Profit jumps at Perini

Perini Corp. shares rallied 10% in trades this morning, rising to $50.50.

Late Tuesday, the Framingham, Mass.-based construction company posted first-quarter earnings of $22.7 million, or 84 cents a share, up from $8.1 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue surged 61% to $987.4 million from $612.8 million in the same quarter last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting, on average, a per-share profit of 57 cents on revenue of $947.2 million.

Perini raised its 2007 earnings forecast to a range of $2.40 to $2.60 a share and raised its revenue forecast to a range of $4 billion to $4.2 billion. (Dow Jones)