2003 2004 2005 2006 Total
1. KBR Inc. (KBR, news, msgs) and Halliburton (HAL, news, msgs)
$2,550 $5,809 $4,505 $4,362 $17,226 (billions)
2. Veritas Capital Fund
0.7 208 850 386 1,444
3. Washington Group International (WNG, news, msgs)
111 205 533 82 931
4. Environmental Chemical
0 192 360 326 878
5. International American Products
58 283 310 108 759
6. Fluor (FLR, news, msgs)
116 413 123 105 757
7. Perini (PCR, news, msgs)
72 312 185 81 650
8. Parsons
0 248 120 172 540
9. First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting
0 7 469 24 500
10. L-3 Communications (LLL, news, msgs)
1 9 148 201 359
The Top 10
By Michael Brush, MSN.com
It’s no surprise that KBR Inc. (KBR, news, msgs), a division of Halliburton (HAL, news, msgs) during the years we examined, tops the first list, compiled by Eagle Eye, with $17.2 billion in Iraq-related war revenue for 2003-2006. KBR is one of the largest construction and energy field-service companies in the world. It has a long history of collaborating with the U.S. government on war-related construction.
In Iraq, KBR has been working on base construction and maintenance, oil-field repairs, infrastructure projects and logistics support. KBR got about a fifth of its revenue from the Iraq war in 2006, according to our calculations.
“We are proud to serve the troops,” says a KBR spokeswoman. “We are providing the troops with essential services and the comforts of home that allow them to stay focused on the dangerous and important missions they face daily.”
But why does a private-equity shop called Veritas Capital Fund take the No. 2 slot? That’s easy. It specializes in investing in defense and aerospace companies. So Veritas owns a portfolio of companies — and has a stake in others — that pull down big Iraq-related contracts.
DynCorp International (DCP, news, msgs), which Veritas bought in 2005 and spun out last year, offers security services and police training, as well as logistical services. Veritas’ McNeil Technologies provides interpreter and translation services to the military and U.S. government agencies in Iraq. Another of its companies, Wornick, supplies military rations.
It’s also no big surprise that U.S.-based companies like Washington Group International (WNG, news, msgs), Fluor (FLR, news, msgs), Perini (PCR, news, msgs) and Parsons are on our top 10 list. They’ve landed many of the contracts to restore, repair and maintain oil fields, power plants, schools, public water systems and military bases. But the award of contracts to build the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting left many analysts scratching their heads.
Environmental Chemical does munitions disposal, while International American Products sets up systems that deliver electricity to military camps. L3 Communications (LLL, news, msgs) offers security screening services, linguists, training and law-enforcement services, and some equipment replacement.