from 2009. Margins were higher year-over-year, but a percentage point lower than the quarterly average of 19.3%.

The company did not provide new guidance, but did say that it expects to continue the sharp uptick in Power group orders that it saw in the first quarter. The Engineering & Construction group is seeing more proposed activity, which “suggests potential improvement in market conditions.” That’s a pretty thin nail to hang your hat on.

Foster Wheeler does a lot of work in global oil fields, and should be seeing a more robust order book for its engineering and construction business, particularly in Iraq.

Expectations for McDermott are EPS of $0.36 on revenues of $1.36 billion, compared with year-ago EPS of $0.33 and revenues of $1.49. Analysts expect Fluor to post EPS of $0.74 on revenues of $5.05 billion. Last year Fluor reported EPS of $1.12 on revenues of $5.8 billion.

It’s been a tough year for the heavy construction companies as customers have cut capital spending and held on to cash. That could be turning around, but either Fluor or McDermott will have to kick the can further down the road than Foster Wheeler has.

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