SNC scores second big Middle East contract in days

(In U.S. dollars unless noted)

OTTAWA, June 18 (Reuters) - SNC-Lavalin (SNC.TO) said it won a $3.9 billion deal for consulting services on a big electrical project on Thursday, just two days after Canada's biggest engineering company announced a C$1.2 billion contract to build a gas processing complex.

The company said it will select the route for a high voltage electricity interconnection between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The work includes route selection for the 1,500 km (932-mile) line along with system and design studies.

Montreal-based SNC is currently finishing a similar project that connects Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. It is also completing studies for substations between Bahrain and UAE.

SNC also announced a C$1.2 billion deal with Sonatrach, Algeria's national oil company, on June 16. It will take about three years to design and build the natural gas processing facilities in the Sahara Desert, SNC said.

Canaccord Adams analyst Yuri Lynk estimates the contract could boost SNC's 2010 earnings per share by about 15 Canadian cents and add 15 percent to its existing backlog.

Shares in SNC gained C$1.38, or 3.3 percent, to C$43.00 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.

($1=$1.13 Canadian) (Reporting by Susan Taylor; editing by Rob Wilson)