last year and again this year. We have had losses before and undoubtedly will again, for contract construction is a risk-taking business, but the magnitude of the present loss is without precedent, and I hope will never be repeated. We have recently analyzed our construction performance and find that over the last 10 years the relative profitability varies widely by the types of work involved. We are now embarked on a deliberate program, concentrating our efforts on those categories of work where the return has been satisfactory and shunning the types of work where we have had unsatisfactory experience. Herein lies the expectation of restoring construction in our company to a positive contributor to our earnings picture. This program has the further advantage of freeing up capital funds that we cannot employ advantageously in construction for other more rewarding purposes. Our construction backlog is running ahead of a year ago and now exceeds $125, 000, 000, including the Cornwall project for Consolidated Edison on which the joint venture in which we are participants was low bidder but is awaiting a formal permit to proceed from the Federal Power Commission. Our construction work is being performed in the United States and seven foreign countries. There is abundant construction work in prospect both here and abroad, and it would be our hope that we can obtain our fair share of the type of work that we want to do at prices that will yield a reasonable return. -4-