Feb 4 (Reuters) - Australian engineering contractor CIMIC Group...

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Australian engineering contractor CIMIC Group (CIM) on Tuesday posted a 3% rise in underlying net profit for the fiscal year of 2019 and announced that Chief Executive Officer Michael Wright will step down.

Net profit after tax for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2019, was A$800 million ($537.44 million), compared with A$778.5 million a year ago.

However, the firm reported a statutory net loss of A$1.04 billion, hurt by a A$1.8 billion one-off charge it took by selling its stake in its Middle East unit.

In a separate statement, the company said Wright will step down, and will be replaced by Juan Santamaria, chief executive of unit CPB Contractors, from Feb. 5.

($1 = 1.4885 Australian dollars)