Jacobs Engineering jumps on results beat

Shares in Jacobs Engineering Group surged by almost 10% after the company surpassed quarterly earnings forecasts.

Profit jumped by nearly 30% over its fiscal fourth quarter to $118.30m, versus $93.13m in the year-ago period.

The New York-listed firm, which specialises in technical professional services, reported broadly constant revenue, at $2.65bn, compared with $2.64bn last year.

Jacobs cited a significant increase in backlog along with strong margin performance.

The company also said it was on course to close its acquisition of global engineering firm CH2M before year-end.