McDermott shares jump on strong profit

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(Global Markets) - Shares of McDermott International Inc (MDR.N) jumped 17 percent on Friday after the engineering company's quarterly profit beat estimates helped by a 20 percent fall in costs.

U.S. engineering firms have gained from a rise in orders as more energy and mining companies sought their services, driven by higher demand for commodities.

Brokerage firm William Blair said it was encouraged by McDermott's return to a more normal level of profitability, generating a strong growth in operating margin.

However, it said with less than $1 billion of backlog expected to be recognized in 2013, earnings forecast for next year could be at risk.

The company's backlog for the first quarter was $5.8 billion, up 21 percent. Quarterly bookings came in at $2.65 billion.

McDermott's first-quarter profit comfortably beat estimates.

Shares of the company, which have lost about 58 percent of their value over the last one year, were up $1.47 at $11.37 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Durba Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)