UPDATE 2-Shaw Group profit beats estimates; shares soar

(Recasts; adds share rise, analyst comment, estimates, byline; changes dateline from NEW YORK)

By Anna Driver

HOUSTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Engineering and construction company Shaw Group Inc SGR.N posted a quarterly profit that blew past Wall Street estimates on Wednesday and forecast better-than-expected 2008 revenue, sending its shares up 10 percent.

The shares climbed to an all-time intraday high of $68.69 before easing somewhat to $66.08, up $5.26, in midday trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company reported earnings for the fiscal third quarter ended May 31 of $54.6 million, or 67 cents a share, compared with a loss of $16.7 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier.

Shaw had delayed the results announcement as part of a restatement of its first-quarter earnings.

The earnings include a one-time gain of $5.7 million, or 7 cents per share, from its investment in Westinghouse.

Excluding that gain, Shaw easily topped Wall Street expectations for a profit of 34 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

On a conference call with analysts, Shaw forecast 2008 revenue of $7 billion.

"It was our first glimpse at 2008, and the top-line (revenue) forecast is a little bit of a surprise," said Joe Gibney, analyst with CapitalOne Southcoast. "Shaw is driving the group higher."

Gibney, who rates Shaw shares "hold," and other analysts had forecast 2008 revenue below $7 billion, he said.

Among other engineering and construction companies, Washington Group International Inc WNG.N climbed to an intraday record of $93.66 before falling a bit to $93.26, up nearly 1.8 percent.

Fluor Corp (FLR.N) was up 2 percent at $158.87, and KBR Inc (KBR.N) climbed 3 percent to $42.65. Both companies saw their shares hit all-time intraday highs.

Shaw's revenue for the third quarter rose to $1.6 billion from $1.23 billion a year earlier. Its backlog of orders as of May 31 was a record $13.3 billion, up from $8 billion a year earlier. (Reporting by Anna Driver)