The Shaw Group Inc. Announces Financial Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal 2003; Agreement Reached with NEG Resulting in $19 Million After-Tax Charge

BATON ROUGE, La., Apr 14, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE:SGR) ("Shaw" or "the Company") today announced a loss of $7.9 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended February 28, 2003 after recording a $19 million after-tax charge relating to the settlement of claims with PG&E; National Energy Group ("NEG") for the completion of the Harquahala and Covert power plant projects, the details of which were provided in a separate announcement released today. Earnings for the three months ended February 28, 2002 were $21.3 million, or $0.51 per diluted share.

Revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2003 increased 27% to $720.5 million compared to the prior year's second quarter revenues of $566.2 million.

Shaw booked over $960 million in new awards during the second quarter, 50% of which were from the Company's environmental and infrastructure business. Backlog for the second quarter totaled $5.0 billion, compared to $4.5 billion reported at February 28, 2002, with approximately 90% of the total backlog relating to projects for the domestic market. Approximately $2.0 billion, or 40%, of total backlog is expected to be worked off during the next 12 months.

J. M. Bernhard, Jr., Shaw's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "In addition to our healthy bookings in the quarter, we continue to be encouraged by the level of bidding activity across all business segments, which allows us to remain optimistic about our operations going forward. Furthermore, through the continued integration of our businesses we are realizing greater operational efficiencies and also leveraging our capabilities to broaden our customer base and bring greater value to our stakeholders."

For the six months ended February 28, 2003, the Company reported earnings of $8.6 million, or $0.22 per diluted share. This compares to earnings of $40.3 million, or $0.95 per diluted share, for the six months ended February 28, 2002. Revenues for the six months ended February 28, 2003 increased approximately 70% to $1.7 billion compared to $1.0 billion in revenues for the same period last year.

Robert L. Belk, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated, "The recent tender for 49% of our outstanding convertible debt and the simultaneous closing of our $250 million credit facility should alleviate concerns regarding our future cash position."

On March 31, 2003, Shaw completed its tender offer for 49% or $384.6 million aggregate principal amount at maturity of its Liquid Yield Option(TM) Notes due 2021, with the proceeds of its recent senior notes offering. Concurrent with the closing of its senior notes offering, the Company amended and restated its $250 million credit facility.

The Shaw Group Inc. offers a broad range of services to clients in the environmental and infrastructure, power and process industries worldwide. The Company is a leading provider of consulting, engineering, construction, remediation and facilities management services to the environmental, infrastructure and homeland security markets. Shaw is also a vertically-integrated provider of comprehensive engineering, consulting, procurement, pipe fabrication, construction and maintenance services to the power and process industries. The Company is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region and employs approximately 17,000 people. For more information please visit our website at www.shawgrp.com .

For more information on The Shaw Group Inc., please contact Robert L. Belk, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, at 225-932-2500.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog, or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, reports and on the Company's web-site under the heading "Forward Looking Statement". These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time to time on a regional basis visit our web site at www.shawgrp.com.

                         The Shaw Group Inc.
                Consolidated Statements of Operations
               (In thousands, except per share amounts)
                             Three Months Ended    Six Months Ended
                                February 28,         February 28,
                             ------------------  ---------------------
                               2003      2002       2003       2002
                             --------- --------  ---------- ----------
Income:
   Revenues                $ 720,458  $566,227  $1,717,364 $1,019,836
   Cost of revenues          678,605   498,485   1,593,085    889,384
                            ---------  --------  ---------- ----------
     Gross profit             41,853    67,742     124,279    130,452
General and administrative
 expenses                     49,230    33,026      99,122     63,934
                            ---------  --------  ---------- ----------
Operating income (loss)       (7,377)   34,716      25,157     66,518
Interest expense              (5,759)   (5,431)    (11,533)   (11,236)
Interest income                2,065     2,399       3,604      5,421
Other income, net                132        77          33        444
                            ---------  --------  ---------- ----------
                              (3,562)   (2,955)     (7,896)    (5,371)
                            ---------  --------  ---------- ----------
Income (loss) before income
 taxes and earnings (losses)
 from unconsolidated
 entities                    (10,939)   31,761      17,261     61,147
Provision for income taxes
 (benefit)                    (4,456)   11,434       5,696     22,019
                            ---------  --------  ---------- ----------
Income (loss) before
 earnings (losses) from
 unconsolidated entities      (6,483)   20,327      11,565     39,128
Earnings (losses) from
 unconsolidated entities
 (net of taxes)               (1,389)    1,013      (2,984)     1,164
                            ---------  --------  ---------- ----------
Net Income (loss)          $  (7,872) $ 21,340  $    8,581 $   40,292
                            =========  ========  ========== ==========
Basic income (loss) per
 common share:
   Net income (loss)
    available to common
    shareholders           $  (7,872) $ 21,340  $    8,581 $   40,292
                            =========  ========  ========== ==========
   Weighted average common
    shares                    37,741    40,299      38,081     40,610
                            =========  ========  ========== ==========
   Net income (loss) per
    common share            $  (0.21) $   0.53  $     0.23 $     0.99
                            =========  ========  ========== ==========
Diluted income (loss) per
 common share:
   Net income (loss)
    available to common
    shareholders           $  (7,872) $ 21,340  $    8,581 $   40,292
   Interest on convertible
    debt, net of taxes            --     2,652          --      5,284
                            ---------  --------  ---------- ----------
   Net income (loss) for
    diluted computation    $  (7,872) $ 23,992  $    8,581 $   45,576
                            =========  ========  ========== ==========
   Weighted average common
    shares                    37,741    47,455      38,507     47,994
                             ========= ========  ========== ==========
   Diluted income (loss)
    per common share       $   (0.21) $   0.51  $     0.22 $     0.95
                            =========  ========  ========== ==========
             REVENUE AND BACKLOG BY INDUSTRY AND GEOGRAPHY
                          Revenue by Industry
               (Second Quarter Ended February 28, 2003)
  Power Generation                    $   319.2 million      44 %
  Environmental & Infrastructure      $   269.0 million      37 %
  Process Industries                  $   107.7 million      15 %
  Other Industries                    $    24.6 million       4 %
                                      ----------------     ------
  Total                               $   720.5 million     100 %
                         Revenue by Geography
               (Second Quarter Ended February 28, 2003)
  United States                       $   597.1 million      83 %
  Asia/Pacific Rim                    $    59.7 million       8 %
  Europe                              $    28.2 million       4 %
  Other North American                $    23.6 million       3 %
  Other                               $     6.4 million       1 %
  South America                       $     3.2 million       1 %
  Middle East                         $     2.3 million       0 %
                                      -----------------    ------
  Total                               $   720.5 million     100 %
                          Backlog by Industry
                        (At February 28, 2003)
  Environmental & Infrastructure      $ 2,543.4 million      50 %
  Power Generation
    Nuclear Power                     $ 1,228.4 million      24 %
    Fossil Fuel EPC                   $   406.6 million       8 %
    Other Power                       $   143.5 million       3 %
  Process Industries                  $   645.3 million      13 %
  Other Industries                    $    75.7 million       2 %
                                      -----------------   ------
  Total                               $ 5,042.9 million     100 %
                         Backlog by Geography
                        (At February 28, 2003)
  Domestic                            $ 4,528.8 million      90 %
  International                       $   514.1 million      10 %
                                      -----------------    ------
  Total                               $ 5,042.9 million     100 %
The Shaw Group Inc.
Robert L. Belk, 225/932-2500
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"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding SHAW GROUP INC's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.