Schlumberger Profit Falls Sharply
October 20 2016 - 6:00PM
Dow Jones News
Schlumberger Ltd. said its third-quarter earnings fell 82% on
lower revenue and expenses related to the oil-field services
acquisition of Cameron International Corp. earlier this year.
Schlumberger and other companies in the oil-field services
sector have been hurt by weak demand from oil and natural-gas
producers for services such as drilling and completing oil-and-gas
wells.
Chief Executive Paal Kibsgaard said Schlumberger's business
stabilized in the third quarter, though visibility remains limited
regarding spending by oil-and-gas companies for 2017 because the
company's customers are still in their planning stages.
"We maintain that a broad-based V-shaped recovery is unlikely
given the fragile financial state of the industry, although we do
see activity upside in 2017 in North America land, the Middle East
and Russia markets," Mr. Kibsgaard said.
Schlumberger's results come a day after rival Halliburton Co.
posted a small third-quarter profit that its executives attributed
to U.S. energy company customers starting to return to drilling
this summer as crude prices moved back toward $50 a barrel.
Still Halliburton executives sounded a note of caution that the
fourth quarter could slow due to holiday and seasonal
weather-related downtime before activity picks back up in early
2017. It was also the first quarter Halliburton was relieved of
hefty charges related to its failed tie-up with rival Baker Hughes
Inc., which is scheduled to report third-quarter results
Tuesday.
The three oil-services giants each have shed thousands of
workers in efforts to offset weaker demand from energy producers
during the downturn.
In all, Schlumberger reported a third-quarter profit of $176
million, or 13 cents a share, down from $989 million, or 78 cents a
share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as acquisition-related
charges, adjusted per-share earnings were 25 cents. Analysts polled
by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 22 cents.
Revenue declined 17% to $7.02 billion, while analysts expected
$7.08 billion.
In Schlumberger's North American business, revenue dropped 25%
to $1.7 billion. Outside the U.S., Schlumberger's revenue declined
13% to $5.25 billion.
The three months ended Sept. 30, marked the second period that
Schlumberger's results include Cameron, which makes drilling
equipment and supplies maintenance equipment to pipelines,
refineries and oil-and-gas wells.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 20, 2016 17:45 ET (21:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024